Straight Up Summer

As of today, summer has officially started Chez Pollard. School is out and we are shifting into vacation mode. (And by that I mean, Dixon starts his first camp on Monday.)

Of course, summer unofficially started a few weeks ago, with the earliest Memorial Day weekend imaginable. We went to Fenwick, where we had dinner with the Kennedys at Ropewalk and got to visit Jeff and Christine at their new house in Delaware. Plus, we started the weekend with a very nice, refined dinner at The Narrows and closed out with a fun lunch at Stoked in Cambridge (their wings...get them).

Since then, I have spent as much time as possible at the pool, drinking rose, and making the most of the huge amount of basil, mint and other herbs growing in our backyard. (All thanks to Cooper...I remain a non-gardener.)

This is what's been happening:

Top row, left to right: Dixon and his Sunsations/Maryland crab gun in Fenwick; braving the ocean; rose + pesto, which makes the best easy summer dinner

Middle: Dixon and Gray at Ropewalk Fenwick, where we had a fun, crazy dinner with the Kennedys and Missy and the girls; Mimi and Charlotte in the Ropewalk playground's picture board 

Bottom: Me with Mimi and Charlotte before Ropewalk (the matching stripes weren't even on purpose!); Dixon with a ginormous shrimp (shrimp cocktail is his new thing); Cooper getting his grill on with Maddy and her friend at the pool

Summer. It's just the best.

Beach

This was taken on Monday, after stand-up paddleboarding but before Alicia and Kyle's water ballet performance, set to a group rendition of "Someone Like You" by Adele. We are multi-talented.

Our beach week is winding down - Kyle and Mary are already gone - and we are collectively preparing ourselves for real-world reentry. There's been a lot of the photo above - drinking by the pool in bathing suits. For the grown-ups, not the kids.

Also, togetherness. A lot of togetherness. It is, I think, rare to find a group of friends that can vacation together and still want to hang out by the end of the week. Was there a point this morning when we collectively agreed that next year, we'd like to bring muzzles for both the kids and the adults? Yes, there was. Am I currently in my room, alone, with the door shut, avoiding everyone? Yes, I am. But will I be sad and miss everyone when I wake up in Baltimore on Sunday morning? Totally.

More to follow on the food, bevs and festivities. It's been a great week.

Ropewalk

This year's been a big one for beach restaurant openings.

As a general rule, I don't have high expectations for restaurants at the beach. Compared to Baltimore, the food generally seems overpriced and sort of meh and the service is often spotty. But recently, that's changed.

The entire country has stepped up its culinary game - including beach towns. The opening of places like the "hooked" restaurants in OC, Bethany and Fenwick is a great start.

Ropewalk Oyster House is another great addition to the beach scene. Located on the bay side in Fenwick in the old Capt Pete's space (RIP), Ropewalk hits all its marks.

I'm a fan of Ropewalk's Federal Hill outpost, though I have to admit it's been years since I've been there. I also can't remember if I've ever actually eaten there...but I can vouch for their ability to hand me Miller Lite bottles as quickly as I can drink them (note: I don't actually drink very quickly but their bartenders are good).

The Fenwick restaurant is a completely different animal: family-friendly with a sandy playground in the front, oyster-y with a bunch of varieties available, and definitely more restaurant than bar. But it does have one thing in common with the Fed Hill bar: a Ronald Reagan on the menu (the Gipper burger).

We've been to the Oyster House twice now: once with Cooper's parents over Labor Day weekend and again last Sunday with our friends Audrey and George and their kids (we were celebrating George's very successful completion of the Bethany Beach Triathlon).

Both times, the service was impressive and the food just right. During our first visit, the place was slammed - we waited over an hour and a half for a table - but the service was still nicely timed, attentive and friendly. Last weekend, we were the first people at the restaurant and had great luck with a super-fun waiter named Greg.

The menu isn't overly ambitious but it has its moments - simple things like fish tacos and scallops over risotto are seasoned well and constructed with care and a few flavor twists.

Ropewalk also has a decent list of oysters available on the half shell, including Bay oysters harvested just for them. With George and Audrey, we took down a couple dozen of those; they were salty and lovely (but I am, generally, a fan of local oysters).

