Archive for "Travel"
Delray Public Beach
Posted on April 2, 2021 by Ching under Travel.
There were no pro events on Friday, March 20, so Brian and I took advantage of the afternoon to do some sightseeing. However, after seeing how busy the downtown streets were, neither of us wanted to drive. Brian didn’t feel like walking much either but it was the lesser of two evils. I managed to convince him to walk around downtown and walk to the beach with me.
The Delray Public Beach is a straight shot down Atlantic Avenue from our hotel. The walk to the beach is a scenic one that passes by many interesting sights including restaurants, gift shops, and boutique hotels.
Atlantic Avenue crosses Gulf Stream. Here’s a view from the bridge.
This is a view of Deck 84, one of the restaurants that we tried while we were there, from the Atlantic Avenue bridge.
We made it to the beach in about 20 minutes but, as it turned out, hundreds of other people found their way there too.
The beach, though not the most beautiful one we’ve ever set foot on, was quite impressive in its expansiveness. It seemed to go on for miles. It seemed like you could go for a jog in either direction and not reach the end for days.
Neither of us got in the ocean. I dipped my feet in but the water was much colder than I’d like so this was all I could muster.
This is a view of Atlantic Avenue from the Ocean Boulevard intersection.
Gelato-go is one of the fun shops along Atlantic Avenue.
I had the marscapone with nutella. It was amazing.
There was also a Starbucks along the route, which was perfect because my friend Amy Jaramillo wanted a “been there” mug from Florida. The funny thing is, I had a Kansas mug in my carry on for Lauren (McLaughlin) and I totally thought I would be less a mug on the way home but it turns out I still had to transport one back. A Florida one this time.
The trip wasn’t a successful one in terms of pickleball but it was a nice little getaway for me and the hubs. If you don’t consider my lackluster tournament performance, it was a fantastic trip overall. I will write about Deck 84 next time. GNG.
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APP Delray Beach Open
Posted on March 30, 2021 by Ching under Hobbies, Travel.
Here are some of my favorite pictures from APP Delray Beach Open, my first APP Tour tournament. First of all, the location was amazing. The stadium court at the Delray Beach Tennis Center is huge!
I’ve never been to a place quite like this. They spared no expense. Not only did they paint three pickleball courts in the stadium, they also had a couple of digital scoreboards for championship court.
This place is so huge that even with the APP Tour’s 27 pickleball courts, there were still several tennis courts available for the locals.
This is the view from our favorite shady spot at the stadium.
That blue tent on the right is the main streaming booth. Brian actually got to go in and get some live streaming tips from Kyle Selinko.
Here are a few pictures with some of my favorite people.
With Regina Franco, who played with Sarah Ansboury in women’s doubles and Jocelyn Devilliers in mixed doubles.
With Lauren Stratman, who played with Lea Jansen in women’s doubles and Patrick Smith in mixed doubles. Lauren and Pat took second in pro mixed doubles and Lauren also completed in pro singles where she took fourth.
With Patrick Smith (aka the Winter Soldier) and Lauren McLaughlin of Live with Lauren fame. She’s the one who gave him the Winter Soldier nickname.
I got a super awesome Live with Lauren shirt that I can’t wait to wear!
One more pic with Lauren McLaughlin for good measure. We took this after I French-braided her hair.
With Jocelyn’s wife Aleks. They took advantage of spring break by going to Florida a few days ahead of the tournament and turned it into a family vacation.
With Belinda Dettman, photographer extraordinaire, and Dana Joseph, volunteer extraordinaire. Dana gave the best player orientations ever.
This is a picture of Dana giving her player orientation speech. She did all of them.
With my 4.0 35+ mixed partner Brent Huff.
Here’s a photo of the two of us courtesy of Belinda Dettman.
Belinda also took a great pic of Brian and me.
With my fabulous 3.5 35+ women’s doubles partner Kerry Shannon, founder of the Pretty Picklers. She gifted me with these awesome sunglasses which I absolutely loved and wore all weekend long.
