We always like visiting beaches in the springtime, when it's too early for swimming but perfect for having a beautiful, uncrowded place to hang out. Three other couples were with us on this excellent weekend getaway to Pyeonsan, a small but popular beach on Korea's west coast: Scott & Noelle, Andrew & Dawn, and Brian & Verena. After several grueling, buttock-battering bus rides to our destination, we scored a couple of cheap rooms at a little hotel right on the sand and got down to the serious business of relaxing.
 | Um... We don't think we have to tell you what this is. |
 | That little hotel mentioned above. The second floor was all ours for the weekend. |
 | Brian and Andrew settling into the place. A very rare and breathtaking photo, yes indeed. |
 | Scott waiting for the morning coffee to kick in, while a backlit Andrew strikes a rare pose, smiling for the camera without sticking out his tongue. |
 | Dawn, Brian, and Verena revert to childhood in one very large sandbox. |
 | We're really not sure what Verena's doing in this picture, but she sure looks embarrased to be be caught doing it. |
 | Some guys in suits came by the beach and decided that they weren't overdressed enough to drag us into a very weird Korean "spike-the-volleyball-at-your-buddies'-heads" game. Fun. |
 | After all heads were thoroughly spiked, we moved on to beach soccer. Here's Brian putting the Pee-Wee Herman move on a defender. The Lad from Limerick scored a hat trick, taking MVP honors despite his silly insistence that the sport was really named football. |
 | Scott also had a strong game, contributing greatly to the eventual win... |
 | ...but no thanks, of course, to Rob, who spent most of the game just mugging for the camera. |
 | After our international all-star team finished drubbing the businessmen, we managed to get a shot of all the players and spectators together. |
 | Dawn, it appears, managed to stay chipper until the very end, but here are Andrew and Cheris looking pretty bummed out that we have to leave Pyeonsan in a few minutes, heading back for another week at the office... |