Anyone with kids will also appreciate the little playground in front of the restaurant. If you've ever had to wait for a table, or just wanted to sit and have another drink after finishing your meal, you know how amazing a playground can be. Ropewalk's isn't huge, but that's actually a benefit. It's easier to keep eyes on your kid that way.

If you don't have kids, and want to avoid them, that's semi-possible, too. The bar is off to the side and it would be easy to sit there and forget that the playground exists. The restaurant also has upstairs seating - partially outside, overlooking Coastal Highway.

Catering to everyone, making people happy. That's a tall order but Ropewalk is managing.

Beach Eating

We're back from a long weekend in Fenwick, where we were celebrating Cooper's sister's birthday with the whole family. Good times.

As usual, along the way we ate quite a bit. I generally have low expectations for restaurants at the beach. Their seaside locations mean they can get away with lesser quality food and service than restaurants in the city. Bourdain said something once about the quality of a restaurant's view being inversely proportional to the quality of the food. In my experience, he was correct.

So imagine my surprise this weekend when we had some genuinely good restaurant experiences. They weren't all perfect - but what is?

So based on that, a few recommendations:

• Our Friday night dinner at Just Hooked in Fenwick was excellent. Some highlights: a flatbread with gorgeous tomatoes, cioppino with spicy chorizo chips, and nicely grilled mahi mahi over a sweet corn puree. Plus, a visit from the chef, apologizing because he thought my piece of fish (the mahi) was too small. He delivered a second plate - which I did not need, but the table devoured it anyway.
• We celebrated Missy's birthday at Catch 54, which was also the location of her rehearsal dinner with Seth four years ago, and her birthday dinner five years ago. Since the rehearsal dinner, the restaurant has burned down and been rebuilt - it's airy and spare inside, and a lovely waterfront spot. The best part of my dinner might have been the drink: a Catch Crush made with limoncello. The heirloom tomato salad was also amazing - and I took down a hefty portion of bright scallop ceviche.
• On Sunday, Cooper and I took Dixon to Dead Freddie's for a quick lunch. Is it the best food in Ocean City? No. But I had a very respectable cheeseburger - and Dixon couldn't get enough of the pirate ship playground.
• Sunday night, we met our friends Steve and Sheila (who live in Buffalo, but were in Bethany with Steve's family) for drinks and tapas at 14 Global in Bethany. Overall, this was probably the best meal of the weekend. We tried a million different things and most were successful. Go for the pork cheeks, pork belly, grilled mako and fried goat cheese, but stay away from the skate wing (the fish itself was disappointing). Cooper and I had a couple of very good (if expensive) cocktails, too. The restaurant infuses its own vodkas in house - the effort is worth it. My pineapple pico was fruity, refreshing and very interesting. The place is small and doesn't feel super beachy, but that's a small price to pay for genuinely good food at the beach.

We've still got a few more trips left this summer - and I haven't even written yet about our fourth of July experience up at Keuka Lake, or about our week with the friends in Duck.

It's tough being a jet-setter these days.

Vacation Recap: A Week in Duck

What happens when a food blogger (that's me), a bar owner (that's Jeff) and all their friends (Cooper, Christine, Alicia, Mike, Bill, Kyle, Mary + the kids) go on vacation together? There's some eating, a whole lot of drinking, and much general ridiculousness (which, sadly, isn't blog-appropriate).

Still want to read about it, even though I have to leave out the juicy bits? Here's the story, picture book-style:

Links: William + Mary (the greatest school everrrrr), The Governor's Inn, W+M bookstore, Wythe Candy + Gourmet, Fat Canary, The Cheese Shop (get the bread ends and house dressing - seriously)

Links: Braggin' Rights (it's a great house - via Southern Shores Realty), cups by Party Innovations (they are super reliable)

Links: Life's a Beach

Links: Brew Thru, Fat Tire, Sooey's BBQ

Links: Sunset Grille + Raw Bar

Links: Stack 'Em High, The Blue Point, Duck Donuts

Links: Can Can Brasserie

Next year's trip can't get here fast enough.

[Note: I took a few of the pictures, but Alicia took most of them. Par for the course.]

Kit's Beach Theme of the Day: Caftans and Dreams

I'm wearing this right now:

Unleashing my inner Golden Girl.

