Chincoteague 2006

2006-07-08T23:37:00.000-07:00

Day Seven

July 8, 2006

Headin Home.

We got woken up at 2am by the drunks leaving Mr Fish's this morning so I think we all slept a little longer than we might have. S went to Sugerbakers and got some wonderful pastries and muffins which were enjoyed by all. THEN E made omlettes as well!! Full tummies.

We decided to try the beach but it ended up being much too cold, so we only lasted about an hour and a half. We headed back to the house and showered, dressed, packed and left at around 2:30 pm.

We did have lunch at ChicFillet in Salisbury at 330pm but ate it on the road.

The traffic was so good that we decided to chance the shorter route so instead of the NJ Turnpike to 287 we did the Pike to the Thruway to Rte 17. Cutting off nearly a half hour from our trip. We ended up doing the entire drive in less than 8 hours with stops. Not bad at all, getting in about 1015pm. Nutsky was glad to see us but Lucky stayed overnight at Nana's.

2006-07-07T23:59:00.000-07:00

Day Six

July 7 2006

Fishing Day

I dont fish. Never saw the need, or excitement, though I am sure it is much more fun than I imagine or am making it out to be. As you can see from the pictures below that L took. They caught a lot of fish, some they kept, and some like the shark below they threw back.

Meanwhile back at Misty Morning I had the place to myself from 8am when I woke up till 12pm when they got back. I cleaned the kitchen and ate breakfast while watching some thing on History Channel about great air battles, which was surprisingly good. It had great cgi recreations of the actual dog fights. I straightened things up, folded laundry, etc till 10. Then I read till 11, showered and went out.

I shot some pictures of the fishing fleets moored at the city docks and near the Chincoteague Inn and Mr. Fish's. By the time I was done they were back with 41 fishy's!!

They had mostly Croakers and King Fish. The Shark, Skate and Flounder had all been thrown back for being too small or just not right to keep.

Bucktails had cleaned the fish so all E had to do was wash them and organize them into packets for take home and for dinner.

Then Son, Wife, S and I went to the beach for a few hours but frankly it was really too cold to enjoy and we left after two hours.

I had asked that we stop to shoot the Pony's with my 200 mm lens at a distance but they must have known we were coming because a family unit was all the way up to the moat near the road when we drove by. I got some great shots, but the MONEY shot I missed because after we began to drive off, AFTER I had used up all my film, the male of the family unit decided it was mating time! Oh well :)

E cooked up a fantastic meal that night of the fish. Son did an amazing job devouring his portion, and the fish themselves were quite good, and came apart very easily. C had is Subway Sandwich and everyone was very happy to be full. We rushed to clean out the kitchen so that we could go see Pirates II, and got into line right at 7, which is when the movie was supposed to start. Turned out the line, was simply for people who MIGHT get in if there was still room, they were doing a head count for empty seats. So we bagged Pirates II and walked around the town a bit, including going into this cute dog oriented store for possible Lucky and Moon gifts.

Then the nuclear family went mini golfing at our favorite golf course. I won by only 3 strokes over wife, and son did the best he had ever done in golfing. We tried out the new back 18 which had tons of classic rock playing though the speakers. a Grand time was had by all. It was very crowded but we sure didn't mind the wait. When we got back we did some organizing for our trip home tomorrow.

2006-07-06T23:59:00.000-07:00

Day Five

July 6, 2006

Rain!!

Woke up around 830 and S & E were already up. It was pouring outside so no beach today. Temperatures were down significantly today as well. E made killer omlettes for everyone who asked. L&T left successfully this time around 10 and were home in the projected 8 hours. Son and I played more Killzone on teh PS II till I got sick of it, and then I caught up on my Economist, finishing my third this week. After showers (inside not outside) Wife and S went downtown to do some window shopping, including dodging the raindrops, going into Crazy Lady and coming back with glitter on her. Why I don't know exaclty.

Then she and I (wife) went out shopping when the rain quieted down.

