Travels & Thanksgiving

Greetings and salutations folks! I am currently blogging from Charleston, South Carolina at the airport en route back to Riddle in all my post Thanksgiving glory.

I started my break migrating north from Daytona Beach to Norfolk, Virginia where the November weather was blissfully crisp for about 5 seconds before I got cold and realized that my Florida wardrobe was not prepared for 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Once back in VA my family packed up and road tripped it to Charleston, South Carolina where I spent the remainder of my holiday. 

In Charleston, my family and I ran a 5k in the historical district on Thanksgiving morning, followed by heading back to our hotel to get ready then driving a few hours to our cousin’s house where we spent the remainder of the afternoon eating and napping.

We spent the rest of the break exploring the outdoor city market in downtown Charleston, stopping at local eateries and coffee shops, as well as sight seeing and of course making a stop at the beach.

I wish the Thanksgiving break had lasted longer, but because of how late the holiday fell in the month of November this year, upon getting back to school we only have one more week until finals!

I wish I spent my break relaxing and sleeping a lot, but honestly I stayed up late doing homework in hotel lobbies, came to the airport early to knock out assignments before my flight, and hid out in multiple coffee shops during the trip trying to catch up on assignments. I came back from break a day early to do homework and work on projects before class on Monday too. It’s super difficult relaxing knowing I have a bunch of deadlines and final exams looming around the corner. On the bright side though, I suppose there is only a few weeks until the semester is over, and I plan to sleep a lot over winter break!

I hope all of you find your post Thanksgiving Break groove and proceed full speed ahead to finals season! Will report back soon. Winter break is around the corner, keep on keeping on!

Friends & February

Happy February folks! Recently I’ve had the amazing opportunity to take a weekend to travel to Savannah, Georgia, in between classes and training and working, and it was a well needed break.

February is a very busy month at Embry Riddle, most organizations are doing a lot of volunteer work, there are a lot of car races happening at the Daytona International Speedway, a lot of people are touring the campus, and tons of people are visiting Daytona Beach as the weather warms up, so things can get a little hectic. The atmosphere is a definitely busy, and everyone seems exhausted and highly caffeinated. So, naturally I figured it would be a great time to take some me time and get away to clear my head and reset before diving back into reality.

Thankfully, before the chaos of all this began I had a great opportunity to travel north! I took a Greyhound bus Friday night up to Savannah, Georgia and arrived early Saturday morning, before returning on Sunday. I got the chance to stay overnight with my best friend, tour the downtown historic district a little, go by the river, do some yoga, and stop by my newly acquired favorite shops and restaurants from my visit to the city with my family over Thanksgiving break.

First on my list of things to experience was of course The Coffee Fox coffee shop, where I escaped the cold 50 degree weather and wind to indulge in some coffee and cozy up in a corner doing my Differential Equations homework. To my dismay, although it’s fun to travel, I can never seem to escape the homework.

Next I ducked out of the cold and grabbed breakfast at the Maple Street Biscuit Company where I ordered a dish called the Iron Goat, consisting of a homemade biscuit with sautéed spinach and goat cheese, along with a side of fried green tomatoes, which were absolutely delicious. One of my favorite parts about going to new places and different cities is the food. I don’t have the opportunity to get good homemade cooked food a lot at school, because I’m usually very busy, which made every bite of fresh breakfast all the more satisfying. 

Breakfast from one of the most amazing biscuit places in Savannah, Georgia!

This semester has been extremely stressful and sometimes it’s hard to de-stress living at school, where I study, work, go to class, sleep, workout, and then repeat. I’ve been extremely fortunate to have the opportunities that I have earned and, along with that, some of the few people who keep me sane through the chaos and are my friends. Most of my friends at Embry Riddle are in AFROTC, because we naturally spend A LOT of time together, in and out of training, but another one of my good friends is a resident advisor in the same hall that I live in, and one of my best friends I got to meet up with over the weekend while I visited Georgia!

Will report back soon. I have some Aerospace Flight Vehicles homework I need to tend to. Spring break is around the corner. Keep on keeping on!

Rolex 24 Weekend

Last weekend was Rolex 24 Weekend in Daytona. The Rolex 24 is a 24 hour race at Daytona International Speedway. It happens once every year in January.photo-jan-29-14-20-00

There are many different types of cars which come to race, which is part of what makes it so exciting! This year there were Ford GTs, Cadillac Prototypes, Nissans, Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Aston Martins, BMWs, Acura NSX, Porsche 911, and Corvette Prototypes. I’m not very knowledgeable about cars, but I do love to go to races.photo-jan-29-14-42-31photo-jan-28-13-47-48

This was my third time at the Rolex 24, and it was probably my favorite of them all! I bought a two-day infield pass that allowed me to walk around all the display areas inside the track. I love looking at all of the old race cars that are on display throughout the weekend. There were also tents for all of the different manufacturers in the race. Although it was pretty cold all weekend, it was still a great time!photo-jan-28-22-16-47

This was one of the most hyped Rolex 24 races because retired NASCAR driver, Jeff Gordon, was racing for the Cadillac team. I had seen Jeff Gordon race in the Daytona 500 before, so I was excited to see him get back on the track at Daytona. His team was in the top five the entire race, and in the last few minutes of the race they pulled into the lead! They ended up winning the race and taking home the prized Rolex watch.photo-jan-29-14-45-32photo-jan-29-14-48-14

I hope you enjoy these pictures from the weekend.

 

Until next time,

Lindsey

 

Thunderbirds Are Go!

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Hello, hello! I hope everyone is doing ok. I’ve been severely busy so this whole “4 jobs plus school” thing is really starting to take its toll on me. If anyone has good time-management tips, please send them my way.

Some pretty cool stuff has happened in the past few days since my last update. Most notably the Thunderbirds came to campus a few days ago. They have been here since last Sunday, and it was no secret that they were in the area. The sound of an F-16 taking off is something that you do not forget, and if you somehow did not hear them, then the 3.5 magnitude earthquake that followed would definitely get your attention. I was sitting in physics the other day and the class stopped one we heard the engines spooled up: it’s intense.

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Watching all eight of them landing is also a sight to see. Because the Daytona International Speedway had recent exterior modifications, the Thunderbirds did a few flyovers with smoke for promotional photos. Also, watching he C-17 land, taxi to the left, and back up was also a sight to see.

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Recently, Touch-N-Go had their Casino Night where attendees were given $5,000 worth of casino chips to play for prizes. The prizes ranged from TVs and copies of Battlefront to a Frozen snow-cone maker and a popcorn maker. That was the first time I have ever “gambled,” and while I lost quite a bit of money, I would definitely do it again. Plus TNG had free pizza and drinks.

Aside from that, there isn’t anything else to report. I’ll see you all in another two weeks!