Weekend highlights

When the construction guys left at 4:00 on Fri I immediately yanked the vacuum out of the closet and vacuumed the 1st and 2nd floors and the stairs, in preparation for our friends' Ron & James' arrival at 5:00. When Spouse got home he dusted and used his new Bissell Steam Mop in the living room and foyer.

Once we'd showed them the addition progress, we sat in the living room with Ron & James and got caught up on all the goings on in their lives, our lives, and the lives of several common friends in VA we knew from the church we attended. Eventually we decided to have dinner at Shag since it was a gorgeous evening and Shag has that great outdoor dining courtyard. Shortly after our food arrived a belly dancing performance began. Yeah, you read that correctly: belly dancing. You can imagine how surprised we were! And just our luck, our table was right next to the performance space so the belly dancers kept coming over to our table, hoping to titillate us. Little did they know they were barking up the wrong tree. But eventually one of the really persistent dancers pulled Ron & James up and onto the dance floor with her!

Spouse & I made sure to keep a fork or glass in our hands so they'd leave us alone. It was an unexpected but fun addition to our dining experience. After dinner we went for a lovely walk on the boardwalk, then returned home to talk and laugh some more until we simply had to go to bed.

Sat morning Spouse went to his personal trainer appointment while Ron, James and I talked over breakfast. James had brought homemade cranberry orange scones that were absolutely delicious, Ron kindly selected a mango and some nice, ripe peaches from a produce stand along the way, and I supplied the hazelnut coffee. We had a lovely, relaxing morning. Later, after Spouse returned home, we had lunch and then went to the beach. On a scale of 1-10, the weather was at least an 11. It wasn't too hot or humid and we got occasional breaks from the sun so we didn't feel like we were roasting. There was a pleasant breeze coming off the ocean, and we felt like we could have stayed there all day. Back at home we all showered and had cocktails on the screened porch, then went to Rigby's for more cocktails and dinner. For dessert we had Annie's Bannanies, and walked on the boardwalk again.

Sun morning we had coffee on the screened porch and we could feel a significant change in the weather. It was very humid and much warmer. Eventually we walked to the Blue Plate Diner for brunch, then browsed the antique market and a photo gallery on Second St before returning home. Ron & James packed their things and we wished them a safe trip back to VA. I read some emails while Spouse took a nap. Then Spouse & I returned to the beach where we met up with Rick & Nick and Jason. It was hot and humid but at least there was a breeze. As they say, "A bad day at the beach is better than a good day at work".

Once back at home, Spouse & I showered and then met Steven & Thad at the theatre to see "Julie & Julia", based on the books written by Julie Powell and Julia Child. We LOVED it. If you're a foodie, you'll love it. If you're a blogger, you'll love it. If you have ever experienced deep love and/or friendship, you'll love it. And Meryl Streep is absolutely AMAZING as Julia Child. The voice, the body movements - it was all there. It was a very sweet and wonderfully made film. Afterward, the 4 of us had Mexican food for dinner at La Tonalteca since there are no French restaurants near us. The food and the company were great.

It was a full and wonderful weekend!

Crush du Jour: John Driscoll

Weekend highlights

Sat morning we drove back to VA and visited with Spouse's mom, sister, and her kids. Then we stocked up on some non-perishables at Trader Joe's (wish we had one here), then picked up my aunt and went to our friend George's 80th birthday party.

The weather cooperated nicely for indoor/outdoor party in George's honor. There were probably 75 people or so, which really necessitated the usage of the outdoors. Several of George's nieces and nephews came from NH and NY, as well as many local friends and neighbors. The food was yummy and everyone had a great time.

Sun morning we met our VA realtor Betsy at a condo in Arlington. When we sold our VA house last Sept we used 1/2 the proceeds to pay against our new mortgage, and saved the other 1/2 for the garage/bath/closet addition and buying another condo. For months we've been searching for a condo within our budget that we could update a little and then rent. There have been very few foreclosures in our low-end budget, so we were excited to see this one on Sun. It had been for sale for a few months but had just been reduced into our budget. We liked it a lot and feel it could be a 'winner'.

Then we met up with Spouse's mom, sister, brother-in-law, and their 3 kids for lunch at Ruby Tuesday (love their salad bar), followed by a nice visit at Spouse's mom's house. We tossed our overnight bag and Jordan into the car and headed to our former neighborhood to meet Betsy again. On our recommendation, our former next door neighbors Suzanne & George selected Betsy to list their house. Betsy was there for the open house, and had a contract for us to sign and initial 1,001 times. We did this so that after giving it sufficient thought, we can call Betsy and have her present the offer, saving us the hassle of having to receive the contract via fax and then fax it back to her. (Its many, many pages long.) Then we headed back to DE.

