We just returned from a lovely weekend away in Wilmington, NC where I didn’t take my computer, didn’t check my email on my phone and only took one whole photo.

Eric and I stayed at a lovely B&B close to downtown with hearty breakfasts, finished three books between the two of us and spent a few wonderful hours sitting on Kure Beach (slathered in SPF30 of course).

Completely relaxing.

(long overdue post from April 2010)

Peach & Quiet, Christ Church

We only stayed here for one night before our flight to Dominica the following day. I am so very glad we didn’t try to find this place on our own in the dark because we would probably still be looking. The 15 minute ride from the airport cost us about $20 each way and was worth it. We arrived fairly late, around 10:30pm, but a man was waiting to show us to our room and let us know where we could get a cold beer or cocktail if we wanted. The room was pretty basic with two double beds and a small patio area. One downside was the lack of air-conditioning, we had to run the portable fan all night to keep the room comfortable.

Breakfast was a reasonable price with fresh fruits, baked goods and cereals and overall, it was a nice spot to find a covered cabana and relax in anticipation for our adventures in Dominica!

the grounds, our room was on the ground floor all the way at the end

beautiful southern coastline views from the hotel property

Beach View, Paynes Bay, St James

For our second stay on Barbados, we choose the Beach View resort because of it’s location to many restaurants in Holetown and good beaches. Our suite was very large with a spacious living room area, kitchen and balcony. While we drove around the first day, we decided to stay in and just enjoy the ocean views the following morning. A hot breakfast was included in our room rate but you better get there right at 10am to get a shaded table! I also thought 10am was pretty late to start offering breakfast, we usually like to be out and about by then.

The management offered to pick up a few grocery items for us in advance, so we put in an order of beer, cheese and bread because we were arriving late and didn’t want to have to venture out to find dinner. When we arrived, the fridge was empty. The thought of trying to find a grocery store at 9pm was a little daunting, especially considering we got turned around a few times simply getting to the hotel, so we convinced the security guard to call the owner and ask about the food.  He quickly called us back apologizing for the missing food and told us to go out to eat at a local place and give him the bill the next morning. So we did. A great example of taking a bad situation and making things right above our expectations.

I think this place would be perfect for a reunion or large family gathering. Our suite had three bedrooms, but only the large one in the back was open for our use. I would definitely stay here again.

a refreshing pool

the view of the hotel from our gigantic porch

our suite

We were able to get an early start out of Beckley and headed east on I-64 to the Sandstone area for our first two falls of the day. Brooks Falls was rather underwhelming, but Sandstone Falls (below) offered several lovely shots and was an easy raised boardwalk hike.

only one half of the falls, a little further down you see this.

Our next stop was Twin Falls State Park, which I can safely say is the the absolute middle of nowhere. Although the drive was crazy long and we had to go all the way back north near Buckley to get on the interstate to go south, it was some lovely scenery. Pup also enjoyed the mile or so roundtrip hike (and a few pieces of cheese from our lunch).

Marsh Fork Falls

The next two spots were just off the interstate, so easy hikes for the rest of the day!

Campbell Falls

Brush Creek Falls

We stopped at Foothills Brewery on our way back home for a beer and dinner. Both were delicious.

As always, you can see directions and more photos from all the waterfall hikes we did on this trip (and others) on our waterfall photography page.

Ever since we bought this book a few years ago, we have been planning to head up to West Virginia to seek out some waterfalls. Back in early May, we had the perfect combination of cool weather and nothing planned, so we hit the road with Riesling, some snacks, our tripod and Canon XT.

Some of the sites were a little disappointing photography-wise… for example it was way too bright (and windy) to get a decent shot of Falling Spring Falls at noon, but it did take us right by the Homestead where we had a relaxing lunch.

Falling Spring Falls

the Homestead in Hot Springs, VA

It was very obvious when we crossed over into West Virginia, the towns became more scarce. Disappointingly, the Hills Creek Falls area suffered some damage over the winter, so we could only get a decent shot of the middle falls. Fortunately, the weather was comfortable and we still enjoyed a walk in the woods.

