Ocean City

This time last week. That's what I keep thinking about. 

Well, maybe not exactly this time last week because it would have looked like this.

We were stuck in traffic for an hour, but that didn't matter so much to us because we were getting away.  Getting away from Central Pennsylvania, from work, from problems that are so freakin stupid I could (and have) scream. 

We needed this vacation like a roast pig needs an apple.

And, since I did not take any pictures on the 3rd or 4th day of this trip, I'll group things in places, food, and experiences.



Places

This is Inn on the Ocean.  K still calls it "Annabell's" because he's been coming here since 1994, when Annabell ran it.  Now, Vicki and Charlie own the place, and together with their Boston accents, they do a pretty good job.  We have breakfast on the veranda every morning, and we make sure to tell each other "I'll have my breakfast on the Verrrraaaannndda" in a fancy English accent each day. 

We stayed in the Tapestry room this time.  It's on the top left room in the back.  It faces the hotel next door, but we don't care because it had a King size bed.  Each night it was like, "See ya later!" as we claimed our side of the bed without a 75lb black lab snoring in the middle.

Man, I really love it there.  We have an Ocean City schedule.  We choose to do things when other people aren't doing them.  We eat breakfast, then eat a big meal at 3:00 when the dinner crowd has not come back from the beach, then swim in the dusk when everyone's eating.  It's pretty genius, I'll admit it.

On Friday night, we hung out on the porch and wafted in the vacation air.  My jaw was still tense from the week and the week before that.  It loosened the next morning though, when we went to Assateague. 


Which, if you ever hear me refer to Antigua, I'm actually talking about the wild horse park because I can't for the life of me remember Assateague. 

Yeah, I said wild horses.

The National Park is filled with them. Walking around in their my little ponyness, chomping on grass, wading through swamps, running along the coast. We mostly watched them walk by cars, but it was still amazing. 

There are signs all over that warn you to stay 10 feet away from the horses. They bite.

And yes, I said National Park.

You know what that means?

We bought the first thing for our honeymoon.

I am the proud owner of the National Park Annual Pass. My dad bought me one before I moved to PA.  I'm going to buy one every year now.  Its me being me. 

Antigua was beautiful too.

Food

I'll talk about two meals here.  They're blog worthy.  Saturday was a crab feast near Assateague. 

Fried chicken, beer, peel and eat shrimp, corn on the cob, and Maryland crab.  Now, I've come to find out that you shouldn't waste your time with Maryland crab.  They're wimpy crabbies compared to those we've grown up with in Washington. 


Except......


Except these bad boys, which we had on Sunday:

Maryland soft shelled crabs.  They're worth every bite. Literally, because you eat them whole.  They don't have a hard shell on them, and they're usually fried a bit.  And. They're. Amazing.

Bucket list: check.


At night, we drank wine on the porch, watched drunk people serenade other drunk people, and had a snack on boardwalk.  It's classic boardwalk food: corndogs, Italian ice, pizza, and cannolis.  I'm not going to lie to you, my blogosphere fans.  I had a cannoli every night. Its been a stressful two weeks. 

Experiences

As I've said before, to the point where it may become the title of my blog, I miss the water most since I moved.  So, going to the ocean was a real treat for me.

K doesn't like to swim in the ocean. He says its too big and you can't see what's under you.  That's exactly why I like to swim in the ocean.  I like to feel small in the big blue.  I like to bob up and down as the waves pass, I like to jump high so the big ones don't carry me away, I like to wonder what's under me and what's about to come. Its exhilarating.  It's what I needed.  I like to feel insignificant, in a good way, in the ocean, knowing that I am just one person with just one set of beliefs. 

Even if the first wave that hit me knocked me down and pushed my bathing suit down too far. It was dusk, no one was there. 

I only swam one day.  A much needed nap took place of the second swim. Still, I was eager to run across the still-warm sand, and dip my toes in the salty water.  So, we watched the sun set into night, toes pruny and sandy from the foamy waves, and talked about how our lives are changing while looking out on the horizon.

The rest of the vacation consisted of porch wine-sipping, strolling the boardwalk hand-in-hand, and a rousing game of Life in which I fantasized about having 5 kids and an island with my husband, John Krasinski.

We checked out on the 4th of July, but only left Ocean City after our hosts presented a patriotic performance.

They blasted music like "Proud to be an American" and "This Land is Your Land" while we waved flags and boardwalk passersby gave us the thumbs up or just a confused look. 

And, if you notice the smudge of sunscreen on my camera lens (well, the lens that covers the camera lens, thank you Dad), then you will be able to see that it was a very good vacation.

We will surely be back.