After feeding and walking Jordan, we went for a snack at Shag. I like that Shag has 'small plates' so if you're hungry you order two; if you just want a snack you order one. Shag is also fun because they play 70s and 80s music in their large, outdoor dining courtyard. Spouse had angus sliders and a soda. I had bouyardi (a crock of melted feta with herbs, tomatoes, and pita) and an Atomic Age cocktail, and we split a small order of sweet potato fries. It was the perfect amount of food for us, and the evening breezes complimented the 75 degree temperature, making for a delightful dining experience.

We went for a short walk on the boardwalk, then returned home and watched TV before bed.

Crush du Jour: Erik Brunten

Weekend highlights

Despite the less-than-desirable weather, we had a very nice weekend.

Instead of our typical Fri night dinner at a restaurant with 'the usual suspects', we had a BBQ at one of the guy's house. John provided the burgers, brats, and dogs while everyone else brought the appetizers, side dishes, and dessert. I made Paula Deen's corn casserole, which is a guaranteed crowd pleaser. I take it to every potluck, cookout, and BBQ. I wonder if our friends will EVER get tired of this? I suspect not. The weather was nice and we had a good time.

Afterward we headed to the beach for a 'Bear Bash' party at Shag restaurant and club. We wanted to support our friend and local store owner Chris who teamed up with Shag owners Tim & Nick to create 'Bear Bash', a party for Bears and Bear lovers. They had a $3. drink special called 'Fuzzy Nipple', and a $5. food menu.
Although Spouse does not self-identify as a 'Bear', you'd have to be Helen Keller not to notice that he fits the 'Bear' stereotype, as least physically. We didn't eat since we had just come from the BBQ, but I did have a 'Fuzzy Nipple' and Spouse had a soda. We saw several friends, sat and talked for a while, and had a very nice time. It was fun to do something 'different' like that. Shag is a lot of fun because they play terrific 70s & 80s music.

Sat it basically rained all day. We decided it would be a great day to go the movies (to see 'Star Trek') but apparently so did all of the disappointed vacationers whose day at the beach was rained out. The theatre parking lot was absolutely jammed to the point that it created traffic problems out on the street, and there was a long line at the box office, so we scrapped the idea and went back home. We had an easy, relaxing day at home. I finally updated my blog list on this here blog; a long overdue task. Later that evening we met our buddies Doug & Jim for drinks and dinner at Rigby's, which recently opened in the space that used to be Partners Bistro. Fortunately the food at Rigby's is much better than their predecessor, and we had a nice time. Then we walked with Doug and Jim to Aqua, an outdoor gay bar, and hung out for a while.

Sun it rained or sprinkled off and on most of the day. Between showers we went to the grocery store and K-Mart. My $19.99 mp3 player quit working so I neatly returned it to its packaging so I could exchange it for another one. But store don't do 'exchanges' anymore. Instead they force you to stand in line at the returns desk (which is never staffed with more than 1 person) to get a refund for the item, then force you to stand in line again at the regular cash register to purchase the replacement item. (I miss the old days when you simply swapped a new one for the old one and there was no register transaction or writing down your name/address/phone number required. I know, I'm old.) Unfortunately, when the returns clerk tried to refund the $19.99 back onto my debit card, it wasn't a match. Apparently the day we purchased it Spouse had used his debit card (from the same bank account) to pay for it. So I had to go find him in the store, get his debit card, and stand in line all over again to complete the refund. Making it worse was the clerk's surly attitude. She didn't offer to bring me to the front of the line when she saw me come back with the other debit card, either. Then, as the refund was processing, she again told me in an elementary school Principal kind of way that she could only refund the price back to the card used for the original purpose. I wanted to scream in her face "Its the same f*cking joint bank account!!!", but decided it would likely be in vain. I opted NOT to go purchase a replacement mp3 player at that time, but instead, to just get the f*ck out of that store.

Later that evening Spouse & I had dinner, and since the weather had improved significantly, we went for a walk on the boardwalk. Along the way we stopped for a few minutes to listen to an a cappella group perform at the bandstand, which was fun. The weather was dreamy. The rain had stopped, the temperature rose, there was a great breeze, it was pretty close to perfect for our walk and convertible ride. We ended our weekend by watching some TV before going to bed.

