Anyway kicked off the week Friday night with a card game over at John Kakuk's. We had a full board including, Scott Weaver and Ed Haraway. It was real surprise seeing Ed out with all he is going through trying to beat Cancer. He's just completed Chemo and is shortly having the bone marrow treatment. Big adjustment seeing Ed hairless. He always had the think head of hair and full beard. We played until about midnight. I won $150.
Saturday, Maureen and I did our annual Jimmy Buffett concert at Jiffy Lube live in Manasses. We met our group of friends at the Quality Inn in Manasses VA and spent the afternoon hanging at the pool and at 6:30 we all piled into a 40 passenger bus and rode over to the venue. We've seen Buffett quite a few times and these were by far the best seats we'd ever had. We were dead center about 30 rows back. It was typical Buffett with a good mix of hits and some off the recent album. I like Southern Cross and the Zac Brown tune, "Toes". Traffic was easy in and out and we were back to the Hotel and on our way home shortly after 12. Mo was happy getting a concert T-shirt, something she hadn't done in years.
We weren't in an any hurry to get our Sunday morning and didn't leave Crofton until after 10. We arrived at the place on 133rd shortly after 12 and were surprised when the cleaning guy arrived an hour later. The place looked fine so we told him not to worry as we never realized check in wasn't until after 4. Jenna and her friend Jenna Higman arrived with our dog Diesel a little while later. It was cloudy and dreary day, so we just hung out and ordered pizza from Grotto's for lunch.Our daughter Jamie arrived around 4. It was nice she could come for a few days and relax with her family. Her boyfriend Blake stayed home because he couldn't get leave from work. That evening we did dinner at the Bull on the Beach. I had the half rack ribs with chicken. Both the service and the food were terrific.
Monday was another dreary day. The girls all slept in while Maureen and I walked Diesel to Northside Park. Northside Park is a large Sports type complex with a number of ball fields, running track, circuit exercise equipment, playground complete with a climbing wall, and a long pier out into the bay. It's on 127th, so it's not a bad walk at all from our place. I work diesel on the leash until we get there and then would let him loose in one of the ball fields to run. After that we take him over by the pier and let him swim. The dog loves to swim after his stick. he would chase it a good 50 yards out and bring it back over and over as long you'll play. It seems to be a good way to exercise him, as afterwards he rests well for most of the day.
Once the girls got up it was decided to be a shopping day. Of course I wasn't too thrilled with the idea but with school starting next week for Jenna it probably wasn't that bad of an idea. We went to the outlet's in Rehobeth Beach. We spent several hours shopping at many different outlet stores. My favorite being Harry and David were we purchased 3 bags of the Moose Munch Caramel popcorn. We also made a stop at the Philly Pretzel factory and picked up 13 soft pretzels. Later that evening we made our first and only stop of the week at the Candy Kitchen. Jenna was so lucky and got a star on her receipt which won her a pound of fudge.
I got up early on Tuesday and slipped out for a round of Golf. I played Ocean Resorts in Ocean Pines. It was a decent track for the price. I wound up playing by myself, which was nice because I could practice different elements of my game. I was back at the trailer before anyone was up.The weather was nice and we decided to contact the Gannett family who were staying in South Bethany Beach. We did the morning walk with Diesel and then off to the Beach. Maryanne and Kip had rented a large house about a half block from the Beach. Matt and Lindsay, Marjorie and Jack, Jordan and Emily along with all their kids were there. We had a real nice day on the beach and I think it was nice for Jamie to be around that type of environment. Wonderful family. The funniest thing on the beach that day was the red neck lady next to us with a suit to small her for her. At least half the day she was inadvertently exposing one of her nipples. Kip and I were dying. We returned later that evening to play games. The boys played poker while the woman played Train, a dominoes type game. All had a good time.
Jamie left on Wednesday shortly after lunch. She had to work a double Thursday and I'm sure she wanted to get back and see Blake as well. Maureen, the 2 Jenna's and I spent the afternoon on the beach at 133rd street. It was probably the best beach day of the week, sunny and clear all afternoon. Jenna Higman left for home when we came off the beach. She too needed to work and take care of some back to school responsibilities.
That evening we had dinner at Nicks House of Ribs on 145th. The 3 of us each had rib combo dinners , Jenna and I with chicken and Maureen had hers with a crab cake. It sure was a lot of food, but after a day at the beach, a large dinner is no problem.
My friend Marty Crossed and his family had a place for the week as well. They were staying in North Bethany so after dinner we went to their place and visited with them for a few hours. His friend Hope and daughter Julia were currently there. His son Joe and wife Lauren would be returning after work on Friday. We had a nice visit and agreed to come and spend the day with them on the beach in the morning.
Thursday was somewhat overcast again but we decided to head out to Bethany Beach and meet Marty and Hope. When we arrived at their place they had just come back form the beach after a short downpour and were having lunch. We waited a little bit then gathered all the crap together and headed back tot he beach. It lasted about an hour then the rain started again and the lifeguards closed the beach. We carried all our stuff back and again and had to wait it out another hour before we could return to the beach. Finally, the day became sunny but not until around 4 pm.
We all decided to meet at our place after dinner around 8:30 PM. Marty and his brother Tony and Hope got there about nine. We decided we would walk to a few local establishments and have a few drinks. We wound up going to Duffy's Tavern, the Blue Ox, some Tequila Bar and then finally ended up at the Crab Bag which we closed down at 2am. It was a fun evening and we ran across quite a bunch of characters along the way.
I was quite the hurting pup 6 hours later when I had arranged to play Kip Gannett in a tennis match at 8:30. I struggled through but did manage to beat off a couple set points and force a tie breaker\. I took a long nap after that and we went back to the Gannetts and spent the afternoon with them. The beach was being replenished with sand in Bethany and there was this large vessel right there pumping sand onto the beach with all this equipment and men working. It kind of made the beach not so nice. It didn't really faze the kids thought they just played and had a great time. That evening we ate dinner at the Fenwick crab house. I was somewhat disappointed as my Flounder was served fried. The crab cakes were very good. After that we meet with the Crossed family over at Tony and Shannon's. Sue and Brian as well as Joe and Lauren had arrived to spend the weekend at the beach. We had a nice visit, watched the ballgame and agreed to meet them at the beach in Delaware Seashore State park the next morning.
On the way back Maureen dropped my off at Mitch Wielert's place and I had a nice visit with him. He had a recent scare with some chest tightness and spent a couple days in the hospital but overall is doing well. I so enjoy visiting Mitch every summer when we're in Ocean City.
we went to dinner at Perucci's, a quaint little Italian place in Millville recommended by Sue and Brian. We all really enjoyed the food, especially Maureen. I think the 2 of us will need to go there again.
What a great week we've had in Ocean City. It was so nice having family and friends to share our time with. Can't wait to do it again next year,
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