That's What She Said, Installment 4

Stolen from Ken, who found this in an old recipe book:
Lovely. I'm sure lots of people want to attend when you tell them that you're serving balls at your party.

Beach Blanket Bingo (Days 7 and 8) [a.k.a. Don't Mess With Bill]

On our last full day at the beach, we were joined by one more guest - Hurricane Bill. Despite his presence, the weather itself was gorgeous - hot and sunny. If you look closely, you can see David's freakish sunburn he gave himself by using the end of a can of sunscreen (more on that later).

We got in a good deal of beach time with everyone.

While the weather was lovely, the water was not quite the same. A nice temperature, but the waves were huge, and grew larger and larger throughout the day. I wasn't about to brave the waves (hee, that rhymes!) - I was wearing my good sunglasses and didn't want to lose them - but my cousins did.
The waves were supposed to get so big that the umbrella rental people moved their stuff up to the dunes so it wouldn't get swept out to sea. The lifeguards left their stands there too after they went off duty.

On the way off the beach, we ran into some ever-so-helpful ladies at the foot of the ramp. You all know how I love it when strangers point out my sunburns. Well, one of these "nice" ladies did that to my brother on Friday. You know what? If you know me and you are expressing concern (and not just commenting for the hell of it), that’s fine. If you’re a stranger waiting at the bottom of the ramp for your husband to pick you up so you don’t have to walk? No one cares what you think. Luckily, the freakish sunburn I gave myself that day hadn't shown up yet, so she was just "helping" David. She also told my uncle that he should’ve remembered to put up his handicapped hangtag in his car when he parked in the handicapped spot, after he got a ticket for not doing so. And after he said to us, “Damn it. I forgot to put up the handicapped hangtag and I got a ticket.” Which she was close enough to hear. Grr. Making conversation with strangers because you're all standing around? OK. Commenting on things that they can't change? THOR.

After we left the beach, we ran one more errand - to the Seaside Country Store in Fenwick Island, which is about a mile from Niki's parents' beach house.

This is a great little store, home of awesome cheese dip and very cool decorative things. Despite the fact that they had their Halloween stuff out in October, it was a successful trip. My parents got cheese dip, and I got a crock with a flamingo on it and a Christmas present. That is, unless I keep it for myself. I like it too.

After we got back to Bethany, my mother and I went to the Boardwalk to find dinner. It was an eventful trip, full of exotic wildlife. We saw a poodle with parts of its show cut dyed neon pink (unfortunately, no picture - by the time I figured out what it was, it was too late to dig out my camera), as well as a beach penguin.
We wound up at Five Guys, a happy place. Except it was ridiculously crowded. And hot. Really hot. I think that place has a deal with the beach...they keep their restaurant hot so people don't linger.
We finally got served, and took our food back to the house to continue packing.

We packed as much as we could that night, and then sat on the couch and relaxed and watched The West Wing (if you didn't know, earlier this summer I commenced the Official West Wing Rewatch of 2009). Uncle Fred and Aunt Mary Lou also stopped by to say goodbye, after which we went to bed.

The next morning, we got up bright and early to finish packing the car.

Finished around 7:30, we left our home for the week behind.

Our friend Hurricane Bill had wreaked some havoc over the night, so we drove out past the beach to see. The humidity was crazy - you can see how foggy my camera lens was.

You can also see the water that was still pooled on the beach from the overnight storms.

We bid the ocean adieu, and headed westward.

