vacation « Life of Red

Archive for the 'vacation' Category

Aug

The party’s almost over… Oh Wait! It’s just the calm before the storm.

Categories: Beach, family and vacation

My vacation is at an end tomorrow. All week it’s been The Folks, Sis, Minnie Red and I. Viper arrived Friday night and here it is Saturday morning and suddenly everyone is scurring.

The King is coming! The King is coming!

The final baby proofing is going on… and I’m sitting here writing but I did my part. So Brotha-Man, SIL and The King are about an hour away. This brings our count to 8.

But wait there’s more.

My Aunt and Uncle are driving down with their motorcycle group. They’re gonna break off and meet up with us after lunch. My Uncle has never met Viper and so when he heard Viper was here he knew he had to stop by. This brings us to 10.

But still… there’s more.

Sis has some friends in town and Brotha-Man’s bud, Seal, is also in town. Sounds like there will be a trip over to Seacrets this afternoon. I’m sure we’ll see even more of their friends over there.

Monday I’ll be back at work… Uggggh. Only for three days though. Two of the Chicago girls are flying in late Wednesday and we are trekking back down here on Thursday. There will be 10 of us in total. I can’t wait! What I can wait for is my birthday. I will just pretend it’s not happening.

I’m sure there will be some stories or pictures to come out of today’s events. I will be sure to keep you post as usual.

Aug

Happy Jamaican New Year!

By Red 1 Comment

Categories: Beach, alcohol, food and vacation

This was the view from our balcony at the beach tonight:

The picture doesn’t do it justice by any means but that is Minnie Red’s head on the bottom there. This had to be the best fireworks we have ever seen from Seacrets. If you click on the photo and look real close you might notice the *Waxing Crescent Moon in the background. Tonight I realized that every time I’ve seen fireworks they have been red, white & blue. These were purple, gold, orange and anything else you could think of.

After my last post I changed my mind and decided not to drive to Dewey. Instead I had a hankering for a Mojo Rumba at Macky’s. For some reason I wanted to pronounce it Moho but I finally got it right. This was a first for me and what I mean is I went and sat at a bar by myself.

I met a great local couple that told me about the record breaking Blue Marlin that was brought in yesterday weighing 935.5 lbs. WOW! They also let me know that Fager’s and Galaxy 66 have the best food that can be found in Ocean City.

BUT what they were really emphatic about is the crab cakes at the Crab Cake Factory and at Cowboyz Smokehouse. They tell me there really is no filler and it’s all crab meat and this is why they can’t fry them. The Crab Cake Factory ships almost anywhere so be sure to check out their link. If you do place an order be sure to let them know you heard about them from Kathy.

After four… Yes four of the Mojo Rumba’s I was done. I stumbled down the street to Dumsers and ordered myself a cheesesteak. Evidently, the cheesesteak was on special and came with fries. WOOHOO! I have been so good lately and this was gonna ruin it all but I didn’t care. Once the order was ready I stumbled back to the condo to chow down. Luckily, I couldn’t eat it all and only got half way through. About that time The Folks and Minnie Red arrived home with Grotto pizza, which I didn’t touch. I layed down on the couch and promply passed out but not before I put my foot on the floor to keep the room from spinning.

Soon after the sun went down I woke up and not feeling very well. I took some excedrin for the headache and I’m guzzling the water and with any luck maybe I’ll run in the morning. I’m just thankful I didn’t eat the whole thing. I prefer not to eliminate something I want to eat but to just have smaller… way smaller portions. Last year I would have eaten the entire thing. Seems this is all working… I bumped into a friend I haven’t seen for a few months and he noted I was looking better… slimmer. Woohoo!

Seems I woke in plenty of time to catch Project Runway but more importantly the fireworks.

Another wonderful day of vacation and this one was particularly quiet plus I met a personal challenge to hang at a bar alone and meet some new people.

*The Waxing Crescent Moon is a term I got from Minnie Red. Last year they did an entire unit on the moon and the sun. I’m so proud of her… She is soooo smart.

Aug

Vacation Wednesday

By Red Leave a Comment

Categories: Beach and vacation

Dad, Sis and I walked the boards this morning. The boards were packed and it was the hottest I think I have ever experienced it out there. I was soaked by the time we got back.

During our walk we heard this huge BOOM! Dad said it sounded like a plane breaking the sound barrier. I thought that was odd but he said they would hear that often when he was a young’un. When we got back Mom was worried something happened under the building but ends up she heard the same thing. It will probably be a few weeks before we ever figure out what that could have been.

The Fam has decided to invade my cousin and his family in Dewey but I stayed back with plans to meet up with them later. I took a nap and then headed up to the beach, which was packed and extremely hot. It didn’t take long before my knee caps were sweating and I was ready to climb into the ocean.

The ocean was very calm and beautiful and the sky is clear. I walked right in but only got about half way. A small wave hit right at stomach level and OOOOOHHHHHHHHH Crrraaaapppppp! That is COLD! I was cooled off and didn’t need to go any further. I wasn’t expecting it to be that cold so when it hit the stomach I thought I might toss my cookies. So I turned and walked out and another little wave hit me and I couldn’t get back to my chair fast enough.

Next time I won’t go in so fast.

Today Seacrets is offering no cover and $2.25 drafts all day with fireworks tonight. I’ll be heading out soon to meet up with the family in Dewey. The Island Boys will be playing at The Rudder at 4 and The Island Boys are a favorite of Dad’s.

