Down the Ocean for the Weekend (A Tale of an Old Creaky Hinge)
Bobby and I and my parents decided a few weeks ago that we wanted to go to Ocean City for the holiday weekend. It was a short trip--we left Friday around noon and came home today--but was very, very nice; I wish I was still there. Friday morning, Bobby left for Liberty Mountain to get first chair on their opening day of the season, which was--like last year--unusually early. (The Western resorts like Jackson Hole and Vale also opened this weekend.) He returned ecstatic, having spent the morning on snow that he said was more like January snow than November.
While he was gone, I rushed around getting things ready so that we could leave as soon as he came home. The Goldens knew that something was up as soon as the suitcase came out. As soon as their leashes and seatbelts followed, I had Alex on my heels for the rest of the morning. Despite having been thoroughly exhausted by the Thanksgiving festivities the day before, they managed to ratchet up some excitement for what they knew was an impending trip. Phil went to sleep in the car but Alex stayed awake for the whole three-hour ride.
We arrived in OC at around 3:30, only a couple minutes after my parents arrived. We were staying at the Fenwick Inn, which allows dogs in the wintertime. I took the Goldens to pee; they were both acting like wild animals and drove me crazy in just the short walk to the grassy spot where we take them and back to the hotel. We dropped them off in the room, knowing they were thoroughly exhausted enough to go right to sleep, and headed off to get a late lunch.
Here they are shortly after we got them settled in, showing the signs of having weathered Thanksgiving followed by the excitement of packing for a trip followed by a three-hour car ride followed by getting to take a pee in Ocean City.
Bobby's and my favorite pizza place in OC is Piezano's on the Boardwalk. My parents like it too, and this was their last weekend of the season, so we thought a couple of slices of pizza and some cheese fries--no redeeming value, in other words--would be a good small, late lunch, and we'd have a late supper. Bobby and I were in Piezano's for their opening weekend this season (twice, if I recall correctly), so it seemed particularly appropriate. We were the only people there and discovered a minor problem: They have no heat in the dining room! My dad is very sensitive to the cold due to the medications he is on, but I have to give credit where credit's due: He really did cowboy up. The server was a good sport to him too and, whenever he would bring food, would joke that my dad could use it to keep warm.
It was sundown by the time we were finished and starting to get cold. We returned to the hotel, where Bobby and I had a nice soak in the hot tub.
We had supper at Adolfo's by the Sea, our favorite Italian restaurant in OC and Dad's favorite OC restaurant, period. We discovered Adolfo's by accident with Hrymfaxe, when we walked down the Boardwalk one night for soft crab sandwiches to discover the place had burned down and stumbled on Adolfo's, which was at the time run out of a tiny little house with a kitchen with six burners on the Inlet. They've since moved into the Beach Plaza Hotel: much bigger and nicer (with more than six burners) and an ocean view.
This was my first time there since starting to eat seafood. I had the eggplant Gerardo: fried eggplant slices topped with crab imperial and a tomato cream sauce. YUM. Mom, Bobby, and I also shared a carafe of the house Chianti, and Mom and I definitely got a little tipsy off of it. We were near the fireplace so Dad was warm and therefore happy. There was live piano jazz and off-key singing by patrons who had maybe had more than Mom and I did. A perfect evening.
That night, though, was the episode of the old creaky hinge. We had a double room: two double beds. Bobby and I have a queen bed at home, so that would be a little tighter than we were used to but not uncomfortable, and the Goldens could have the second bed if they wanted. Alex made himself right at home smack in the middle of it. Phil curled up on the floor. At around 2 AM, I woke up ridiculously thirsty because of the wine and so got up to gulp down three glasses of water. I left my book light on so that I wouldn't step on Phil. Funny how, walking back, Phil was nowhere to be found? I arrived at the bed and found out why: He was curled up cute as can be, directly in the middle of my half of the bed.
I whispered something to him, and Bobby must have been awake because he rolled over and saw what was going on and got Phil pulled more toward the center of the bed. When Phil is tired, he will rhythmically growl at anyone who touches him. He was growling and I was uncomfortable, with two humans and Golden Retriever in a double bed, so I told him, "Shut up, you sound like an old creaky hinge!" which at 2 AM, Bobby found hilarious.
