Here is the outside view of Brinser Residence Hall:
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Waves, North Carolina
We rented a beautiful house a street away from the sand dunes which led to the beach. There is a surplus of houses to rent in all of the many towns of the Outer Banks. They are extremely clean and well-kept. I highly recommend renting a house rather than staying in a hotel in the Outer Banks. One neat thing about many of the houses in the Outer Banks is that they all have unique names. It is neat to drive around a look at the different, creative names people have come up with.
As for the beaches of Waves, NC, they were beautiful! They were extremely long and spacious. Beacause Waves, and most of the other beach towns of the Outer Banks, are so quiet, there were barely any people on the beach the entire day! There was a lot of room to play games and swim without feeling crowded. One down side to the Waves beaches were that there were no lifeguards. Everyone swam at their own risks.
Activities one can do in Waves, NC and the surrounding towns are not what one would normally do at any other beach. My family and I brought our kayak to the Outer Band took it out in the ocean. It was an extremely thrilling experience. We saw all kinds of fish as well as a few sharks! The sharks were a little bit scary but they were more than 100 ft away from the breaking waves. Also, we saw people kite surfing, surfing, bird watching, fishing and site seeing! It is such a relaxing place to take a vacation!
Restaurants in Waves and surrounding towns are scarce unless you travel to a larger town in the Outer Banks. One restaurant we ate at in Waves was called Top Dog. This restaurant had reasonable prices as well as extremely good food! I highly recommend this restaurant. We mainly cooked our own meals or went to a local restaurant for dinner. It was nice to cook our own meals. We cooked on the stove as well as on the grill. We ate under the stars a few times as well as on the beach.
Overall, Waves, NC in the Outer Banks was such a peaceful and relaxing vacation. If one is stressed with work or life in general, this is the place to bring your family, friends or to go by yourself!
Monday, September 15, 2008
Paradise Island, Bahamas

- My dad and I snorkeled right off of the private Atlantis beach. Even though there weren't many things to see, we did find a few interesting things and it didn't cost a penny! We brought our own snorkel and goggles and went out whenever we decided to. We found interesting fish which liked to swim around innocent people, barracuda's, crabs and other interesting fish. These creatures were swimming no farther than 10 feet from where the waves broke! It was extremely entertaining and neat!
- One of the last days of our trip, my brother and I spent a fair amount of money to rent jet ski's for a half an hour. It was a fun, interactive experience and we were able to have a beautiful view of the island. While riding around the ocean on the jet ski's we discovered a small island with stone steps carved into the rocks. We wondered if they were from centuries ago! Also, the water was so clear we could see straight to the bottom in fairly deep water. It was an amazing experience!
- The glass boat tour was not as expensive as most of the other activities on the island. Even though the tour was not expensive, it was a wonderful experience and we really enjoyed ourselves. I highly recommend this activity. We rode in a boat that had a glass bottom. This enabled us to see straight down to the bottom of the clear, aqua-colored water. We saw many fish and coral reefs. It was amazing!
- The Nassau City tour was full of rich Bahamian culture. It was extremely informative of the history, current government and culture of the Bahamas! I highly recommend going on this tour.
- The Straw Market was a very interesting place. It was an enormous building with home-made, hand-crafted items. Native Bahamian people were selling these items they made on their own. They also sold many knock-off expensive brand purses and other accessories. They would try to negotiate a price with you just to make a sale. It was quiet interesting and a little intimidating! But, nevertheless, it is a site to definintely check out!
There are many aquariums, water slides and other beautiful architecture of the Atlanits to check out! Along with these sites, the casino attracts many visitors! The casino is beautiful and extremely large. One could spend many hours as well as a lot of money in the casino!
As for restaurants, there are very few to choose from if you don't want to spend too much money. This was one of the more disappointing aspects of our trip to the Atlantis in the Bahamas. Most of the restaurants were extremely over priced, but my family and I found one reasonably-priced, excellent restaurant called Bimini Road. This restaurant had unique, ethnic food which tasted amazing! The employee's of the restaurant were extremely friendly and displayed their culture very well. This is a must visit when staying at the Atlantis!
I would recommend this trip to families and people who have a lot of money. Many restaurants, activities and places to stay in the Bahamas are extremely expensive. Other than the expenses, the islands were beautiful and are a must see!
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Charleston, South Carolina
When my family and I vacationed in South Carolina, we stayed in a little town called the Isle of Palms, SC. The Isle of Palms was extremely peaceful and scenic. The beaches of this little town were unusually large and spacious. This caused for an extremely relaxed feeling while spending a day on the beach under the warm sun. Along with the warm sun, the ocean temperature was in the upper 70's and above! There was no question about going in the water or not. One could simply run directly in the water without experiencing the shock of a freezing cold ocean!