We visited Mrs Lott first who told us of some of the changes alluded to yesterday. She also told us of the sale of the Chincoteague Inn and Mr Fish's so that they can put MORE condo's along the waterfront. Though she did say that there was some sort of "planning" going on for the city, I wonder who is doing the planning, the developers or the residents. She also said that the restaurants were disappearing because the sewer/septic system was overloaded and costing more each year to use, since the residents defeated a proposal to move waste off the island in a vote. Hal Lott had experiences a stroke a couple of years ago and could not do the lithographs anymore, so he turned to oil painting and we got his first repro of that. We keep the collection in the bathroom at home.

We visited Main street coffee house which had a very eclectic collection of gifts and clothes and art.

We next to visit the Purple Pony, but they did not have any new T-Shirts we could not live without, or hats I could not live without...

Pony Tails was next, which as I have said is definitely more corporate than before. However as L and I were looking closely at the pictures and descriptions of the sale of the store, including pics of the old owners, I looked out the door and there was the old owner standing there. Strange serendipity.

We also visited the Brandt where they have two trains that run inside the huge store on elevated tracks, very cute.

Again nothing here to jump at, but their collection of interesting collectables has grown.

We stopped by the place where the most Chicoteague ponies are kept as well.

They have a memorial to one of the "Misty's" as well there.

We also hit Psychotronics which is like a hippie shop with used records, books and movies. Then Crazy Lady and finally a store called Mr. Fish which is by far the coolest store yet, full of very unique art. A great find, but it started to rain again so we skyed home.

While Wife and E went pier fishing, the cousins, son and I watched the new Peter Jackson's King Kong, which was really very good. I don't know why I had not watched this before, considering who the director is. Everything works so well together, the script, cinematography, direction, amazing CGI etc. At three hours I was never bored nor did I feel like it was too long. Naomi Watts was quite good for having very few lines, though I did question her sanity and motivation at the very end of the film. Jack Black was perfect casting as was using Andy G (Gollem) again for giving a CGI character a real emotional feel.

We ordered three pizza's and some wings much to my son's delight and most of us watched Serenity, the Firefly movie, though some did seem bored somewhat into it, C went for a walk, but a small core of us watched it right through. The pizza's were really excellent, especially the combo pizza.

Wife and S ended up watching the Full Monty near the end of the evening while others were watching TV on the portable DVD player. Everyone went to bed relatively early as they were all fishing at 730 am tomorrow.

2006-07-05T23:59:00.000-07:00

Day Four

July 5, 2006

In the seven plus years that we have been coming to Chincoteague I have never seen som much change on the island for the worse. The biggest tragedy for the uniqueness of the Island has been the sale of the Landmark Plaza and Restaurant to a developer. The last place to get Great Food at a Decent Price is gone with the closing of the Landmark. We had all of our Romantic one on one Dinners there, L and I, not to mention discovering Randy Lee Ashcraft on the deck bar of the Landmark. The area is going to be turned into Condos with a view of the Channel. Such a waste. Gone too is the Grubsteak, a nice convenience store where you could get papers, deli stuff etc. Sold to new ownership is Pony Tales, once a locally owned store that made it's own taffy while you watched, it is now owned by some company in Ocean City, though the Born Again section is gone, also gone is that air of "cool" when you go in with the taffy maker whirling along. The number of new "Beds" on the island, from Condo's to Hotel Rooms has grown so dramatically that the place is actually getting crowded. I can't imagine how it is during Pony Penning week. To say Chincoteague is just becoming "another beach community" is to greatly overstate the changes, but the changes are there.

L&T got a good start this am but while I was in the shower their brakes failed near Mr T's about 15 min from the island on the Mainland. Lucky for everyone it happened so close to the island. Apparently the GM dealer had no interest in helping out, though it was a Saturn, but the Ford dealer jumped at the chance to help and make a buck, so another point against GM and for Ford. The whole thing didn't finally finish till after 5 with S & E getting the car back from the Ford place so we had the company of L&T for one more day.

In the mean time the rest of us made the lunches or played PSII and headed down to the beach around 1pm and it was very nearly deserted. (Go figure after my rant above.)

This is why we like the week of the 4th because so many go home right after the 4th, so if it lands midweek we get one or two good days before the next Friday sets in and the crowds return.

We flew the new Dragon Kite as well.

Spent 3 hrs at the beach and on the way back we did another animal rescue, this time a turtle. It was halfway across the road and traffic was driving around it so fo course wife stopped to move it off the road.