Well ... I got a lot of reading done in the next two hours. First Phil rhythmically pummeled my back with his paws. Then he settled in and put his paws under me and started dreaming, so his paws started flicking around under me. I tried rolling over because, at home, when he gets in bed and is annoying, I just hold him close until he gets so warm that he leaves. However, the great insult on top of these injuries? After taking my space and growling like an old creaky hinge and kicking me and flicking his paws around under me, that dog had the nerve to smell musty. If you're going to smell musty, you should have to stay on the floor. I rolled back over. Finally, he put his back to me and pushed hard against me, and I got pissed off enough that I pushed back and he finally got up and left. By now, it was 4 AM. So much for a restful weekend.
The next morning, Bobby wanted to go to the K-Coast surf shop to look for some new clothes. Since we've been loyally going to the gym, both of us have slimmed down a lot, and a lot of our clothes don't fit well anymore. Mom and I decided to go with him because I'd forgotten to pack a hat or a bandana, and it would be too cold to walk with my head uncovered. I've waited for him outside of K-Coast a lot of times but never gone in myself. OMG. Was I missing out! I looked through the women's clothes while Bobby shopped upstairs and found a good dozen things that I loved. Mom told me to pick something out. I protested; she insisted; she won. I tried on a beautiful blue and white sweater (it resembles a blue sky with clouds in coloration). She insisted I try something else. We were standing near the front of the store, and she said, "Can I ask you something and you will be honest?" I said of course I would, and she asked, "Did your father have a discussion with you about stopping birthday gifts?"
Remember when I felt a little stung about the lack of card, gift, or dinner from my parents at my birthday this year? I got a phone call and that was it? Well, Dad told her that he discussed with Bobby and me that we were no longer exchanging birthday gifts. Of course, no such discussion occurred. I would have been fine with it, but as it was, I just felt ... forgotten. I didn't tell her that. I did tell her that no such discussion happened. She was really upset. She told me to pick out four things I liked and paid for Bobby's clothes as well, which was totally unnecessary but ... wow. Extremely generous, and I feel bad now for my uncharitable thoughts after my birthday.
We picked up Dad and went to lunch after that at the Crabcake Factory, a place Bobby had been eyeing for a while but could never go to on account of my vegetarianism. We all shared an enormous and ridiculously delicious plate of crab nachos, and I had my first crabcake sandwich. OMG. I had forgotten how much I love this stuff. I am, after all, Maryland born and bred.
Bobby, Mom, and I headed to the Boardwalk after that with the Goldens. It was a beautiful sunny day, brisk but not cold, a great day for walking. There was a guy windsurfing in front of the Kite Loft, which looked like awesome fun but cold, even with a wetsuit.
Mom, Bobby, and Wilds:
Me (wearing my K-Coast hat!), Mom, and Wilds:
Back at the hotel, Bobby and I took another dip in the hot tub, swam a bit in the pool (we had it to ourselves), and when we started to get chilly, back up into the hot tub.
That night, we went to the Shark on the Harbor for supper. Located in West Ocean City, it is a farm-to-table or boat-to-table restaurant, and they change their menu twice daily to accommodate what is available locally. We've been several times, and it is always incredible; it has been OC's top-rated restaurant for a while now. This was my first time as a non-vegetarian. They treat vegetarians well, but they treat non-vegetarians even better, and because it is farm-to-table, everything on the menu was fair game.
I started with a Spanish red (I don't remember the name and since it was on the visiting wines menu isn't on the website!). It was beautifully complex with strong notes of dark chocolate. Here is what Dad--not a wine drinker--thought of it:
We shared the blackened mako shark bites and lobster-shrimp dip for appetizers. For my main, I had pan-seared mako--flaky and mild-flavored--topped with Firefly Farms' goat cheese and served with homemade gnocchi. (It was more awesome than that but it is also off the menu today!)
Bobby and me at the Shark (me wearing my new blue sweater):
Somehow, on the way back from the restaurant, we managed to stop at Dumser's for homemade ice cream. Bobby had a single dish, and Dad and I shared a double, but Mom ... Mom had a banana split and claimed she could have eaten a second.
Mom is obsessed with banana splits ... I mean, can't you tell from that picture?
Bobby and I went after ice cream to ride through the Winterfest of Lights, a holiday light display in one of OC's parks. Then we wrapped up the evening with a spirited game of Uno that Mom and I lost terribly. Today it was home, but I leave you with a lovely picture of the beach taken by Bobby this morning while he walked the Goldens.
I know I talk a lot about how much I love where I live in the foothills of the mountains, in the mixed forests of central Maryland. I feel like my body is of this land, but my spirit belongs always to the sea. My imagination, my creativity are inspired by the sea more than anything else. My mom told me recently that I saw the ocean for the first time when I was nine months old; I would wake up daily at sunrise, pull myself upright in my crib, and smile and laugh at the ocean. I miss it already; already, I can't wait to go back.
