Happy Monday everyone! I am moving to my own domain at www.apairofpantiesandboxers.com. It’s been a long 6 months since my friend, Curtis at @cdotdawson, has helped me build my new home and I really couldn’t wait any longer to move in. My new site is still a work in progress because it’s got plenty of kinks but I hope you’ll bare with me as I spend these next few months making it better. Please read my Welcome post on my new site.

If you’ve subscribed to my RSS feed, please be sure to add my new RSS feed. I would hate to lose you guys. Also, if we’ve exchanged links, please change it to http://www.apairofpantiesandboxers.com/ when you get a chance. And if you’re a new reader who would like to exchange links, just email me at monicawong530@gmail.com.

This will be my last post here. I hope to see all of you at the new home of A Pair of Panties & Boxers.

Weekend getaways don’t exactly quench my thirst for travel but it’s the best I can do with a 50 hour work week, 13 hour weekly commute and the time-consuming task of studying for grad school. I’ve visited most of the cities close to New York City – DC, Philly, Baltimore, New Haven. I’ve been looking for places a little further away. That’s when I found Ocean City, Maryland. It’s like nothing like the Jersey Shore. It’s more like the family-friendly version of Atlantic City.

It was about a 5 1/2 hour drive from NYC to Ocean City. By the time JC and I arrived, it was around 8:30PM. Perfect time to feast. We had a big dinner at a seafood restaurant by the boardwalk, which was walking distance from our hotel. After our 2 hour gluttony session, we walked up and down the boardwalk to scope out the next establishment to feast in tomorrow.

On Saturday, we drove to Assateague Island, a 37-mile long national seashore 15 minutes away from the shores of Ocean City famous for its wild ponies. We parked our car next to a herd of them and spent the day napping on the beach and watching the ponies roam right in front of us. I made a mental note to come back again and pitch a tent so I could sleep under the stars. It saves on hotel fees and it’s romantic. Plus, I can wake up to wild ponies roaming on the beach.

There are plenty of activities to do on Assateagye Island, including camping, fishing, biking, crabbing, kayak tours and sightseeing cruises. It’s really a great place to spend with the family and friends if you enjoy outdoor activities and fresh air. There are beaches with dunes that protect the marshes along the Chincoteague Bay and if you’re lucky, you just might catch sight of wild horses, sika deers, herons and so many wildlife animals.

The effect of the earthquake in Haiti has rippled through countless countries & ignited a storm of action from aid agencies, relief organizations, charities and everyday people like you and I who are scrambling to deliver much needed resources to the poorest country in the western hemisphere.

Hands For Haiti is not asking for donations. Hands For Haiti is not asking for clothes. Hands For Haiti is asking the world not to forget that Haiti has been for a long time in dire need of our love and attention. This earthquake has brought Haiti to the front pages but every day prior to this earthquake, the people of Haiti suffer with treatable diseases, struggle with poverty and spend their lives fighting to live.

Hands For Haiti is dedicated to bringing you updates about New York City’s on-going events that aid in the rebuilding of Haiti so that we, as New Yorkers, can contribute what we can. Please visit www.handsforhaiti.us for a short, but growing, list of events that are occurring in the New York City area. These events are aimed at raising aid and resources for the people of Haiti.

If you have an event or know of one, please leave the information below and it will be added to the listing.

Lend your Hands For Haiti.

Image by Jabari Bell

We stocked up on food and energy drinks before heading to DC on Monday. Once we arrived, we drove straight to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, parked the car and took the Metro to the Mall to scope and strategize “the spot” for Tuesday’s inauguration. After we concocted our plan we had an Indian restaurant in Chinatown and swam through a sea of hawkers to see Gran Torino. Except the hawkers weren’t Chinese, they were black.

They were selling everything underneath the sun with Obama’s name and face, including condoms. This inauguration showed DC at its most capitalistic. Hotel tripled, some even quadrupled, their rates. Everything hiked in prices including Metro fare cards and restaurant menus. Even tickets for Jay-Z’s concert ranged from $300-$1,000. What inner city kid who listens to rap can afford that? Jay-Z was obviously milking out white wallets.

We made it back to the Ronald Reagan Airport where we parked our car around 12:30AM, Tuesday. I prepared ham sandwiches in the car while JC made room for blankets and pillows. We slept in the frigid car at the airport and woke up at an ungodly hour, 3:45AM. We motivated to get ready and took the Metro to L’Enfant Plaza to be herded like the masses who were also headed to the Inauguration.

