Beach Vacation

Our beach vacation has come to an end.  It seems like it was just yesterday that we were heading East.  This year we had a crowd and we had fun!  Jon and I, Kristal and Jake, and our Mexican family friends got to spend 5 days together doing what we do best – eat great food and have lots of fun!

Mother Nature was good to us – we only had one day where it rained and was overcast.  That day we spent exploring shops in town and visiting the museum and visitor centers.  In addition to our three favorite little kiddos, our friends also had to bring along their nephew, Edgar, since his mom works at the restaurant and would have had nobody to watch him while she worked.  Edgar will be two in August and he is one funny little guy.  He doesn’t say much, but he’s very active and his expressions speak volumes.  When we first arrived at the beach he was terrified of  the sand, the water, the seagulls, pretty much everything.  The next morning he greeted the beach like the other kids.  When it was time to leave many hours later, he cried and threw a tantrum.  He did not want to leave.  He spent hours shoveling sand into a bucket and playing in the water.

It has become tradition to enjoy our first dinner of vacation sitting poolside eating raw oysters and steamed shrimp with a cool refreshing adult beverage while the kids alternate between swimming and grabbing a bite to eat.  This year the four of us who like oysters only managed to eat about 75 of them.  But, we ate 3 pounds of steamed shrimp and we also had French fries and hushpuppies.  A walk down to the ice cream parlor completed our meal.  We had chicken tenders for those who refuse to eat oysters.

This year we didn’t have to worry about the seagulls swooping in and stealing our food.  The hotel had wire strung criss-cross over the pool area to keep them out. 

We spent our days on the beach, at the museum or visitor centers, and shopping.  Dinners were fabulous!  Seafood each and every night.  Jon and I have become friends with a local couple so we made plans to meet up with them one night.  Shannon made reservations at a restaurant off the island that the locals frequent called The Crusty Crab.  We met up at their house and followed them off the island.  The Crusty Crab sits right next to the water and we had awesome seats for a great view.  Far across the bay we could just see the lights of Chincoteague as the sun set.  The place was nothing fancy at all, but had great atmosphere and really good food at a fair price.  My crab cake was delicious and I managed to steal a fried oyster off Jon’s plate. 

One evening after dinner we made our way to the island’s only waterfront bar.  It is new and was really a fun place to hang out for a couple hours.  As people would leave their tables, the seagulls would swoop down and steal the remains on the plates.  The kids got such a kick out of that!  We probably would have spent more evenings there, but the drinks were some of the worst drinks we’d ever had and expensive.  The ice cream parlor was a much better place to hang out!

Sunday morning arrived way too soon and it was time to load the cars and head back home.  Another fun beach vacation was over, but won’t soon be forgotten.  We brought home oysters to enjoy over the next couple days and plenty of sand from the beach will be turning up in our cars, clothes, beach blankets, and shoes for days, if not weeks, to come.