Un-Weekend Away

So we've had an un-weekend....and still have a weekend...how cool!

Dear Buddy William took himself off for an extended stay away from the hot, somewhat lonely town to a shore site to which we have not been before. We said we'd visit for two days and when it all worked out, those two days were Thursday and Friday. But Wednesday I was tired enough for it to feel like Friday, and Lar had used the entire day getting Fios (whatever that is) with installer Mike who was amazing...."while I'm up here on the garage roof, do you mind if I clean the gutters?" and "since this nest of wasps decided to sting me, do you mind if I spray them and clean them out?" so we were both whipped and even too tired to pack for the next day.

To add to the tiredness, our house is in what some might say, irreparable disarray! After having moved everything from the bedroom, office and guest room down to the living and dining room, we had then moved all that, plus everything movable from the dining and living rooms back up to the office, guest room. So nothing was where it belonged, packing was made doubly difficult because we could find nothing!

Thursday morning ended up feeling like Saturday - we were slow getting started and never got off until about 1 PM. The drive was easy, the weather fine, and we finally got to Avalon/Stone Harbor around 3:30. I had packed my little keyboard and Lar kindly stopped at an actual 5 and Dime and got the batteries I needed on the main street in. Now I wouldn't have to lose two whole days of practice! I was set.

We had booked in the Desert Sand Resort and found Bill's place, the Windrift was exactly across the street. Location Location! Couldn't have been better.
Once we got hooked up, he took us on the grand tour of the bars, dining rooms, pools of both his hotel and of the Golden Inn. We checked out the upper deck of the Windrift with a fabulous ocean view and great breezes, and decided on some drinks and pickies for "lunch".

A seafood sampler, some 2 xs and a large portion of steamed and sea-salted endamame later, we strolled along enjoying the gorgeous weather, each others' company, and the lovely accommodations of both the Windrift and the Golden Inn.

We stopped in another bar that Bill and his dear wife used to frequent to have a respite from our thirst and watched the sunny world outside the window. We discovered they had McSorley's beer on tap and had to imbibe.

Later we were all ready for some good pasta - as promised by Luigi's. We were not disappointed! Their menu has a feature I love....4 columns from which to choose.....choose your pasta, choose your sauce/gravy, choose an addition, choose an extra. I had angel hair with garlic butter sauce and the addition of broccoli raab. Lar and Bill had their choices, we enjoyed the house Merlot, some yummy, crunchy bread and sweet butter. The men had apple pie for dessert....I don't know where they put it! I hadn't room for even air! I'd go to Luigi's again and again....gracious service and truly good food. We were so glad Bill had recommended it.

We left Luigi's and strolled a while just to try to give all the food a chance to find its place and then went into a hopping bar where we were destined to hear one of the very best live groups I've ever had the pleasure of hearing. But first, I took a short stroll after we had found some vacant seats and took a few pretty shots of the beach and such.

The group playing were The Exceptions and their sound was truly exceptional! http://www.exceptions.com/ We enjoyed their first set - but their break extended beyond our bed times, so we toddled off to see a bit more of the evening before settling in.

Our room was clean, and newly rehabbed so it was comfortable in that way...but what is it about the first night some place new? I didn't get a lot of sleep and was kind of glad when morning came around. Neither of us was in the mood for a big breakfast, so after making a cup of in the room coffee (which was really good!) we took a walk to find something light. Turns out, there are slim pickings for breakfast in the area, so we went into Bud's - a little sort of grocery/7-11 type store and got some bagels and cream cheese to eat back on our patio near the pool. On the way, we enjoyed the town's landscaping.....

Once we'd gotten our little breakfast accomplished, we got ready and drove over to Bill's hotel to pick him up for a drive to Cape May for lunch. I've never been much of a fan of the Lobster House, except for eating on the wharf. The dining room I find ostentatious and not once have I found the food to be up to the affectations. However, the wharf is fun, lots of fresh sea air, and the food has always satisfied.

That being said, I was hoping we would indeed eat on the wharf, I believe Bill was shooting for the dining room. Lar chose the Schooner American. The weather was fine for outdoor dining, the breeze was welcome...the food...well, let's just say - if we don't eat on the wharf, the Lobster House will not be seeing any of my money willingly ever again! My burger was just OK. The limp lettuce leaf and elderly tomato slice were returned with the plate at the end of the meal. Bill and Larry had ordered crab cake sandwiches, and from their descriptions, along with worried expressions, I was concerned they might not make it through the day without a visit to the outpatient! They ate very little. We left Cape May somewhat chagrined and headed back for Avalon.

We dropped Bill off at his hotel to go in to watch some of the British Open and we to attend to a couple of things we wanted to do. We got our bathing suits, towels and blanket and walked the one block to the beach. It was a perfect beach day....sunny, warm, just the right number of people and not humid. The water was a wonderful temperature....none of that usual shock at first. We sat a bit, took our traditional walk along the water and very thoroughly enjoyed watching a youngster of about 6 getting her first lessons in surfing. When she'd been instructed on the beach, her instructor took her and her board out and after three trys, she was on her sturdy little legs, arms up and victorious. We were all cheering and clapping.....it was such a fun thing to have been able to share. I took a picture of us....sorry my arms aren't longer!

In a while we returned to the motel to enjoy the pool for a bit - and enjoy it we did! It was so clean and not the terribly warm water we had feared...just right and refreshing. We swam about for close to half an hour. Then it was time for a shower and change and we walked over to meet Bill so that we could decide on the right place for dinner. With so many eating places within the one block of two hotels, as well as the one attached to our motel, it isn't easy to decide!

First we checked out the Beach Club at the Golden Inn - we'd missed happy hour, and it didn't look like much of a menu for people who'd had very little lunch. So we finally opted on the upper deck of the Windrift again. Luckily, Lar found us the only empty table in the place. The dunes make it difficult to see the ocean unless you have a high vantage and the upper deck is ideal. Our table had the double advantage of being just over the pool as well....double the view! The servers on the deck all seem to be so sweet and personable and the food is really quite good. Lar ordered an "Italian Sampler" for the table to start....I could have made that my meal! It was absolutely delicious. The men then opted for personal pizzas - huge! - and I had a turkey club. The turkey was quite thickly sliced real turkey breast. We were very happy with that meal. The addition of some more McSorley's didn't hurt at all.

After dinner we wandered to the club we'd been in the night before, but the music wasn't yet set up, so on to another bar with a piano man. We sat and listened with decaf coffees for a while until I was fighting my closing eye lids, and then we said our fond adieus to Bill and slowly strolled back to our motel.

We sat up on the moonlit deck for quite some time - I took a couple of nighttime pictures, Lar took one of me to prove I'd actually been along on this trip and then we went to sleep.