//MONDAY//
I woke up later than I expected (again…) at around 10, with coffee and doughnuts waiting downstairs. While I was sleeping, my boyfriend went to the beach, and then went back to the house before heading out with my mom and cousin to the bakery and the Wawa down the street. All this, before he woke my lazy butt up XD
After breakfast, we got ready and headed down to the beach. We had intended to stay for about an hour and then head back to meet my parents for lunch, but it was so windy at the beach again! We waded in the ocean for about five or ten minutes, but once we headed back and tried to lay down a blanket and sit, it felt like we were being sand-blasted! Needless to say, that “beach day” did not last long. We stayed for about five minutes more before heading back to the house for showers.
I got ready, and then our whole family headed out to a restaurant called Chill. It is a rooftop restaurant, so everyone was a little concerned about wind, but it ended up being pretty pleasant up on the rooftop! I had avocado toast and lentil soup. They were presented beautifully and I wish I had remembered to take a picture, but I was so hungry that I tore into my lunch without a second thought! It was a pleasant way to spend part of the afternoon, and since we had to wait a little longer than usual for our food, the restaurant sent us a dessert for us all to share, on the house! It was a s’mores dip, and it was dangerously good.
Nathaniel and I hunted down an ATM after lunch, and then shopped for a little bit. I got a couple pairs of sunglasses (which he treated me to because he’s such a sweetie), and he got some cheese from the Bread and Cheese Cupboard. We walked around a little bit more before returning back to the house for a nap. As you can probably already tell, this vacation in Stone Harbor is going to be a pretty lazy and laid back one! I’m okay with that.
We woke up for dinner, which was egg noodles with broccoli alfredo sauce, courtesy of my aunt! It was so delicious! After dinner, we tried to find baseball on TV, but instead, we settled for Last Man Standing, which is a family favorite! We all congregated inside, since a pretty wicked storm rolled in. Dark clouds were coming in pretty quickly, and as soon as the clouds came over us they started dumping rain. Pouring rain, wind, and lightning, and there was even a tornado warning at home! Even so, like most summer storms, it passed quickly and left us with just rain and sporadic lightning strikes.
After the worst of the storm had passed, Nathaniel had to leave to go home, which made me so sad! But I’m so glad that he was able to come for as long as he did 🙂 After he left, I just hung out with my family watching television, since we couldn’t go outside and go for an ice cream run (which has been postponed for tomorrow evening.)
//TUESDAY//
Today, the guys all went on their annual golf trip. So, us girls usually plan a fun trip for ourselves as a group, too! This year it was my mom, aunt, grandmother, and me, so we decided on something a little more low-key. We went down to Cape May and just walked around the promenade, exploring all of the little shops. It had been a few years since I had been there, so it was nice to refresh my memory and go and see what was new there! We had lunch at a place called Delaney Irish Pub and Grill for lunch, and they had a surprisingly large and daring menu (for a self-declared Irish pub). I ended up getting a tomato and mozzarella salad, which was beautifully presented and delicious. I nearly cleaned my plate.
We walked around a little bit more, and stopped to get some ice cream for my grandmother, who was craving some. I got a scoop of tiramisu ice cream, which was a little too sweet but was still pretty good. It was just fun to hang out with the women in my family.
After we got back from Cape May, I went on a short run. It was so hot out that once I got back to my house my grandmother took one look at my beet red face and exclaimed, “You’re really sweating, girl!” I changed out of my sweaty and sunscreen-y clothes and drove into Philly with my aunt and uncle to pick up my cousin Sarah from her apartment. She wasn’t able to come at the beginning of the week, so we were really excited to see each other! She didn’t know that I was coming, so I was able to surprise her 🙂 I even got to meet her little kitten, Margo, who is the cutest and tiniest cat I have ever met!
On the way back to the shore, we stopped at Wawa to get something to eat for dinner. I got a quesadilla that was much better than a lot I’ve gotten at bonafide restaurants before! Once we got back to the shore, Sarah and I walked around the downtown area… and I got some more ice cream. I couldn’t help myself (insert monkey-covering-eyes emoji here). But we had a lot of fun just walking and catching up, and we walked to the ocean and the bay to watch the water. It was straight to bed after we got back to the house at around 11!
//WEDNESDAY//
I went for a run after hanging out with my family at breakfast time. By the time I got back, Sarah and her friend Stephanie (who had arrived in the morning) had gone down to the beach, so I put on my swimsuit and joined them. I walked down to the beach with my dad, who wanted to track down my mom, who had been at the beach since early in the morning. It was a good thing I found her, since I had forgotten my beach tag back at the house! They’re pretty strict about the beach tags here. If you don’t have one, you can’t get on the beach, and that’s that. I found the girls, and we all sat in the sun together. Them tanning, me sitting and constantly spraying on my 100 SPF sunscreen. Once we got down to the water, it was so cold that we all screeched when the first tide came in and lapped at our toes. We got used to it after a while, but I’m always surprised at how chilly the water is, even in the dead of June.
