Rants and Ramblings: random commentary about culture, media, politics, technology and whatnot.

barefoot on the beach

I got back Wednesday night from a few days at Holden Beach, N.C. My grandparents rented out the same beach house they rented last year, and most of the same cast of characters (minus my dad and sister, and plus Rob and a friend of my cousin Katie’s) reconvened this year for beachfront vacationing.

I spent Friday night, all day Saturday and Sunday morning helping Rob move to a new place, and “when we get everything done, we’ll be able to relax at the beach” became my personal mantra.

I didn’t take nearly as many photos this year as I did last year. The past few months have been so nonstop busybusybusy that I think I just wanted to relax and enjoy the moment — and the limited time I had to spend with my family — rather than take up the observer-outside-the-scene stance of the photographer.

My “chill out” mindset was disturbed somewhat Tuesday afternoon when, as I waited for an Internet connection at a local coffeehouse, I saw on television the legendary “Deep Throat,” of Watergate fame, had revealed his true identity. It killed me that I had to be on vacation, and not in the office, when the surprise revelation happened. Not that my presence would have made much difference; I just like being in the middle of the action.

Meanwhile, I have no doubt that the local coffeeshop owner is making bank offering the only public wifi spot for miles around. Rob and I paid $10 each for an hour’s connection. Great business move on her part, offering high-speed access at a premium for Internet-starved vacationers. (Later that evening, I set up a dial-up account for the beach house, good for a month, for $18. Super-slow, but good enough for checking e-mail and news headlines.)

Other observations and lessons learned:

• I’d never played it before this trip, but I think I might be getting the hang of ping-pong. It’s surprisingly similar to racquetball, in terms of the way I have to hold the paddle/racquet in order to properly control where the ball goes. And it requires a lot of discipline to not just slam the ball with a lot of force. (Meanwhile, I’m trying very hard not to make a bad pun about Pong teaching me ping-pong.)
• The Wal-Mart in Shalotte is where it’s at. I think someone ran an errand (or, at least, an “I need to get out of the house” trip) there at least once a day while I was there. Katie and her friend found some ghetto fab XXXL basketball warmups on clearance late one night and proudly wore them for the next few days.
• Even though the skies were overcast for the length of our visit, I still managed to get a sunburn — on the back of my knees, of all places.
• A viewing of the DVDs reminds me that the original Star Wars trilogy is so much better than the prequels. Yes, some stuff is a bit hokey, and the special effects perhaps not quite as good, but the stories are better, the characters more interesting, and the acting more lively.
• Fried turkeys and “low country boils” (boiled and seasoned shrimp, sausage, corn and potatoes) are yummy.
• Conspiracy theories abound when the designated cook prepares a great breakfast, then disappears while everyone is eating it.
• Skip-Bo championships among family can be deadly serious and brutally competitive. And the results are never final, pending another rematch. The Skip-Bo “grand champion of the universe” never reins for long.

Photos »