Sunday, August 26, 2007

Three's a charm!

Anyone getting the feeling she loves the beach?

So this weekend my sister-Karaduck- and I went to the beach. We couldn't decide- Assateague (wild ponies, Black Beauty/ Maryland) or Henlopen (Delaware)... Assateague or Henlopen...? Hmmm... well... how to decide... "you've been to both, you know which is better..." (my sister to me) Well, but they're both about the same... Well, which one would I like better?... I don't know- they're both beaches... you decide... No, YOU decide, you ought to know. Ok, lets go to Assateague... Well, Henlopen is closer... ok, lets go to Henlopen then... Will I like Henlopen?... I DON't KNOOOOWW!... Ok, lets leave it up to fate, heads or tales?... Tales- tales takes Assateague... flip (the quarter goes flying into the back seat)... Hurry, Kara.. the turn off is coming up!... Ok, rummage, rummage got it. Shake, shake, slap... Heads.... Hmmm,...best out of three?... Tales... Quick- this is the turn off!!... Heads... Heads it is, SCREEEEECH (honk, honk, beeeep)... Henlopen here we come!

Three weeks in a row... sunshine, breezes, waves... what could be better?


You can't really tell from the photo, but it was super hazy...

These two women sat drinking their wine coolers stoically like this for hours. Very strange... I don't know if they could tell if I was taking the photo or not... Ha ha... I'm so sneaky.

It was also SUPER hot... supposed to be a heat index of 110... so we went into Lewes- the little town for some water and ice cream. We were also in search of a restroom. You pay $8 to get into the park, you'd THINK they could provide RESTROOMS. Whatever.

The quaint little restroom in town. How nice, ay? Didn't smell quite as lovely as it looked, but it worked.

After exploring the cute little town, we went back to make sure we got our full $8 worth... and it WAS worth it- we climbed up the look out for the lay of the land...

(And the classic shot...)

And then went for a hike down "Piney trail," Ok, maybe it was more of a walk. Or amble. And really, if we're going to be technical here, it should have been called mosquito pass... mosquito bites on sunburn. Nice.


But we came out on this beautiful expansive beach and in the setting 6 o'clock sun, with the cooling breeze it was just... the most glorious end to a beautiful day.




So we hit traffic on the way HOME this time... ARG... we took a bit of a scenic rout... stopped at a farmers stand and were tooling along, talking to Megan in Baltimore, where, she said, it was POURING... Really? We've got clear blue skies. Funny.
As it got dark though, we could see lightening in the distance, which we were essentially driving into. As it got darker and we got closer, the lightening became INTENSE... sometimes the whole sky lighting up... sometimes a bolt zig-ziagged through the darkness. Your eyes almost went strobe light buggy. Almost
It didn't start raining till we got to 50- not so many miles left to go to the bay bridge. "Warning, bay bridge restricted due to wind..." And then it really started pouring- sheets- WAVES even... we exit-ed, thought we'd wait it out, and just happened to pull into the parking lot of the Chesapeake Chicken... it wasn't going to let up any time soon. You hungry?... I don't know, you?... Well we're here. Well, alrighty then... So we went in for some local flavor and some Chesapeake Chicken... mmmmm... How should we describe it? Local fast food? Chicken? Chicken... Mashed potatoes... Sweet corn... Biscuits. BUTTER... but whacha gonna do?

So heres a video- it doesn't quite capture just how amazing it was, but you get a bit of an idea... (if this works).

We made it home at 11:30... and fell into bed... such a long hard day...

Sunday, August 19, 2007

Beach... take two.

why not go again?? Fun fun!










Sunday, August 12, 2007

What'd YOU do this weekend??

I drove to the beach. And yes I got to the beach and had a good deal of fun there... but I DROVE to the beach... As in, I got in the car at 8:20 AM and got to the beach at 3:00 PM (when it should only take one 3 hours to get there). Sometimes-- and I've had this experience before-- I feel like I get caught in this vortex of energy that is Baltimore and I CAN'T get out...! I just c a n ' t s e e m t o g et oooooouuuuuuttttt!!! It just takes so much energy to GET out of the city...
I got up at 6:30 to get myself together... Like I said, we left the house at 8:20 to take Kara to the china town bus for her own weekend adventures in NYC, which "is just off 95," won't take long. Yeah, just off 95... IN FREAKING DUNDALK- South EEEEEAST Baltimore mind you... Then I had to get back on the belt way and go all the way around and up to Owings Mills- way north WESSSSSST of the city to pick up a very specific 25 lb. bag of "silverado" grout for our visiting artist who is finishing up a project... bring it back down to Clayworks in North Baltimore... THEN stop at whole foods to pick up snacks and what not for the day. 10:00 am... Back down to smack-in-the-middle-Baltimore to pick up Megan and then down through the city once again, (hitting every red light there was), to get on 95, to 695 to 97 and head down to Annapolis and cross the Bay Bridge... 11:00 am. Ahhhh, finally... we made it... the open road....! Or... not so... I think everybody in the entire mid-atlantic region of this country was on their way to the freaking beach as well... Traffic... like I've NEVER seen it before...

The traffic stretched out for miles in front of us...

...and behind us... is this ridiculous or WHAT??? Can you imagine- on a Saturday morning on the way to the BEACH??

Megan had a long, lovely nap...

and I... I was just so happy with the state of affairs...!


But actually, I'm quite talented... I can do a LOT of things while driving.... talk on the phone, txt friends, eat a sandwich, operate my ipod, take photos, read maps, sing at the top of my lungs, have conversations with the driver next to me... so really, I had such an enjoyable time.

FINALLY we rolled in to Henlopen State park and onward to Herring Point just after 3:00 pm. The sun was out, it was warm and breezy, and the angst of the day smashed into the sand with the pounding surf...

The waves were MASSIVE!



Break dancing practice on the beach...



After a stop at the DQ, the DC gang (who'd made it there quite a bit earlier on account of NOT having to deal with the Baltimore vortex) headed back... Megan and I found a calmer beach and went for a long walk in the setting sun.

A pirate ship out in the distance...



Driving back through the farmland of the eastern shore at the end of of a long day in the sun is intensely satisfying. The sun goes down and the sky goes through its palette of pinks and yellows settling into deep blues and eventually night... the heat of the day radiates off of your skin, while coolness blows in the windows through your sandy, salty hair, the irrigation systems silently spray fields and the crickets pull our their fiddles and start to dance... You feel alive.

We stopped at a farmers stand and picked up fresh tomatoes, corn and a watermelon the size of texas... all of which will make the most fantastic dinner tonight. (With fresh basil from our own little garden...)

Was it worth it? Totally. Would I sit in the car for seven hours again for three hours of beach time? In a heart beat... Maybe work on a different driving strategy, but hey? What's the fun without a good story to tell?

Ahhhh.... life.

Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Weekend fun...

An hot, sticky Sunday afternoon spent in Georgetown...

...Kara and Emily got the memo...

And what's a Baltimore summer without a crabfest? AmeriCorps friends celebrating the END of AmeriCorps!! Woohoo.