Benihana Surf Co.

As one chapter of my life comes to and end, at least my surfing life, so does this Blog "Benihana Surf Co." I have created a new blog that I will post pictures and stories on from now on. This blog will stay up, but will no longer be updated. My new blog is: http://adventuresofbenihana.blogspot.com/. Save it as a favorite! Tell your friends!

Over Labor-Day weekend my friends Aaron, Carly, Holly and Lindsay took a 3-day weekend trip to Pennsylvania, visitin the cities of Philadelphia, Intercourse, Lancaster, Gettysburg and Hershey. Saturday morning Carly, Holly, Linsday and I left Boston around 6am Saturday morning and arrived in Philadephia around 11am. We met Aaron, who drove up from Washington DC, downtown in the Historical District. Surprisingly there didn't seem to be many people in Philadelphia, is seemed really quiet. We spent the better part of the day popping in and out of local museums, seeing Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, Carpenter Hall (where the 1st continental congress met), the location of Benjamin Franklin home, and Elfreth's Ally (America's oldest residential street). We also had great Phili-Cheese steak sandwiches on South Street. Later that evening we drove up to Trenton, New Jersy and stayed in a Marriot Hotel just near the Capital. Sunday morning we attended church at a small ward just west of Philadelphia. After that we took off in search of Amish Country and found our way to Intercourse, PA. All the shops were closed in observance of the Sabbath, but we did see a lot of Amish families on their way home from church. We drove around for a couple hours, stopping and taking pictures along the way. Finally, we decided to take off to our final destination for the day: Gettysburg. It was early evening by the time we arrived and we were thrilled when we found out that our motel was not only right on the main street, but it was just across the street from the Soldiers Memorial Cemetary where many of the US soldiers died during the 3-day battle in the Civil War that took place there. We parked, checked into our motel and took off exploring the city. We walked all over Gettysburg, stood in the place were Abraham Lincoln gave his famous Gettysburg Address, saw monument after monument and enjoyed the quiet sunset over the battlefield. After it got dark we got our tickets for a candle-light walking ghost tour of Gettysburg. We met at 9pm right outside a local gift shop and our group took off into the night, hearing spooky stories of ghosts from the civil war who still are seen from time to time on quiet night. We also learned a lot of history about the war. For example, 51,000 soldiers were killed in the battle of Gettysburg, along with 25,000 horses, which were burnt in large piles right by our hotel. At the end of the tour we found out that our motel was the most haunted motel in Gettysburg. Needless to say we had an awesome time! The next day we drove up to Hershey, PA where the Hershey Company was founded. Hershey Chocolate World was great. There was lots of free stuff to do and even free chocolate samples. It was a great way to end the weekend! Here's some pics:

This past Friday I got to go Palmyra, NY with a group from my ward. We drove through western Massachusettes and through northern New York. Since we didn't leave until after 6pm it was pretty late when we arrived at the campground. It took a while to figure out tents and sleeping arrangements and everyone was too excited to really sleep. Instead we all stayed up pretty late talking and laughing. In the morning we had an awesome breakfast and played some frisbee before we left. Once we got back on the road our Church History experience really began. We first drove to the Smith Farm, where the Sacred Grove is located. We got to see both the Smith Home, Alvin Smith's home, which the family later moved into and we got to walk around the Sacred Grove. It was wonderful to see, in person, the place where Joseph Smith lived and where the First Vision occured. I think it has deepened my appreciation for the history of the Restoration. Later in the day we also went to Fayette and see the Whitmer Farm where the church was organized on April 6, 1830. It was also at the Whitmer Farm that Joseph Smith completed translation of the Book of Mormon. Finally, we went to Hill Camorah and saw the Book of Mormon Pagent. I feel really lucky to have had the opportunity to go to Palmyra this weekend. It was really fun but it was also a really spiritual experience. Here are a few pics, I'm also going to add another photo album. Enjoy!

I'm back! After spending 6 weeks in Europe I was ready to come home for the summer. Studying in Prague was a great experience, I learned a lot about international law and how the US fits into the international scene. I learned to appreciate some things and I also became aware of things that set the US apart from the rest of the world and some things we could do better. It was good to take a step back and look at the US legal system from an outsiders point of view. I also enjoyed traveling on the weekends. I think I did just about everything I could do in the time I was there. In each country there was new things to explore. For example, in Budapest there are public bath houses, or pools, everywhere. They were beautifully constructed with marble pillars and statues everywhere. Every place we travelled the food was different, which meant we had to explore the restaurants. There were lots of beer gardens in Germany, but they also served delicious food as well. My favorite thing, however, was the Gelato. There was one ice cream shop in Old Square Prague where I got the best gelato I ever tasted. All these experiences were inhanced by the wonderful friendships I made while I was there. I'm really lucky to have had this experience. Plus now I can say I surfed in Germany, how many people can say that? Here's a few pics, I'm also going to add a new photo album with more. Enjoy!