Liberty Lacrosse Blog, Day 5, Part 2

Day 5, Part 2: Friday, January 13, 2017

After I had lunch, I packed up a bag and biked over to the beach. The girls were about 20 minutes into their workout on the beach with Karyl when I got there. I set my stuff done and went for a 3.1 mile run around the neighborhood. The temperature was in the mid 70s, so it was a bit toasty. I got in two runs today, which was good.

As I made my way back to the beach, I could hear the girls from a quarter mile away. Once I got back, I saw that they were taking an “ice bath” in the 56-degree waters of the Atlantic Ocean. They began chanting “Bill, Bill, Bill”, encouraging me to go in the ocean. I had no issues with this, as this would definitely cool me down. Before hitting the water, I dropped my sunglasses, and take a dive into the water without barely feeling it.

The water was quite chilly, but it did feel good. After swimming around for a bit, I got out and went to grab a frisbee, the boogie board, and a football. Unfortunately, the tide was very low, which was not ideal for boogie boarding. The girls went looking for shells, and we happened to see dolphins traveling, jumping out of the water not far from the shore.

The rest of the time at the beach was spent laying out and reading the Bible. The coaches and staff all had a book or reading material in hand, making for a relaxing afternoon. A little after four, I biked back to the house, changed, and packed up more books to meet the girls up at the Starbucks in Freshfields Village.

When I got up there, I went into the sporting goods store. Some of the girls were in there, and Victoria (Tori) got good news that she passed her teaching exam. At the store, the girls tried to talk me into buying a lacrosse stick. I'm certainly going to need some lacrosse lessons this spring.

I got a coffee from Starbucks and some stuff from Harris Teeter and just hung out with the girls, as they snacked on chips and guacamole, sushi, and other lighter snacks. Dinner was set for 7 p.m., so Abby, Paige, and I began to ride back at about 6:25. It was a challenging ride, with very little light (phone lights). It was a fun trip home, as I became the third Britton for the night.

We stopped half way to the house to look at a perfectly clear, starry sky. It was the first time I had seen the stars that clear in a while. We dodged cars and eventually made it back to the house. Lindsey, Grace, and Sarah had quite the run-in on the way back, as a deer came out of the woods and jumped over Grace’s back bike tire.

When we got to the house, I played some doubles ping pong with Katherine, Nina, and Lexi. Lindsey, Michaela, and Kayla eventually came down to play before dinner was served.

The dinner consisted of pasta, meatballs, and salad, with chocolate chip cookies and ice cream for dessert. Following dinner, the coaches reviewed the week with the girls, and I stuck around to soak in some lacrosse knowledge. They also handed out schedules for the spring.

We heard roars coming from downstairs from the doubles ping pong battles between Joey and Karyl and Danny and Logan. Eventually, I got into the mix and played doubles matches with Logan against Danny and Karyl.

Currently, we are just sitting around and talking around the fire. I’ve packed most of my stuff, as we’ll be leaving around 6:30 a.m.

Overall, this has been such a great trip. Spending five days in houses with this team has been a blast. I’ve gotten to know the staff and girls and look forward to spending the spring with them.