Duck Confit Salad c/o McCrossen's

Another night I met up with She-J. and L. for drinks at McCrossen's. I went with the duck confit salad as a little food treat. Loved the presence of a poached egg and that duck, that duck was super duper tender. She-J. and I both gnawed on our bones a bit once all the meat had so gracefully fallen off of them. Mm. Good.

Boquerones and Fries c/o McCrossen's

Soon after my return to Philly a great wave of melancolia swept over me. It's just not as pretty as all the other places I had been, Montreal perhaps being the exception. I continue to struggle with appreciating what I do have in my Philly life instead of focusing on what my Philly life lacks, and nearly two weeks away made caused that struggle to buck and rear and generally throw me all around in a way I didn't like. So I texted L. and asked her if she wanted to get a beer at McCrossen's. She did, so we met and went. I had their boquerones again, which continues to be a pleasing and somehow surprising dish. Something about it pops.
We decided to split an order of fries too. And while the struggle continues, this reminded me of why Philly isn't all bad.

Parting Shots at Cape Henlopen Beach

On Sunday, some of us hastened ourselves to the beach for a quick visit in the waves and on the sand before departing. Or, in my case, breaking down my tent and then departing. I had realized that C.S. and I hadn't shared a photograph on Saturday, so I insisted we do so. This is completely staged.
As is this.
This, however, truly is C.S. and I beckoning K.H. to join us, and K.H. seemingly being very resistant to such an idea. I thought I had good photos that would demonstrate just how much sun K.H. got the day before, but I guess I don't. Girl got super duper pink. It was amazing to watch it happen. Skin, what a weird thing.


Then I insisted on taking photographs of K., K.H. and C.S. I think I basically took photographs as they compared their stomachs. K., for the record, is one of the most fit pregnant women I've met.


And then finally I implored K.H. from the water to take a photograph of us. Which she did.

Pickle Martini and Rockfish c/o Fin's

I am a creature of habit, and I like returning to the same places each year. And so where we went for dinner on Saturday wasn't really up for discussion. To Fin's we went! This was where my crazy time thing came into play - the place doesn't take reservations, so if you get there too late in the evening the wait can be an hour or longer....and I really do hate waiting, especially when their bar area is so small that if you're in a party of more than two the chances of being able to properly speak to one another or sit down are pretty unlikely. So I insisted we be a little senior citizen-y about the time we left for the restaurant (closer to 5:30 than anything else). And still we had a 45 minute wait. It didn't feel like 45 minutes though. I had only just purchased my pickle martini (!) when we were called up to the main dining room. Pickle martini was pretty good. Not quite as salty as a dirty martini, but with an different taste to it - duh, because olives and pickles are not the same.
C.P. and I split a dozen oysters - half Hurricane Harbor and half Taunton Bay I think. These were some of C.P.'s first oysters, and I made a good choice of the two different kinds. The Hurricane Harbors were far milder than the Taunton Bays, giving C.P. the opportunity to really compare and contrast how different two oysters can be.
Cheers!
C.P. also went with a whole lobster for the first time in her life. This is her with a 'and exactly what do I do with this' face on. I talked her through some of the tricky parts, but the girl's from Baltimore and does know her way around a crab and lobsters are like more satisfying crabs. In terms of being able to access the meat. Is what I mean.

Though I had expected that I would order the tuna, since it was so delicious the last time, I ended up thinking that I should branch out and try new things. So I did. I went with the rockfish with shallot cream sauce, with a side of mac and cheese and apple sauce.
Guess what my new favorite fish is? Rockfish! You're right! This was such a nice piece of fish. The sauce was good too, but it really was just the flakiness and taste of the fish that wowed me the most. I was pleased. Let me see if I can remember what others had. K. had the fried oyster dinner, I think. J. had the shrimp and grits. Eek, but what did K.H. and C.P. have? Fish I think? Something with saffron sauce? Fin's did not disappoint and the likelihood of a return trip for my second faux b-day weekend is pretty much a certainty.

Four Faces of CC/Makeup Play

Beertails

As some may know, I get really weird about schedules from time to time. At some points in my life, I don't care. Show up whenever. Leave whenever. Loosey goosey. Other times, however, I am severely unable to relax and like things to happen at set times. I was overcome in this way when it came to our departure time for dinner. But that's not entirely necessary to know for these photographs, now that I think about it. Once we all returned to our respective campsites, I took a shower while others did other things. Then we all enjoyed - or maybe not all...most? - a beer and light conversation. C.S., K.H., and Mr. Ass all demonstrated the wonders of 'beach hair' admirably.