This waterfall was a bit out of the way, but totally worth it. The roadside access means it was swarming with people, but Eric’s wide angle lens allowed him to get much closer and therefore, no visible people!

Cathedral Falls

On our way south on Route 16 from Gauley Bridge to our resting point for the night in Beckley, WV we passed a series of beautiful falls on the side of the road. Eric hiked up the road to get some shots of these unnamed falls along Laurel River.

waterfall on Laurel River

We ended the evening with a quick beer at a very sketchy bar in Beckley, WV. Thankfully we had our pizza leftovers from the Homestead lunch to sustain us!

Visit our waterfall photography page for directions and more photos from all the waterfall hikes we did on this trip!

This post is a few weeks after the fact, so most people have probably seen the photos on Flickr, but here are a few of my favorites from Neil (Eric’s brother) and Nicole’s wedding in Mexico on June 1, 2010.

The setup… those chair covers were like sitting on a trampoline!

Neil and Eric keeping cool before the ceremony starts.

Hmm, a father talking as he walks his daughter down the aisle, when has that happened before?

The kiss!

The wedding party on the pier.

Taking advantage of the beautiful evening light.

We only had about a day and a half in Barbados at the end of the trip, so we decided to rent a car and drive around to see the island. We quickly discovered that Barbados has one of the most dense road networks in the world which more or less made our island map next to useless. Many times we had to make quick decisions when the road suddenly split where you would think you were on the right road but really just lost.

The best way to find any one place was to look for the painted tourist signs as the road signs were not terribly helpful. After a few hours of this, we decided to just head back to the hotel and read on our balcony. While we did see a few beautiful vistas, I would reconsider renting a car next time, and at a minimum we’d definitely look into GPS.

pink gingers at the Flower Forest

shell ginger at the Flower Forest

We also had an interesting discussion with the ticket lady at the Flower Forest. Apparently, their company took over the grounds a few years ago but they never had the website updated and cannot get the previous owners to give the old domain name to them. The entrance fee is also higher in person than advertised, which I can imagine irritates some people. We joked a bit about this then but Barbados, in general, is very expensive so to have the stated fees higher than expected over and over again could make any cheerful tourist a tad grumpy.

leaves as big as me!

After a few wrong turns and twisty roads, we finally made it to the east coast!

Bathsheba beach on the east side of Barbados

We decided to have our dinner on our balcony overlooking the ocean rather than drop a small fortune at a local restaurant, so we drove to a Hole Town grocery store and stocked up on salt bread, two specialty cheeses, banana bread and a selection of Caribbean beers. For the sunset we simply walked across the street to the beach, had a seat on some rocks and enjoyed the view.

sunset at Hole Town on the west side of Barbados

Barbados was a bit of a culture shock after our week in Dominica—quite modern, with more people and more traffic, and rather expensive. I’m sure there are some quieter sides to the island and hopefully we’ll find them on a future trip.

Eric’s birthday was on Saturday, so I was happy to take my mind off the race the next day by hosting a paella party in his honor the night before. Everyone in the house was up by 6:15 on Sunday and we headed to Raleigh to get my bike and transition station set up before the 8am race start.

My swim time had me starting at 8:47am, so I knew there would be some waiting involved but only about 200 people made it into the pool before thunder halted the swim portion. Those who started the swim were allowed to finish and, ultimately, complete the entire triathlon. However, after well over an hour and with the thunder (and pouring rain!) still going strong, the race officials had to scrap the swim portion and have the remaining three quarters of the field (including yours truly) do a biathlon instead.

Many people left during the wait and even more decided to skip the race altogether once they announced the change, but I paid good money to participate so I decided to tough it out.

My shoes, socks and bike helmet were absolutely soaked from sitting out in the transition area, so I spent the whole bike ride trying not to slip off the pedals and frankly, just stay on the bike. The course was hilly but not too difficult and even though I didn’t get to swim in my new trisuit, I certainly experienced riding a bike while soaked to the bone.

coming in from the nine mile bike ride

As expected, my legs were pretty tired from the bike, so it took a little effort to get them moving for the run portion. I ran the entire two miles without stopping and even had enough energy for a smile at Eric and a burst of speed at the end.

starting the second lap of the run

finishing strong! (note my muddy shoes and legs)

I have no idea what my splits were yet, but I’ll post them here once the official results are up. I’m pretty sure I fell within the range of my goal despite the conditions.

