8/28/2012 We Finally Met!

(Bethany Beach & Fenwick Island)

I have a friend that I’ve been emailing with, talking on the phone with, she follows my blog, I helped her set up hers and gave her lots of hints on traveling in an RV but we had never met. Her husband Tom and I were in the same National Guard unit for a short while and Bob had met him several times through the Guard.

Bob and I met up with Tom and Tracy D., Francis (Zabby) and Dee Z., Mickey and Cindy M. at the National Guard’s Bethany Beach Training Camp in the FamCamp at Tom & Tracy’s site. After three years of corresponding we finally got to meet. Hugs and handshakes all around we all settled in for a little gabfest before going out to dinner.

Smitty McGee’s was their restaurant of choice.

I knew what I was having before we even got out of the truck.

Drink orders placed it was time to start reading through the extensive menu. (Tom, Mickey and Bob)

Dee and Zabby

,,,,,and finally my friend Tracy.

I have everyone pictured here except Cindy. I took her picture but it wasn’t a flattering picture and I try very hard not publish unflattering pics of my friends. After all, I want them to stay my friends.

Well, we ate and talked and ate and talked and laughed and ate and talked some more. When we were just the last ones in the place practically we moved our little party back to Tom & Tracy’s place.

We talked until the mosquitos just got too bad to stay out anymore.

We thoroughly enjoyed our evening with these friends.

8/20/2012 Dianne Comes to Visit!

(Rehoboth Beach, DE)

She’s visited us in Alaska, in South Dakota and now in Delaware. Not that visiting us in Delaware is any big deal, after all, she lives in Jersey.

Dianne, our former neighbor, long time friend is here for a few days. She drove to south Jersey to Cape May to catch the ferry which would save her lots of time and gas. Would have being the operative words here. When she got in line she wasn’t able to get on the ferry because it was full meaning she would have to wait for the next one. That isn’t so bad because the ferry runs ever 40 minutes or so.

So she finally gets to the campground and it was lots of hugs and smiles and so glad to see you’s. We sat outside and talked while Bob caught the afternoon high tide.

We decided that we needed to go out to dinner. Smitty McGee’s was our restaurant of choice.

I knew what I was going to have for dinner before we even left home.

Bob ordered an order of clams on the half shell and Dianne and I decided to share an appetizer.

Would you ever think to put a

Soft Pretzel….

Cheddar Cheese….

and Crab Dip….together?

Smitty McGee’s did and it was delicious!

We enjoyed every forkful. If you ever get the chance to have a soft pretzel smothered in crab dip and covered with melted cheddar cheese, by all means, order it.

Bob ordered fish, salmon, I think, which he thoroughly enjoyed.

Dianne ordered Shrimp Salad open faced on Rye bread, covered with melted cheddar and bacon.

I had my favorite, the Hawaiian Ciabatta.

I would have never thought to put caramelized pineapple and fried onions on the same sandwich. Oh heck, I would have never thought to even caramelize a pineapple ring let alone put it on a sandwich!

We ate until we couldn’t anymore. Mainly because we cleaned our plates.

On the way home we passed this colorful row of the beach houses.

We watched some TV when we got home, talked lots more and turned in around 11. It’s so good to be with Dianne again!

8/2/2012 It’s Back To Work

(Rehoboth Beach, DE)

Back to work. Back to the grind. Oh who am I kidding?

The marina was pretty busy this morning which was a pretty big surprise to me. I wasn’t slammed by any means but it was steady, which is good.

Shortly after I got home ,and Bob took off for the marina, our friend Billy showed up. He’ll be staying with us for two days because its time for the tuna fishing trip that was re-scheduled from July.

We sat around and talked for awhile and then decided to get some errands ran. We had lunch stuff to buy for tomorrow, beer to buy for tomorrow, the ATM machine had to be tapped, so Billy and I took off heading south.

He is so easy to grocery shop with! He didn’t throw yucky things like kipper and sardines into my cart! He just quietly pushed the cart and followed me up and down the aisles. The best part? I didn’t spend 20% more because he was with me! YAY for shopping with men you aren’t married to!

When we went to the liquor store to get the beer, you guessed it, he went into the walk-in cooler and carried out that heavy case of 30 Bud Lights. You go Billy!

The run to the ATM machine? He was driving so I gave him my card and told him what the PIN number was. He never once asked why was I taking the amount of money I was taking out of the account. He didn’t ask what the balance was. Nothing. Nada. Jeannie, I think I’m in love with your husband! Can I have him? Oh, wait, on second thought….

Returning home I got their lunches made for the fishing trip. Four ham and cheese sandwiches on small rolls , apiece. A baggie full of cubed cheese for each. Pickle spears in case that queasy feeling hits. A Tastykake apple pie and baggies filled with Cheese-its. Beer was iced down and everything was ready for them.

Dinner. What to do for dinner. One of the guys mentioned something about going out and I jumped up and exclaimed, “That’s a great idea!” Now, where to go? No one could specifically say, “I want Italian” or “I want Chinese” so Bob suggested Smitty Mcgee’s down in Fenwick Island.

Hey, somebody else was cooking, somebody else was cleaning up, somebody else was buying. I knew this already because Billy told me earlier that he insisted he treat Bob and I since we had him stay with us. This whole scenario certainly worked for me!

So off to Smitty McGee’s we go. I got very adventurous with my choice for dinner. I feel like I should almost preface this with a drum roll…. I didn’t have a hamburger! It’s true, it isn’t that they don’t serve them, I just wasn’t interested. Instead I had a Hawaiian Ciabatta. Now imagine this….very thinly sliced boiled ham, stacked about a quarter inch thick or so, caramelized pineapple rings, fried onions, bacon, melted cheese, I chose provolone, honey BBQ sauce on a ciabatta roll and its all baked until the cheese melts. I’m talkin’ to die for! I must have sighed with every bite because Bob asked for a bite and agreed, hmmm, hmmm, good! We will be going to back for sure! I couldn’t tell you what the guys had, I could only focus on mine. It was that good!

Back at the house, the guys settled in for a early night because they had to get up at 3 a.m. to go fishing. I can’t even imagine!

The weather report is good, I’m going to cover both shifts, so I sent them off with have a good time, catch a big one, don’t forget to take your seasick pills and whatever you do,,,,don’t wake me up at three in the morning.