There are still quite a few things I have on my summer must-do list before the weather changes and Ryan and I experience a real fall for the first time in years.
Some of my summer must-dos:
- Spend a full day at the beach or on the lake
- Eat s’mores (Preferably around a campfire, but I’m not picky!)
- Take an outdoor yoga class
- Visit the U.S. National Whitewater Center
- Run in my first Charlotte race (I am currently eyeing the Electric Run with my friend Lindsey!)
- Go on an all-day hike
- Catch an outdoor concert
- Grab dinner from a local food truck
What about you? What is one fun thing you’re hoping to squeeze in before summer ends?
Weekend
Our weekend was pretty low key but in a very good way! I spent Friday with some new friends and checked out Vapiano, an Italian restaurant in Charlotte.
The concept of the restaurant reminded me a lot of a wine bar. When you arrive, you’re given a card that you take around the restaurant and use at various stations, including the bar and pizza, pasta, salad and antipasti stations. It was a neat restaurant that I’d happily go back to for lunch or with a group. (It’s not really a great “date night” restaurant in my opinion since I’m pretty sure Ryan and I would likely be in and out in 20 minutes.)
An added bonus? When you leave, you can take a little cup of gummy bears with you for the road!
(And yes, I totally used the little scoop to grab only the red, orange and white gummy bears.)
On Saturday, Ryan and I spent most of the afternoon running around town with our realtor. We visited a house we like a lot for a second time and left with a bunch of questions. It’s a great house but there are some pretty big changes we’d want to make if we bought it (which both excites and intimidates me), so we’re setting up an appointment with a contractor this week to see if our vision is doable within our current budget. It’s a process!
Sunday centered around laundry and cleaning in the morning but became a bit more enjoyable once we made it outside for some afternoon hiking with Sadie.
We drove out to Crowders Mountain State Park, but hiked up to Kings Pinnacle this time rather than tackling the Crowders Mountain hike we did back in June.
The hike was scenic and challenging but the trails were absolutely packed with people. Apparently we weren’t the only ones who had the idea to hike on Sunday afternoon! Ryan and I prefer trails that are a little less populated and made a mental note to avoid this one in the future unless we make it out there earlier in the day. It’s a great hike with wonderful views from the top, but weaving in and out of people and dogs made it slightly less enjoyable. I think it would’ve been better had we been out there without Sadie, but navigating around people with an energetic dog on a leash isn’t super fun.
But you can’t complain when you make it to the top and see this:
Once we arrived home, we ate dinner on the couch and I got totally sucked into Titanic on TV. I haven’t seen that movie in years.
And now we’re all caught up!
Hope you guys are having a great Monday so far!
Questions of the Morning
- Share one of the highlights from your weekend!
- What is one fun thing on your “to do” list that you’re hoping to squeeze in before summer ends?
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I’m with you on the s’mores!
Can’t wait to see what house you guys go for!
I can’t wait to hear more about your house adventures! My husband and I purchased our home that we live in now 3 years ago. It was a short sale (although it took 90days to close) and needed some improvements (refinish hardwoods, replace 1 room of carpet with hardwood, and upgrade bathrooms), but was worth it for the $$ and location (on the water). This is our second home and after flipping our first home and selling it ourselves, we realized that we liked getting into projects and doing things ourselves. It is SO rewarding! Plus, there are books, DIY on the internet, and all sorts of resources everywhere to learn how to do it yourself. I’m sure you and Ryan could figure it out no problem! Just make sure you invest in good tools.
Gummies! So yum and now this pregnant lady wants a handful. Ha!
Summer bucket list? Maybe get in one or two more kayaking adventures before I get too big to sit in a kayak.
I have a good friend (who is also group fitness manager at a gym) here in Charleston that teaches yoga on the beach and also on paddle boards. I’m happy to pass along her info if you want to knock out a couple items on your list!
You just gave me some ideas to add to my final weeks of summer! Thanks lady!
We are planning to go to the Whitewater Center next week. We will be in town from Raleigh for a concert and are planning to send a day at the Center. We have not been before, but it sounds like a blast!
I had great fun at The US National Whitewater center on holiday a few years back. We took advantage of the mountain bike trails which were blast, kayaked up the river (a little boring for me) and had great fun on the zip lines. Check out Nantahala Outdoor Center too. Great bike trails and there’s a walk along the Appalachian Trail with an amazing lookout tower at the top, which we only found out about thanks to one of the centre’s staff. Thought he’d done a Tourist on us, but the view at the top was amazing!
So regarding outside yoga – a few of my girlfriends and I go every so often to this free (donation based) class at Freedom Park on Saturdays. It’s 75 minutes and everyone usually gives the instructor $5 each. It’s an awesome class!! If you want to join one weekend, just shoot me an email and I can give you the details! May even go this week!
And regarding the whitewater center: Tomorrow night (friday) we are doing this thing called “Zipline and Dine” y’all should look into it. I think it runs a few days a week through September. It’s a bit pricey but you go on the treetop zipline tour then go over to a campsite for dinner and drinks.
Wow! I didn’t know they had Vapianos in the states!!! I loveee an asian pasta dish they have! I am so excited I can eat it when I come home!!!
I did the electric run in Boston and it was great! I also completely agree about crowded hikes, I like escaping the city and it’s tough when trails are super crowded.