Also, not blogging. Because I'm on vacation and as it turns out, I just don't feel like it. Though I've been eating and drinking pretty well these past few days and maybe one day soon I'll get around to reporting on all of it.

Beach

I'm in Duck right now with the usual crew. Posting will resume...at some point. There WILL be posts this week. Just not right now. Too relaxed.

As a teaser, though, this is today's specialty cocktail. Blender gets fired up in about an hour.

Dispatches from the Beach: Mini-Restaurant Review of Harris Crab House

We're in Bethany this week, for our annual week of sun and sweet tea vodka drinks with Mike, Alicia, Bill, Kyle, Mary and all the kids. It's chaos, as usual, but in a good way. Dixon keeps waking up really early and has been singing a lot of Lady Gaga. Par for the course.

We sent Dixon down on Thursday night with Cooper's parents, and the two of us had a leisurely drive down on Friday afternoon. So leisurely that we stopped for a late lunch at Harris Crab House (Kent Narrows Way North, 410-827-9500), just over the bridge.

We'd been to Harris before - it had been a few years, but we knew what to expect. The interior is straight up crab house, but in a cute way, not a dirty way (and there is a difference). Brown paper on the tables, big airy decks, nice views of the marina, and walls lined with vintage oyster cans.

The last time we were there, I had crabs, which, if I remember correctly, were good. Friday, we didn't really have time for a long sit-down (and when we eat crabs, it takes some time) so we each ordered a lunch special. I had the stuffed soft shell crab and Cooper had a grilled rockfish sandwich.

Both of us were totally, completely happy with our meals. My softshell was crispy from a light saute and stuffed with a lumpy imperial. It came with onion rings (awesome) and a perfectly cooked, very sweet ear of local corn. Cooper's rockfish was sweet and tender on the inside and charred and crispy outside - exactly what he'd hoped for.

So the seafood was great, of course, but we might have been most impressed with the house-made Old Bayish seasoning that was on the table - it had great spice without being too salty - and the squeeze bottle cocktail sauce, which looked like thin ketchup but had just enough of a horseradish kick that it was perfect. We tend to be judgy and picky about cocktail sauce and seasoning, so we were surprised to be impressed by both.

The service fit the spot - friendly and prompt and wearing t-shirts.

It was a perfect spot to kick off our trip and - so far it seems - a good omen. It's been a great trip so far. Rainy on Saturday as we moved into the Bethany house, but sunny and not even too hot all day on Sunday and Monday. The waves are a little rough, but the water feels good and the kids are happy. So really, what more could we ask for?

Pig Roasting: A Photo Essay

Here is the tale of the pig we roasted and ate one week ago today...

Monday afternoon - Cooper goes to pick up the pig at a butcher near Chestertown (yes, almost two hours away from Bethany). It arrives in a smallish box, and wrapped in heavy plastic. We all gather for the initial unveiling:

Using a mojo marinade and the injector recommended by the La Caja China people, Cooper injected the pig for flavor (ultimately, he wasn't thrilled with the flavor and he's working on something of his own for our next pig): Tuesday, mid-day - Cooper and Bill prep the pig for roasting, flattening it out and placing it between the metal grates that come with the box, then laying it on the bottom of the box: The metal top and charcoal tray go on top of the box: After a couple of hours of cooking, during which Cooper added charcoal at 30 minute intervals, Cooper and Mike carefully lifted the top off the box and got rid of the ashes, before flipping the pig and scoring its skin, then letting it cook for another 30 minutes, skin-side down:The final roast: And finally, the pig was ready: Alicia celebrated in her Andy Nelson's sweatshirt (she won it!) while we ate, mostly with our hands:And what did the kids do during all of this? We had to keep them away from the coals, so Alicia sat them on a lawn chair with a "kiddie cocktail":

Even though Cooper wasn't thrilled with the marinade, we all agreed that the texture of the pig was amazing. Plus, the actual cooking process only takes about four hours. My childhood pig roasting memories all involve my dad getting up around 5 am to start cooking, so four hours sounds like nothing to me.

Overall, it was a fun experience. And now we have a Caja China! Which really means that we've just kicked off the Summer of the Pig chez Pollard.