We dropped off the key at the rental place on the way out,
and also stopped for breakfast at the best donut shop ever invented.
Their donuts are amazing. If you've never been, you must go. There's one in Frederick. Come visit me, I'll take you. They make their donuts fresh, and you can pick the glaze and toppings that they put on it. They have suggestions, or you can mix and match. My mother got a Lemonade donut, my father got a Plain Jane,
and I got a Morning Buzz (and also a vanilla latte that I spilled on my flip flop). It was great, a close competitor to my favorite, the O.C. Sand.
We were lucky not to hit much traffic, although we did drive through some rainstorms. Not too bad, though - and we saw this rainbow when we stopped at a produce stand for watermelon.
Finally, we returned home, and Holly was ecstatic to see us. She was so excited she forgot she was supposed to be angry we left. Although if anything she should be grateful I prevented my mother from buying her a Steelers outfit in Cape May.
A few lingering shots of our friend Hurricane Bill, courtesy of the photos my cousin Chris put on his Facebook page. Those are my cousins playing in the monstrous waves. That tall one? He's taller than I am. THAT'S how big those waves are.

Beach Blanket Bingo (Day 6) [a.k.a. Cinderella Story]

Thursday the weather was much nicer. Uncle Ray and I started the day by going to a Par 3 golf course in Rehoboth.

We got there pretty early, and it wasn't too croweded. A very nice lady helped us get settled, and we started on the putting green before moving to the driving range. Uncle Ray is full of golf knowledge, and also tips on how to be cheap. For instance, did you know you shouldn't ever buy new golf balls? They're always lying around golf courses to be taken, just like toilet paper. (To be fair, he was talking about used golf balls you can get in the shop, and not used toilet paper. I hope.)

Then, we went to the actual course. I discovered that I played really well when he told people that I was new to the sport. Not so much when there was no one around, though. And then it got really hot and we both started to suck.

After 9 holes, we headed back to Bethany, stopping at Wawa to get a drink, because it was wretchedly hot.

After cooling off, we headed down to the beach. Everyone else had been there all day, so they had gotten some really nice beach hair, as demonstrated by David in this picture.

After beach time, we showered and headed over to Uncle Fred's to pick up him, Aunt Mary Lou, and Michele for dinner.

We headed out to a restaurant in Rehoboth that Aunt Mary Lou wanted to try. It turned out to be a wine bar that featured local food on Thursdays.

The restaurant was really good - I had a ridiculously good prime rib burger, melon sangria, and a glass of red zinfandel. Other meals in our group included Kobe beef strip steak, veal chop, and tile fish. All were very good - others in the group voted this the best restaurant experience of the trip, and while I didn't agree, I did enjoy the place greatly. I'd highly recommend it to anyone in Rehoboth who didn't want to drive to Bethany to go to Bluecoast. Except for one thing - if you happen to get a salt shaker that is clogged, be forewarned that the tops do not screw off. And definitely don't send your great uncle out to the car for pliers to try to make the salt shaker open, because while the salt shaker will definitely open, you will spend the rest of the meal hoping your salted food doesn't have shards of glass in it.

After dinner, we headed back to Uncle Fred's house to hang out for awhile. There was talk of more Polish Horseshoes, but it was too late and dark to play, so we just talked and drank Firefly and lemonade. And I got divebombed by a cicada as I was leaving...the stupid thing got to second base with me, and chirped happily as I swatted him away. Stupid bug.

Beach Blanket Bingo (Day 5) [a.k.a. Sundae Will Never Be the Same]

Wednesday was an eventful day. Weather forecasts predicted scattered thunderstorms all day, so my mother headed down to the beach early to stake out an area for whatever sunshine there would be. She remarked how much she missed Niki and Derek because Derek helps her take things down to the beach early. She missed them for other reasons too, like because they're awesome, of course.

It was pretty cloudy over the ocean,

but you could see the clearer skies coming from the west.

Unfortunately, that sun didn't last too long - the rain and thunder started by noontime. My mother had already departed to go to lunch with Aunt Mary Lou, but the rest of us were left to our own devices for the afternoon. This explains why I wrote, like, four blog posts that day...we were a little bored. I also finished the fifth season of The Sopranos. A productive afternoon, if I do say so myself. That evening, we headed out to dinner. Pay no attention to my hair; this is what happens about 60% of the time when I let it air dry.

We went to a restaurant about 5 or 10 minutes away called the Fat Tuna Grill. We've been there before, but it had been a few years.

