This May, I was lucky enough to get one more trip across the Pond to visit with Leah and celebrate her birthday. We spent a few days driving across Iceland, where we did some whale and puffin watching, hiked and did a bit of ice climbing on the Sólheimajökull glacier, visited the Reynisfjara Black Sand Beach, wondered at the ice “diamonds” in the Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon, and stopped for a dip in the Blue Lagoon. Then we flew back to England, where I spent a couple of days in London meeting Leah’s classmates and friends, and a couple of days in Oxford, where I taught her to punt and introduced her to the joys of Summer Eights!
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On our last day in Greece, Leah and I tried to see all we could see in Athens. We started with a tour of central ancient Athens, including the Temple of Olympian Zeus, a colossal monument to the king of the ancient Greek gods; the Acropolis, the sanctuary of the ancient city; the Ancient Agora, which was its cultural center; and the Temple of Hephaestus, one of the best preserved temples dedicated to the god of metallurgy.
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Fresh from our adventures in Santorini, we flew to Milos, a smaller Aegean island with a population of about 5000, and gorgeous beaches. We checked into our lovely windmill and (after a brief adventure figuring out driving manual transmission) headed out to explore the island!
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Leah has always had a penchant for clear blue water and romantic island life, so while she’s been away doing her master’s in London, we decided to meet up for a week in Greece. Our first stop was Santorini, known for its beautiful ocean views. We arrived on March 30, and checked in to Hotel Sunny Villas built into the side of a cliff in Imerovigli, famous for its beautiful sunsets.
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Although Durham was inland enough that Hurricane Florence was felt mostly as a few days of heavy rain, it was devastating to southeastern North Carolina and the Outer Banks. Although the storm surge and winds were in line with other Carolina hurricanes, its lingering path across the eastern portion of the state dropped 35 inches of rain in some places. This caused severe flooding and power outages, closed thousands of roads, and disrupted the transport of food and supplies to the eastern swath of the state.
Operation Airdrop is a nonprofit organization formed in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey in 2017 to deliver supplies to inaccessible areas after natural disasters. I was lucky enough to be able to fit one Airdrop mission between a week of neuroanesthesia and a week of night call. Erin, a combined internal medicine / pediatrics resident, and I delivered a batch of food, bottled water, batteries, bug spray, and childcare supplies to Columbus County, North Carolina. It was rewarding to have the opportunity to help out in this small way, and the story got picked up by the Duke Anesthesia newsletter.
In our continuing hunt for getaways involving sandy beaches — especially important as Leah gets ready to head off to London — Leah and I took a few September days to enjoy some sun in Key West and Miami. We spent the weekend in Key West, staying in a cute AirBnB just off the lively Duval Street. I showed Leah some traditional Key West highlights: the southernmost point in the continental United States, the nightly sunset celebration in Mallory Square, and of course a few encounters with the wandering chickens. We also enjoyed the regional delicacies of Key Lime Pie on a stick and drinks in coconuts.
On Monday, we drove back up to Miami, where we stayed at the Grand Beach Hotel Surfside. Here, Leah introduced me to the Ocean Drive club scene at the Clevelander, and we enjoyed some relaxing beach time. Unfortunately, our trip was cut short by the impending Hurricane Florence. We were able to catch an earlier flight back to North Carolina to avoid the storm, and can’t wait for our next sandy beach adventure.
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After an overnight labor and delivery anesthesia shift, sometimes you just need to dip your toes in the Ocracoke water before heading back home to get some sleep.
Between cardiac anesthesia and, well, more cardiac anesthesia, Leah and I snuck off to Belize for a few days of vacation. We stayed at the X’Tan Ha resort on the water, and in addition to the requisite sandy beach lounging, enjoyed some jet skiing and paddle boarding. On Monday, we also took a trip out to the Great Blue Hole, a 1,000 foot wide, 400 foot deep underwater limestone sinkhole. The site was one of Jacques Cousteau’s top five dive sites, and a necessary stop for any diver in the area.
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This September, Ingrid and Ian of Oxford Law fame got married at a cherry orchard outside of Johannesburg, South Africa. I scheduled vacation for the grand event and was able to fly over a few days early to see some animals in Greater Kruger National Park. After a long journey including three flights and a day-long layover in Frankfurt, I arrived Monday at the Ku Sungula lodge in the Balule Nature Reserve, near the town of Hoedspruit. I set out on daily morning and evening safari drives before meeting up with Sonya and Andrew on Thursday and enjoying some further exploration and the wedding festivities with them. The variety and quantity of animals were astounding!
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One of my constant favorite local landing spots is Carthage, North Carolina, where the Pik-n-Pig barbecue place sits on an otherwise sleepy little airstrip. On a sunny afternoon, though, planes fly in from all over to get a tasty lunch, and locals drive in to watch planes takes off and land while they eat. This weekend, my parents visited, and we went with my sister to grab some barbecue! The opportunity to get a few pictures was too perfect…
