memorial day kayaking at great dismal swamp

We've recently moved from our loft and while we 100% miss having the water literally at our doorstep -it's actually been a good thing that we no longer have such easy access. It's forced us to adventure out further and find new places to kayak.  One of our new favorite spots is the Great Dismal Swamp! 

The Great Dismal Swamp is split between Virginia and North Carolina as part of the Intercoastal Waterway that runs along the Southern states all the way to Florida. 

social distancing

With the global spread of COVID-19, we are living in unprecedented times where concepts like "social distancing" have become commonplace. It's unfortunate that the best thing we can do to protect ourselves and each other is to create separation. 

Manatee Kayaking in Crystal River Florida

Hello from Florida! 

We are here on a quick impromptu Southern Road Trip to visit my little sister. Today, we had the most memorable and amazing experience with kayaking in Crystal River Florida along the Three Sisters Spring. 

 I don't even remember how I stumbled upon this hidden gem of Crystal River, but it 100% deserves it's namesake. Since it's only about an hour away from my sister in Gainesville, I knew that we had to go. We loaded up the car right around 6AM this morning and headed towards Crystal River so that we could get on the water right at sunrise. We did a kayaking tour and it worked out that the other kayakers in the group cancelled, so we had a guide all to ourselves. We ended up being the first ones on the water today, which gave us a chance to kayak alongside manatees and alligators, as well as seeing so many species of turtles and birds. 

first paddle

This weekend we went out on our first paddle of the season and it felt like the official kick off to what will hopefully be an amazing summer!  

We dock onto the Elizabeth River that comes off the Chesapeake Bay. It was so nice to drop in and since the conditions were so flat, we kayaked further than we have before in this inlet.

a laid back labor day weekend

Everyone who knows me was asking what I was up to this past weekend because 3 day weekends normally = a trip. But this weekend, I took it easy. It was full of biking, napping, moving, kayaking, blogging, setting all the denture teeth, grilling out, and just relaxing. 

Friday night I went to bed at 7PM-no lie. And I had no trouble sleeping through the night because it had been a loooong week. Then I stayed in town Saturday to work on a denture case in the lab, pack, and clean my apartment. After some early lab time Sunday morning, I made the drive to Virginia to spend the remainder of the weekend with my boys. And that's where the real fun began. On actual Labor Day, I did an early morning bike ride 🚲 

boating boston: kayaking the charles river

Don't you just love long weekends? Especially with being in a long distance relationship, having a little extra time to visit over the weekend makes a big difference. We had a relaxing labor day weekend and spent our time catching up on work, napping, shopping, brunching, and museum hopping. But my favorite thing we did was kayak the Charles River in Boston.