After a few hours, we headed back to the house at 1 for lunch. I took a shower, because my bathing suit bottoms (the ones that I featured in my Summer Favorites!) bled black dye all over my waist. I still love the suit, but they’ve done that twice, even after washing them. I’m pretty sure that it’s because of the sunscreen, but there’s no getting away from that. It’s not like I’m going to burn (and I definitely would) to prevent it from rubbing black dye all over me. That, and can you imagine the weird burn I would get from that suit, since it has all the criss-cross detailing?
After my shower, we all ate some lunch and headed upstairs to relax. The girls took naps, and I worked on my blog post, Exercising on Vacation? After dinner, we all walked downtown to the bookstore, and after we got there a torrential downpour started. we ran from shop to shop trying to keep dry on the way back to the house. I wasn’t complaining, we stopped in a Teavana-like shop where I shamelessly tried all three teas and had a second sample of my favorite one. But, I did make up for it by buying some tea, so I think we’re even.
//THURSDAY//
Today was an extremely laid back day. The rest of the girls in the family went to the beach but I wasn’t really feeling it for some reason. I decided to go for a run and relax at the house instead. I went to Green Cuisine to pick up lunch for those of us who were interested… and the food is really good, but way too overpriced, which I forget about every year. I worked on the blog and hung out with my family until dinner. My mom made her chicken divan (vegetarian style for me), which is a Stone Harbor tradition for our family. Sarah had gone back to Philly to go pick up her roommates to come down to the shore as well, and when they got back we all went to Kohr Brothers for ice cream. We walked around town some more after that, before going to the house to play Yahtzee. It lasted for an hour and a half, before one of Sarah’s friends finally got a Yahtzee to end the game. Then, we all went to bed.
//FRIDAY//
Today was our last full day at the house! It was a rainy and dreary morning. But the whole family still went to Uncle Bill’s Pancake house (our annual tradition), where I got the pecan waffle. It was pretty good, however, the coffee could have been stronger. But my taste buds are pretty much dead from my excessive espresso consumption so it was probably just fine XD After that we came back to the house, we relaxed for a bit before I went for a speed-walk with my dad around town, since the weather had cleared up. We walked for over 2 miles, and stopped at the Wawa near our house to pick up some cokes. We sat and talked for a while longer until the girls caught up with us on their way to the beach. I headed back to the house to get ready to join them, and my mom came with me on the walk to the beach. I must have brought the bad luck, because once I got there it was pretty windy on the beach, so we didn’t stay for very long. I wanted to try an acai bowl from Shore Juice, so we walked there next. It was overpriced but worth it, because it was divine.
Once we got back to the house, I finished working on my OOTW post, and we watched the Food Network for a little while. Once we all got hungry, the girls went out for pizza at Stone Harbor Pizza. We got two large pizzas to all share, and the vegetarian pick was the bruschetta pizza which was to die for. Seriously, if you’re in the area, I highly recommend! I hadn’t been to the restaurant in a really long time and they’ve really stepped up their game with renovations and menu changes. Also, quick tip: it tasted even better with ranch, if you are a ranch lover like we are!
We went back to the house again, and went down to the bay to watch the sunset with my grandmom. The bay is right down the street from us, so it’s a quick walk away. It was so bright and the colors were more subdued, but still pretty nonetheless. We had fun sitting together, and singing (cough*badly*cough) the national anthem. I’m not exactly sure why, but we serenaded the water anyway. That, and we took some cute pictures.
We got ready and then went out to play mini golf. It was just us girls, since the parents and grandparents were too tuckered to come. The golf course that we like is a three level course, and we go there every year, too. Usually it’s the entire family going, but this was fun, too. We played about halfway through, doing a livestream for part of it, until the power went out completely. We looked around, and the lights were out in the shops across the street. It was fine since we had flashlights on our phones, but it was still a little creepy. We played for a few more minutes until we were kicked out… Understandable, but still disappointing. We didn’t get a refund, but instead, we got vouchers to use for our game next year.
It was strange, because only about half of the shops downtown were closed. So, we walked around town a little bit more until we were all tired enough to go home. The power was out in our house, too, so my mom and grandmother had lit some candles. We all headed upstairs to get ready for bed (in the dark), until the power finally came on at about 11:30ish. I wasn’t especially tired, so I packed up all of my stuff after the power came back on, and watched an episode of The Hills.
//SATURDAY//
We all woke up early since we had to be out of the house by 10 am. We packed the car up and were the last to leave, and before leaving town we stopped by 101st street’s gazebo to say goodbye to the ocean, which is a tradition that my family has. We always have to say goodbye to the ocean, and take some pictures as a family. Then, we just drove home and relaxed for the rest of the night.
//
xoxo
The Ginger Introvert 