I know I’m in vacation mode because I haven’t made my bed, and neither has Minnie Red, and I’m not going crazy over it. Back home I can’t go on with my day unless my bed is made, I’m neurotic about it.

Well… I gotta go, The Island Boys are waiting for me. See ya!

Aug

It’s Mom’s Birthday!

By Red 1 Comment

Categories: Beach and vacation

For the love… The alarm on my phone went off at 5:30 this morning. That won’t happen again.

I did get up two hours later and went for a run. All-in-all I only did 40 blocks but something is better than nothing.

By the time I got back Dad had cooked up the bacon and they wanted me to fix the eggs for Mom’s birthday breakfast of egg and bacon sandwiches.

Next… Crabbing in the secret spot on St. Martin’s river. Sis and Mom arrived by wave runner and Minnie Red and I drove with Dad. I haven’t been on the wave runner for almost a month now and for some reason getting a little nervous about it. I hopped on with Sis and she quickly put me at ease. The water was real calm and quiet so I think that helped a lot. The last few times were real choppy and I’m afraid of falling off especially with the amount of jelly fish around.

Well… Only two legal size crabs were caught. Minnie Red named them Bob and Billy. This was one more than we caught last year.

Next stop… Macky’s and I tried a new drink… The Mojo Rumba.

Yummdiddlyumptious

Now it’s time for a nap before we take Mom Parasailing and the crabs will be steamed and ready by 6:30. If you’re ever in OC the best place for crabs is On The Bay Seafood.

Today is also a momentous day since I have just reserved my room for the vacation in Belize in February. I have my own Ocean Side Cabana and looking for a roommate… Anyone interested? Hahaha

Aug

V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N

By Red Leave a Comment

Categories: Beach and vacation

I had the Vacation song by the Go-Go’s stuck in my head but the video really was somewhat depressing cause you know “I ain’t thinking of you“. So then I went in search of a video of the “V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N” song by Connie Francis, I believe, yeah I wasn’t feeling that one either.

Anywho, This chick is in serious need of a vacation. I didn’t leave as early as I would have liked this morning but a stomach issue keeping me up the night before didn’t help.

When I got here I got sight of the room I’m sharing with Minnie Red and even though she cleaned before I got here it was still HORRIBLE. There was just no room for me AT ALL because of all her stuff… Everywhere. I know she tried but the line of shoes in the middle of the room was making me crazy not to mention a chip bag in the corner. Oh Hell to the Na! Food is not allowed in any bedroom… Only a glass of water.

I was on vacation physically but mentally I just wasn’t there yet. The Folks, Sis and Minnie Red went on the beach and I wanted to but just couldn’t. I did take a nap and clean the sheets and clean the room. Still I couldn’t help but feel I needed to just leave. We then headed to the White Marlin Open, found free parking and after two beers I think I was finally feeling it… V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N!

We headed back and Minne Red headed back to the condo and The Folks, Sis and I tried to get in on the tale end of Happy Hour at Macky’s. Oh my, that was such a huge help for mentally getting on vacation. There were no buckets for me but three Blue Moons… I think it was three… Really helped. I kicked Dad’s butt in Chinese Checkers when we got back and watched the Sun-Set with Minnie Red, Sis and Dad.

I am now ready for ni-ni (a/k/a night-night). Tomorrow is Mom’s birthday. I will make the eggs and Dad will put the sandwiches together for her breakfast and she seems excited about that. 3:30 pm will be her reservation for Parasailing and the crabs that Sis and I are taking care of will be after the Parasailing. Damn! I think I’m more excited about Mom’s birthday than she is.

This is gonna be a good vacation now that I’m finally in that mode.

Oh and if you were wondering… We saw them bring in a Blue Marlin. The requirements for the Blue Marlin is 105 inches long and over 500 lbs. The boat that came in had caught a White Marlin and released it, which was evident by the White Marlin Flag on the boat flown upside down. This same boat was flying a Blue Marlin Flag, right side up, which tells you they have a Blue Marlin on board. The Blue Marlin tend to run three times the size of the White and are WAY more exciting to watch when they hang them up and weigh them. This boat, out of New York, had set their site on the Blue. Word was, they had a Blue and it was 110 inches long. The weight would have to wait til they docked. Everyone flocked to the area where the boats pull in and the fish are offloaded and weighed. The young dudes could be seen working the pulley and the tail of the Blue was finally seen. The weight from the scale was visible to everyone and we all held our breath but the weight only went up to 436.5. There was a collective sigh and we all knew the Blue was not a contender.

As we were all watching I couldn’t help but think how this could be taken in such a different way. Imagine the fish standing on that boat, and all around, watching as a some human was yanked up by his feet and all the fish around cheered at the big human that was caught.

Anyhow, the MC went on to let eveyone know that all the fish caught would not be wasted in any way. All fisherman donated the fish and they went to local shelters.

Hopefully, we will still go back to see more fish brought in. Last year Sis, Minnie Red and I witnessed a 680 lb Blue come in. It’s a different world there and I love to watch the people. We saw a woman tonight that is the most tan I have ever seen any woman. I swear she is darker than the black dude I work with. On top of that she has blonde hair and it just didn’t look right.

I’m gonna go get some zzzz’s and hopefully I won’t be getting up too early. This chick needs to relax big time.