The food was very good - I got penne (or peenie, as my Uncle Ray pronounces it) with pesto, sundried tomatoes, shrimp, and scallops, which gave me enough for lunch leftovers. After dinner, we headed down to the boardwalk again.

We ran into Maura and Justin, who had escaped their parents and the rest of the entourage at Grotto Pizza to say hello.

And we succeeded in locating different types of ice cream. David got custard, my dad got Dippin' Dots,

and my mother and I went to Candy Kitchen. Sadly, they didn't have vanilla ice cream, so she bought peanut butter fudge instead. But I visited the Make-Your-Own-Sundae bar, the happiest place on the beach. I didn't make it for lunch, Niki, but at least I made it for dessert! We missed you!

There were a number of other sights on the Boardwalk that night, including multicolored hermit crabs,

and multicolored shoes.

The pending thunderstorm combined with the sunset to create some very pretty multicolored clouds, too.

Unfortunately, it started to storm soon after David found those pretty shoes in that store, so we headed back to the house to watch Role Models, a cinematic masterpiece if there ever was one.

Beach Blanket Bingo (Day 4) [a.k.a. Ferry Cross the Mersey]

On Tuesday, we got up bright and early and headed to Cape May, NJ to explore. To get there, we had to drive up to Lewes

to get tickets for the ferry.

We were a little early, so we wandered outside on the patio, looking at jellyfish.

As it got closer to boarding time, we got in line in what looked like an airport hallway. There were tons of people around, including this gentleman with a tattoo my mother now says she wants.

There was also a creepy pirate thing visible from the window, waving to passengers and directing the boarding cars. It reminded me of Keyote, so I was sure to watch my shoes in case it came inside.

The ferry itself was rather nice, with inside and outside seating

and an area to purchase refreshments.

After the 80 minute trip, we arrived at Cape May, and were greeted by their welcoming committee (Taryn - bird alert!).

A shuttle bus took us to downtown Cape May, where there was a cute little shopping mall area.

We stopped for lunch at the Cape May Fish Market, where I had the world's largest Cobb salad. We sat on the patio, which was lovely except for the two seagulls that decided to get into a rumble over a french fry right near us. Vile little creatures.

There was a horribly named but otherwise nice gift shop next to the restaurant selling t-shirts, hats, etc. They had a window display that featured this fascinating device. I looked like Elaine in the episode of Seinfeld where she stops having sex and gets really stupid, and is absolutely enthralled by a spinning tire display outside of a car repair shop. Just watch and tell me you aren't enthralled too! (Apologies for the sideways video.)

After lunch, we wandered down to the beach, which was very crowded.

Also, I bought a hat.

We also saw a number of the Victorian houses and buildings for which the town is famous.

We also saw some cops giving people parking tickets.

We wandered around the shops a bit more, including a store selling Vera Bradley merchandise, a sewing store, an ice cream parlor, and a store selling dog-related merchandise, where my mother bought Cairn Terrier socks. After such a strenuous day, we boarded the shuttle bus back to the ferry.

The ferry ride back was a bit more eventful than the ride out. First of all, I saw a lady carrying the exact bag I've been coveting at Kate Spade for years. I have a tote in this same pattern, but it's not the same.

There were also a number of...shall we say...irate children on board the ferry. My mother does not care for screaming children - all of her friends take great joy in seeing how annoyed she gets when there are screaming children in church - so of course they all decided to sit near us. I got a picture of her with one of them in the background as we were exiting the ferry. See how excited she looks?

After we got back to Bethany, we went to one of my favorite restaurants.

Some of us relaxed on the porch with glasses of wine while we were waiting for a table,

and others

took pictures of whatever random objects they could find.

These are the same people who conspired to torture the waitress by interrogating her when she brought the check (which, thankfully, they were talked out of).

After dinner, we returned home for the evening to entertain visitors and then go to bed to rest up for a busy day of beachgoing on Wednesday.