As much as we enjoy having friends visit on weekends, its also kind of nice not to have company. We're not actively inviting anyone during the construction so we'll have several more such 'open' weekends this summer, unlike past summers when we had lots and lots of visitors. I like the variation.

Crush du Jour: Carlos Yabrudy

Night out on the town

Sat was another beautiful day. Spouse & I took my car to the car wash, then went to a car show in Georgetown DE, about 1/2 an hour away. It was held at a Chevrolet dealership and was sponsored by a local Corvette Car Club. Not surprisingly, more than 1/2 the cars in the show were Corvettes.

Rick & Nick were there, too. Rick had shined up his '93 Competition yellow Corvette so it looked like glass.
Nick had waxed his '94 black Viper Hennessey Venom 4 times!
They proudly displayed their super cars to the adoring fans. It really wasn't my kind of car show, since I am a big fan of big fins.

But since it wasn't far from home and we hadn't anything else planned, we went and did enjoy it. We were only there for about 45 minutes.

Sat afternoon included a big dose of relaxing, internet surfing, napping, and TV watching. Then Spouse & I headed over to our friends' Doug & Jim's place and the 4 of us went into Rehoboth Beach for our big 'night out on the town'.

Our 1st stop was at Aqua for pre-dinner cocktails.

It was a gorgeous evening and Aqua has a large outdoor bar area. Next we had dinner at my new favorite outdoor restaurant Shag. It was our 3rd time there and we had the same waiter all 3 times. We enjoyed tasty food and funky tunes as we continued catching up with our friends.

Then we walked to Cloud 9 for their Madonna's 50th Birthday Bash.

No, Madonna was not scheduled to appear there, but like most other dance clubs, Cloud 9 was hosting an 'all Madonna, all night' tribute. The DJ played a lot of heavily remixed songs; some were so remixed they were unrecognizable until the lyrics began. But it was fun to watch people dance, and when we'd had a few cocktails ourselves, we joined the dancing devotees. We got home at 2:00am and remarked that it was the latest we'd been out in a long, long time.

Spouse is not one to hang out in a bar so we only do it on rare occasions with friends. But Spouse always has a great time when we do it. His idea of an exciting Sat night is when there's a really great 'Today's Special Value' on HSN. Hey, its all about compromise.

Sun we met Rick & Nick at the beach, which is our traditional Sun afternoon activity. Strangely, there was a great breeze blowing in the parking lot, but not much on the beach, so it felt warmer than usual. But it was a gorgeous day so we enjoyed it anyway.

After returning home we showered, fed and walked the dog, and then picked up some fried chicken from Kick'n Chicken and ate it in the car while parked at Lewes Beach. The sun was setting and the sky was a brilliant smear of oranges, pinks, and grey-blue.It was indescribably beautiful, and reminded me yet again why we moved here.

So there you have it: another weekend in our Lewes Life, complete with a night out on the town!

Crush du Jour: Nick Beyeler

All over the place weekend

Fri evening we met 'the usual suspects' for dinner at El Dorado. I had their special Cozumel burrito, which was chocked full of shrimp and scallops and was quite tasty. But I am really getting tired of chewing on just 1 side of my mouth. I hope my gum heals soon.

Afterward we tossed some stuff in an overnight bag and loaded it and Jordan into the car and headed to Spouse's mother's house in Springfield, VA. We arrived at 11:45 pm and sat up chatting with her until 12:30 am.

Sat morning we visited with Spouse's mom over coffee and Stella D'oros.
Then his sister Mary came over and we talked with her for a while. She told us all about their recent vacation in Myrtle Beach, SC. Her brother-in-law and his family were visiting so she couldn't go out to lunch with us. Spouse, his mother, and I picked up my aunt Mary and visited with her over lunch at Cafe Deluxe in Tyson's Corner. I had the roasted lamb and goat cheese sandwich on sourdough with a side of Gruyere Mac 'n Cheese and enjoyed them both. Aunt Mary treated us, which was a delightful surprise.

Around 5:00 sister Mary came back over with her 3 kids, sister-in-law, and niece for a short visit. They left at 5:30 and Spouse & I left at 6:00. Once back at home in Lewes, DE Spouse & I fed and walked the dog, then spent the rest of the night watching TV and on the computer.