Another wonderful aspect of the beaches located in the Isle of Palms was that one could rent umbrellas and chairs from a shed. Since my family and I flew to this area of the United States, we unfortunately could not bring beach chairs and umbrellas along with us. It was a delight to stumble upon the fact that we could rent these items which had to be left at home.
The Isle of Palms, SC is home to many locals who live there year round or own a house for the summer. It was a nice, relaxing atmosphere without all of the summer hype. There were only a few stores and restaurants on the island. This caused for less travelers to choose this island for their vacation spot.
Even though the Isle of Palms, SC was extremely quiet and uneventful, Charleston, SC was only 20 minutes away! Almost every day of our vacation we drove in our rental car to Charleston. There was a surplus to see and do in this city; it was simply amazing. The week my family and I spent in South Carolina was not enough time to see all of the different areas of the city.
While we visited Charleston we were able to take a tour of a house which was built in the 1800's, climb aboard the World War II Aircraft Carrier, visit Fort Sumter, take a historic tour of the entire city and explore the city on our own time and money. Along with these amazing tours and sites there are many other sites to see and things to do in Charleston, SC:
- City Public Market
- A few different slave plantations
- Historic homes
- Historic churches and other buildings
- College of Charleston
- Historic Museums
- Civil War Walk
- and many, many more things one could find simply walking around the city.
Along with these amazing sites and tours, there are countless restaruants to choose from. My favorite restaurant in Chraleston would have to be Sticky Fingers. This restaurant had a Forrest Gump theme and played the movie constantly as long as they were open! It was a fun, family-centered restaurant and had excellent food! Other restaurants I would recommend trying in Charleston would be:
- Magnolia's
- TBonz Gill & Grill
- Peninsula Grill
- Carolina's
- Boathouse on Easy Bay
- and many, many others to choose from.
Charleston, SC as well as the Isle of Palms, SC are excellent vacation spots for anyone looking for a historic, relaxing or adventure-filled time! There are many different activities one could find to suit their best interests in this city! I highly recommend this area as a vacation spot for people of all ages.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Rehoboth Beach, Delaware
The beaches of Rehoboth Beach, Delaware are spectacular! They are cleaned bright and early every morning by the town clean-up crew. One never has to worry about sitting on a beach of trash people carelessly left the day before. Also, there is plenty of room to set up chairs and towels without feeling croweded by others nearby. Another excellent addition to Rehoboth's beaches is the small yellow and blue sheds one will find all along the beach. These sheds are owned by a company called Cats. Cats provides Rehoboth's beaches with umbrellas and chairs for a small, but reasonable fee. One can rent (for the day) as many umbrellas and/or chairs as they desire. This is a great way to lighten one's beach load - one can leave their chairs and umbrellas at home!
Rehoboth Beach is an excellent place to bring the whole family. There are many family oriented activities all over town. Rehoboth Beach has a beautiful, clean boardwalk with stores, games and restuarants all along it! There are also little side streets as well as one main street with places to eat, shop and have fun. There are a couple of arcades directly on the boardwalk for kids and also a place called Funland with rides for kids of all ages! For the teens and adults, there are many fun, unique stores all along the streets of Rehoboth. Rehoboth Avenue is occupied by most of the stores. I highly recommend checking out as many stores as possible, they are extremely entertaining!
Restaurants are a main attraction of Rehoboth Beach. There is a wide variety to choose from; all different kinds, sizes and costs. An extremely famous restaurant which is native to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware is called Nicola Pizza. Nicola Pizza is a small Italian restaurant which serves many Italian dishes as well as their famous pizza's! The cost of this restauarant is extremely reasonable considering how excellent their food tastes! This is a place one must visit when traveling to Rehoboth Beach.
Another restaurant I recommend is on Rehoboth Avenue and it's name is Go Fish. It is a small British fish and chips restaurant. The prices are again excellent for how wonderful their food tastes. Everything from the appetizers, entres and desserts are amazing! This is also a must when visiting Rehoboth Beach.
There are many other restaurants one can find in Rehoboth Beach ranging in cost. To name a few more, there is the Summer House, Grotto Pizza, Jake's Seafood, Blue, the Purple Parrot, the Iguana House and many, many more!
There are many things to do in Rehoboth Beach besides shopping, eating and fun for kids. One can rent bikes and take rides around the local neighborhoods and streets. Also, located on Route 1 are many outlets and restaurants as well. This is just outside of the main street of Rehoboth Beach
Rehoboth Beach is a beautiful, family-oriented beach. I highly recommend bringing any children or other family members of any age. There is something for everyone in this beautiful town of Delaware!