R&R at the Beach

I'm back.  Maybe you didn't realize I was away, but last week we took our annual trip to Primehook Beach, DE with my parents and sister and her kids.  Unlike much of our area and the northern part of Delaware, we had beautiful weather--breezy (windy some days), low humidity and mild temps for most of theweek.

Sunset over the bay.

Primhook Beach is a small community on the Delaware Bay.  To get there you have to drive through Primehook Beack National Wildlife Refuge with its huge numbers of water birds and other critters (like this fox--one of 4 we saw while driving through at night).  The bay's water is warm and has kid-sized waves.  And there's next to nobody on the private beach.  Very nice and quiet.

One of the foxes we saw at night in the refuge.

Food-wise, we didn't do too much out of the ordinary.  Bought some wonderful peaches, cantaloupe and watermelon (one of the best I've ever had) at Penn Vermont Fruit Farm in Bedminster.  If you've never been there, go--the fruit is out of this world and pretty reasonably preiced.

How many pictures of this kid eating ice cream do we have?

We walked around the Rehoboth Beach's boardwalk one night--getting dinner at Grotto Pizza (one of the 2498 of them in the area).  To be honest, the pizza was so-so, but the kids like going there.

Not the greatest pizza in the world, but we were hungry!

So now we get back the the usual grind--get ready for Jake to start kindergarten in a couple of weeks.  And looking forward to our trip to Maine in Sept!

Rest & Relaxation (and Eating)

Jake...with lunch?

Each year for quite a while, we take a week of vacation with my parents, sister & her kids in Primehook Beach, DE.  We rent a house owned by some friends of ours and it's great--the Delaware Bay is right out the back door and the kids love spending the day in the water and sand. 

As is usually the case with vacations, we eat way more than we usually do.  Each of us takes turns making a big breakfast (we had waffles, sausage, scrapple, fruit, French toast, egg bake, danish, cinnamon buns, eggs, milk, juice, coffee...and that was just the first day [kidding]).  Then, after a hard day on the beach, it's time for lunch--sandwiches and more. 

We each take turn with a dinner, too.  We had veggie lasagna, chicken and biscuits, tacos, etc.  We usually buy seafood and I cook up a feast, but we decided to go out this year.  We visited Big Fish Grille in Rehoboth Beach.  We recommend it if you're in those parts--a HUGE menu with something for everyone.  We shared tender and tasty fried calamari as an app.  I had red snapper with wild mushrooms and lobster sauce over mashed potatoes.  Delish.  MB got salmon (surprise, surprise) with some sort of sweet glaze.  Also very good.  My parents got a grilled combo--beef fillet, scallops, shrimp, crab cake & 2 sides.  Jake got fish fingers (fried, but tasty) and fries, as did one nephew.  The other got chicken fingers.  I forget what my sister got.  A good place to go for a good, but casual meal in a very relaxed atmosphere.

We hit the Rehoboth boardwalk one night as we usually do and grabbed some dinner at Grotto Pizza.  Grottos on the boardwalk are kind of like CVS around here--there seems to be one every 10 yards.  Expensive, as you would expect, but good food.  Frozen custard, Boardwalk fries (wonderfully greasy and salty) and mango water ice slid down our throats at some point during the night. 

Oh, I also made a ground cherry pie while there.  If you've read my posts about these little fruits, you know that I wasn't sure how it would turn out.  My dad and MB liked it.  I think I did.  Not something I'd want all the time, but I like the ground cherries better in a pie than raw.  This version was turned out sort of like a pecan pie-type of thing--goopy with lots of brown sugar.

So now we're back and trying to regain our normal eating habits.  At least until we head to Maine in about 3 weeks!