I pointed out after she dropped the turtle off that they had returned it to where it started and would have to cross again, so she grabbed it and took to the other side of the road. (why did the turtle cross the road.. ).

Wife and I were responsible for dinner tonight and we decided that instead of Steamers which had gotten a bit out of control price wise, we could do our own steamers all you can eat and buy blue crabs. So we went out to the local fish market and found 3 dz blue crabs for 14/dz, and 6 dz clams at $6/dz.

The guy at the store told me just how to cook them and so we went home and got the pot going.

Put them in 12 at a time and cover with seasoning, repeat till all in the pot.

Some did not want to go in the pot, and others to not let go of each other, so there was much hilarity in getting the crabs into the pot. They cooked for 40 min, and in the mean time I "timed" the clams, rice and corn so it all was done at the same time.

We spread everything out on the table and one hour later we had all but three crabs consumed and some very happy tummies.

AFTER!!

L & T decided to go see "Click" at 815pm and the other cousin and our son went down to Island Creamery to surf the net, eat ice cream and ogle girls. Apparently it was a success. After cleanup people played cards and then wife and E and then wife and L&T got into some protracted discussions which I could not follow. I went to bed.

2006-07-04T23:59:00.000-07:00

Day Three

July 4, 2006

Happy Birthday America

Slept till 830 again. Gotta love a vacation. Weh I got up two of the cousins were already up as one was driving back to VA and left at 9, the other went straight back to bed and slept till Noon! Ah youth.

L had found some Taylor Ham slices, so after a few cups of tea I made my protein breakfast. Then I made L and S their own Breakfast Sandwiches with fried eggs and Taylor Ham. Short order cook Extraordinaire. We decided that because it was the 4th people would go to the beach early and leave the Island early. True or not we had no line going into the beach as we have on other 4th's when we went in "early". I tried to play Killzone on the PS II with my son and was getting my butt kicked when I got a nice July 4 call from jcwrites and we talked for an hour or so. My son and I also watched the Dr. Who episode "Fear Her" which I had brought with me. Very good episode though sad that we only have two episodes left for this season till Christmas. Son wanted to watch the next episode too, but I wanted to see the last two back to back as they were a two parter.

We spent a good 3 hours on the beach today. I put 30 on my legs and 15 everywhere else exposed, so I got some brown on my arms buty my legs still are white as paste.

Lots of cute beach babes today, always a plus, L and A played in the water while I watched, listening to the Beach Boys all day. I even texted a few of my friends to the effect of the good life, beach, babes and beachboys lol.

I even went to the extent of taking a pic of two of them to send to my friend Don who is now living in SC.

We got back from the beach around 430 or so. None of the cousins had accompanied us to the beach today. L&T went biking (and got fried) while C decided to just have a leisurely afternoon. Got back to the PS II blazing bullets as L & C played Killzone, very fun to watch, like a action movie without a plot.

I ended up falling asleep listening to Bebel Gilberto whilst trying to read, too much sun and surf I guess. Dinner was created by E and it was delisicioso, a button pasta, olive shrimp and sliced cherry tomato creation with a fine salad. Nice conversation and drinks after dinner.

We decided after digesting that a visit to Island Creamery was definitely in order so all piled in the cars and went down. While in line we were treated to a wonderful light show from a serious thunder storm on the Mainland. Lucky for us all it did was sprinkle a bit and only when we were actually IN the creamery doing our order.

On the way back our nuclear family did some shopping at the food mart when we noticed a "edible" sized blue crab just sitting on the sidewalk with its back to the wall. Wonder if its a carcass I asked. L tried to touch it with her toe and it went bananas and attacked her toe. We decided that if it was there when we got out we would try to return it to the ocean and sure enough it was. But it was in the road and snapping at anything that drove or walked by. Very funny really. And it was POURING rain by now.

So we L and A used a shopping basket to scoop him up and throw him in the trunk, then a quick drive to the town dock and back he went to the sea.

When we got back the ladies were working on the puzzle L had bought earlier so she dived in. Apparently they got done around 1am. I was fast asleep by then.

