A rainy morning in Tortuguero made wonderful with nuevos amigos

Costa Rica has so many things to boast. Rich biodiversity. Educated, literate population. Unrivaled vistas. Mountains, oceans, waterfalls, fields, beaches, jungles, and towns. Tropical weather. But the best part for me has been the Tico culture.

I moved to Costa Rica toward the end of the rainy season, which means it has rained a couple hours each day. One morning in Tortuguero, a tiny village and national park in the Limón Province known for massive amounts of nesting turtles, it rained and rained and rained. It rained so hard we canceled our canal ride in the morning (the area is only accessible by boat). Instead, we loitered around the hotel lodge and took photos of a night crested heron who was sheltering nearby. My mom, who was traveling with me at the time, and I struck up a conversation with two people from San José while we watched the rain come down. They were incredibly friendly and welcoming and the conversation was easy and enjoyable despite some language barriers. (One spoke only Spanish and I am hardly bilingual.)

When the rain didn’t let up, we donned our raincoats and umbrellas and took a stroll. We walked among dripping trees and tropical flowers pregnant with rain along a trail to the angry Caribbean that crashed against the black sand of the playa. The rain softened and the gray-white clouds roiled like ballet dancers above the foamy sea. A dense white mist rolled in from both horizons to greet itself where we stood.

Costa Ricans, or Ticos, are among the most amazing people on earth. I discovered this in my new friends that morning. We had such a great time getting to know each other, playing with the language, and bantering back and forth. The two I met that day will be friends for life… and they are not atypical for Ticos. So welcoming, so open, so helpful, so patient, so caring, so intelligent, and bursting at the seams with passion for life. Just the tall drink of water I needed to refresh me and make me want to embrace life again.

A little rain in my old town in Tennessee would have had everyone griping and muttering and hunkering down. A little rain in Costa Rica blossomed a lifelong friendship.

Pura vida. I’ve found it.

Philadelphia: The Brandywine River, Valley Forge, and Chaddsford Winery

On Sunday morning, we both were under the weather, but we didn’t cancel our plans of an outdoorsy day. We left Philadelphia at 8:00 and arrived at Valley Forge National Park around 8:30. It was at Valley Forge that General George Washington forged the Continental Army in 1777. I have two ancestors, eight generations back, who were commissioned officers under Washington’s command, and it was neat to think I was stepping where they had stepped. It was a crisp autumn morning. We walked about two and a half miles along the paved walking trail, past replicas that put one in the mindset of the Revolutionary War. We saw dozens of deer and flocks of geese, and the fall foliage was lovely.

We grabbed some lunch at a market and arrived at Northbrook Canoe Company around noon. We rented a canoe and paddled almost five hours down the Brandywine River, where the clear water sparkled over golden zinc. A chilly breeze kept our jackets on for most of the trip, but the sky was a deep, clear blue and we had the river mostly to ourselves.

Near the end of our trip, we saw a juvenile bald eagle, its brown feathers rough. We were extremely excited and decided to grow quiet in case its family was nearby. As we gave up hope—and I put away the camera—we began to talk loudly and disturbed a hidden adult bald eagle in the trees just above our heads. She took off. Her wingspan was wider than I am tall, and her beautiful plumage shone in the midafternoon sun. Her wingbeats reverberated in the air. We both clapped our hands to our mouths and watched in awe as she soared within ten feet of us and out of sight. It was the most amazing thing that happened on the Philadelphia trip.

Bubbling with our experience and both feeling in peak health again, we drove to Chaddsford Winery, which was founded in 1982 and had live music playing on its patio. We tasted the semi-drys and sweets and bought a bottle for later. We then took the scenic route back to the hotel through yellow and orange foliage.

New York City

I went to New York City for the second time in November, 2010, for work. We had two days of intensive meetings and very little free time. However, I did my best with the little time I had and hit some highlights.

On Monday night, my country music counterpart, Chitquita, and I walked to Central Park and enjoyed the fall colors. The season was just past peak, so still gorgeous. We leaned on the railing and watched kids ice skating. I enjoyed the little glimpses of the city from the park, skyscrapers towering over the red and yellow trees.

We then walked to Rockefeller Center and saw the gigantic Christmas tree adorned in scaffolding. It was to be lit two days after we left the city. We also ran into Radio City Music Hall, which already had its Christmas decorations up.

We took a cab to Battery Park at the southern tip of the island and enjoyed the Statue of Liberty from afar. Seeing her lit up at night lifted the spirits. On the way back, we drove past Ground Zero and Times Square.

We ate at Gigino’s in Wagner Park. I had a pasta dish with broccoli and chicken, and a rosé wine. It was a touch bland, but good.

Tuesday was filled with HR meetings. We ended the day at Amsterdam Billiards in Manhattan’s East Side. We played pool, beer pong, and ping pong. My team won second place, no thanks to me and my horrible basement game skills. If there had been foosball, I could have helped, but alas, no such luck.

On Wednesday, we finished a round of meetings and went to the Museum of Modern Art. I was happy to get in free just for being a Sony employee. I was thrilled to see Vincent van Gogh’s The Starry Night in person. I don’t care how cliché it is; I love that painting.

We saw Picassos, Pollocks, Dalis, Matisses, and gigantic Monets. We then used the car service to head to the airport and make the flight home, exhausted.

It was a great glimpse of the Big Apple.

Devil’s Backbone State Natural Area, Fall Hollow, Keg Springs, and Amber Falls

On October 23, 2010, we went hiking with friends at Devil’s Backbone State Natural Area near Hohenwald. It was an unseasonably hot day, with temperatures climbing to near 80 degrees, but the fall foliage was at near-peak for Tennessee autumn. The trail was covered with a thick layer of fallen leaves, so each step filled the air with loud crunching sounds. We took the 3-mile moderate loop and stopped to take pictures every thirty seconds or so. I quickly learned to cheat by using a photo filter on my camera to enhance the fall colors.

Once we finished the loop, we drove a couple miles to Fall Hollow, where we took the steep trail down about a quarter mile or so and enjoyed the small waterfalls.

Afterward, we felt hungry, so we drove into Hohenwald and ate at Junkyard Dog Steakhouse. I got the chicken parmesan, which was a disappointment; everyone else got steak and loved it.  

We then drove to Keg Springs Winery, where we encountered a black pony in the middle of the road, regarding us serenely. Desira and I got out of the car and shooed him back toward the pasture. When we got up to the winery building, we informed them that their pony was out, and they waved their hands nonchalantly. “He always stays out,” one woman drawled. “It’s fine.” This annoyed me. He could have been hit on the road.

We did a tasting; the wines were all decent. We bought a blackberry wine, a peach wine, and the Crusade, a semi-sweet red which, due to its Concord origins, reminded me of my favorite wine on the planet, the Highland Manor Sunset red table wine. We didn’t deign to stop and listen to the live bluegrass music out on the patio.

Now slightly buzzing from all the wine we’d tasted, we headed out to Amber Falls Winery. This place had an immediately classier feel. The tasting room was packed with people. We tried all the semi-drys and the sweets, and ended up purchasing the three-grape red Ruby Trillium, the dark rosé Cottage Rose, and the spicy red Piquant Rouge, which is a limited edition with flavors of pepper. We hung around while the entertainment on their patio played Celtic violin, but as it degenerated into bluegrass, we left.

Filled with wine and food, with three and a half miles of moderate to strenuous hiking behind us, everyone but the driver nodded off on the hour and a half drive back home.