it must be the madness

The beach? Awesome! I completely mostly loved it. Except for the chafing, but we don’t have to get into that.

We left late Friday night and drove into the city just before midnight. The next morning, we went to breakfast at Oaves, I bought an awesome swimsuit and some kick-butt sunglasses, and we headed off to the beach. I promised myself that I was going to build a sand castle on this trip, and I definitely followed through on my promise. I guess it wasn’t a traditional sand castle, but it was still pretty darn cool. There were three layers of castle and it was surrounded by a small moat, which was surrounded buy a ring of little sand-hump thingies, which were surrounded by a larger, deeper moat. At one point, the moats even got filled, which I managed to do without making the moat walls collapse and bring the whole castle into to a five-inch deep puddle! I was very proud of myself!

Throughout the vacation, lines at Mack and Mancos were incredibly long. The first night, we opted out of M&M, instead choosing to eat at the Promenade Food Court. I discovered a wonderful new delicacy; Chicken and Spinach Paninis. I loved it! We then headed off to the Wonderland Pier, where we had a lot of fun. And guess what? I even saw an iPhone there! I know that the picture is incredibly small, but the guy in the center is typing on an iPhone. I was amazed; this was the first time that I had seen one of these delicacies in person!

The next day, my father was sick and as a result, our plans were put on hold. We had breakfast at the Varsity Inn, which was amazing! I spent most of Sunday reading Dispatches from the Edge by Anderson Cooper. I had a beloved chicken and spinach panini for lunch (it was amazing!). For dinner, I finally got my Mack and Mancos pizza, which, as usual, was sobresaliente. I really wish that they had restaurants down here! I had ice cream at Kohr Bros.. It was wonderful, just as I remember it.

Another store that I was eager to visit was Shriver’s, where they have the best fudge and taffy on the boardwalk! I bought a ton of taffy, a bar of fudge, and a few gifts for a few special people. The smell of that place makes my mouth water. I love it!

Our final day (yesterday) was basically the same as before; breakfast (Varsity again), beach, M&M for lunch, chilling out and reading, dinner (Del’s Grill), and Wonderland. It was sad leaving yesterday, but it was really an awesome vacation! And you know what else? Rachel was there, too, but she left the day that we arrived. :( I’m going to try to upload photos to Flickr tomorrow (I know I promise that all the time and never follow through, but I really mean it this time!)

As you know, I took several books. Here’s the status on them all:

• Dispatches from the Edge - Anderson Cooper I loved this book. It was awesome!
• The Camera Phone Book - National Geographic Great tips, not just for camera phone photography, but also photography in general.
• To Be Young, Gifted, and Black - Lorraine Hansberry
• The Twelfth Night - Shakespeare I actually really liked this one! Granted, I read the modern text, but it was still a good book.

I’m looking forward to reading the Hansberry book, and also a Sue Grafton book that I got while on vacation.

So, what do I have in store for the rest of the summer? My Twelfth Night rehearsals start next week (eek…I still have to update my resume), and the shows are August 11^th (my birthday!!! and 12^th. Now that I’ve read the book, I’m really looking forward to it. I’m kind of nervous, however, about memorizing actual Shakepserean text. That’s gonna be a challenge. Next weekend, I’m heading up to PA for a family reunion. On or around August 18^th, I’m going up to Philadelphia for a weekend to see some family members, which I’m very excited for!

Summer 2007 is turning out to be greater than expected! =D