Day Two

2006-07-03T23:59:00.000-07:00

Day Two

July 3, 2006

What looked like the perfect "That 70s Show" decor last night under further examination was discovered to be some very nice Retro style IKEA. The House has Central Air and 5 bathrooms, 2 baths and 3 floors. A very nice Kitchen and dining area with all the amenities, incl TV/VCR/DVD which was immediately set up as the PlayStation II center, so A was very happy with that. Programming was guided by the late teens early twenty somethings, but that was cool, as they were leaving on Wednesday, allowing a nice "split" of the TV Control.

We all struggled out of bed, me with a slight headaches after 3 JB's on the rocks last night. Once I discovered no butter or Oil I passed on my usual protein breakfast and had cereal. Always a yummy alternative on a rare occasion. I had thrown on my Purple Pony Chincoteague cap, a white polo and shorts and I wore that gear to the beach. This was new for me, and I discovered a better way not to burn my scalp. Wear a hat and don’t be so vain about lightening the hair. Ah the wisdom of age.

We got there about 1130am and it was not too crowded, though it was kind of overcast.

L had bought a new one piece this year that was very flattering. (I Had hinted that I didn't really like the last suit.) It was actually quite chilly for a while. Two of the cousins had come earlier to the beach and had planted themselves way down the beach to do some surfing. When L&T arrived we walked together down the beach for 15 min so I could shoot the guys surfing.

I ended up playing frisbee with the cousins.

Then they went out and did some surfing.

Lucky for me I met L no more than two min later and I sensed seeing her that my ring was not on my finger. Indeed I had taken it off to put more SPF on. Luckily one of our cousins had seen the ring and put it in a bag. Disaster averted.

I did get some nature pics as well today, sand crabs and birds and such, but the Dolphin pod that was off shore was too far out even for the 200 mm lens.

I left son with the cousins and walked back with L, very pleasant indeed.

We returned to the house and the men were dropped off while the women went shopping. I listened to some Guapo and KBB until the ladies returned. Dozed a bit but E kept talking to me so I gave that idea up and we had a nice conversation.

Everyone had a lovely evening. While the Young set was playing PSII the older set went window shopping just in town and walked along Main.

We then all had dinner at Don's Seafood where for just $13 I was served what seemed to be the entire flounder (except head tail and fins of course) it was delicious and very filling.

The youth of america went off and went golfing and flirting while our son and the rest of us watched the 10pm fireworks.

Day One

2006-07-02T23:59:00.000-07:00

Day One

July 2, 2006

As we were up until 2am the previous evening, I slept in till 8am and L till 9am. So much for getting going at 10! I finished up some burning of Dr. Who's for my peeps and then finished packing after L got up. Hit road around 11am, so not too bad. With Lucky in the back seat whining her little (mostly missing) tail off we headed out to Nana's to drop her off. L drove the first par of the drive from there and we made very good time. We decided not to take Route 206 through Princeton although our cousin and his GF (henceforth referred to as L&T) did, instead we just taking 287 all the way around to the Turnpike and headed down to exit 5, hoping over to 295 to the Delaware bridge. They were about 20 min ahead of us on the NYS Thruway, but by the time we got all the way down to the Bridge we were 5 mi ahead of them. So the 206 "Shortcut" is simply more scenic, not faster..

We did our driver switch at the Rest stop just below Exit 9 where 287 meets the Turnpike in Joisey. I had put the iPod on with some Neil Diamond when we first started but L suggested much to my surprise that we go shuffle the whole way. This was a pleasant surprise for me of course. We both had Veto power over any song, much to A's chagrin as we tended to pass over the Green Day. So it was "Mike Radio" almost all the way down.

By the time we hit Dover we were getting very hungry as lunch had been Subway at about 2pm in Saugerties. Via the cell phone we hooked up with L&T at the Arby's just before the bypass. We sat as it was very nice to get out of the car. L took the wheel for the last 1.5 hrs to Chincoteague.

We had a great evening playing cards and generally relaxing.

I decided to do something very different on this vacation and really relax so I didn't bring my bike and I did bring a 5th of Johnny Walker Black! Another cousin of Aunt and Uncle (hereafter S and E) came up from Virginia Beach to stay with us while L&T were here through Wednesday. The cousins played music on the porch as well.