London was fine, thanks. It was a good trip, but it really seemed to wear me out this time. Probably doesn't help that I woke up with a sore throat and the sniffles on Monday.

On Friday we went down to the shore place. Gary had a triathlon to do in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware on Sunday and we had planned to go down there for the whole weekend, but with a nasty Nor-Easter brewing we decided to spend Friday night and Saturday morning in New Jersey.

Around noon Saturday we headed down to Cape May to catch the ferry across to Lewes, Delaware. It was about $38.00 for the two of us and our car to cross, but given the price of gas these days and the 3-4 hour drive we would have had, it probably was about a wash. It was a little choppy on the Delaware Bay, but other than that, the 80-minute ride was pretty painless.

Cape Henlopen State Park is right next to the ferry exit, so we headed over there to pick up Gary's race packet, then drove ten minutes to Rehoboth Beach. He found a cute little hotel called Avenue Inn. It was only a block from the beach, right downtown, with a charming lobby and a nice clean room. They offered a complimentary breakfast in the morning, wine and cheese every afternoon, and freshly baked cookies at night. We almost wished we had come down on Friday after all!

The rain had stopped early in the day, and while it was still pretty windy we went out and did some window-shopping. Apparently we picked the "Greyhounds Reach the Beach" weekend where roughly a gazillion greyhound dogs and their owners converge on Lewes and Rehoboth. They were EVERYWHERE. Such elegant animals, and so serious-looking. It was a bit chilly - about half the dogs were fashionably attired in their fall outerwear. Cute.

We ate at a nice restaurant called Eden, just a couple of blocks from the hotel. Gary had foie gras with duck confit ravioli and rack of lamb; I had a crab/lobster salad and sockeye salmon in a mushroom sauce. Everything was very tasty. We passed on dessert there, but stopped at Coldstone Creamery for ice cream afterwards.

All right, I have to admit that I'd never been to a Coldstone Creamery before. Their "twist" is that you select a base ice cream flavor and then one or more "mix-ins". The "crew member" then take a big spatula full of the base ice cream and puts it on a (granite?) slab counter, puts your "mix-ins" on the ice cream and smooshes them all together. You may have your treat in a bowl or in one of a number of waffle cone/bowl variations roughly the size of one's head.

While we were waiting in line for Gary's White Chocolate with White Chocolate Chip ice cream, I noticed that every few minutes the three "crew members" would break into a not-exactly-inspired song. The woman who was obviously the manager was the most vocal; the other girl not-so-much; the guy obviously was praying that none of his friends would see him mumbling the words. I thought it was weird - after all, there was piped-in music going in the store, so what's up with the strange little a capella?

Their website tells me that they sing whenever they get a tip. And that if you want to get a job with them, they will ask you to sing at your audition. Interesting. So we collected our ice cream and gigantic waffle cone and headed out. We both decided that it was particularly bland. Maybe just the flavor selection, but who knows.

We were up too early for breakfast, but the hotel had a whole selection of coffees and fixings laid out in the lobby when we left in the morning. We arrived at the triathlon site around 7:30 and found out that they cancelled the swim due to rough seas. So it was a duathlon- run, bike, run. Gary did great and enjoyed riding his new tri-bike (Happy early Birthday!). Afterwards we drove back up to Philly, stopping for lunch at a seafood place in Milford, Delaware. Suki was quite excited to see us and all three of us fell asleep on the couch.

[A good weekend.]

Spoke to Mom today as she was waiting for her flight(s) to Billings. She'll be there for ten days and is looking forward to seeing all of her sisters.

[The Uber-Moms!]

SAVE YOUR CORKS!!

[Only 5,805 more needed for our Wine Cellar Wall.]

Quote du jour:

"Enjoy your ice cream while it's on your plate -- that's my philosophy."

Thornton Wilder (1897 - 1975) US playwright, novelist

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