Random Talk

We’ve done some major shopping this week.

On Thursday Greg bought (ordered) a new lens for the camera:

I’ll let the website describe the lens:

“Fix the Canon EF 10-22 mm f/3.5-4.5 USM Ultra-wide Zoom Lens to your camera and capture high-quality close-up shots. This lens combines a lightweight and compact design with a 1:3.5-4.5 aperture to deliver high-performance for your Canon EOS SLR digital camera systems. It boasts three aspherical elements and a Super Ultra-low Dispersion (UD) element to give you enhanced image quality for a true cinematic experience. In addition, a ring-type USM means fast and silent AF along with full-time manual focus. With close-focusing of up to 0.79 feet and an inner focusing system, this USM lens offers precision focusing for versatile and easy subject selection.” Basically, it’s a wide angle lens. We’re going to be able to include more of the subject and surroundings in the picture – perfect for our cruise in just over six months!

It’s not a cheap lens (gotta spend money to make money), by any means (but it is cheaper than some of the others out there), but we feel this is, more or less, an investment as we’re planning on selling our pictures one day (we’ve already looked into the sites/groups that you can post your pictures for sale) and have joined a few organizations to get our foot in the door.

That lens was Greg’s wish list item; my wish list item (and better be our next lens purchase) is for a macro lens! Except, Greg fears that I will never let him have the DSLR back since I am a macro whore.

Greg was just telling me (as we were reviewing some of my pictures from last weeks trip to the park) that I “think like a photographer; you see the shot in your mind before you take the picture.” rather than “point and shoot”, which he says he’s guilty of. Hearing compliments like that, from Greg (and a lot of other friends/family, but more importantly Greg) make me feel really good; like I have this really cool ability that isn’t easily aquired by everyone else (such as other peoples ability to write their emotions so others can feel what they’re feeling – just by words); like, I have a talent! And, honestly, feedback like that drives me to really want to learn about photography more and how I can improve my ‘talent’. My only set-back is my learning skills; I’m one of those people that learn best by actually doing, rather than just reading. I need to physically do the lesson, which someone showing me how it’s done, in order for the information to retain. I can read a book, but that only gives comprehension to what I am doing, it doesn’t show me what I am doing.

…

It was a hot and humid day today and we were going to go to the park but decided to run our usual errands and call it a day. Instead we decided to go out to lunch, which is something we haven’t done in a long time (well, since Greg’s birthday) and then head over to Books-A-Million for some reading material/self help books. Can you believe we spent just under $100 at the bookstore?! Greg and I love bookstores and can easily spend days in them! If it were possible, we would have a wedding registry at a bookstore. Anyway, we bought The Complete Guide to Caribbean Cruises (so we can read up on the ports of call, the cruise lines, and a whole shit-load of other things about the Caribbean), the Canon EOS 40D Digital Field Guide (so we can learn more about the 40D), and, for me, Photoshop Elements 5.0 for Dummies (in hopes of learning the full potential that PS offers). We also bought a few small things for Amelia (a color and texture book and another stuffed bear) and a birthday card for Jay. After the bookstore we ran over to the Super Wal-Mart for some baby needs and a few groceries. Then we came home and just relaxed as we watched the O’s vs. Nat’s game.

…

July is looking to be another busy month for us – which is fine by me; the sooner time flies, the closer we get to our cruise (which I am really starting to get excited about). We have a few birthday parties to attend, then there’s the week the babysitter is going to be on vacation, so my Mom is going to watch Amelia, and at the end of the month we still might be going to Ocean City, MD (nothign definate).

…

Earlier this week, I was casually talking with the Babysitter (upcoming ceremony and the reception and how I’ve been thinking about a part time job) and she informed me of LiveOps. LiveOps is a virtual call center that you work from home! So, I checked out the website and I meet all the requierments but one: landline phone; which is easy to resolve. I talked, briefly, to Greg about it (after researching the company’s website) and I’m borderline considering ‘applying’. It’s convienent to ‘work’; the calls I would receive (from my understanding) would be those from info-mercials (and things of that sort) and just place the order; it’s all scripted; and you get paid by the minute (that you’re actually on the phone). It seems pretty simple and worth looking in to.

…

Well, it’s well past midnight and we have a busy day tomorrow… err, later in the day. Signing off.

Anniversary Getaway

The morning started off at 9:00, when I awoke. I slept in longer than I wanted to but at least I felt refreshed. Greg, on the other hand, was still dead asleep. Later I learned that he stayed up until 3am reading and playing computer games. When I woke up there was a text message from Michele informing me that she was heading into to town and wanted to know if I was available. So I called her and we chatted for a few and she invited Greg and me for breakfast while she was waiting for her truck to get checked.

