Birthday dinner

Finishing off my birthday last Monday the grotzkes took me to the southern pines growler shop. Great flights and cheap fills on growlers! 

We then went to the Italian place for dinner. Their wine and beer menu was on a kindle. A little too complicated for the adults but izzy enjoyed it. 

She also enjoyed my empty beer bottle which got her some looks from the manager....

We had fun playing the selfie game!

And I got a lovely birthday cannoli.  Izzy blew out the candle for me :)

Who doesn't eat cannoli with a knife? :)

And what other fun things can be found in my purse? Great birthday dinner with great people. I am a lucky 34 year old!

Actual birthday!

For my actual birthday I started the morning with a 5 mile run around the greenway and in to freedom park. 

It was a beautiful morning although humid. 

Back along the greenway. They have made a lot of additions since I moved. 

All of the little parks remind me of Auckland. Park on every corner. 

Selfie. Kind of. 

Back to 4th street and then on to my hotel. 

And birthday lunch with Lauren at bad daddy's burger bar. Excellent bison burger and the noda pumpkin beer!  All of my favorite Charlotte things in one morning! Cheers!

Birthday 3

Sunday morning I headed or to Crowders mountain for a little hike. I timed it well to avoid the rains. And saw more butterflies, which are becoming my thing. 

The view from the top never gets old. 

Sitting on "donnas rock". So named when we used to hike crowders every Wednesday and Donna always sat in this spot. 

New sign. Noted. 

A few of the GPS markers. 

Took the lake trail to finish up. 

Some lake shots to end the hike. Wonderful morning! 

Birthday weekend day 2

Up bright and early for Saturday of birthday weekend. The day started with the orthocarolina 10k. I enjoyed the walk to the start line at sunrise. 

Afterwards we got a free beer and a good photo op!

I acquired a brain from Carolina neurosurgery and spine associates. Decided it made a good photo subject. Tree of life....

After showers and caffeine, Rob and I found some stellar chairs to eat lunch in. 

They were quite comfy. We briefly got a little stalled. 

But headed up the light rail to triple c. It was their birthday as well! 

Me at triple c for my birthday and their grand opening 3 years ago....

And now at almost 34!

More brains and beers. 

And a giant cup o meat! (The actual cup. Not a weird name for Rob....)

Teresa arrived after class. She had learned so much she deserved the brain. 

Doug was less sure. 

Ciara and I decided to carry on to sycamore brewery. Yummy beers!

We also had a highly entertaining conversation with this guy: 

You may notice he cigarette behind his ear. When he tried to chat us up we informed him of the distaste we have for smokers. He claimed he was "just holding it".   Right....

Final stop was tyber creek for more beer and food!  Amazing birthday so far. Cheers! 

Cartwheel Bay Run

After visiting Grandma last week I decided to find a new trail to run on along the drive home. South Carolina actually has a pretty comprehensive website with trails listed. This one seemed particularly deliverance-like, as the turn of was "between two abandoned shacks" 

In point of fact there was only one abandoned shack. And then the dirt road into the woods....

Tiny sign that I only saw on my way out. 

My "parking space" 

I set off along the trail that was mainly old sometimes still used roads. 

I never did find the two bays mentioned in the description. Just a couple random fields...

One trailer along the road. No one appeared to be home at the moment. 

Apparently a decent hunting spot. Although it was meant to be a preserve so not sure what was legal. 

The trail map is below. It was supposed to be a 6k loop. 

Here is what I did. I clearly missed a turned at some point. Turned it into an 8k out and back. 

But I did get to run with a lot of butterflies and get pictures of one! Plus I survived the backwoods of south cackalacky!