Sun we slept in, fed and walked the dog, then drove to Salisbury, MD to go shopping. Spouse had received 3 gift cards from his family for his recent birthday and they were burning a hole in his pocket. Salisbury has all the chain stores in 1 area, which is convenient for us. Unfortunately, the digital camera Spouse wanted was not in stock at Target, and although we found it at Best Buy, we had such a terrible time getting someone to help us, we left without purchasing anything. This unfortunate retail shopping experience only further cemented Spouse's resolve to only purchase electronics from HSN.

Upon returning home Spouse took a brief nap while I read some blogs. Then as we were walking the dog, my mobile phone rang and I could see from the caller ID that it was our realtor. I felt like one of those couples on HGTV's House Hunters who always gets the call from the realtor while walking the dog. The good news: after only 2 days on the market, we'd received 2 offers. The not-so-good news: neither offer was for the full asking price. Betsy talked us through both offers and we made the decision to respond to the better-qualified buyer's offer with a counter offer. Betsy said she'd prepare the counter and email it to us.

It was a beautiful evening so we drove into Rehoboth Beach with the top down (of course) and had dinner at Shag. I had bouyardi, which is baked feta with sun dried tomatoes and kalamata olives, served in a crock with pita (YUM!) and langostino mac 'n cheese. Oh, and an Atomic Age cocktail, thank you very much! Spouse had a Greek flatbread pizza with spinach, artichokes, sun dried tomatoes and goat cheese. The food, music, and atmosphere were terrific so we didn't really mind that the service was rather slow. After dinner we went for a walk on the boardwalk.

When we returned I printed the counter offer Betsy had sent, we signed and initialled it in 1,001 places, and faxed it to Betsy's office before going to bed. She'll contact the buyer's agent today to present it, and hopefully we'll hear some good news this evening.

Crush du Jour: Jeremiah Hughes

Greg & Gerry

Our friends Greg & Gerry arrived at about 5:30 on Fri, and we sat and talked with them for an hour until it was time to meet 'the usual suspects' for dinner. Greg & Gerry enjoyed meeting and talking with our local friends, and we all had a good time. Unfortunately dinner was slightly less enjoyable for me since I am still having to chew everything on 1 side of my mouth, thanks to that damn shell of a tooth. It also takes me twice as long to eat. Fortunately tomorrow afternoon I will have it taken care of.

Since the weather was absolutely gorgeous Fri night the 4 of us decided to go for a walk once we'd returned from dinner. We walked into town, then across the canal bridge and down to the bay, stopping at the Dairy Queen for dessert. I didn't order anything, since I am trying not to expose my tooth to cold foods. My tooth doesn't hurt, but I'm afraid that ice cream might make it hurt, so I've been abstaining since last Mon. We sat on a bench overlooking the bay, dug our feet into the cool sand, and the 3 of them ate their ice cream before we headed back home. It was an incredibly beautiful night!

Sat we had breakfast and then caught up on each others lives. Greg & Gerry told us all about the 12 day Mediterranean cruise they went on in May, which reminded me yet again that Spouse & I really haven't traveled together much at all. Both of us have wanted to, but our money always seems to be tied up in real estate.

1996-2000 we spent fixing and painting our 1st house and updating our condo that was a rental. 2000-2004 we spent fixing and painting our 2nd house, selling the condo, buying another condo, and remodeling it before renting it, and furnishing our vintage mobile home at the beach. In 2005 we sold the mobile home at the beach and bought the townhouse at the beach. In 2006 we remodeled the kitchen and bath and and refinished the wood floors in our house. In 2007 we moved to the beach and made our former house a rental. There never seemed to be any money for travelling. Hopefully that will change in a few months!

After lunch the 4 of us went to the beach where we were joined by Rick & Nick. It was a beautiful day! There was a great breeze and the humidity was very low. I couldn't believe how quickly the time passed.

We all took showers and then drove into Rehoboth Beach for dinner at Shag. Shag just opened Memorial Day weekend and none of the 4 of us had been there before. Their tag line reads "Hip Food, Groovy Cocktails". The inside dining area is extremely small but is decorated with wonderfully funky 70s decor. Think Austin Powers meets Saturday Night Fever. The courtyard dining area is likely 4 times the size of the inside dining area, and since it was a beautiful evening we chose to dine outside. They play all the great 70s songs you remember, and some you'd forgotten you knew. Someone at nearly every table was bobbing their head or shimmy-shaking to the infectious disco beats. Being lovers of the disco age, the 4 of us were in hog heaven! Shag's menu contains mostly 1/2 portions so you can order 2 or 3 different things and not be stuffed. The lagostino macaroni and cheese was far out! So were the 'Atomic Age' cocktails I had. (Yes, that was plural, as in cocktails.) The prices were surprisingly reasonable for downtown Rehoboth standards, and we really liked it a lot. I can definitely see Spouse & I returning there.