Around 10:45am, Greg and I are outside cleaning out his car so we can fit Michele in the back seat. Yeah, his car was that messy! By 11am, Michele was picked up on the side of Rt. 2 and we head off to Honey Bee Diner for breakfast.

Breakfast was… eh at best. Service was so slow and our server wasn’t very friendly and made fun of Greg because he asked for orange marmalade for his toast (Greg could only have mixed berry or apple); she kept saying things along the line of “what do you think we are, a fancy breakfast place?” Hm… we won’t be returning anytime soon – if ever.

Around noon we were on our way to O.C (after we dropped Michele off at the Nissan dealership – she had a 10am appointment for a tune-up and oil change and didn’t leave until 5pm! And, her truck now stalls out. She’s taking it back in on Monday). Before me made it to 97 I realized that we didn’t have any cash for the Bay Bridge toll so we stopped at a gas station and filled up and got some cash. Finally, at 12:30pm we were en-route for Ocean City!

The drive to Ocean City was uneventful. I took a few pictures of the car ride (something to do while bored). I believe listening to the comedy stations on the XM Radio helped me a lot!

 

While on the way, via RT 50, we learned that the main bridge to Ocean City, the draw bridge, was closed due to repairs or maintenance and that we would have to take the RT 90 bridge in (the RT 50 bridge dropped you off around 5th street whereas the RT 90 bridge was around 60th street). Which actually worked in our favor because our hotel was on 56th street!

I became so giddy and excited when Greg told me that the lighthouse building that we could see from the RT 90 bridge was where we were staying!

Greg reserved a Lightkeeper suite at the Lighthouse Club Hotel. I have never stayed in a hotel that comes close to this place. It was simply magnificent. I honestly can’t put into words how amazing this place is!

The pictures don’t do justice for the place, but here they are:

Greg and I checked in sometime around 3pm. We hung out until about 3:45 just in awe of the place and talking about the plans for the night. I went through the phone book and called around to make sure some of the businesses and restaurants were still open, as it was off season, and only found one place that was open and serving crabs, Fisherman’s, and we made plans to go there for dinner.

Once we were done with the dinner discussion, we went downstairs and outside onto the deck and just stood there (taking pictures) taking it all in. I miss living on the water!

and I couldn’t resist taking a picture of Greg and me!

Now, it’s time to find us some mini-golf! Greg calls Tim to get the name of the preferred mini-golf location and then we’re on our way only to learn, once we arrive, that the place is closed for the season:

So, our quest continues and we find an indoor mini-golf place that was still open and (not) surprisingly wasn’t busy at all! So, we get our mini-golfing on!

The sun was setting fast and Greg had hopes to catch the sunset from our hotel, but we were still playing mini-golf. I offered to end the game in just go because I didn’t want Greg to miss watching the sunset on the water but he refused and wanted to finish playing; I was worried that Greg wouldn’t be able to see the sunset so I just played to get it over with. Greg won the game by about 5 or so strokes.

We made it back to the hotel in time to watch the sunset and take pictures. The sunset was beautiful…

it’s been a long time since I sat outside to watch the sun set. It was so beautiful and relaxing. It was at this moment Greg and I decided to come back every February for our anniversary and we talked about having our wedding on the water, as the sun was setting.

Once the sun was set, Greg and I talked about what to do next; go to the boardwalk or dinner. It was decided to go to dinner since the place closes at 9pm and it was nearing 6pm (I think). So, we went upstairs to our room and got ready and then headed over to the restaurant. As I mentioned, the RT 50 bridge was out so Greg and I had to drive all the way to the other end of the bay to get to the restaurant or any other place on the other end and then drive back. So, we spent and extra 1.5 hours driving each time we went anywhere that was on the other side.

Dinner was amazing. I was so surprised at all that we received with our meals! The all-you-can-eat crabs included shrimp, fried chicken, french fries and hush puppies, in addition to the crabs for only $25.99!! I passed on the shrimp and only had one order of chicken, french fries and hush puppies; I was here for the crabs! Greg ordered grilled salmon and teryaki wings. Here’s some food porn…

the crabs were delicious! Surprisingly, I only had one ‘bad crab’ out of the 20ish crabs I had. While I was still eating crabs, Greg surfed the interweb on my cell phone (because he was done eating and I wasn’t), and we talked about coming back this summer and I was telling him that if we come back, we’re bringing Mom and other family members and having dinner here, no matter what! The service was amazing and the food was great and priced very well.