This bright pink Pretty Picklers half zip long sleeved shirt was another gift from my new friend Kerry. I felt so official.
With Ken Hermann, CEO & founder of the APP Tour.
With Steve Deakin and Dekel Bar, who played together in men’s doubles.
The guys playing against each other — Patrick and Jocelyn on the left, and Steve and Dekel on the right.
Here’s a picture of Pat getting a butt rub.
The community center people did not like their parking lot being overrun by tournament players.
Here are a few more pictures of the amazing set up at the Delray Beach Tennis Center. They had so much space for everything, including an entire row of vendor tents (after the volunteer and player check in tents and the ticket sales), tournament desk that was centrally located, and food trucks.
Lastly, here’s a picture of me in action courtesy of Belinda Dettman. It’s my first official pickleball tournament photo.
For more about the tournament and how I did, follow Zumba with Ching on BMC. Until next time. GNG.
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Happy Hour at El Camino
Posted on March 29, 2021 by Ching under Food and Drink, Travel.
Brian and I really liked El Camino. It was our first stop when we arrived in Delray Beach because we were both starving from the trip.
El Camino has great happy hour menu but we were so hungry we decided to order off the regular menu instead.
The food was pretty good. I enjoyed my tacos and black beans.
But I enjoyed my blood orange margarita best of all.
Brian enjoyed the hot sauce. Maybe a little too much.
More about our recent trip next time. Until then, GNG.
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Traveling Home
Posted on March 3, 2021 by Ching under Travel.
Pictures on our trip home…
I’m so glad I arranged for a car service because the Uber situation in Phoenix is quite horrendous. Drivers just cancel your trip at random. Our Execucar driver actually arrived at the hotel a half hour early. Thankfully, Karen and I were both ready. We arrived at the Phoenix airport around the time he was supposed to pick us up at the hotel.
I breezed through security since I have TSA pre-check and then waited for Karen to go through the regular line because they wouldn’t let her through with me. The flight from Phoenix to Houston was uneventful but it did include inflight entertainment. Karen and I watched Me Before You on the plane. I’d never seen it before and it was really good. Made me cry – bawl, actually.
We had a long enough layover in Houston for a quick lunch. Went to the food court and had Panda Express and then when I got to our gate, look who I found.
It turns out Pat’s earlier flight got canceled and he got rebooked on our flight.
Here’s a pic of Karen and Pat boarding.
Our plane to Wichita was a really tiny one.
I’m not sure what happened but somehow Karen and I weren’t seated together and Pat ended up in the seat in front of mine.
I’m not a huge fan of having to wear a mask for hours on end but I guess that’s what we have to do now in the age of COVID.
Karen was so ready to de-plane.
Pat’s ride ended up falling through so we gave him a ride home. After taking care of the girls and starting a load of laundry, it was of to Chicken N Pickle — my home away from home — for a flight of margaritas because it happened to be National Margarita Day. It was so popular they ran out of paddles for the paddle flights.
The flavors were (from left) strawberry, jalapeno, peach and regular lime. They were a delicious and satisfying way to end my first out of town tournament weekend. Until next time. GNG.
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Pro Mixed Doubles Day
Posted on March 1, 2021 by Ching under Hobbies, Travel.
Here are some awesome courtside photos from pro mixed doubles day on Sunday.
Kasandra Gehrke and partner John Cincola
Lindsey and Riley Newman
Jocelyn Devilliers and Michelle Esquivel
Ben Johns and Simone Jardim
Kyle Yates and Anna Leigh Waters
Yes, we were really this close to the players.
Matt Wright and Lucy Kovalova
Had so much fun watching pro mixed doubles on Sunday.
We wore our “I Love Lucy” shirts and got a pic the woman herself.
Sunday was so much fun but also bittersweet because it was our last day in Phoenix. The entire weekend was a blast and it was the most amazing first tournament experience ever. I can’t wait until the next one!
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