Ideabook Tuesday: Pretending I'm Still at the Beach

It might have rained all last week, but that doesn't matter. I'd like to go back.

Outfitting the Rental

more home design ideas on houzz

Dispatches from the Beach: Photo for a Rainy Morning

Yesterday, I was tired. Today it is raining. But still we're having fun. Tuesday was all about the pig roasting (it was great) and last night we went out for crabs, after taking the kids to the Rehobeth rides for the afternoon.

I'll write in more detail about the pig roasting process next week, but in the meantime, here are a few quick pictures:

Watching Mike and Cooper move the coals to flip the pig:

Flipping the pig:

At the rides (probably the best day of Dixon and Maddy's year):

Crabs at Mickeys:

Tonight: not that much. I think Kyle's going to make some wings (he is from Buffalo, after all) and everyone's going to do some more reading. Right now, Cooper and Mary are watching Twilight - it's the third time it's been on in the past 24 hours (also, we have two copies of every one of the books in the house).

Mostly, we are going to try to keep the kids from destroying the house. And that is a very, very big job.

Dispatches from the Beach: Calm before the Storm

Yesterday started out on the cold and cloudy side, but we went to the beach yesterday, just to let the kids dig. Lucky that we did, too, because around 11:30 the sun broke through the clouds and we ended up with the most beautiful day we've had so far.

Dinner was just leftovers and pizza, but with a visit from Cooper's cousin Gilly and a final visit from Brian and Jack, it was pretty celebratory. Plus, Cooper drove almost back to Chestertown in the afternoon to pick up today's dinner: a 45 pound pig. His arrival back home was pretty exciting and the kids got a nice lesson in where their hot dogs come from. Seriously.

Photos of the pig will come tomorrow, after today's big roasting sesh, but in the meantime, here's a quick, inartful pic of Dixon that also showcases just how many dips we have on offer at any given time. Also, in the background, you can see the Colin Cowie glass drink cooler Mike ordered from HSN one night a month ago, along with five small boxes of cocktail mixes. Not very good cocktail mixes, but at least Mike gets an A for effort:
Today: beach and caja china pig roasting. Tomorrow: babysitter and crabs!

Dispatches from the Beach: It's the Wild Wild West Here

It's that time of year again - we're at the beach with Kyle and Mary and Mike and Alicia and Jen and Bill and Maddy and Will. All of us, eight adults and three kids and one dog, in Kyle's aunt's big house in Bethany, plus some guest appearances by Mary's brother and his girlfriend and our friends Brian and Amy and their son Jack.

Last year, we overdid it a little, scheduling four theme nights during our week. This year, we scaled back, partnering up for our nights. Last night was the first of our two theme nights: Wild Wild West hosted by Kyle and Mary and Mike and Alicia. (Saturday was just a standard cookout.)

As usual, we got into the costumes. It's amazing what you can find at Party City, and in my closet:
And also as usual, we had way too much food. Alicia and Mike cooked four (that's right - FOUR) London broils, plus they made a salad and mac and cheese and Alicia made Mike's mom's amazing shrimp and macaroni salad:

The most labor intensive part of the night, though, were Kyle's ribs. Slow cooked in the oven for a couple of hours, finished on the grill and slathered with BBQ sauce, they were super tender and had fantastic flavor. Also, very smoky:
End result: fantastic food but way too much of it. The leftovers could feed a small country.

Today: beach and probaby pizza (plus leftovers). Tomorrow: la caja china makes its debut. Cooper's leaving this afternoon to pick up the pig. Alicia's breaking out her Andy Nelson's sweatshirt (she won it in a drawing) in celebration.

It's a good thing we all like pork, huh?

Restaurant Review: Billy Joe's on the Beach, Port Lucaya, Grand Bahama Island

Grand Bahama Island is a pretty quiet place, especially in the Port Lucaya area, where I spent a few days last week with Cooper, Mike, Alicia, Jen and Bill. Supposedly this is also the quiet season - it'll pick up a bit at the end of the month.

It's so nice, though, just as it is. One of the highlights of our trip was Billy Joe's. It's just about a mile down the beach from the place where we stayed, and walking a mile down a super soft sand beach is not exactly a hardship.

