July 17, 2020 - August 1, 2020
On Friday I went to lunch with three other lady live aboard boaters I have been friends with for several years. It’s great to have some girl time and catch up on each other’s lives. We ate at Atwater, a bread and sandwich shop in Canton. The manner in which this restaurant handled Covid-19 was to provide outdoor tables for carry out orders. That worked for us!
I spent time the following week getting caught up on boat chores, boat projects, and preparing for my trip to Bethany Beach. I also took my sewing machine to Glory Bees for it’s yearly maintenance and my completed quilt top to be quilted. Surprisingly, the machine would be done in a week, but the quilt will take eight weeks!
Each summer Becky (my sister) and I get together with all of her four daughters, husbands and grandchildren and two of my daughters, husbands and one grand daughter to enjoy the sun, surf, and fun at Bethany Beach. This year we were somewhat reluctant to get together, but decided since each of the participants had been diligent about following all of the suggested protocols for the coronavirus since the beginning of the outbreak we would be safe as long as we continued the protocols and stayed away from shops and restaurants. Laurie and Nancy, my two other sisters, did not come to Bethany because of covid concerns and we missed having all of us together.
Jessica and Joe picked me up for the trip to the beach at 7:30 am on Saturday, July 25. The traffic was lighter than we expected so we decided to stop in Rehoboth for cheese steaks at “Gus and Gus’s” on the boardwalk. They have the best cheese steaks in the world and it’s a place Jessica remembers from her childhood. We got to Bethany Beach around 2:00 pm only to find that the house would not be ready until 4:00 pm. We parked in the shade in back of the house and napped a bit and later took a walk down to the ocean. Thankfully, everyone was required to wear a mask on the boardwalk and the main streets and almost everyone complied. We returned to the house just as the cleaners were finishing and started unpacking and settling in. It wasn’t long until everyone was there. What a joyful reunion! the fifteen adults and nine children fit comfortably in the eleven bedroom (each with a bathroom) house. I always provide dinner on the first night and ordered pizza and salad from Grottos.
Rain was predicted for several of the days that week, but we only had a big thunder storm one night and a drizzling rain on Friday. The weather was hot most days and the ocean was calm enough for lots of swimming. My granddaughter, Lili, overcame her fear of going all the way in the ocean during the week! The grand children were all in and out of the ocean (supervised of course), building sand castles, and digging holes all day. Each night a different family provided a delicious meal and the adults did puzzles and played games until late at night. What a great week. We have already booked our week for next year!
The following pictures were taken on our last evening in Bethany. Unfortunately my daughter Jessica and her husband Joe were not there and my camera died before I could get back to the house to get a photo of them.
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| Here I am with my granddaughter Lilli, My daughter, Rachel and Juan. |
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| Al with his four daughters - Allison, Amelia, Jennifer, and Wendy |
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| The Hartle family + Wendy- Allison, Ryan, Ronan, Muave |
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| The Pavlanko family- Vladimere, Jennifer, Bella, Mateo, Luca |
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| The Contreras family - Jorge, Ofelia, Amelia, Rosa, Alfredo, Maxi |
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| We couldn't keep the children out of the water! |
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| Wrangling the group for our annual group photo |
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| The tide waits for no one. We cleaned up the house and left for home at 10:00 am. The good byes were tearful and we all suffered family separation sadness when we leave. Wear a mask, social distance, and stay safe! Thank you for reading my blog |
