Random Updates

Well, sure, I suck at updating of late. You would think that because it's the slow time of my year that I'd have more time. Which is probably true, I just haven't had a ton of updates to give. So here goes:

We went to Charleston, Raleigh, Savannah, Atlanta, and Nashville a couple weeks ago. It was a good experience on the whole. Here are my quick reviews:
1) Raleigh. Not overly impressed. Seems nice, but also not the most organized city. We hung out with Julia's friend Lindsay, which was a lot of fun, and that was where I picked up my Admiral Ackbar action figure for just $2. Well worth it.
2) Charleston. I did enjoy the city. We went and checked out Fort Sumter, which was a lot of fun. We got to go out on a boat to the little island Fort, and walk around there, with lots of history. We could see across the harbor to the point where the troops featured in "Glory" faced their final battle. I don't know why, but I am a bit fascinated by Civil War stuff. So seeing where the Civil War began was quite interesting. They have a very nice historic district in the city, and Julia said it reminded her of New Orleans. (She's in New Orleans this week, by the way). Also saw an old slave mart, which had the potential to be an enlightening moment, but really wasn't, unfortunately. Just a poorly put together museum in that there was little interaction, just lots of reading signs.
3) Savannah. Big thumbs up for Savannah. Surprisingly, the city only has a population of around 150K. I just expectd more. The architecture was beautiful. The spanish moss was gorgeous. The city parks every two block made it a fun city to walk. They have a very lively river walk as well. Most art galleries per capita of any city in the US. All in all, definitely my favorite city on the tour. On the trip down, we had listened to Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, which was set in Savannah, so we had a little bit of history going in. Unfortunately, the house that was the setting for the book/movie was a bit expensive, so we didn't go in. And we also forgot to get to the cemetery mentioned in the book as well, so that's something to do the next time we're there. And I would like to go back. Great food there too.
4) Atlanta. Monstrosity. Went to the MLK Center again, and it's just an amazing and powerful few buildings to get a grasp of the Civil Rights movement. Unfortunately, it looks like they haven't had a lot of money going in, and it's in a slight bit of disrepair. So, I donated some money, in the hopes that they'll get it together. We also went to the zoo and saw the pandas, which means I've now seen pandas 3 times. Not bad. Also, their Botanical Garden is beautiful. Great walking course through it, and even though we got caught in a thunderstorm, it was worth it. But good lord is that city huge and difficult to navigate.
5) Nashville. I really enjoy Nashville. It was made a little better this time as we got to see my best friend from my childhood, Steve, and his quite pregnant wife, Robin. They took us for a nice Southern family style meal (which was difficult for me as I couldn't eat much of the delicious barbeque and fried chicken), and then to a couple of honky tonks downtown. Sadly, the Grand Ole Opry was closed, but that didn't stop me from going to Cooters. That's right, Cooter's. As in Cooter, from the Dukes of Hazzard. I'll get some pictures up sometime soon, probably on facebook. But yeah, they have all the vehicles from the show, and jut a ton of memorabilia. Good stuff.

That wraps up that week.

I've been reading a lot of poker books, and this past week, reached $100 in my poker stars account. Today, I slipped back under to $99, but the $100 mark was a big one for me. I've been working hard and grinding to a point where I could start playing a few more bigger tournaments, and now that I've gotten to that point, I can do that. So good for me.

I was thoroughly disappointed in the lack of a victory from the US World Cup team on Saturday. The biggest players didn't play big in their biggest opportunity, and that was sincerely disappointing. I continue to hope for the US to get one or two more difference makers.

Julia is in New Orleans this week, and then goes to LA the weekend after. Yikes.

I'm off to play some softball, weather permitting. If I've forgotten anything, please let me know.