After dinner we headed to the boardwalk (after having to drive all the way around the bay and then up Coastal Highway), but took our time getting there; we drove through Ocean City’s neighborhoods (as I was thinking out loud about homes in Ocean City and schools and such since all you see on the main road, Coastal Highway, are hotels and businesses) and arrived about 8:45pm. The boardwalk, when in season has a couple thousand people walking at the same time, was dead. Vacant. Desolate. Erie. I have never, in all the years of coming to Ocean City, seen the city so… shut down. It was cool but weird. When we arrived, Playland was still open and we talked about going in and play a few games but we wanted to walk around first.

Greg and I took a walk down to the shore and watched the waves crash. It was very peaceful. I was thankful that Greg packed an extra jacket (even though the jacket was a Christmas gift from his ex when they were dating) for me to wear. It was down right windy and a little on the chilly side (even for me, and I rarely wear a jacket/coat – even if it’s snowing). When we made it back to the boardwalk, Playland had closed so we just took random pictures. I wanted a picture of Greg, and me, by the huge tire that was at the Ripley’s Believe it or Not place:

And, for some reason, Greg had  to have a picture of Thrasher’s…

 Eventually we left and decided to find a local grocery store to get items for snacks and breakfast as well as some liquor. Well, we found a liquor store but no grocery store that was open. We talked about buying a bottle of wine

or maybe some items to make mixed drinks

but decided to buy a small bottle of champagne and pre-mixed bottles of mudslides and lemon drops. The next stop was the 7-11 where we bought some soda and chips and dip (so romantic) and then it was back to the hotel!

When we arrived at our room the lights were low and there was a candle lit, our bed was turned down and there was fresh fruit and orange juice in the fridge and some cranberry pound cake on the counter! I was a little freaked about the candle because I was asking myself if I lit a candle before leaving a few hours ago but then I don’t remember even seeing a candle in the hotel when we arrived, so it must of been the turn down service! It was very romantic.

Greg made me take a shower when we returned to the hotel because I smelled of vinegar and old bay. I was impressed by the soap and shampoo provided; the bar of soap was of actual size verses a mini travel size, and it was like something one would buy at Bath and Body Works (fresh smelling, bits of ‘stuff’ in the bar to exfoliate, etc) – I loved the bar of soap and told Greg that we’re taking it home with us!

When I got out of the shower Greg was in the jacuzzi, with the fireplace lit and the candle still twinkling, waiting for me. Sadly, the jacuzzi had the opposite effect on us; we were way too relaxed while in the tub to do other ‘stuff’ and believe it or not, we didn’t have sex – we talked about it, we kissed and did other ‘stuff’, but no sex; we were too tired (it was nearing midnight) and too relaxed to put forth any more effort.

The bed was a queen; Greg and I are used to sleeping on a king. Greg slept well, I did not. It took a long time for me to fall asleep and I didn’t have much success staying asleep. I was up by 7:30am, though I would doze off for a few minutes every now and then. By 8:30, we were both up. There was a Washington Post (one of my favorite newspapers) at the door and I started to read the paper (Greg stole the sports section) and have some of the cranberry pound cake.

Once Greg was done reading the paper he made a few subtle hints about finishing what we started the night before in the jacuzzi… it was then that we ‘celebrated’ our anniversary the way it was meant to be celebrated!

Greg got into the shower and I got dressed, only to realize that I left my brush in the car. I was hoping my hair didn’t look too bad with the headband in…

when Greg got out of the shower and was dressed, we started packing and getting ready to check out and saying good bye to the best place either of us have ever stayed in.

we spent a few minutes on the balcony just thinking and stuff.

I believe we checked-out around 10:00 or 10:30. We decided to head over to Assateague Island in hopes to catch a few pictures of the wild ponies. One the way to Assateague we stopped at a off the road park that was on the other side of the bay from where we stayed. The day started off cloudy and cold, so the pictures were a little more challeging to take, but they turned out pretty well…

after about a half hour we headed over to Assateague Island. On the way there, there was a part of the road that was lined with these really neat looking trees:

Finally, after the long drive to Assateague Island we made it (my patience during car rides is very low)!

I wanted to go to the beach because the waves are usually bigger and better than the ones in Ocean City.

after about a half hour we head back to the car to look for wild ponies! Unfortunately, we only saw two from afar…

 

by now it’s nearing noon and we’re starting to feel hungry. So we head back to the main road and I start to recognize a few buildings and realize that we’re in the area that I used to stay when my family would visit Ocean City! We used to stay at these cottages called Coconut Grove for a few years until the cabins were bought out by the Francis Scott Key resort; seeing the old cottages brought back a lot of memories – and the strongest memory is when my family spent a week in Ocean City and I had a raging ear infection and wasn’t allowed to go swimming. I remember lying in the sand and having to lay on one side for about a half hour after I put my ear drops in and then getting a wicked sunburn on the side of my thigh (that was awesome to peel).