I insisted that everyone wave. And most everyone humored me.
My hair was not beachy because I had showered. Yep. Fresh as a daisy I was. And yet still acting like a jackal.

A Day at the Beach, Prominently Featuring Dolphins

Once we were properly caffeinated we walked to the beach. It's not a bad walk, maybe half a mile or a little more, and it spits you out onto a stretch of beach far enough away from the park's main 'bath house' that you get to have a little more space and room to yourself. No throngs. No blankets touching blankets. It's lovely. I had enticed many to come to Delaware more with the promise of dolphins than the majesty of my company, so it was very important that the ocean gods delivered. And deliver they did. Look closely for the dolphins please.
Mr. Ass scanning the horizon for the dolphins. In this particular shot it looks like none surfaced, but seconds on either side I'm sure their fins were glistening in the sunlight.
K.H. was fancy free...though her fancy free-ness came at a price. You'll see.
I cropped this photo so you could see more of the dolphins, but it's a little grainy. I need a better zoom. Or something.

Proof that we were at the same place at the same time ... and that I have a gut and K.H. is ripped.
K.H. lounging. A high price she would pay. Oh yes. You'll see.
Dolphins are the theme of this post.
Mr. Ass and C.P. said that one point they saw a dolphin do a flip. But I missed it, which made me sad since I haven't seen that since my first visit to the beach in 2009. I think it was 2009.
K.H., Mr. Ass and I played Scrabble. I forget who won.
On the walk back I saw this baby deer. I like baby deer because they have freckles, and so do I!

I like yellow birds.

Morning Time

C., Mr Ass and I camped on the site I had reserved while C. and J. and K. camped on their own site and K. had her own site as well. In the morning - hmm there are too many C's and K's. Let's call my friend and pizza/wine C. C.P. and let's call friend from college C. C.S. and college K. K.H. then J. can be J. and K. can be K. I'm glad we worked all of that out. Anywho. In the morning C.P. and I awoke around the same time. She promptly readied herself for a run while I began eying a box of garlic Triscuits for breakfast. Later on Mr Ass also got up and though it wasn't even 9 in the morning, we began a game of Scrabble. Meanwhile C.S. and J. were having a little time in their hammock. I took a photograph or two, but either I focused poorly or they had multiple chins.
The view of my campsite from C.S., K.H. and J.'s perspective.
Mr. Ass played admirably, but was ultimately defeated.
More of the bounty that C.S., K.H., K. and J. picked up at the farm stand.
After C.P. returned from her run, she, Mr. Ass and I got into Mr. Ass's car and drove to Dunkin Donuts. I ordered myself a coffee and since it was my *birthday* I felt I was entitled to eat my first egg sandwich from Dunkin Donuts since my college years. Strange thing-ish: except for one African American teenager, the entire Dunkin Donuts staff was made up of young men and women from some Eastern European country. I don't know which one, but I'm sure of that. It made me wonder if they were there legally, and if they all were somehow related. A mystery that I'm sure someone could easily solve.

Next Stop, Delaware

A while back I was seeing a whole ton of 30th birthday party photos on Facebook, and it got me jealous. Jealous that I hadn't attended the parties in question, and jealous that I never have parties like that for my birthday because it always falls on or around Thanksgiving, and folks are too busy with their families for that kind of shenanigan. So I decided I was going to throw a faux thirtieth birthday weekend for myself...because if I didn't do it, who would? No one. So I let a whole bunch of people know that this was my intention, and where I would be, and invited them to join me. I actually gave them two opportunities, and that Friday was the beginning of that first opportunity. I drove to Philly, unloaded some stuff and reloaded other stuff (tent, lantern, etc) and then drove out to Cape Henlopen. By the time I got there (not as early as I originally intended), C. and J. and K. and K. and C. were already at the campground. Yeah. I wanted my faux 30th to be held at Cape Henlopen because it is magic there. Once I arrived I put up my tent and had a beer. C. and J. and K. went to the beach, but C. also put up her tent and joined me in the glory that is having a drink or so while the sun is still in the sky. We also bought firewood.
Firewood we turned into a fire. Because I hadn't expected to spend the night in the Hudson Valley, my entire timeline was a little wacky and I hadn't really figured out what any of us would eat that first night. Thankfully C. and K. were better planners than myself, and it is really because of them that we had anything to eat at all.
Mr. Ass arrived later in the evening and contributed S'mores and corn. Well, more corn - I hadn't realized that C. and K. et al had already purchased a few ears at a farm stand on Route 1.
These peppers were especially good.
K. was a bit of a grill master.
We all had a good night of fire sitting, hot dog eating, corn gnawing and bourbon drinking. I'm so glad this group of folks all made it.