We rented our condos from a friend of Mike's, who told us that we'd probably have the best food of our trip at Billy Joe's. He was right. What he didn't mention was that we'd also have the best pina coladas that any of us had had - ever. And between the six of us, we've had a lot of pina coladas. The drinks were creamy and cold, but not icy - they had a milkshake quality that I think it would be hard to duplicate.

Every morning we went to breakfast, then down to the beach for a few hours, then around two we'd make the trek down to Billy Joe's. We spent our afternoons sitting on the covered deck on the left in the picture above, watching the water, drinking fruity drinks and Kaliks, and eating lightly fried red snapper, fried grouper, and conch - both grilled with vegetables, butter and garlic and also in a ceviche salad with peppers, tomatoes and spicy sauce.

I'll write more about our specific meals at Billy Joe's later - I have big plans for three posts that summarize the trip as a whole, but I'm waiting for everybody else's pictures (I only took 12 pictures all week. I think Alicia took 212.)

But let me assure you, it was a rough life. The weather, the view, the outrageous freshness of the fish - pure island. I certainly wouldn't be sorry to go back...and anybody visiting the Freeport/Port Lucaya area has to try Billy Joe's. You just have to.

Quotable Tuesday: Bahamas!

I am sure I will feel at home in the Bahamas. I've been involved in gambling in the Bahamas. I've been involved in gambling in Nevada and I've been involved in banking. - former American Ambassador to the Bahamas, Chic Hecht, on his qualifications for the job

I'm not much of a gambler, but I'm pretty sure that I'm going to feel right at home in the Bahamas, as well.

Tomorrow morning we leave for a long weekend on Grand Bahama Island with Mike and Alicia and Jen and Bill. Our plan is to spend a lot of time sitting on the beach, to drink many drinks out of coconut shells, and to eat a lot of fish.

Sadly (kind of), I won't be bringing my laptop, so M&G will go without update for the next few days. But I'm sure once I return I'll have lots of good food stories. And a tan. Well, maybe on the tan. But definitely on the food stories.

Dictionary Friday: Service, the Post-Wedding Story

service
–noun
an act of helpful activity; help; aid: to do someone a service.

So, finally, here's the update from last weekend.

The rehearsal, rehearsal dinner and wedding and reception were all fantastic. The weather was beautiful and really perfect for an outdoor wedding on the water. Thursday night's rehearsal dinner, at Catch 54 in Fenwick Island, was fun and my pork chop with an onion glaze was excellent (although I only ate about a third of it. Talking too much.)

The wedding food was great, too, and everyone knows that's certainly not always the case. The favorite hors d'oeuvres, hands-down, was the mini crab cake that was not really so mini, but nicely flavored and meaty. Dinner itself was simple - a few types of salad, a carving station and a pasta station with a bunch of options. Of course, ultimately the focus was on Missy and Seth and, well, on the DJ. It was a fun wedding and everything went off without a hitch.

There were, however, a couple of hitches on Saturday - the day after the wedding. We all woke up late and after a breakfast full of greasy food and piles of hash browns (that were nothing like french fries, which is what we all really wanted), Cooper and I returned to our room to take a four hour nap. Sarah napped at Gilly's, Mike and Alicia went to the pool then South Moon Under, and Jen and Bill went to the outlets then came back for a nap of their own.

At breakfast, we'd decided to regroup at 4 pm for happy hour. We only have so many opportunities to all hang out with no kids and no other responsibilities, so we were ready to take full advantage.

Except that apparently we weren't really. We were all just so...tired. Apparently the drinking and dancing and post-wedding staying up late at Fagers takes a toll. Also, apparently we're not 23 anymore.

Anyway, we did finally get it together around 5 and we went to Fish Tales for a drink and to decide where to go for dinner. That was our first mistake. We should've just decided to go one place and stay there for drinks and dinner. Maybe then we also would've been dressed coherently. As it turned out, we each dressed for a different night out - ranging from Cooper's jeans, flip flops and polo to Jen's dress and stiletto boots.

When we got to the bar, we were met with the worst kind of up-and-down evaluation looks imaginable. And no waitress. Which was fine - we ordered drinks and appetizers from the bar and settled in to decide where to have dinner.

