Mankin Mansion Richmond

... recently. There’s no denying it, luck is good. We made use of the sun to enjoy a boat trip on the Seine that went around the island where Notre Dame sits. Along the way there are many other sites, including the Louvre, which is impossibly long. I heartily endorse the boat excursion for several reasons. It gives you a rest, takes you away from the milling crowds and the traffic and it allows you a leisurely look at the sights without the ...

... man, who was looking right back at my.

This is when the alarm bells started going off in my head. He just made me uneasy, the way he was staring at me. He asked wh**e I had come from and I answ**ed "Washington DC". The look of hatred in his eyes startled me, and he spat "you're full of **** if you're from DC". I hastened to clarify that I wasn't, in fact, from th**e, but I had only been visiting. This was when I knew he was some ...

... the trip the price for the same tickets had reached $1600 with very limited seating choice.

Hotel for 3 ranged from $95-$295 per night (all included an Israeli breakfast)

The $295 included dinner as well.

In my research I discovered that adding a third person to a room was always a significant increase probably because of the added food cost.

An average nice hotel ran $200-$300 a ...

... couple bars and played "The Night they Drove Old Dixie Down" five times on the jukebox and we sang every word like it was 1865. We became the hit of the party after asking the bartender to turn it up and to put on the Yankees-Red Sox Game.
We hit the road early in the morning and knew we were going to have a good day when we read signs that said we were entering "Goochland". Next stop...Western Virginia.

... to change, pack up and head out!

We were finally on the bike and headed south towards Cary, North Carolina to visit Luba’s family at about 12pm.

The ride south was very pleasant. I really enjoy riding on small highways with really tall trees along both sides of the highway. It just seems like a much more peaceful ride. It’s so much different from the west coast riding where there a lot of open space.

Soo one of the research program coordinators thought it was a great idea to take the interns to Kings Dominion, an amusement park. The interns from this area seemed hyped up about it, so I was excited as well.

Kings Dominion is about an hour and 15 minutes from Charlottesville, past Richmond, I think. People talk about how they go to Richmond to shop or see a movie (because Charlottesville clearly offers none of ...

... out Colonial Williamsburg. I was unimpressed. Watching people in historical costumes alternate between texting and bad acting isn't worth $40 to me. But the buildings were nice, and it was a pleasant little town to stroll around. But at no point did I feel I had been transported back to the 18th century. There's something less than authentic about vending machines with $3 bottles of water and ads announcing "Ye Must Be Thirsty. Quencheth It You Scallywag!" I ...

Staying with Kim's family seemed like a good idea. Staying in Virginia seemed like a good idea. And now that I think about it, if we'd stayed somewh**e else, I wouldn't have had the fodd** for a blog. A quick abstract: I've been called a Yankee (not a t**m of endearment), I have been told the bible says women should s**ve men, I've heard someone use the t**m ****** (not a t**m of endearment), and I have inhaled more second hand smoke this ...

... another. Shaunda && I had shopping in mind. Manhattan && Brooklyn had our sweet names written all over it. We hopped onto the subway and made moves to the city. Manhattan was JUST as I remembered it. Yes. Excitement.......................2 hrs later though. My feet were killing me, I was hot && tired && we still had places to go, things to see, subways to hit && people to me. [aye dios ...

... figure out what's inside. Always welcome are: crossword puzzles, trashy celebrity gossip magazines, sunflower seeds, batteries and, of course gossip/pictures from home! (I just got a funny picture in my head of before-mentioned curious Haitian postal employee reading up on how jessica and nick's marriage is in trouble - so much for trying to dispel the stereotype of shallow Americans!) I am going to miss everyone SO MUCH, but I am really going to ...