One thing I did notice: people do not accurately submit their swim times. For example, I saw several women breast-stroking at the beginning of the race, so clearly I need to drop my race time as I could have passed several of these sub-200 starters and I was seeded at #480. Next time!

Race Results: I placed  212/322 overall – 47:03 for the bike and 20:39 for the run for a total of 1:09:07 with the transition. This means I would have easily met my goal of 1:20 had the swim been possible. Success!

Eric did most of the planning for this trip, so the hotels were more or less a surprise to me until we arrived. I know we would both agree that the subtitle for this post could read: two out of three ain’t bad. :)

Calibishie Cove

As you can tell from the photos below, this inn had stunning views. Arl, the assistant manager, greeted us with a phenomenal chocolate rum punch and was both informative and helpful. He was very interested in knowing how we heard about Dominica and why we came. This curiosity was a common theme of our trip, as we found the locals to be genuinely interested in how we heard about their island.

Parking was never a problem. I imagine if/when the other lots fill up that might not be the case, but the inn’s location at a dead end overlooking the sea couldn’t be more private and quiet.

the Calibishie Cove at the end of a gravel road

Our room was spacious and very open – no screens! – and the view was spectacular. The room had a fridge (which came with two beers and two bottled waters, all complimentary), bottle opener, plenty of glasses, even a cutting board and knife. At one point, Arl even dropped off some freshly picked mangoes for us to enjoy. In the bathroom were Aveda shampoo and conditioner and locally-made soaps. The wireless internet was sporadic but we didn’t want to spend too much time online anyway.

our huge room, nicely decorated

The balcony afforded us views of the trees, coast and water and Eric especially enjoyed the hammock.

the beautiful view from our wrap-around balcony

Calibishie Cove was a great base for trips around the north end of the island, and made for a relaxing start to our Dominica trip. We certainly hope we make it back in the future!

Cocoa Cottage

Of all three places, Cocoa Cottage was definitely the most rustic. Unfortunately, a little too rustic for us. No windows or screens is fine when you are located near the water with some wind (see above), but in the middle of the jungle? Yikes. We spotted termites along the windowsills and spent much of the time in our room swatting at mosquitos and flies. Once it got dark, we were afraid to turn the room light on lest we become inundated with insects. But our biggest complaint, actually, was the attitude of the owner, Iris.

She seemed distracted and generally annoyed that we were even there (it turns out we were the only overnight guests) and when we asked about dinner, she recommended we drive back into Roseau to eat. Like where exactly? We had already gotten lost on the way with all the road construction. Going back in the dark? No thanks. Thankfully, she gave in and made us dinner (we paid extra for this) which turned out to be quite tasty. On the other hand, Richard, who runs the canyoneering tours and hikes, was very friendly and cheerful and our breakfast companion the following morning.

Cocoa Cottage is advertised as being in the heart of the rainforest, which is true. However, we were surprised at their immediate proximity to the main road to Trafalgar. This meant road noise, barking dogs, and people walking up the road until quite late. As Eric previously mentioned, there is also a lot of road construction going on in this area. Not exactly a tropical paradise. This combined with the fact that we couldn’t lock our doors and mosquito netting was too small to cover the bed means we would not stay here again.

doing a little island reading away from the bugs on our deck

our room

Zandoli Inn

This was another beautiful inn. Not only was the location quiet and comfortable but the views from our room were unforgettable. But, just in case, we took lots of photos.

the grounds leading up the rooms

our room

The mosquito netting covered the bed completely so we could keep the windows open for lots of fresh air. They also had a small dip pool and ocean access for snorkeling on property. We took advantage of the shady deck nearby when our room was in full sun around 3pm. A good book and a shandy from the communal fridge was a wonderful way to spend the afternoon. We ate breakfast and dinner here since we were several miles from a major town. Jenn’s signature rum punch was tasty and strong. I had two the first night and they absolutely did me in, I stuck to nursing only one the next night.

the view from our bed for two days

The food was great, the room was very comfortable, and we absolutely enjoyed our stay at the Zandoli. We hope to return to this property in the future too.

