Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Summer's End

Well the first day of school for me this year is in two weeks, and frankly I'm a bit disappointed in how little I've done this summer. I would have liked to explore my home state a bit more, but I think I'll blame my online class for keeping me busy (which I got an A in, by the way). I have done some great things though.


My mom has been dragging me on driving trips throughout my county so I can get driving hours in. I like to see the farmlands around where I live, and we play the game "what are they growing?". The answers range from corn to cows. We've stopped at some parks too, like little hidden beaches and trails. One place we stopped at was like a boat graveyard. There were sunken ships everywhere from World War I.

Some other quintessential mid-Atlantic things I've done include eating crabs and kayaking. Crabs has to be my favorite thing about summer. I've been working on my technique to open them and get all the good stuff out. Kayaking also has a special place in my heart during the summer. Although I've only kayaked once this summer, last summer I kayaked almost every weekend. When I did it this summer, I wasn't as used to the constant paddling and woke up the next morning with pain in my shoulders and elbows.

Speaking of boating, I had loads of fun on the St. Lawrence river in New York in June. I visited Boldt Castle, an unfinished mansion on one of the thousand islands. The next week I visited Ottawa, the capital of Canada. We celebrated Canada Day, which is their independence day. It was a sea of red and white. We tried to eat traditional Canadian things, like beavertail and poutine. We also visited their parliament building and lots of interesting museums.

When I look back I guess I have done more than the average lazy teenager.