Beach time!

After The Man had his eye checked at 8am Monday morning, we took off for Chincoteague, Va. His mom and her husband signed a year's lease on a place there because they fell in love with it on their many vacations in the past few years.

It took us about 9 1/2 hours to get there and we had to cross the Bay Bridge. Oh, the memories of going across that bridge with my family when I was a child were brought right back as I was driving. I almost started crying. The Man just chuckled and said that he couldn't believed I was so touched by the bridge. Before we got to the bridge and right after we crossed, we drove through horrible storms. The Good Lord stopped the rain long enough for us to cross safely, but we were crawling in certain areas when it was raining.

We arrived in Chincoteague around 6:30pm. We were never so happy to be out of the car! And, we were thrilled to learn that we weren't supposed to have rain for our visit. :) However, the temperatures were well into the 90s and it was stinking hot and humid! Because it was so hot, Pat and Ed took us to The Chincoteague Inn for dinner. It's a cute little restaurant right on the bay. We shared a platter of clams casino and a platter of oysters Rockefeller for our appetizer. It was my first time to try either and I fell in love. The clams casino were my favorite. They made my mouth SING! For my main course, I had broiled scallops, onion rings, and cole slaw. Oh, how I love scallops! I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to what everyone else was eating because I was too busy enjoying my food! :) I did have a couple of glasses of cabernet with dinner. Love me some wine!

This was the view from our table at the Inn...




After dinner, Pat and Ed took us to the American Legion to meet some of their friends. I had another glass of wine and enjoyed meeting and talking to the locals. I was starting to see why they loved this place!

We went back to Pat and Ed's, unloaded the car and sat and talked for awhile. I was exhausted, so I went to bed around 1:30am. The Man said he'd be in soon and I told him to take his time and enjoy his visit. I woke up around 10:30am! which is very late for me and everyone was still sleeping. I sat in the kitchen, had some coffee, and visited with Molly, their precious mini schnauzer. The Man got up shortly after I did and I asked him what time he came to bed last night. He just laughed and asked, "you mean this morning?" lol Apparently they sat up and talked until 5:30am. They had a lot of catching up to do!

This is Tuesday and it's so hot and I wasn't feeling up to par. Between the long drive, the wine, and the heat, I felt a bit icky. We just relaxed for most of the day, then we decided to drive to Assateague to look at the ocean. I love love love the ocean! One of these days, if I ever win the lottery, I'm living at the ocean. Who's coming with me?

We drove around Assateague Island before heading to the beach. Ed showed us where people crab, they showed us the trail to the lighthouse, we drove past the nature center, but unfortunately, we didn't see any wild horses. :(

When we got the the beach, the ocean breeze was just what I needed. It was so much cooler at the beach! The humidity was lower and the temps dropped probably about 10 degrees. Here are some pictures of us at the beach:


Pat, Ed, and The Man

Ed, The Man, and me...great self portrait...at least it's not of my nostrils! lol


Assateague Lighthouse in the distance

We decided to get something for dinner and I still had those clams casino on my mind, so we headed back to the Chincoteague Inn. Holy cow was it H.O.T. in there! We were at the same table as the night before, but there was just no breeze coming in from the bay. I ate most of my clams, but had to excuse myself because I thought I was going to be sick. I went outside and sat at one of the picnic tables to catch the breeze, and my breath. Once everyone was finished, we decided to head back to the house to rest.

On the way back to the house, we drove to Memorial Park to take in the sights. What a beautiful place! The Pony Penning is held here, I think. Here are some sights from Memorial Park:


Assateague Lighthouse from Memorial Park



On Wednesday, we packed a cooler and headed to the beach to spend the day. Ed and The Man were good sports about it. I knew The Man was chomping at the bit to golf, but he wanted to spend one day with us at the beach. The weather was perfect. On our way to the beach, we stopped at a local ice cream shop and had the. best. ice cream. ever! EVER! I had chocolate peanut butter and the chunks of creamy peanut butter in the ice cream were HUGE. OH MY!

The sky was slightly overcast, but the breeze was lovely and with sunscreen, none of us got burnt. There are picnic tables and small grills at one end of the beach, so we set up 'camp' there so that we could cook our hotdogs later for supper. It was a wonderful day of visiting, reading, people watching...we met a family from WV and had a nice conversation with them. The Man and I took a long walk down the beach and I found a motherload of shells, but didn't have a bag or bucket for carrying. I carried as many as possible and every time I picked up another shell, he would remind me that I didn't have room in my arms for more. :) When we got back to our little area, Ed already started the grill. Those hotdogs tasted DELICIOUS! What is it about eating a picnic on the beach that makes everything taste so good?

As usual, I took pictures of the ocean. Here are just a few...






This area was off limits because it was breeding ground for turtles.


One of the HUNDREDS of blackheaded seagulls who tried to 'share' our supper.

Thursday The Man and Ed finally got to go golfing. While they were gone, Patty and I spent some quality time talking and doing a bit of sight seeing and shopping. She told me I was her type of shopper because after one store, I spent everything I felt I could spend without being ridiculous and said I didn't need to hit any more shops. We met the guys at the Legion, ordered a pizza and sat and visited with more of the locals. I love listening to their accents and to their stories. We met one man who was knee deep in corporate American and sold out and moved to Chincoteague when he was told he was headed for a heart attack at age 40. He said he's still waiting at 53. ;) He now leads kayak tours and is happier than he ever has been.

After enjoying our pizza, we headed over to the Firemen's Carnival because it was the opening night. Talk about Small Town, U.S.A! We loved every minute of it! It took us back to the old Firemen's Carnivals of our hometown when we were growing up. Lots to see and do, tons of greasy food to sample and rides. The Man decided to try the clam fritters and even thinking of them makes him sick to his stomach to this day. Needless to say, they were NOT a hit! However, the caramel corn made in the kettles were a hit with all of us! YUM! I wish I had taken my camera with me that night, but I left it in my beach bag. We saw some wild horses in a pen, finally!

Friday, our last full day, The Man and Ed golfed again and Patty and I packed a cooler and headed for the beach. We stopped at the Sea Shell Cafe to get a couple of sandwiches to go and then headed to Assateague. The sun was shining, but the breeze was blowing and the weather was just perfect beach weather! We had our sandwiches, read our books, did a bit of people watching, chatted a bit and just overall enjoyed one another's company.

On the way to the beach, I finally saw a wild horse!



And if you look really close, you can see another herd in the distance...don't strain your eyes...



When we got back to the house, we got cleaned up and met the guys for a drink, then headed to the Village for dinner. Oh mama! I had broiled scallops (again) and they were divine....not to mention the drawn butter that came with them. ;) After dinner, we headed over to A.J.'s on the Creek for a drink and to hear a band play. The guys played John Prine, country, and just about anything that you request (except for our request which was The Perfect Country and Western Song by David Alan Coe, but we still enjoyed ourselves.) :)

Saturday came way too soon, but it was time to go. The Man looked up the distance to my sister's house (we thought it would only be 6 hours...ha ha ha). It would take us between 9 and 10 hours to get there. :( I'll blog about that visit next.

I'm going to leave you with a picture of Gypsy, the kitten Pat and Ed rescued when she was a newborn. She's now a thriving 9 week old kitty, who is full of piss and vinegar...



And one of Molly the happy wanderer, who got to take long walks with The Man, then decided to run away the morning we were leaving as her way of saying that she wanted us to stay...Luckily, Ed caught her quite quickly! She's a mess!



After visiting the island, I can see why they love it so much. And as the Terminator says...I'll be back!