nathan jara

Summer vacation this year afforded me the opportunity to travel to the sunny shores of Corolla, located in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Vacationing with family, both immediate and extended, provided for a great week of visiting, eating, napping, sunning, reading, sanding, ocean-ing, and general beach bumming. Corolla and the Outer Banks are a beautiful part of the Atlantic shoreline. The beach has certainly become my favorite vacation spot, well, except for maybe that time I went to Italy ; )

In addition to lots of time with my feet in the sand, we stopped in Williamsburg, Virginia and visited the Colonial Williamsburg area. I was able to take a stroll through the colonial town and really enjoyed seeing a glimpse into the rich heritage of our American ancestors. It’s amazing how times have changed. Another exciting aspect for me during the trip was it gave me a great excuse to use my new digital SLR camera, a Canon Rebel T3i. The camera was a ton of fun to play with, hence the pictures below. Check out more of my photos from the beach and Williamsburg on Picasa.

Sand dunes of Corolla

Dragonfly

Ocean evening

Colonial Williamsburg

Vacation. Yes, vacation. This past week I was on vacation. And a glorious one it was. A handful of my best friends and I travelled to the Outer Banks in North Carolina for a week of sand, sun and fun. It was my first time in the Outer Banks and I had a blast. Renting a house near the beach I spent the majority of my time making the tough decisions in life, such as, should I read some more of my book? maybe have a snack? boogie-boarding? no, I think it might be time for a nap. These were the most frequent dilemmas I faced while taking in the bright sun and ocean breeze. North Carolina is a beautiful area. Mostly just beach, beach, and more beach, which was fine with me. I was able to relax, de-stress, and not think about work once. I also indulged in some fantastic meals prepared by my 5-star chef friends :)

We enjoyed five picture perfect days at the beach … until … he came. Yes, the hurricane named Earl. He swept in andpushed us off the beach two days before we were ready. It was an interesting experience really. I’ve never been affected this much by weather, growing up in Pennsylvania. We found ourselves glued to The Weather Channel several times during the week and were finally forced to evacuate Thursday morning before the storm hit that night. What a bummer. I admit that I did fall into a beach depression for some time, but we ventured forward determined not to let Earl get the best of us.

Leaving the Outer Banks, we spent some time in the Washington D.C. area and visited Georgetown for an evening. The following day we turned our vegetable-like vacation into an educational one and drove to Mount Vernon, the old home of the original “G Dubya.” We took a tour of George Washington’s old mansion and walked some of his enormous estate. I tried to place myself back in that time period and was amazed to think how much life has changed since Washington was the man of the hour. From Mount Vernon, we continued our hop up the east coast and made a final stop at the Inner Harbor area of Baltimore, Maryland. A good dinner and beach reminiscing at the local Hard Rock Cafe prepared us for our final trip back home to the ‘burgh. While I’m still not giving up my grudge against Earl, I had an awesome time this past week. It was a trip I’ll never forget; a gratuitous amount of fun, really ;)

This past weekend, I attended for the third year in a row the World Golf Championships Bridgestone Invitational in Akron, Ohio. The PGA Tour event takes place at Firestone Country Club every year. This year, Hunter Mahan was awarded the cup with his twelve under par championship performance. I walked the course during the Saturday round of competition. The tournament was a great time once again this year. It’s so cool to go and see the pros in person. Every time I get the chance to see a live event, I’m continually impressed with how easy these guys make it look. Driving the ball, irons, chipping and putting look so effortless, then I go out on the course and find a different result :P Just seeing the golf course is fun too. The fairways and greens are so well manicured and maintained providing a beautiful backdrop to the golfing. Now I know that there aren’t too many people that get excited about watching golf, but I really think that if you haven’t been to a golf tournament in person, you’d enjoy it more than you think.

Over this past weekend, I was blessed to have the opportunity to visit for the first time, our nation’s capital, Washington D.C.. Thanks to a handful of my best friends, I was able to experience something I’ve been wanting to do for many years.

My weekend began on Saturday, July 3rd, with my first stop in Arlington National Cemetery. This was such an overwhelming place. I’ve always known that there would be many, many tomb stones, but I didn’t believe there were as many as I actually saw. It  seemed that no matter which direction you turned, the stones looked to go on forever. Walking through the cemetery I tried to put myself in the shoes of the family members who come to visit their fathers, mothers, aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, sons and daughters. On several occasions I saw families doing just that. I also made the walk around to section 60 of the cemetery which is now the eternal earthly home of the men and women that have given the ultimate price in Iraq and the Middle East. It was very strange to walk by these stones with dates as recent as June 2010. It boggled my mind to think about it.

Another impressive stop within Arlington was the visit to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. This memorial was constructed in honor of all the servicemen who gave their lives and have never been identified. The tomb is guarded 24 hours a day 7 days a week by a U.S. Infantry soldier. In the tradition of the 21 Gun Salute, the soldier takes 21 steps, holds for 21 seconds, and returns in the same manner back and forth in front of the tomb. During the summer months, the guard is relieved of his duty every half hour, every hour during winter months. While visiting the tomb, I was able to experience this changing of the guard. The ceremony was impressive, regal, humbling; it can only be seen rather than described.

After my visit to Arlington, we took the metro further into D.C. and visited the Thomas Jefferson Library at the Library of Congress. This sight was one I was very surprised to see. I didn’t really know what to expect, but I was certainly very impressed when we walked into the main hall of the Library. The interior was very ornately decorated with gold flourishing details, marble floors, stairs, and sculptures. The architecture reminded me most of an Italian Renaissance style. Frescos and paintings also adorned the walls and ceilings. In what seemed to me to be the heart of the library, was the Reading Room. This room, which is only accessible with special permission, was a large circular room with desks oriented in multiple rows going around the circular room. The Reading Room was also exquisitely decorated and produced a very intellectual and respect demanding persona. This room was very much one of my favorite stops in the Library. Across the street from the Library I visited the U.S. Senate building. It was neat to see the place where our elected officials have been meeting to make the decisions that affect us all. And as one who enjoys architecture, the U.S. Senate is another beautifully architected building, also emitting the Roman/Italian style.

