Carter Winter Weekend, Club Med, Port St. Lucie, FL

I just got back from a great weekend at Port St. Lucie, FL at Club Med. This was a really great event that President and Mrs. Carter hold every year. There was a great crowd of interesting people. I continue to be impressed with President and Mrs. Carter and all of the work they do for the world. He has so much integrity, honor and courage.

While the weather was not as warm, or as dry, as I would have liked, I did get to spend one afternoon sailing on a Hobie Cat -- first time in years. It was a great afternoon. Here's "Steven Seagull" that hangs out by the sailing dock:



My favorite panel was on the Panama Canal. This session was on Friday night and featured The Honorable Samuel Lewis, former VP and Foreign Minister of Panama (and son of the Panamanian Ambassador to the US when Carter was President), Mr. Frank Moore (former Assistan to President Carter for Congressional Relations, aka Chief Lobbyist) and Ambassador Ambler Moss, former Ambassador to Panama. Below, Carter comments on the panel, which he called the most thorough briefing ever on the Panama Canal:

Puntarenas, Costa Rica

Presidents' Day weekend means it was time to get out of town for the long weekend! This year, Jonathan, Jeanene and I flew out of a snowy Atlanta (hours delayed followed by hours in the de-icing line) to fly to Costa Rica. It was my first trip to Central America.

Luckily, our driver, Mr. Dimas, was waiting for us at the airport when we arrived in the middle of the night to drive us for the hour and fifteen minute trip from San Jose to Puntarenas.

Our all-inclusive resort was the Doubletree Punterenas. It was a great property on a black sand beach. The ocean water was warm, the pools were beautiful, and I thought the food was particularly good for an all-inclusive resort.

Views of the pool, the beach, and the resort: 

One of the highlights of the trip was Sunday night's sunset. It was truly one of the more amazing sunsets I have ever seen. Unfortunately, the camera does not do it justice. But here's a try:

Disneyland!

Today was my first trip to Disneyland! I was out in L.A. visiting my friend Corey. It's been rainy the whole time I've been here, and I was ready for Disneyland in the rain. It turned out to be the perfect day, however. The threat of rain kept the crowds away, and it didn't rain until we were leaving the park.

Here I am with Corey in front of the Castle:

Riding Space Mountain:

Mickey and Minnie:

Indian Beach, NC

Starting the year off as I have the last several years -- Indian Beach, NC.

2009: Not a bad travel year...

34 days out of the country
100 days outside of Atlanta. No wonder I feel like I don't really live there sometimes.

Howth, Ireland

After a full Irish breakfast at Central Hotel, mom, dad and I walked to Pearse Station to take the DART to Howth. Only about a half hour away by train, Howth was a world away from the bustling city of Dublin.

Once we got arrived at the picturesque fishing village, we turned left out of the station, then another left down to the lighthouse. Along the way were lots of fresh seafood markets and restaurants. Seals clamored for food along the sea wall, as tourists fed them from the markets's catch.




Walking by the water, we got really cold! We journeyed back inward, to Howth Village, where we stopped for lunch at Abbey Tavern, named after the ruins of the old Abbey nearby.

The Abbey:


The Abbey Tavern:


Mom and Dad in the Abbey Tavern:

After warming up by the fire and enjoying our lunch, we hiked along the side of the coast along the cliffs. I wanted to see the cliffs, but I also wanted to see the former home of W.B. Yeats:

Dad at Yeats' house:


The views along the cliffs:
Then the fog started really rolling in:



Mom and Dad along the cliffs:


After walking back down to the sea, dad took this picture of me and mom:



After another visit to warm up again in Abbey Tavern, we took the train back to Dublin City, where we decided to return to The Bankers for our last night's Irish dinner:

Dublin, Ireland

Mom, Dad, and I left Thanksgiving Day for Dublin. It was their first time in Ireland. We landed early in the morning, and got to the hotel by 8:00 am. The hotel was the Central Hotel, near the Temple Bar area of Dublin.

As I suspected, we were not able to check in so early. We checked our bags as we were told to come back at noon to see if a room was ready. In the meantime, we walked down Exchequer Street to Grafton Street, home of Dublin's finest shopping. The Christmas lights were on, and even though it was 8:00 am, the sun was not up yet.



We saw the statue of Molly Malone, then headed down Grafton to St. Stephen's Green Shopping Center, where mom did some "Black Friday" shopping.



On the Green:



Afterwards, we walked back up Grafton to Trinity College, where I finally saw the Book of Kells--something I had been wanting to do for a long time. The Book of Kells dates back to 800 A.D. Celtic monks made elaborate illustrations of the Four Gospels. The Trinity College Library displays two Gospels at a time-- one to show the art, and the other to show the text. The art page displayed was an illustration of St. John, while the text displayed was the geneaology of Jesus from the Gospel of Matthew. Unfortunately, I couldn't take pictures inside, but I did get this picture outside:



Other scenes from Trinity College:





After a full cold morning, we finally checked into our hotel. The good news was we were able to get in at noon. The bad news was the hotel turns off the heat in the rooms for part of the day! As mama said, they didn't believe in heat or lights. (There were only a few table lamps in the room.)

After attempting to eat lunch at The Stag's Head, we moved down the street to The Bankers as the Stag's Head was out of Fish & Chips. The Bankers turned out to be a great choice, however.

The family at The Bankers (16 Trinity Street):



And our lunch:



After lunch, we walked to the Dublin Castle, then St. James Gate and the Guinness Storehouse, where I learned how to make the perfect pour.



That night, we walked around the city checking out the pubs and looking for a place to eat. In the end, we settled on a bottle of wine and take out pizza from Apache Pizza -- not bad.

Bangkok

On Sunday, I spent the day enjoying Bangkok. After a great breakfast at the Intercontinental, we headed to the Grand Palace. Some scenes from the Grand Palace:

After the Grand Palace, we went to Wat Pho, where we saw the famous Reclining Buddha.



To get to the Grand Palace and Wat Pho, we took the SkyTrain from our hotel to Saphan Taksin Station, and rode the river taxi up the Chao Phraya river. There were some great views from the river taxi as well:

Floating Market in Ratchaburi, Thailand

On Saturday, November 21, we visited the Floating Market in Ratchaburi, Thailand. We traveled for an hour and fifteen minutes from Bangkok, along the way passing the memorial to the original "Siamese Twins," Chang and Eng Bunker, and also crossed over the River Kwai.

We arrived at a place where we took boats on the canals to the floating market. The boat ride there was a highlight of the trip!

We saw some great sights along the way:





When we got to the floating market, the sights were equally as interesting:

I bought some fruit at the floating market, but also bought one of my all time favorite desserts: mango and sticky rice.