We stood at the Mall for over 7 hours waiting for Obama to make his inaugural speech. I was not a pleasant person. By 4AM I lost all feeling from my knees down and with less than 2 hours of sleep I was running at 50% mental capacity.

It was a long, cruel tease until Obama finally appeared to be sworn in. After being semi-frozen for last 5 hours, I couldn’t care less about all the people they announced whose name wasn’t Barack Obama. All I was thinking was, “Let’s get this shit over with already!” As soon as Obama finished is inaugural speech, the people swarmed out like bees to the nearest Smithsonian Museum to defrost. Everyone sprawled out on the museum floors like dead logs.

Blue Ridge Mountain at Shenendoah Valley

Saturday was all about stuffing. Stuff in my sweaters. Stuff in my jeans. Stuff in my hoodie. Stuff in my socks. Stuff in my pillow. Stuff in my pajamas. Stuff in my bag in the car. Stuff myself in the car. Stuffed in till we reached Shenandoah National Park – a 5+ hour drive from New York City.

JC and I checked in around 9PM and immediately went to find food. Dinner was critical. The pitch dark drive felt like a time warp into history. There was no one ahead of us, no one behind us. The stars were crystal clear. It was the only other flicker of light in the night.

We ended up in Flint Hill - an eerily quiet, small American town. Population – 508.  TGIF was obviously not hidden behind those haystacks. We retraced our route and gave up looking for Friday’s. Instead, we had dinner at a local Chinese restaurant owned by a family of four. The total Chinese population for the weekend in Shenandoah was six, including JC and I.

The next day we made our way up to Skyline Drive, the highest point of the Shenandoah Valley. It was full of quality time, great conversations and an awesome scenic view of the Blue Ridge Mountain. The picture does it no justice or perhaps it’s my lack of photography skills.

We stepped out of the car a couple of times to take in the atmosphere. The air was extremely cold and crisp. We tried to have lunch on top of a rock but the wind wasn’t being too friendly. Afterward, JC napped and I sketched. It has been a while since I did anything artistic so I was a little rough around the edges.

We started to make our way down Skyline Drive as soon as dusk set in. We were afraid to run into Bambi on our way down. We had a couple of close calls but no animals were harmed, including us. After dinner at Stonewall Jackson’s Restaurant, we called it a night and prepared ourselves mentally and physically for the draining experience of attending Obama’s inauguration.

Mosaic of Archangel Gabriel

Forsyth Park Fountain by Dan Lineback

I was looking very forward to going up to Boston last weekend to see JC. But instead, he surprised me with a trip down south to Savannah, Georgia. We flew out from LGA, transferred in Charlotte and landed in Savannah before midnight. Time slows down in Savannah. People talk slower, walk slower and move slower. It wasn’t a problem. Time always moves too quickly when it’s the just the two of us.

We discovered Savannah’s Annual Jazz Festival on their very last day on Forsyth Park. We spent the entire day lying on the grass. JC napped and I watched the kids play. (Not my kids. Other people’s kids.) The next day, we visited the Telfair Museum and took a one-hour cruise along the Savannah River.

Savannah is a very walkable town. Old European houses peaked beautifully behind tall trees planted in parks on every two or three blocks. Every time we came to an intersection, we had to stop and take in the lush beauty. I felt like I had to whisper as I walked down the street.

Jefferson Davis Monument. Image via Wikimedia

Weekdays snail by as I’m wirelessly programmed to perform robotically. School, work, school, work, school, school, work…and study. The weekends preserve my sanity. Unfortunately, it’s always a blur. When Monday comes it’s all a dream. This weekend, I dreamt of going South to Richmond, VA. It was an 8 hour drive where we stopped in Glen Burnie, Maryland to pick up Wu-Tang’s Liquid Swords at Best Buys. But Glen Burnie wouldn’t let us leave. It tried to swallow us with misleading road signs, the nighttime darkness and MapQuest’s hidden agenda, directing us to as many pay tolls as possible before reaching our destination…The Holiday Inn.

Saturday started with brunch at a local Southern pancake house. We worked off my 10 silver dollar pancakes and JC’s hunk of ham by driving to Montgomery Street to see the Confederate statues. Afterwards, we parked the car downtown and strolled around Capitol Hill, visited the Confederate Museum, and made it to the Folk Festival just as it was ending and wrapped up the day with dinner at Red Lobster. The next day, we drove 2 hours to DC and JC sent me off on a 5 hour bus ride, New York bound. And when Monday came, it was back to reality.