One the main ambitions of this trip was to see as many waterfalls as time would allow. We only hit one falls, Bwa Nef, in our first two days, but on the trip to our middle hotel, we drove right by the Emerald Pool thanks to a road closure. This detour took us about 1.5 hours longer than we were planning for, so it was a lovely surprise to have the heavily-touristed Emerald Pool to ourselves. We bought our week-long sites pass ($12 each) here and it was also the only time we ever had to show it even though it was required for at least three other sites we visited. No matter, it goes toward a good cause… like all the road work.

true to it’s name

See that pale hat-wearing person in the middle of the photo? That’s me(!) climbing up roots and stone with the help of a rope to get to the second Spanny Falls. Worth it, no? To give you some perspective, in the upper right is the pool for the first Spanny Falls. There was a fair amount of climbing involved for many of the hikes we did, which made it a little more adventuresome than the walks in the woods I am used to in the States. Thankfully, someone is usually selling cold drinks by the trail heads to most of the waterfalls we visited. These are quite welcome considering the heat, humidity and change in elevation of the typical Dominica trail.

We saw a ton of these orange characters at many of the waterfall sites. They usually scurry off and hide when you walk by but sometimes they act all big and tough. And then we take pictures of them.

Definitely the easiest and possibly our favorite falls of the trip, Jacko Falls. According to ‘the book‘ you are supposed to donate to the site owner but there was no one around and we didn’t want to start knocking on doors.

posing on the trail to Middleham Falls

a place to rest our weary toes on the way back from Sari Sari Falls

We tried to visit waterfalls either first thing in the morning or right before sunset to avoid the intense sun and cruise crowds. Luckily, the only time we got stuck in a crowd was at the Titou Gorge when we were surrounded by floatie-wearing adults waiting in line to jump off a small cliff next to the waterfall we were trying to photograph.

It was a toss up between well-signed waterfall sites with parking lots and nearly impossible to find trail heads. Unfortunately, we did have one disappointing experience in trying to find Victoria Falls. According the book we referenced heavily in planning our trip, Victoria Falls was well marked and while a guide was recommended for the hike, one was not required.  Upon driving into the town, we found no official signs so we asked a kid on a bike where the falls was located. We had asked for directions numerous times in Dominica, and this was a first: he refused to tell us unless we paid him to be our guide. He was one of a fairly large group of people standing around for this very purpose, and since we didn’t feel comfortable trying to get past them to figure it out (and didn’t want to pay someone we didn’t know), we just skipped it. Later we found out that signs were up but the locals had tampered with them in an effort to create guide business. Honestly, this was an isolated incident for us, and I hope the tourism office can replace the signs and prevent this behavior in the future.

You can see all the waterfall photos from Dominica here.

Even though the spare battery I brought for the little camera was unexpectedly dead (oops!), we still managed to get lots of good underwater photos on our one day of snorkeling in Dominica. Both beaches are located on the southwestern side of Dominica.

Our first stop was Champagne Beach where underwater fumaroles create lots of tiny bubbles, hence the name.

snorkeling with tiny bubbles

flounder!

another shot of the bubbles

The amount of fish and clarity of the water made this an absolutely unforgettable experience. Plus, the water was a lovely temperature and we hit the beach around 10am so it wasn’t too sunny or crowded. A huge bus-load of cruise folk showed up as we were leaving, so our timing was perfect. It’s a $2 fee per person to visit here.

lots and lots of tangs

Our second stop was Scott’s Head, known for the steep drop just off shore that is great for both snorkeling and diving. There were a ton of fish here and the sun had come out which really made the reef colors pop.

thousands of schooling fish below us

Soufriere Bay taken from Scott’s Head

We probably spent a total of two hours in the water and would highly recommend both these snorkeling spots.