We’ve been here before. In fact every summer for the past eight years. Returning to the same place every year creates traditions, favorites and must-dos.
My must-do is a surrey bike ride along the beach, on the boardwalk, winding our way through nearby neighborhoods and dreaming of our future beach home.

“Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.”
– Benjamin Franklin
We all need one. Someone that will have our back, always, whose loyalty is unwavering. A friend, a sidekick. Traditionally sidekick has a negative connotation, someone that is secondary to the hero. But what is so important about a sidekick is that they complement their hero perfectly. Yin yang, balance. If the hero is brawn the sidekick is brains, if the hero is dreamy the sidekick is reality, if the hero is brooding the sidekick is humor. We all need a sidekick, someone that will laugh at our jokes on queue but also do the exact opposite of what we think we need, balancing us perfectly.
“She wasn’t doing a thing that I could see, except standing there leaning on the balcony railing, holding the universe together.”
J.D. Salinger, A Girl I Knew
Holding my universe together…
Our trip to Sonoma earlier this year has had the unfortunate effect of turning “winery” into a bad word. So the word was not uttered when we decided to enjoy a picnic on a beautiful Saturday afternoon.

Penny mini-golfing, 2013
Every year the National Building Museum features a temporary exhibit that corresponds with the summer months. In the past two years they have created incredible indoor mini golf courses, each hole unique and inventive designed by different area architects, designers and builders.
This year they are featuring “The BIG Maze.” The Museum, in partnership with BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group, will create a never-before-seen large-scale maze for the Museum’s historic home. Soaring approximately 18 feet high and measuring 60 feet by 60 feet, the maple plywood structure will boast a series of twists and turns for visitors to weave through and explore. – National Building Museum website, August 2014
Tigger: Come on, Rabbit. Let’s you and me bounce, huh?
Rabbit: Good heavens! M-m-m-me bounce?
Tigger: Why, certainly! And look, you’ve got the feet for it.
Rabbit: I have?
Tigger: Sure! Come on, try it! It makes ya feel just grrreat!