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Sunday, July 21, 2002

Here's the plan: I'm gonna transcribe all my notes from the past week to post for all ya'll. Cool? Let's go then. Part 1:

"Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown…" Saturday, 7/13

The dreaded day of departure has arrived. Things get off to a bad start: we were supposed to leave "around 10 or earlier" but in actuality we shoved off at 10:58.

To add to the ill feelings, we have to wait for 5 minutes or so at a train crossing, and shortly after both cars in the caravan have a minor collision, all within 10 miles of the house. Not a scratch on either car- they don't make bumpers like they used to, and in this case I think that's a good thing. Things go from worse to worst, which I think is the stupidest expression in the English language. So after munching on a phenomenally crappy quarter-pounder at The Golden [******] Arches and sucking on one too many Lifesavers to wash away the aftertaste, we navigate our vehicles to the realtor's office approximately 4 hours and 27 minutes after vacating our home, sweet home.

I'm now contemplating a summer without a trip to Ocean City. "Pilgrimage" might be the better word. It's not as though I feel obligated to come back next year, but while it has its charms, this sandy Mecca has long ago lost its novelty for me, a veteran of around 15 years. Since I'm here with my family, all activities of mine sort of revolve around them, so while I shouldn't complain about the monotony of this annual week-long holiday, I feel that I needn't believe that what I do here is as fun as what I'd be doing on my own. I know this makes little sense, but that's OK; maybe that's the point of this long spouting-off anyway. I want to detail the occurrences of this vacation for fun and, as they say, for posterity. Who knows? It could be the last that I take of this kind. But there's surely some fun to be had in the city by the sea*… there must be, right?

*No one actually calls it that, FYI.

"Yep, still day 1" Saturday, 7/13

Once unloaded, it's time for that glorious occasion that only happens once a day: supper! For din-din tonight, it's Warren's Station, a few miles up the highway in Fenwick Island, DE. We arrived on a busy Saturday night, fully expecting a long line and a long wait to be seated. We were certainly correct about the first part. Many families swarmed outside the restaurant as we strolled up to the hostess. "Party of 7." We were told there'd be a good wait. But… less than a minute after hearing this, we were told that a table opened up and it was ours for the taking. It was, as the Spanish say, ¡casi un milagro!* The restaurants other patrons were visibly not pleased. Tough noogies,** I say. It was as if my dictatorial fantasies had come true… "O, ¡es señor Wiley! ¡Dile una mesa pronto!"

*I made this dicho up completely, but it could be true.
** Credit where it's due: this phrase lifted from Dave Barry Hits Below the Beltway.

The grub came quickly and the short wait was disposed of by the fresh sourdough rolls, an OC restaurant staple. Back to the food. My 12 oz. sirloin strip was grilled perfectly- to that most wishy-washy of steak donenesses: "medium." Unfortunately, I found it a bit fatty. (Yeah, this coming from me, ya smart aleck!)

The family-friendly (now there's a buzzword for the city) restaurant specializes in turkey and seafood, though not on the same dish, which would be bizarre. What they lack in variety they make up for in the quality of their entrees and in quantity as well- the portions are quite large- the moderately hungry need not apply. At "reasonable" prices too! (Though that begs the question: who decided what is a reasonable amount of green to pay in exchange for any type of fare?* Perhaps I should read a little Immanuel Kant…)

*Please note the restraint I show in not punning with "fair."

-End part1-

posted by Steve 7/21/2002 07:22:00 PM

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Sunday, July 21, 2002

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