This post was originally posted on Dreamwidth and, using my Felagundish Elf magic, crossposted to LiveJournal. You can comment here or there!
http://dawn-felagund.dreamwidth.org/352013.html
While he was gone, I rushed around getting things ready so that we could leave as soon as he came home. The Goldens knew that something was up as soon as the suitcase came out. As soon as their leashes and seatbelts followed, I had Alex on my heels for the rest of the morning. Despite having been thoroughly exhausted by the Thanksgiving festivities the day before, they managed to ratchet up some excitement for what they knew was an impending trip. Phil went to sleep in the car but Alex stayed awake for the whole three-hour ride.
We arrived in OC at around 3:30, only a couple minutes after my parents arrived. We were staying at the Fenwick Inn, which allows dogs in the wintertime. I took the Goldens to pee; they were both acting like wild animals and drove me crazy in just the short walk to the grassy spot where we take them and back to the hotel. We dropped them off in the room, knowing they were thoroughly exhausted enough to go right to sleep, and headed off to get a late lunch.
Here they are shortly after we got them settled in, showing the signs of having weathered Thanksgiving followed by the excitement of packing for a trip followed by a three-hour car ride followed by getting to take a pee in Ocean City.
Bobby's and my favorite pizza place in OC is Piezano's on the Boardwalk. My parents like it too, and this was their last weekend of the season, so we thought a couple of slices of pizza and some cheese fries--no redeeming value, in other words--would be a good small, late lunch, and we'd have a late supper. Bobby and I were in Piezano's for their opening weekend this season (twice, if I recall correctly), so it seemed particularly appropriate. We were the only people there and discovered a minor problem: They have no heat in the dining room! My dad is very sensitive to the cold due to the medications he is on, but I have to give credit where credit's due: He really did cowboy up. The server was a good sport to him too and, whenever he would bring food, would joke that my dad could use it to keep warm.
It was sundown by the time we were finished and starting to get cold. We returned to the hotel, where Bobby and I had a nice soak in the hot tub.
We had supper at Adolfo's by the Sea, our favorite Italian restaurant in OC and Dad's favorite OC restaurant, period. We discovered Adolfo's by accident with Hrymfaxe, when we walked down the Boardwalk one night for soft crab sandwiches to discover the place had burned down and stumbled on Adolfo's, which was at the time run out of a tiny little house with a kitchen with six burners on the Inlet. They've since moved into the Beach Plaza Hotel: much bigger and nicer (with more than six burners) and an ocean view.
This was my first time there since starting to eat seafood. I had the eggplant Gerardo: fried eggplant slices topped with crab imperial and a tomato cream sauce. YUM. Mom, Bobby, and I also shared a carafe of the house Chianti, and Mom and I definitely got a little tipsy off of it. We were near the fireplace so Dad was warm and therefore happy. There was live piano jazz and off-key singing by patrons who had maybe had more than Mom and I did. A perfect evening.
That night, though, was the episode of the old creaky hinge. We had a double room: two double beds. Bobby and I have a queen bed at home, so that would be a little tighter than we were used to but not uncomfortable, and the Goldens could have the second bed if they wanted. Alex made himself right at home smack in the middle of it. Phil curled up on the floor. At around 2 AM, I woke up ridiculously thirsty because of the wine and so got up to gulp down three glasses of water. I left my book light on so that I wouldn't step on Phil. Funny how, walking back, Phil was nowhere to be found? I arrived at the bed and found out why: He was curled up cute as can be, directly in the middle of my half of the bed.
I whispered something to him, and Bobby must have been awake because he rolled over and saw what was going on and got Phil pulled more toward the center of the bed. When Phil is tired, he will rhythmically growl at anyone who touches him. He was growling and I was uncomfortable, with two humans and Golden Retriever in a double bed, so I told him, "Shut up, you sound like an old creaky hinge!" which at 2 AM, Bobby found hilarious.
Well ... I got a lot of reading done in the next two hours. First Phil rhythmically pummeled my back with his paws. Then he settled in and put his paws under me and started dreaming, so his paws started flicking around under me. I tried rolling over because, at home, when he gets in bed and is annoying, I just hold him close until he gets so warm that he leaves. However, the great insult on top of these injuries? After taking my space and growling like an old creaky hinge and kicking me and flicking his paws around under me, that dog had the nerve to smell musty. If you're going to smell musty, you should have to stay on the floor. I rolled back over. Finally, he put his back to me and pushed hard against me, and I got pissed off enough that I pushed back and he finally got up and left. By now, it was 4 AM. So much for a restful weekend.
