Sunday, July 22, 2012

Dewey Beach, part two

We walked to the beach after dark on the Fourth of July, where a happy crowd was enjoying fireworks, both in the sky . . .


And on the sand . . .


I liked these fireworks - not very showy and not very loud (unlike the fireworks behind the apartment complex where we lived in New Jersey, which were much too loud and spectacular and booming). These fireworks were simpler, but the crowd seemed to enjoy them, with lots of kids and parents cheering after each one went off. This was also the first time I've been among a crowd that spontaneously chanted "USA, USA" every so often, and to me this seemed sweet, not jingoistic (is that a word?).

The moon was so big and orange that it almost competed with the fireworks.



On July 5th, we drove over to Cape Henlopen State Park. Beautiful.



They have a program at the park where you borrow a bicycle and ride around the bike paths for a few hours, and then return the bike. We tried this, and Neil loved it (although he wanted a bike with gears), whereas I felt as though it was insane to be riding around in 100-degree weather when you could be in the ocean. We made plans to pursue our own preferred methods of relaxation on the morrow.

Back to Nalu for lunch. Cobb salad for Neil and a pulled pork sandwich for me.




Yummy and inexpensive.

Then we decided to escape the heat in a movie theater, and saw Moonrise Kingdom. I loved, loved, loved this movie.

Back to the hotel. Neil decided to go looking for a bike shop where he could rent something with gears, and I headed for the beach.

Aaaah. The water is cold for the first minute, and then wonderful. One of those surprising currents - you think you're just standing in the surf, look toward shore, and realize that you have drifted about twenty feet from where you started, in just a couple of minutes. I could swim against the current and get nowhere - great exercise.

I may believe in the negative ion theory about sea air.

For dinner we took advantage of happy hour specials again, this time at a restaurant named Nage. Neil had the cucumber gazpacho, followed by baked brie with a small arugula salad.





I chose the summer vegetable lavash (baby squash, cherry tomatoes, cremini, and garlic mascarpone - no photo, unfortunately), followed by the goat cheese, cracker, and honeyed almond plate.


So we made a dinner out of four half-price appetizers, and it was just great. The couple next to us at the bar were celebrating an anniversary, and they ordered champagne for everyone, so there was that, too.

A second wonderful day of vacation. One more to go.

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Dewey Beach, Delaware

Oh my. I'm so far behind on posting that I'm not sure what to do.

Since I lasted posted (two weeks ago!) I have dipped my toes (or my whole body) in both the Pacific and the Atlantic oceans, and have started teaching two online classes.

And other stuff, of course. It's amazing how much two weeks can contain. I know that many people do much more, but it seems like it has been enough for me.

So here is a little bit of catching up.

Neil has a new job, and he gets no vacation time for the first six months or so. I'm not complaining - after enduring two years of unemployment, we are both very happy that he has a job at all, and we are digging ourselves out of the financial hole you fall into when one wage earner becomes unemployed.

BUT - I like vacations. I really do. So I was happy to learn that his workplace would be closed July 4-6, and we could take a quick two- or three-day vacation. Unpaid on his end, but paid on mine.

In all the years we have lived on the east coast, we have never been to the Jersey or Maryland or Delaware shore in the summer. Going "down the shore" is an iconic summer experience for lifelong easterners, but it never seemed like such a big deal to us. But now, now with a quick three-day vacation possible, we opted for going down the shore. We found a motel just a block from the ocean in Dewey Beach, Delaware.

I now understand why people feel deprived if they don't go down the shore at least once during the summer (and many, many people do it every single weekend - in fact, when I worked as a medical editor at Lippincott, they had summer hours for the whole company - longer days Monday through Thursday, half a day on Fridays - so that employees could get to the beach by Friday night).

Mr. Bean seemed to suspect that something was up, and he was about to be left behind. I took a picture of him watching me pack the suitcase.



Well, too bad for you, Mr. Bean. Don't worry - it's only for three days. I had found a Best Western hotel only a block from the beach. An ordinary American hotel, but for some reason I love hotels - especially the row of pillows on the bed that someone else has made, standing at attention.


This was the first time I've had a room with a shower with no door. You could roll a wheelchair into the room and just sit on the bench and shower, if you wanted to. Perhaps this is becoming more common, but it was the first time I've seen this kind of set-up. It seems sensible, what with the aging of America and the need for accessible facilities.



Right across the street from the hotel, a Hawaiian-themed restaurant/bar, Nalu, which featured great happy hour specials.  Here is Neil holding Hawaiian iced tea (pineapple juice and alcohol of some sort - I don't remember now if it's vodka or something else). I should mention that this was in the midst of a horrible heat wave, so we didn't want to walk much farther than across the street).


The happy hour food specials included these great mango buffalo wings and Hawaiian pizza. All very, very, incredibly low-priced. This was our first hint that we could spend the entire vacation living on happy hour specials.



To be continued . . . .

Sunday, July 1, 2012

We'll weather the weather

What do we do during a heat wave?

Go biking.

Biked six miles around the lake at Peace Valley Park this morning. It really wasn't all that hot, since we went pretty early in the morning, and biking creates a breeze all by itself. No photos, since I have misplaced my camera.

But I am well aware of the horrible storms and terrible weather throughout many states, at the same time that I am very glad that our little corner of the world seems to have escaped the worst of it.

Speaking of weather, it would be nice right now to be in London, where it's raining poems.


Whether the weather be fine,
Or whether the weather be not,
Whether the weather be cold,
Or whether the weather be hot,
We'll weather the weather
Whatever the weather
Whether we like it or not.