I'd never been to Fish Tales before, and I really did like it - it's cute and laid back and I wish I'd been in jeans and flip flops and we'd stayed there all night. But as it was, people were looking at us funny and it was getting cold and we didn't have a waitress anyway. So we moved on.

Next stop: Liquid Assets, a wine shop/bar/restaurant on 94th street that I've wanted to try for a long time (their website is down). We looked up the menu on the way and were impressed. It had some range - lighter salads, some nice looking appetizers and several solid and interesting entrees - and we knew we'd be drinking well, too.

Once we arrived, we were all a little surprised by the restaurant. We'd all expected more of a restaurant/bar focus with a wine shop attached, or something like that. Instead, the place feels like a wine shop with some haphazard chairs and sofas, a bar in the center and a room for dining off to the side. The shop is the focus. Oh, and it doesn't feel like the beach at all.

The hostess told us it would be about a 45 minute wait, so we decided to get a drink and wander around. After all, it was only ten to seven.

Unfortunately, that didn't really work out. After about half an hour, we finally figured out HOW go buy a bottle of wine (flag down a waiter) but we couldn't even get the bartender's attention to get beer or a menu. All around us, people were having a great time, nibbling on appetizers that looked amazing and generally enjoying themselves. Unfortunately, we were fading. Getting hungrier by the second, we were also all thirsty and we really needed some seats. We weren't even sure how the hostess would find us if a table did become available. A quick trip back to the hostess didn't cheer us up, either. She told us that our wait at that point - after a 45 minute wait - would be at least another 30 minutes.

So it was with great sadness that we marched out of Liquid Assets, leaving their interesting menu and cute couches behind us (but only after another 15 minutes of searching for the waiter to pay for our wine). Next time.

At that point, we found ourselves back at the hotel, parking the cars and walking over to Fagers (their website is also down. What's wrong with Ocean City?). We walked in and a very nice older man sat us at a table just in front of the stage in the downstairs dining room. We were all excited to sit and to - finally - get something to eat.

Then we sat. And sat. And sat. After about 10 minutes, we asked the nice man for menus. He apologized profusely, brought us menus and (we think) went to shake down the waitress who was supposed to come to our table. To occupy ourselves, we watched the tables around us, who'd sat later, receive their drinks and even some appetizers.

Another five or 10 minutes later, a waitress came to our table, starting her spiel with "Please don't blame me - this was supposed to be someone else's table but she couldn't handle it." (We have mixed opinions on that intro. I actually appreciated the information.)

At that point, we went ahead and ordered everything. Drinks, apps, entrees. Drinks came, followed by "island fries", crab dip, and two types of wings. Everything was very good...except the crab dip. It was really pretty horrendous. Overly soupy and without much seasoning at all.

But from then on, dinner was good. Most of us ordered burgers of one kind or another, and they were universally delicious (it probably didn't hurt that we'd been hungry for three hours). Drinks ran out, and the band started tuning up as we finished, but these are minor compared to the Odyssean trek we'd endured earlier in the night.

Unfortunately, after dinner, we were all so wiped out from the dinner fiasco that we didn't have much energy left to continue the festivities. We went back to our room for drinks, but that didn't last long - we were all just too tired. In bed by 11:30.

I think we all had our energy back sometime around Wednesday. Finally.

So, the big lessons? Don't expect city service at the beach. Embrace island time. Pick one place and stay there. Wear jeans and flip flops.

Quick Update

Regularly scheduled posting will resume soon - I've been having internet connection problems since last night (though right now I seem to be OK).

But in the meantime...Missy and Seth's wedding was really fun and the weather was beautiful. Also, the food was fantastic, especially the hors d'oeuvres.

However, our day-after dining was kind of a mess. Apparently getting restaurant service at the beach in the off season is somewhat similar to having a house built in the Caribbean. Island time is slow. More on that later, though.

Crabs! (Restaurant Review: Mickey's Family Crab House in Bethany Beach, DE)

Is there any better way to cap off a week at the beach than with a crab feast? Doubtful. And if there is, I'm not even sure I want to try it.

