Michael & Jamie (aka: the Newlyweds) went to the beach with us for the 3-day Memorial Day weekend. After dinner on Fri, we 4 humans and our 2 dogs set out for the beach at 9pm. The traffic was beautiful and we sailed into Lewes in our usual 2 ½ hours, just like clockwork.
Sat we lingered over breakfast (Joe made pancakes, sausage, fruit, juice and coffee) until after 11, and then decided to go for an exploratory ride to Milford. After admiring the architecture of the beautiful turn-of-the-century homes we stopped in the large Salvation Army store and then had lunch at a Mexican restaurant. We walked along the river walk and saw a group of young people playing basketball. It was a beautiful day. We returned to let the dogs out and change our clothes, and then went to the beach. It was quite breezy but very warm and sunny. We all went for a walk, and sat and enjoyed the sites.
I fired up the little charcoal grill and while we waited for the coals to get hot, we had cocktails. Then we had hamburgers and bratwursts, baked beans, and potato salad for dinner! It was delicious, and just what I’d been hoping for. Then we watched a DVD we’d rented: “The Family Stone”. It was okay, but we were all a bit thrown by it. I remember it seemed like a comedy when I’d seen the commercials for it last fall. But all 3 of the funny scenes must have been in that commercial because the rest of the movie was much more sober. Its about a family getting together for Christmas, finding out that the mother has terminal cancer, and realizing it will be the last Christmas they all spend together. Sarah Jessica Parker (of ‘Sex and the City’ fame) plays an uptight NYC business woman who is about to become engaged to one of the sons, although none of the others in the family seem to like her.
While watching the DVD we suddenly heard the sound of water dripping onto the kitchen floor. It was coming from the a/c vent in the ceiling. Not a good sign. We quickly deduced that the a/c unit’s condensation drain must be clogged so we turned the unit off and opened the windows and doors. Fortunately it was cooler by then and a bit breezy so we weren’t uncomfortable. Sun morning I called an a/c repairmen listed in the local phone book as being available for emergencies, 24/7. I wondered if he could hear the amazement in my voice when he said he’d be there in 40 minutes – on a Sun morning! Sure enough, he arrived while we were eating breakfast (eggs with green chilies, bacon and banana nut muffins), quickly diagnosed and repaired the issue (our suggestion was correct) and he was out the door. It only cost $128. Now, in the Northern VA area, it would likely have cost at least $128. just for the guy to show up on a regular workday, with an advance appointment. So you can imagine how delighted we were that this guy who came so quickly on a Sun morning had not ripped us off.
Later we walked to the community pool to get our passes for the season. They were having the community pool party, with free food and drinks and door prizes. We got our passes and stayed for pretzel dogs (hot dogs wrapped in pretzel dough – a delicacy!), soda, chips, and TCBY sundaes. We didn’t win any of the door prizes, which was just fine. Then we drove into Rehoboth and went for a nice walk on the boardwalk. Again it was a lovely warm and sunny day. We got soft-serve ice cream cones from Kohrs Brothers and walked around downtown. For dinner we had the left-overs from the previous night’s cookout, then headed to the movie theater to see “X-Men III”. The 9pm show was sold out, so Jamie & Michael got tickets to the 9:40 show. I was right behind them in line but when I asked for 2 tickets to the same show, the woman replied that it was now sold out. Michael & Jamie had literally gotten the last 2 tickets. I explained that the 4 of us were together so the woman said she’d refund their tickets. We returned to the house and played Scrabble (I won), read, and watched TV.
Mon morning’s breakfast consisted of coffee, juice, and the left-over cake from the previous 2 nights. After lots and lots of interesting conversations we went to the miniature golf place with the most waterfalls and animals. We played a round (I won), and all remarked how much more fun it was than we thought it would be. I couldn’t remember how long it had been since I’d played miniature golf; at least 15 years. Joe, Jamie & Michael all wanted to take a nap that afternoon, so I went to the community pool. There was only 1 woman there, apparently asleep on a lounge chair. I positioned myself for maximum tanning potential and began reading the latest issue of “Letters from Camp Rehoboth”. After what seemed like 15-20 minutes, the woman got into the pool and I decided to get in too. I was pretty hot.
The woman introduced herself as Linda, and pointed out where in the community she lived. She asked where I lived, and I explained where our house was, but that it was a weekend and summer place for us. She told me about her son who just graduated from college on Sat, her other son who is a classical guitarist looking for a job, her job, her divorce, her gay friend the decorator, and her monthly cocktail parties. (She wasn’t nearly as scary as she sounds from this post.) I shared with her some info about me and Joe. Then an older woman entered the pool area and said hello to Linda. It was Linda’s next door neighbor, Sandy, who joined us in the water. Sandy used to teach school but now works in the public library. She’s lived in the area for 35 years, but just moved to this community 6 weeks ago. Then 2 more women entered the pool area with 2 boys. Sandy recognized the older woman as Maureen who frequently comes into the library. Maureen was there with her daughter, Christine and her 2 boys. Turns out, Christine lives 2 doors down from our place. We’d seen them move in, back in Nov but hadn’t seen Christine outside since then, although we often see her boys outside playing. It was odd, but I really felt like I’d made some new friends at the pool. I repeated their names at least 3 times to help me remember them. I think Linda could be a fun lady to occasionally hand out with since she has cocktail parties and her house was partially decorated by her gay male friend.
Sadly it was time for the long weekend to end, so we packed up our things and left the beach a little after 7pm. We ran into some traffic so it took us 3 hours to get home, but we didn’t mind. We just talked and laughed and enjoyed each other’s company in the truck, just as we had done all weekend long.
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