Two Beach Days (and...food porn)

 Hey y'all,

It is Thursday, the day before the last day, and there's stuff to catch up on. 

Let's start with yesterday morning when I hit the local (it's .3 of a mile) donut joint, the Fractured Prune (is that really a good name for anything?!?!?).  Here's the photo of the box:

And then to the beach. 

It was like this:

(is dad having fun there? One wonders)

As we sat there a woman wondered in with her young son and sat down in front of us.  She was soon followed by what my mother would have called the mongrel horde (a play on Mongol, but maybe just a spoonerism).  I could not keep track of exactly how many there were (8? 10?) but they were with the first woman and child.  Here is why it was notable: half of them had red hair.  I kid you not.  That gene runs strong in their family (in Star Wars voice).  The second thing was the two "moms" were participating in a "I want to be the tattooed lady at the fair" competition. :). Both had leg sleeves.  Both had arm sleeves, but the one seemed to have tats from ankle to neck on the one side.  Not surprisingly, when what I took as their mom showed up, the last to arrive, she had a couple smaller tats on her.  The ink industry did well from that group. 

Then back to the cottage for rest and showers before dinner. 

BTW, coming back from the donut shop I heard the neighbor on his porch ranting about downtrodden white men.  Part of the rant started "ever since Obama came and stirred things up..."  I hurried inside, knowing we weren't going to be besties.  :)

K asked for a place on the water one night for dinner and this was it.  The Lighthouse was delightful, starting with this view. 

And here's the food:

This was the empanada app.  They were a bit spicy.  We discussed whether the pastry was quite right, but...

I had the filet (and so did EH) that was covered with scallion butter.  

K had the pork chop, which she really liked. 

We were waited on by Stephen, who was not young (we couldn't agree on his age, somewhere over 60, easily).  In the end, we were the only ones there.  So, he chatted.  A lot.  Showed pictures of his kids, one of whom served in Afghanistan and was wounded.  He had to tell why his name was Stephen and I, of course, had to tell him about my being Stephen (we were both named after the saint in the Bible) was my mother's second choice.  He asked if I saw a lot of red for my birthday.  Funny guy.  

Today began with a walk over to the Decatur Diner for breakfast.  It is a lot less than .3 of a mile away.  We were disappointed since one reviewer said it was the best crab benedict they'd ever had.  How many crab benedicts do we think they'd had? 🤔  Neither of us tried it, but my cinnamon raisin French toast was a bust (not soaked enough in the batter) and K's biscuits and gravy didn't have much sausage.  A bust.  Worst meal of the trip (knock wood)

To the beach. Another nice day.  EH and I took a mid-fry break to get an ice cream at Dumser's on the boardwalk. There are like 10 Dumser's Dairyland stores around here, and two across from each other on the boardwalk.  We approved of our shakes, which counted as lunch.  :)

Then back, nap, shower, yada di yada di...

Dinner, after some "discussion", was at Pancho and Lefty's.  They claimed to the "authentic Mexican."  How does one define that?  Well, they did make guacamole at the table.  And they had a nice assortment on the menu. 

Desert bloom margarita.  

EH had the quesadilla.

K had the "three amigos" -- a steak chimi, a chicken taco, and beef chalupa. 

Chicken burrito. 

Then we went to the boardwalk for a walk.   It was a bit chilly, with a strong breeze, and there were A LOT of people.  Given how empty the beach has been, it was rather surprising. 

It is amazing there are so many ice cream joints.  And how many burger and popcorn joints.  And tee shirt joints.  Not exactly a diverse business environment.  

Now back to watch the US soccer team try to win their third straight game.  Go USA!  

Till next time...

Escaping to? Berlin

 Hi folks,

The thing about a beach vacation is that, if you just go to the beach every day, there's not much to tell. 

Fortunately today our weather maven, K, thought it was not a good beach day (she wasn't wrong), so we spent the afternoon in Berlin, MD.  Did you know it was named the best small town in America?  Neither did I.

Though one wonders how such things are determined, I know it is a contender if the main criteria is the number of shops selling...okay, "stuff no one really needs."  The one place was full of pottery, another was a wine shop with other things (like duffle bags?), the one place had cool men's clothes, with a motorcycle in the middle of it, and...well, I lost track.  Ad infinitum to spend time wondering and saying "really?!?!?!" 

I took one picture that doesn't do the place justice, but it'll have to do as this blog's thumbnail, etc. 

There were multiple bakeries and we chose what we decided was the wrong one -- none of us was thrilled by what we ordered ):  but, then, again, we were having fresh baked goods on a Tuesday afternoon. 

Back to the cottage in a major rain storm (we've gotten a couple inches in the last 24 hours) to watch England NOT win their match with Ghana.  We hear a witch doctor in Ghana hexed Harry Kane.  But just for this game! 🤣

K found the dinner spot, which was less than a mile away and Italian.  She had the lasagna --

EH had the gnocchi with vodka sauce.

And I had the margherita pizza.  (they had an open oven where we could watch the guy singe his facial hair putting the pizzas in)

And they had the tiramisu. 

****

In case you are keeping track (and I know some of you are), yesterday morning we did go to the beach.  It was lovely, though there had been predictions of high winds.  It got close to that as we left around 1:30, but up till then it was in the high 70s and a mix of cloud and sun.  The water is 72 degrees, which isn't as warm as you'd think it was.

We had dinner at another local place, the Shrimp Boat, who runs a fresh shrimp stand on the road with the eatery on the side. 

