This month’s chica check-in is a special one, sending a shout out to all the chicas on the East coast of the United States. I recently went to a wedding in Annapolis and a few of our alumni were kind enough to fit me into their busy schedules to share old memories, make new ones, and plan some future visits back to Nicaragua with Chica Brava!
The wedding I attended was that of an old childhood friend, held at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Washington D.C was the most affordable location to fly into, and knowing we have some surfistas in the area, I shouted out to Mary Catherine (Jan, 2014) and Nicky (March, 2013), both of whom gave me a little peek into the Capitol city and caught me up on life.
Mary Catherine works at U.S News & World Report in Georgetown, right near the Potomac River, next to a great Yoga Studio called Core Power Yoga and a killer little coffee shop Baked and Wired, that has some of the best coffee and cupcakes D.C has to offer. She keeps her paddle board at a boathouse nearby and charges the Potomac River as soon as the first spring weather hits. No wonder she’s got a cupboard full of Paddle board race meddles and trophies. Mary Catherine turned me on to some other gems of the city, including Sweet Greens, which is a make-your-own salad spot franchise that is perfect for a picnic lunch. Between work, paddle boarding and yoga, this girl’s manages to squeeze in a solid social schedule complete with weekend travel to places like Austin and New Orleans. It was wonderful to catch up with this chica, and we can’t wait for her to squeeze another trip to Chica Brava to balance out her busy life with some surf and play!
Nicky, who also resides in D.C, is perhaps one of the funniest chicas I’ve met in my time here, in fact all I remember of the week she came is laughing hysterically nearly the entire time. Catching up with her over lunch was no different; she’s still a closet comedian. But as her day job, she works in the Unions near Farragut North (next to Washington square), and took me to a great Tapas restaurant nearby for lunch. We had a divine grapefruit sangria, dates wrapped in bacon, lamb skewers, kale and goat cheese salad, and delicious Spanish tortilla. Hands down the best meal I had during my ten-day trip to the states. Since Chica Brava, Nicky has since been to both Guatemala and El Salvador on surf trips, and looks forward to coming back to Nica, but is also thinking she should challenge herself to venture out and go somewhere besides Central America. I say just come back, CHICA, can’t wait to see you back down here soon.
As part of my adventure to the states I took a little detour from D.C and Annapolis down to South Carolina to visit a surf buddy of mine and take a little mini-trek by kayak to an island outside of Charleston, with long boards in tow. Before embarking on the journey I got to hang out with Jeanine, a Chica Brava who attended in January of this year and is coming back in May! I got to meet her two sweet boys, be introduced to the famous franchise ‘chick-fillet’ and visit a humungous, majestic oak tree on John’s island outside of Charleston. Jeanine is an entrepreneur who started her own soap and skin care line about nine years ago, called the ‘Charleston Soap Chef’. She sent me home with some goodies for the staff that everyone was stoked on. I’m especially keen on the mint julep lip scrub and lip balm, perfect healing love for the lips after a day in the surf and sun!
Needles to say it was a wonderful vacation, and checking in with each of these ladies was definitely a highlight! Can’t wait to see them back here at Chica Brava sooner than later, along with all the other amazing CHICAS who we have had the honor of hosting in past years…get your booties back here ladies, memories are meant to be built upon!
Big Aloha,
Noelani
Camp Operations Manager
