Thursday, October 13, 2011

Here I am at home with a low grade virus that has given me a low grade fever and general ickiness.  I felt all shivery Tuesday night but got up and went to work on Wednesday and felt ok all day.  Then last night, the icky feeling came back so I gave into Peter Kevin's entreaties that I "take care of myself" and stay home.  I'm vaguely nauseous but not enough to be sick, vaguely feverish but not really.  If it  hadn't been a week ago, I'd blame my flu shot.

Our anniversary was a good one. I'll give you a run down and then show you some of the photos.  That way, anyone who hates vacation photos can click off.  We enjoy each other's company and can talk about anything and everything and are avid people watchers so we're hardly ever bored.  We had a lovely brunch on Sunday, followed by walking around the touristy shops at Smithville, drove to Wildwood to stay at our b&b, The Sea Gypsy. 

The Sea Gypsy is a lovely place.  Opened in 1903 as a boarding home, it's filled with tiny rooms and those tiny rooms are crammed full of stuff.  Our bedroom was, um, cozy.  I think Emily said "snug".  There was room for the bed and a dresser and not much else.  That was ok, but the bed was short and Pk is not.  There was not much sleep had on Sunday night.  The bed creaked (loudly) and he couldn't get comfortable.  We did have a nice deck area outside our room which we made use of after dinner on Sunday.  We sat outside drinking champagne with raspberries and watching the stars.  It was lovely.

Dinner on Sunday was a place recommended by friends so we went to The Lobster House in Cape May.  Now, Cape May is an upscale tourist seaside town.  It's beautiful and expensive.  The restaurant doesn't take reservations and when we got there at 5 (on a Sunday, off season) we had a 90 minute wait.  We chose to wait and were sorry we did because the food just wasn't worth waiting that long for.  It was ok, but nothing special.  And it was expensive (which we expected).  I had a lobster bisque that was delicious but Pk's dinner was something I could have made better at home.

We spent the evening (it was 8:30 by this point) sitting outside on the deck drinking champagne and talking.  We tried to sleep but that was futile so we were up early for pancakes and sausage for breakfast.  There were two other guests there for breakfast (which was delicious).  We left and were about an hour up the road when I remembered I'd left my mp3 player on the bed.  We called and went back for it.  Somethings you just have to turn around for.

We got home late Monday afternoon and went to sleep for 2 hours.  We ordered steak sandwiches for dinner (a very romantic anniversary dinner) and watched a video and went to bed early. 

We laughed about it and actually had a good time.  The weather was exceptional, almost summer like and it was fun.  Now, we're back in the real world and that's ok, too.



breakfast at Smithville.  Yum!
 
The Sea Gypsy










Pk across the room.  Snug!


Our deck outside the bedroom window (there were steps leading up to the outside)


















Wildwood has wide beaches.  This is the beach from the boardwalk (which was boarded up and empty, all except for the tattoo/piercing places which were open for business).  If you click and make the photo bigger, you can just make out the ocean on the horizon there.  It's flat and easy to walk on but if I was a parent with kids and all their stuff, I'd be exhausted by the time we got down there.  Wildwood is a teenager kind of summer town.  It's loud and the boardwalk is aimed at families with teenss.  (unlike Atlantic City which is aimed at gamblers and older people and Ocean City which is aimed at families with smaller children).

And I tend to forget that New Jersey is a coastal state since I live about 60 miles from the coast.  This sight always reminds me.  This is what it looks like as you get close to the coast.  There is as much water as land.  Salt marshes where you can see egrets standing around.  This is outside the moving car but you can just see the buildings of Wildwood in the distance.  The smell is salty and wonderful.  This is were we put down the windows and just breathe.  It (like being in the woods) smells like home to me.  If we could afford it, I'd retire down at the shore.  I love being near the ocean.  Properties are so high, even in these depressed times.  But, if we win the lottery.......

So, that's our weekend.  I have more photos but I'm having some trouble uploading them today for some reason.  I did some knitting on a Christmas sock sitting in the sunshine and thought that life was just about perfect.  I could look through the window and see the love of my life sitting (watching a soccer game) and look up and see seagulls and smell the ocean and knit all at the same time. 

And, as Pk reminds me, it's now been 30 years and 3 days.

PS:  I noticed if you click on the photos, they do indeed get bigger, but the format is different.   I don't know when that changed and I'm not sure I like it. Maybe it's all just weird today.

13 comments:

amy said...

That's Google, revamping everything. That's the way the albums show up in G+ and Picasa and they must be integrating the blogs now too.

You can retire *near* the shore. We're a very close drive, and it's all those pricey houses right on the water that keep our property taxes reasonable. Plus, we are well out of any hurricane flood zone. ;)

roxie said...

What with global warming and the melting icecaps, the sea front seems to be coming to you. I wouldn't have a home on the shore for any amount of money unless it was about 200 feet up a solid granite cliff. In the meantime, it sounds as if you had a wonderful anniversary, in spite of the not-so-goo meal and the not-so-comfy bed. You two manage to squeeze the best out of everything.

Hope you feel better soon. Build up your resistance early. It's going to be a virusy winter.

Kaye said...

Hee hee, isn't one supposed to not get much sleep on their anniversary celebration? ;-)

Shoot, even the NON shore houses are insanely expensive w/expensive property tax. I've been looking at houses in AK...when I was a kid I used to think they were expensive. After living in NJ--they're a STEAL!

Kate said...

Two years ago, Patrick, Bob, Caryn, and I went to the Lobster House. It was... crowded, and in-season. Our wait was two hours. We did wait, because everyone we encountered said the food was excellent.
Service was okay, food was okay--except Caryn found several long pieces of hair in her food and it took them twenty minutes to bring her a replacement. I shared my dish with her and we took her new one to go. At least they took it off the bill.

I enjoy Wildwood, even with all the noisome teens running around. It's nice to wake up with the sun shining and to go out and enjoy a quiet morning on the porch with a cool salt breeze and some seagulls to keep you company. Glad you guys had so much fun!

Saren Johnson said...

Hope you feel better soon. I've been feeling icky also, so it might not be the flu jab.

What a great sounding anniversary.

Galad said...

Glad you had a nice weekend and a happy anniversary even if the bed was uncomfortable. We had one of those "snug" rooms in San Francisco - could barely walk around the bed.

Rose Red said...

Sounds like a lovely place to visit, shame your diner and bed were not as good though. We'd love to retire on the coast too, but it is the same here, we'd need to win the lottery!

That is some wide beach! Wow!

Denise said...

Congratulations on 30 years! No mean feat!

The Sea Gypsy does indeed look snug and gorgeous!

Hope you're feeling better very very quickly :)

Olivia said...

Sorry to read that you've been unwell, I hope you're much better now. I have my first cold in a long time, courtesy of being back at work - turns out not going to work is a really good for my health.

Glad you got some fun out of your anniversary trip, pity about the overrated dinner and odd bed! But sometimes these things make for funny memories and good stories later on.

DrK said...

happy anniversary to you both, you're an inspiration. and living on 'the shore' myself, i couldnt live without that salt air smell. its like life itself. who knows what's around your corner?!

bells said...

what a lovely celebration - and a sad after effect to be feeling unwell. :-(

Bells said...

ps I meant to say pancakes AND sausages? Only in America!

Sheepish Annie said...

Happy Anniversary (belatedly) and I hope you feel better soon. No fun being sick!

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