The following day, Sunday, July 4th, we first spent a few hours at the Natural History Museum within the Smithsonian Institute. Dinosaurs, octopus, giant squid, whales, dolphins, sharks, rhinocerous and elephants galore. After leaving the Smithsonian, we came outside on the sidewalk along Constitution Avenue to find the tail end of the Washington D.C. Fourth of July parade. None of us had really planned on watching the parade, but it definitely seemed to stop us in our tracks that day. Just seeing the bands come by playing patriotic tunes, kids and adults alike in Uncle Sam hats and red, white, and blue, and everyone being joyful in the hot July sun, seemed to make the parade become something we all had to be a part of on this Independence Day.

Further down the street, I made sure to stop at the National Gallery of Art. I very much enjoyed the art gallery and was excited to see many oil paintings, drawings, and photographs, include paintings by Matisse, Picasso, Degas, and Leonardo DaVinci. On my next trip to D.C., I would like to visit the many other art galleries in the area along with more of the Smithsonian museums.

A long trek through the mall and around the Tidal Basin brought us to my first major memorial stop, the Thomas Jefferson memorial. This memorial is definitely one of my favorites. The openness and simplicity of the structure gives it a very comfortable feeling, one that I thought was most inviting compared to the other memorials. I think this was evident in the way that many of the visitors that were there take time to sit on the marble floor of the memorial and just take in their surroundings. The larger than life size statue of Thomas Jefferson stands prominent in the center of the circular memorial surrounded by four of Jefferson’s most significant writings. This memorial certainly explains and projects the respect and honor due to a man that without his work and dedication, our great nation may not exist as we know it today.

With the sun beginning to set, we decided to take our place in the National Mall to prepare for the Independence Day fireworks. We found a spot and camped out listening to the sounds of the Navy Concert Band playing American tunes. Thinking back, this experience was one that I’ll never forget. As we sat and talked, the crowd of thousands continued to gather around us under the Washington Monument. It truly was awesome to see so many Americans gather together in this historic place to celebrate the Fourth of July. Kids playing soccer, people throwing frisbee, friends playing volleyball, and families just talking, chatting, and laughing together in every direction. The scene made me think how those that came before me really did do everything they did so that I could have this. That is a very awesome thought.

As the sun finally fell below the horizon, the lights and colors lit up the sky. We sat and watched the fireworks shimmer over the Reflecting Pool. The show ended with a grand fireworks finale. Afterward, we walked through the streets of D.C. with thousands of our closest friends back to the metro, stopping along the way to take a peek at the White House.

On Monday, July 5th, we made our final trip on the metro back into town to visit the rest of the memorials. We first visited the World War II Memorial. This grand memorial gives honor to all soldiers of the second world war by noting those who served in both the Atlantic and Pacific campaigns. The first of my two favorite features of this memorial was the relief sculptures along the outside walls of the space depicting scenes from various WWII battles. The second was the wall of stars. This arced wall situated at the center of the memorial housed over 4,000 stars. Each one of these stars honors 100 American soldiers who died in the war. This fact leaves one speechless.

Next I visited the Korean War memorial. My favorite aspect of this memorial was the wall which lines the side of the monument. On this wall were ghost-like etchings depicting men, women, and scenes during the time of the war. We stopped at the famous Lincoln Memorial next at the end of the Reflecting Pool. As I grew to know from seeing the other buildings and memorials around the capital, the massive scale of the Lincoln Memorial was no different. A grand statue of Honest Abe placed in the center of the memorial depicts the 16th President of the United States sitting humbly in a mighty chair. On the walls to either side of him are etched his two inaugural addresses. My final stop was the Vietnam Memorial. This simple memorial is definitely most powerful. The stone wall constructed in the shape of a ‘v’ is inscribed with the names of the thousands of casualties from the Vietnam conflict. Walking past these thousands of names demanded my reflection upon what these people did for our country.

My first trip to Washington D.C. is one that I’ll never forget. I learned a lot and gained a refreshed respect and love for my country. And I have to thank Ashely, Steve, Sam, Turbo, Aunt Carol and Uncle Carl for an awesome weekend :) You can find more pictures from my weekend in my online album.

Well, I can officially say that I’ve been out west. With my trip to California finishing up yesterday morning, I can also say I really enjoyed visiting the hometown of the Governator. California is certainly a beautiful state. We had fantastic weather all weekend. Clear blue skies and bright California sun.

I really grew to like both San Francisco and the San Jose area. San Francisco is a very rich city culturally. Many different nationalities and cultures come together to form an eclectic mix. From the architecture and make up of the city, you can tell it has been molded by many different backgrounds. Walking through the city, you can see traditional church architecture, modern building structures, graffiti, and contemporary art. Another thing I found interesting, was the layout of the city itself. It’s structured in a very rigid grid pattern. Very different from Pittsburgh of course :) San Jose was great too; it felt very similar to San Francisco, but less city like. It was more town-ish. Both cities feel very new. Which makes sense, seeing as California is one of the youngest parts of the country.

Oh yeah, I did go to a conference while I was there :) The jQuery conference was a lot of fun. We learned about many new concepts and techniques being used in contemporary web development. Several heroes of the web development community were present, which lended to some great discussion and geeky humor :) The time spent was well worth it and I would definitely attend again. Especially if it’s in California.