Well...it has been a pretty busy weekend.
First, Rich and I went up to Hastings on Thursday night. We got off the train and went to Maud's Tavern where we devoured steak, sauted chicken and lots of Stella Artois. After dinner we went home and I went to the bedroom. Rich was in the living room. When I walked over where he was, he was sitting next to a new Trek hybrid bicycle. The bike was plastered with ribbons and "Happy Birthday" banners. Even though my birthday was two days away, Rich couldn't wait to give me the bike. We have been talking for a while about all of the beautiful Autumn riding we will do and this is the perfect bike for that.
On Friday night, we drove down to the LBI beach house where we decided to spend my birthday weekend. We woke up early on Saturday morning. When I went into the bathroom, I found that rich had placed "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" banners everywhere!
We decided to go the the Express restaurant for breakfast. The Express has a dining room which is an old train car complete with the old fashioned fluted lamps, tin ceiling and old passenger seats. Rich had the Red, White and Blue waffles (waffles with blueberries and strawberries and confection sugar). I ate the "Express Special" (eggs sunnyside up, bacon, sausage, ham and pancakes), basically LOTS of food.
After breakfast we went home and I took a nap. I was so tired from my work week and I wanted to catch up on some rest. I woke up after a few hours and Rich suggested that we take a bike ride to the lighthouse. It is so great being at the beach after Labor Day and all of the Summer crowds. No cars, No people, so much more peaceful. Well, we rode up to the lighthouse, looked around for a while and then we decided to ride to the 20th street beach. On the way there, it started to rain. By the time we reached the beach we were in the middle of a driving downpour, courtesey of Hurricane Ophelia.
We decided to walk on the beach in the rain. The beach was absolutely deserted and as the winds really began to pick up we decided we better get back home. The final mile of our ride was in gale force winds with the rain pelting us sideways. Once at home, we were totally and absolutely soaked through to the bone so we decided to go for a swim in the rain. The pool water felt like a warm bath on our cold rainwater soaked skin. After a hot shower, we decided to nap and rest until dinner.
Rich had made an 8:30 reservation at Yellow Fin in Surf City. Yellow Fin is a BYO so Rich had some wine suprises in a bag when we arrived. Before dinner, we went over to the beach to look at the rising of the BIG orange colored Harvest moon as it just hung in the sky over the ocean. It was really beautiful.
When we arrived at the restaurant, we started with a '96 Dom Perignon. I had some Garlic Baked Clams and Rich ate some super thin sliced Salmon Carpaccio. For the main course, Rich ate Pan Seared Grouper with White Truffle Butter Sauce and String Beans. I had a Sea Bass over Lentils. We drank a supurb Pinot Noir from Morgan Vineyards. By that time, we were getting a little buzzed and enjoying my birthday dinner. For desert, we finished up the Dom Perignon and Rich ordered a chocolate Volcano Cake. (Deep, dense rich chocolate outside, gooey hot mousse-like chocolate inside). There was one birthday candle burning on the cake and being a little embarrassed when it arrived, I pushed it in front of Rich...Making like it was his birthday. Eventually, I did make a wish and blew out the candle.
After we left the restaurant, we went over to the 20th street beach for a midnight walk on the along the ocean. We climbed up onto a lifeguard stand near the ocean. The midnight sky was cloudy as we sat in silence and listened to the crashing waves. After about 15 minutes, the clouds broke and the big shiny full moon shone through lighting up the beach and the ocean. When this happened, almost as if planned, Rich said; "you know, we have been talking about marriage for a while and I really think that we should move forward." "Sherry, will you marry me?" (As he said this he produced a little black box containing a ring). I said YES and Rich took the ring and placed it on my finger. We kissed.
But then, I said..."Hey ! aren't you supposed to get on your knee and ask me that question?" Rich took the ring back off my finger, got down on one knee (on the wood plank where the life guards put their feet). Rich said, "Sherry I love you. Will you marry me?" I said yes. Again. The ring was placed back on my finger. :)
Well, we sat on the stand for what seemed like hours watching the moon sparkling off the ocean waves and making dramatic hues on the nightime clouds. We contemplated getting a blanket and sleeping on the beach but opted instead to go back to the house. While we walked back we noticed our dark moon-shadows in front of us on the moon-lit beach sand.
We woke up early Sunday. We really didn't want breakfast...Still full from dinner the night before. It was a georgeous sunny day so we decided to take a walk to the getty on the beach. Again, no crowds...a few groups of people and fishermen here and there but we pretty much had the beach to ourelves. When we got to the getty, we sat down for a while. A boat pulled up and there were two guys who looked like they were going to go snorkling. But before they dove off the boat, they grabbed on to these big spear guns. When they were in the water near the getty, they aggressively swam about chasing fish trying to spear one. Neither Rich nor I have ever seen that before.
After our beach walk, we went back to the house, took a swim in the pool and got ready to go. Rich promised that he would take me to The Mud City Crab House for some baked garlic clams. We dined on baked clams and the MOST DELICIOUS steamed garlic crabs!!!! The crabs were really messy to eat but so, so good. we sat there and ate for about 90 minutes not saying much just sucking the meat and slurping the garlic off those crabs with big smiles on our faces...
After lunch, we had to drive to the city and pick my Mom up at 5:pm. We then went to Ping's Restaurant in Elmhurst where we had a Full Moon Festival feast. We were joined by my Cousin, my Aunt and my Uncle. We had soup, fish, beef tips and tea. We enjoyed having a meal with my family on the Moon Feast.
Well, like I said...We packed a lot into a short weekend. It was really fun being at the beach (in all the weather), eating so much food, having a great birthday and getting engaged !!!!!
Every weekend should be like this one.... ;)