So, we’re driving around and I’m starting to remember things and we end up at a marina and there is a bar/restaurant called HarborSide so we decide to stop for lunch. I believe I’ve eaten there before many years ago because I remember sitting by the window and watching the big(ish) boats come and go.

 

I decided to try their signature drink, an Orange Crush

 

I forget what the drink includes (aside from the ‘fresh’ squeezed orange juice) but it wasn’t all that impressive. As you can see from the picture, it looks more like lemonade rather than something orange and it tasted a little diluted.

We ordered some buffalo wings (I’ve been on a buffalo kick for a couple weeks now) as our appetizer

 

and I was a little disappointed; the texture was right but it was lacking flavor (i like my wings with a little more spice and some vinegar).  For lunch Greg ordered a burger and I had the Crisfield Chicken sandwich (a grilled chicken breast topped with crab dip). Again, I was disappointed in the lack of flavor in the food (Bateman’s has a similar sandwich called the Chicken Chesapeake and it tastes so much better). Needless to say, I don’t think I’d be returning to this place anytime I am in Ocean City. But, it was nice to sit and watch the boats…

 

 

 

 

during lunch we looked up the address to the Sonic in Delaware (via interweb on my cell phone) and made that our second destination once we had our fun on the boardwalk!

I was happy to see that the boardwalk had a little more activity than the night before; I was also happy to see that some of the shops along the boardwalk were open!

We started out on the jetty; I was mesmerized by the waves crashing onto the rocks

 

 

 

Once we had our fun on the jetty we headed to the boardwalk.  I stopped in a jewelry store and bought my Mom a pair of earrings (pure silver and 40% off), then I bought a tub of Fisher’s famous popcorn, and a bag of cotton candy. Greg stops in Dolle’s and buys some fudge and truffles.

 

 

afterwards we head over to Playland to play a few games. My hands were sticky from the cotton candy so I wasn’t all that interested, but I did play a game of skeet ball and beat Greg!

After playland we head off to Delaware! The drive wasn’t all that bad. The only ‘issue’ was that Greg would drive the.exact.speed limit and it drove me nuts! I wasn’t being a ‘backseat driver’ by any means but I let him know that I felt he was driving too slow. I took pictures to keep me occupied…

 

 

 

 

 

I believe we hit Dewey, Delaware first and just kept driving. Eventually, we were in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. I’ve never been to Rehoboth Beach before, so Greg drove around the popular spot…

 

and Greg asked me to take a picture of this pub…

 

and then we’re on our way. Greg asks if I want to stop at the outlets and I say sure.

 

 We went into one store and didn’t buy anything. I wasn’t in the mood to do any shopping, even if it is tax free. By now I am exhausted and can’t wait to go home and sleep in my bed! But, we still had at least 3 more hours of driving!

Bridgeville, DE was our spot; this is where Sonic is located and Greg wanted to stop at Sonic’s to end our amazing anniversary weekend. The drive wasn’t all that bad; I liked driving through Georgetown, DE – I liked the houses. I like the older houses with the wrap around porches and turrets.

 

 

It was a long drive (and stinky at times due to the farms we passed). I was getting more and more tired (and cranky) as the drive continued on to what felt like an eternity!

And then I saw the sign!

 

 

 

Yay!! We made it – finally!! And you know what, neither of us were even hungry! We were still full from lunch earlier in the day and by now it was 5:45pm! But we couldn’t leave without ordering something…

 

 

the drinks were our biggest desire; given their commercials are about their drinks. So Greg ordered a Cherry Limeade and a Cranberry something or other and I ordered the light version of the Cherry Limeade – which, in all honesty, tasted like a virgin Sherlly Temple. But it was good. Also, we decided to order meals anyway; I had a bacon cheeseburger and Greg had a chicken sandwich…

 

 

 

the food was good, I guess. Nothing, aside from the drinks, stood out to me. Greg said he enjoyed his meal whereas I couldn’t even finish mine!

 I believe it was 6:07 when we left Sonic’s. We guessed how many miles we had left and around what time we would make it home. Greg guess that we had about 65 miles to go and I guess about 100 (the actual mileage was about 70 something) and I guessed we’d be home between 6:55 and 7:15 (we made it around 7:03).

We watched the sun set on the way home and then I ‘watched’ the skies and their colors…

 

 

 

The End.