After a week of beach and games and theme nights and a day of kids' rides at Rehoboth, we spent our final night in Bethany blessedly without kids (I love babysitters!), busily trying to eat our weight in blue crab. Initially, Friday was to be "Greek Night" (aka Toga Party) but as the week wore on, we all realized we could really use a night to ourselves. Also, we wanted crabs. It was late June, and I hadn't had a single crab all season.

We chose Mickey's Family Crab House, right on route 1 in Bethany, mostly for its proximity to our house. Not much driving, plus we wouldn't waste any precious childless time with a commute. Fortunately, we'd also heard some good things about the place from miscellaneous sources. Still, it's a crab house, not a five-star dining experience. We knew what to expect: paper-covered tables, pitchers of beer and a whole lot of Old Bay.

And that's what we got. Mickey's is as crab housey as crab houses get. Loudish, crowded, picnic tables, cheap beer and a brassy, hon-ish matriarch in charge of it all (but no, she's not Mickey). We all ordered all-you-can-eat, which was a very reasonable $38 per person, and also included corn. Because we can't help ourselves, we also ordered clams, hush puppies and crab dip. (We came close to also ordering their special oysters, but I can't bring myself to eat oysters in June. It's just...wrong.)

It was good, too. The first batch of crabs wasn't fantastic - they were a little on the dry side and maybe had been sitting for too long, and the corn was pretty horrifically overcooked, but that's not the main attraction. The second two batches of crabs were excellent - hot and steamy and perfectly seasoned (not too much, not too little). The crabs were surprisingly heavy, too, especially for all-you-can-eat.

The hush puppies and crab dip and clams were all pretty excellent, too, though we didn't really need any of them. Also, the pina coladas we had for dessert might have come straight out of a drink machine, but they were icy and tasted like pina colada ice cream, and I can't find any fault with that.

Our service was friendly and more than prompt, and really, we just had a great time. Also, Mike and Cooper and I (the Maryland natives) were all impressed by everybody else's enthusiasm. It's rare, I think, that six non-Maryland natives are so willing to get all-you-can-eat - and to really eat. Granted, at least half the crew has been living in Maryland since freshman year in college, but still.

A couple of pictures:

Kyle and Mary eating crabs...in lobster bibs

Jen and me (and a little bit of Mike, mid-word), waiting for crabs. See how I wore orange to mask the anticipated mess? Smart.

Unrelated to crabs, but aren't Dixon and his little ladyfriend Maddy so cute and happy?

Photos courtesy of Alicia and her iPhone, Mary and her camera and...me.

Beach Week: Almost Over

College Night was a raging success…except that we’re old and everybody went to bed before midnight (we did note that when we were actually in college, we didn’t start going out until around then). It was fun, though. We ate pizza and wings and played beer pong, cornhole and assorted card and dice games (we played none of them well). Around 10, Kyle rummaged through the fridge and made nachos with most of our leftovers. Alicia took a picture with her iPhone:

(The dirty table makes a nice backdrop, no?)

Kyle was pretty excited about them…and they were good (though Bill might still have heartburn). Plus, thanks to the nachos, we won’t have to throw out nearly as much food and we all feel good about that.

Tonight: formerly Greek Night/Toga Party, now Crabfeast (with babysitters). We’re going to Mickey’s, right here in Bethany, for all-you-can-eat, along with a little reprieve from the kids.

And tomorrow we leave. As sorry as I’ll be to go home, and as much as Dixon will miss being around 10 people at all times, I think he’s also ready to get back to his routine. I wouldn’t mind getting back to my kitchen, either.

Beach Week: Winding Down

We’re on our way to the beach, and are definitely feeling the crunch of the end of the week. It goes by so quickly!

Last night was Island Night – shrimp, red beans and rice, jerk chicken, sangria and pina coladas. Right now, the front porch is a disaster – covered in beach towels and beer cans and a giant palm tree beer cooler. I think we officially look like a party house.

Tonight’s the night we’ve all been super excited for: College Night. Pizza, wings and drinking games. I made myself new Pi Phi letters last week and even found my pledge pin. Cooper will be wearing a party t-shirt that he outgrew about 10 years ago. We’re going to look good.

We may actually try to get a babysitter tomorrow night so we can go out to a real dinner (instead of having our Toga Party). Since Dixon is currently sobbing my name, that idea’s looking better and better by the minute…