It was the second consecutive night of "local atmosphere", eating off picnic tables, this time with packagin paper as a table cloth, and the interesting flatware in a paper sleeve approach.  And a roll of paper towels for napkins.  

But the food, though not inexpensive, was good.  

K got the wait staff recommended stuffed flounder

(though I wonder if that is really imperial sauce on it)

And EH had the crabcake dinner. (I had the cc sammy)

This was followed by a round of miniature golf -- a longstanding family beach vacay tradition -- which included several holes in one.  Including one we counted as a hole-in-one as EH, using the patented Happy Gilmore swing, bounced one off the course and into a waste basket sitting next to the next tee. 🤣🤣🤣

And back to our favorite cottage (a quick Booking.com check had it full next week here and the next week you could get one unit, that's all that was left, for $2,700 for the week...a bargain at twice the price! 🤣) to sit through a horrendous thunderstorm.  ):  

There was a discussion at dinner about coming back.  I said no (see the last blog), they said "it's not that bad."  I repeated the "they'll need Temperance Brennan (star of the book we are listening to on the ride) to determine what happened to me that I'm dead on the sofa" because it is too low and has a "lower back support" that only means you sit in a curled position.  They talked about maybe coming back and staying. 🙄. The beach is nice enough, and the town, but we won't be staying in the cottage that amenities forgot. 

Till my next inspiration (and the next two days at the beach may not provide it)...

A week at the Beach (starting FD)

  Hello Everyone,

It's that time of year: we're at the beach! (Okay, beach should be in quotation marks since there is no real sign of sand and surf where we are staying, but it's the thought that counts, right?)

We drove down yesterday.  It was 4 and a half hours from Bloomsburg; we are staying near Ocean City, Maryland, (not the other one) -- the rental says it is in Berlin, which has been publicized as a wonderful, quaint small town, but we are really 9 miles from there.  Yes, it's confusing.

Anyway, about the rental unit.  We were not surprised by the abstract, but the concrete, on the ground has been eye-opening.

You may remember that we stayed last May in a "Caravan" (Br. for trailer) in Cornwall and really liked it.

Well, this place is a cottage (MD for trailer, maybe "near" a beach) that is essentially a double-wide trailer.  It's moderately nice as such things go, but we've decided it's not as big or nice as the one in Cornwall.

First, there's no half bath, which is important when there are 3 of us. 

Second, the bedrooms are so small -- how small are they? -- you can't turn around in them.  

Third, there's a serious lack of amenities.  The place sleeps six (there's a pullout sofa) but there are only 4 bowls, 4 plates, 4 coffee cups, and minimal cutlery.  There are only four seats at the table out on the porch (there's not room for said table anywhere inside).  One wonders what a group of six would do.  Actually, I keep trying NOT to think.  Gives me the eeby-jeebies.

Fourth, there is no dishwasher, washer/dryer OR oven!!!! No, no oven.  A two hob stove.  You are purportedly supposed to cook here, but there's not much in the way of how. 

I had to go to the Food Lion (which isn't a mile away, thankfully, there's lots of eateries nearby) to get: salt and pepper (there wasn't a single staple in the place), a measuring cup, a strainer, and a cheese grater.  That was all to make jarred spaghetti for dinner last night. 

The "main" bedroom (which is the one without a bunk bed above the headboard) has a closet in it that's locked and takes about 1/4 of the square footage.  There is literally nowhere to hang clothes, except for some hooks on the wall.  Old school.  F hangers!  

Other than that, Mrs Lincoln,...we'll survive.  But it ain't glamping. (I'll leave the picture till the end)

Today, we went to the beach.  It was nice.  Both the weather and the beach itself were just right -- though the sand when we got there was too hot to walk on.  Here's the money shot:

Now, let's do a "food porn back track."

On the way down we stopped and had "brunch" (lunch?) at First Watch in Christiana, Delaware.  Back in the day, K and I used to hang there. BK, as they say.  There was no First Watch there then, of course. 

We all got something Mexican for brunch.  Here's the trio:

Barbacoa breakfast tacos (mine)

Barbacoa chiliquiles (K)

Steak and queso hash (EH's)

We ate dinner "in."  As you have heard.

But one joy of this place is there is an ice cream place 129 feet (acc to Google) from our cottage.  We went there last night.  It was acceptable. I got a loyalty card (not that it is a commitment, since there are 5 other ice cream places between here and the today's beach, 1.5 miles away). 

This morning we went out for Father's Day.  There was a place with a respectable rating .3 of a mile from the cottage.  Called Surfside Rooster.  I can't make it make sense. :)

Here's that ensemble:

Their standard bennie and...

Their Nashville hot chicken bennie.  (I had an omelet)

And, oh, yes, their signature cinnamon roll --

It was definitely a sugar delivery system.  😂

And, then, for dinner tonight we went to Smoker's BBQ Pit, which is about .4 from the cottage.  I was asked as we pulled in if I had read the reviews. 😂🤣  It turned out to be quite adequate -- though we are spoiled by the pit in Spring (TX).  Here are the requisite photos:

Obviously, ribs. 

The 3 meat platter, brisket (nearest), chicken (farthest top left), and pork.  

No one claimed the brisket was to die for.  It was a funny Tweet today that Europeans disliked America and then they discovered brisket. 😀

And that's the first two days.  There are plans, especially as there are calls for rain several days.  We might even go up in the Ferris wheel!  Woo wee!  

But, till there's something else worth blogging, I bid you howdy.