After dinner we went for a great stroll along the boardwalk, then met up with Rick & Nick at the Purple Parrot for karaoke. However, it was already 10:30 (karaoke starts at 9:00) and the place was jam-packed. Spouse really didn't want to go in since he hates being squished in crowds, so we waited outside while Greg checked to see if there were a lot of people waiting to sing. There were, so we decided not to go in. I was rather disappointed, since I'd been eager to sing all week.

Rick suggested we try the new dance club Ovations, which also opened very recently, since there is no cover charge. (That will likely change once the club is open a while.) Its in the basement of a huge old church, but you'd never know it once inside. Some of the guys ordered drinks, we all danced at some point or another, but mostly watched others dance. It was way too loud to have any kind of conversation. We stayed about an hour, until Greg & Gerry appeared ready to go.

Sun Spouse made a big breakfast and, again, we sat around most of the morning talking. About 1:30 Greg & Gerry left for the beach and Spouse & I got ready to go to a cookout. The sky looked threatening, but it didn't begin to rain until nearly 5:00. We got a brief shower as we drove back home to meet Greg & Gerry. Then at 6:30 after Spouse had taken the dog outside, he informed them they had '2 minutes until the rain was gonna hit'. But instead of heeding his warming, they stood at the door talking to us for several more minutes. Just as they were about to walk out the door to load their junk into their car, the sky opened up and it poured. They left, and it rained rather hard for about 2 hours while I watched TV and Spouse surfed the internet.

Here's the weird thing about Greg & Gerry: They're really nice guys and we like them, but they kind of drive us crazy! Often their 'stories' are full of details that no one cares about, and if 1 of them thinks the other has made a mistake recounting a detail, the other will correct him. Here's an example:

Greg: "...and then my aunt Jean got offended and hit my cousin over the head with her crocodile purse!"

Gerry: "Not over the head, she hit him on the shoulder."

Greg: "I thought she hit him on the head. She swung that big old crocodile purse and hit him on the head."

Gerry: "No, she hit him on the shoulder. Remember? He had stood up by then and aunt Jean was still sitting down. There's no way she could have hit him on the head if he was standing up and she was sitting down. She hit him on the shoulder. And it wasn't her crocodile purse, it was that god-ugly lime green bag."

Greg: "But she always carries that crocodile purse..."

Gerry: "Not this time. She had that god-ugly lime green bag that looks like a beach bag."

Honestly, we really don't care. It was mildly funny to hear that his aunt hit his cousin with a purse. It became less and less funny as they debated where she hit him and what color the purse was. It doesn't matter. But they seem intent on representing the facts (as they respectively recall them) as accurately as possible.

Here's another thing they do that drives me nuts: they start a 2nd conversation while the primary conversation is still in progress. Just the 4 of us were together and Gerry was telling some hideously long story. He looked at both Spouse & me at some point, but then looked at Spouse as he continued. While Gerry is still talking, Greg starts talking and looking at me! He seems completely unaware that Gerry is still talking and that I was listening to him. So although there are only 4 people in the room, there are 2 simultaneous conversations going on, and I can't pay attention to either one of them. I can't imagine why neither of them thinks this is rude or annoying. This happened a few times, and finally I put my hands up in the air and said "Whoa, whoa, whoa - I can't listen to both of you at the same time. You (pointing at Gerry) go ahead." Gerry edited the rest of his story down to just 2 more sentences, and then I pointed to Greg and said "Okay, now you."

Another weird thing Greg did was ask me on Sun if Jordan and Pouncer (our dog and cat) got along. I wanted to say "You've been to our house for birthday parties, holiday parties, and dinner parties many times over the last 10 years, and have interacted with both Jordan and Pouncer nearly every time. You've commented about how much you like the photo on the mantel of Jordan and Pouncer sharing a pet bed. You've seen them both in the same room at the same time and pet them both within the last two days. Why on earth would you ask me now if they get along?" But instead I simply said "Oh yes, they've been buddies for years."

When Spouse & I talked about them we decided that we really like them, but in smaller doses. Ideally we would meet them for dinner on 1 of our weekends back in VA rather than having them stay with us for an entire weekend. But they wanted to go to the beach so it made sense to have them stay with us.

Crush du Jour: Drew Fuller