The next morning, Bobby wanted to go to the K-Coast surf shop to look for some new clothes. Since we've been loyally going to the gym, both of us have slimmed down a lot, and a lot of our clothes don't fit well anymore. Mom and I decided to go with him because I'd forgotten to pack a hat or a bandana, and it would be too cold to walk with my head uncovered. I've waited for him outside of K-Coast a lot of times but never gone in myself. OMG. Was I missing out! I looked through the women's clothes while Bobby shopped upstairs and found a good dozen things that I loved. Mom told me to pick something out. I protested; she insisted; she won. I tried on a beautiful blue and white sweater (it resembles a blue sky with clouds in coloration). She insisted I try something else. We were standing near the front of the store, and she said, "Can I ask you something and you will be honest?" I said of course I would, and she asked, "Did your father have a discussion with you about stopping birthday gifts?"
Remember when I felt a little stung about the lack of card, gift, or dinner from my parents at my birthday this year? I got a phone call and that was it? Well, Dad told her that he discussed with Bobby and me that we were no longer exchanging birthday gifts. Of course, no such discussion occurred. I would have been fine with it, but as it was, I just felt ... forgotten. I didn't tell her that. I did tell her that no such discussion happened. She was really upset. She told me to pick out four things I liked and paid for Bobby's clothes as well, which was totally unnecessary but ... wow. Extremely generous, and I feel bad now for my uncharitable thoughts after my birthday.
We picked up Dad and went to lunch after that at the Crabcake Factory, a place Bobby had been eyeing for a while but could never go to on account of my vegetarianism. We all shared an enormous and ridiculously delicious plate of crab nachos, and I had my first crabcake sandwich. OMG. I had forgotten how much I love this stuff. I am, after all, Maryland born and bred.
Bobby, Mom, and I headed to the Boardwalk after that with the Goldens. It was a beautiful sunny day, brisk but not cold, a great day for walking. There was a guy windsurfing in front of the Kite Loft, which looked like awesome fun but cold, even with a wetsuit.
Mom, Bobby, and Wilds:
Me (wearing my K-Coast hat!), Mom, and Wilds:
Back at the hotel, Bobby and I took another dip in the hot tub, swam a bit in the pool (we had it to ourselves), and when we started to get chilly, back up into the hot tub.
That night, we went to the Shark on the Harbor for supper. Located in West Ocean City, it is a farm-to-table or boat-to-table restaurant, and they change their menu twice daily to accommodate what is available locally. We've been several times, and it is always incredible; it has been OC's top-rated restaurant for a while now. This was my first time as a non-vegetarian. They treat vegetarians well, but they treat non-vegetarians even better, and because it is farm-to-table, everything on the menu was fair game.
I started with a Spanish red (I don't remember the name and since it was on the visiting wines menu isn't on the website!). It was beautifully complex with strong notes of dark chocolate. Here is what Dad--not a wine drinker--thought of it:
We shared the blackened mako shark bites and lobster-shrimp dip for appetizers. For my main, I had pan-seared mako--flaky and mild-flavored--topped with Firefly Farms' goat cheese and served with homemade gnocchi. (It was more awesome than that but it is also off the menu today!)
Bobby and me at the Shark (me wearing my new blue sweater):
Somehow, on the way back from the restaurant, we managed to stop at Dumser's for homemade ice cream. Bobby had a single dish, and Dad and I shared a double, but Mom ... Mom had a banana split and claimed she could have eaten a second.
Mom is obsessed with banana splits ... I mean, can't you tell from that picture?
Bobby and I went after ice cream to ride through the Winterfest of Lights, a holiday light display in one of OC's parks. Then we wrapped up the evening with a spirited game of Uno that Mom and I lost terribly. Today it was home, but I leave you with a lovely picture of the beach taken by Bobby this morning while he walked the Goldens.
I know I talk a lot about how much I love where I live in the foothills of the mountains, in the mixed forests of central Maryland. I feel like my body is of this land, but my spirit belongs always to the sea. My imagination, my creativity are inspired by the sea more than anything else. My mom told me recently that I saw the ocean for the first time when I was nine months old; I would wake up daily at sunrise, pull myself upright in my crib, and smile and laugh at the ocean. I miss it already; already, I can't wait to go back.
This post was originally posted on Dreamwidth and, using my Felagundish Elf magic, crossposted to LiveJournal. You can comment here or there!
http://dawn-felagund.dreamwidth.org/352013.html