adios summer

Last weekend marked the end of summer, which makes me very sad. So for one last hurrah, I went to the beach.

Josh (yes, he's back!) and I drove Friday after work for six hours and finally arrived at midnight at his grandparents' house in Ocean View, Delaware. We promptly went to sleep.

Saturday I got up and did some reading, and after breakfast and another snack, we headed to Bethany Beach. We swam, boogie-boarded, relaxed in the shade, and read books. Josh got us board fries to eat, and later we got desserts on the boardwalk.

(Look Mom, I'm wearing the hat!)

 

Late in the afternoon we finally headed back to the house for showers. Also a nap, because relaxing at the beach can be really tiring. Then we headed back to Bethany Beach for a seafood dinner and to check out some of the touristy junk shops. We didn't buy anything, except tokens at the arcade to play games. At night we walked on the beach a little, and rested atop the lifeguard perch.

Sunday I got up early (-ish) and went for an 8.5 mile run. Then I ate some food and headed back to the beach with Josh. We met up with some of his relatives and chatted a little while, but then they went to lunch and we went in the ocean. More swimming and boogie-boarding for a couple hours, followed by resting (or sleeping) on the beach, and back in the water a little longer with big waves until the lifeguards called us in because of lightning.

Back at the house we had dinner with his grandparents and aunt and uncle. Then we played games! Their family always plays Caboodle, which I had never played. It was a fun night.

See my quarters? Caboodle is a betting game. Takes 75 cents to play and winner takes all!

Word had gotten around that I like pistachios, so they had some available after dinner and I ate a lot of them while we played. Josh's Grandpa also taught me a new trick for opening those pistachio shells with only a little slit: use another shell to help pry it open! Genius.

Caboodle is a game that keeps going until only one person is left, so as players lose and drop out one by one, his family sends them off with a boisterous round of "Goodnight Ladies" (only you fill in "ladies" with the name of the loser). We probably disturbed neighbors.

Josh lost and his Grandpa is singing his farewell.

 Monday Josh and I rode our bikes to the boardwalk to play some more games at the arcade and cash in our valuable tickets. However, the waves of the ocean were just too inviting, so we rode back to the house instead and changed into our swimsuits. Back at the beach there was more swimming and boogie-boarding and lots of jumping over waves, with no time for relaxing or reading or napping on the beach.

I'm a big fan of bike lanes.

Right after we'd dropped our towels and shoes I spotted a pistachio shell!

Once we'd had our fix we went back to the house to shower and pack up. Alas, the weekend was ending quickly and we had to get back to Charlottesville for work and school. But on our way out of town we went back to the boardwalk for the annual Jazz Funeral, in which a bass brand parades down the boardwalk in a mock New Orleans-style funeral to mourn the end of summer. There's a coffin and everything. Then apparently all the lifeguards disrobe and run into the water, but we didn't have time to stay for that.

Here comes the band.

I like the guy with his hat over his heart for poor Summer.

Goodbye summer.