And Now the Good News

So obviously (if you read my previous post), my vacation week was not all sunshine and roses. The world lost one of its sweetest and most beautiful creatures, I lost my best friend, and every chipmunk in the northeast heaved a collective sigh of relief... until they realized that I still have another cat.

But, surprisingly, the week was not all bad. I honestly expected that after we had to put Buster to sleep, I would spend the entire week wallowing in grief and misery and be a completely non-functioning creature. Mercifully, I had already arranged to take June 11th - June 17th off from work, so I didn't have to fake illness to get out of work and then spend the week alone crying into the couch. Instead I went away with Amanda to Cape May, as we had planned.

And it was... really nice. Wonderful, even. I didn't think I'd be able to enjoy anything so soon after losing Buster, but I really had a good time. I already feel nostalgic about it. It was very, very peaceful. Restful, even though we were constantly running around doing things. We had a pleasant drive, didn't even have to make a pit stop. Went to the naval aviation museum in Wildwood, which was fantastic. We took a couple of hundred pictures (with flash because hangars are not renowned for being well-lit) and almost completely drained Amanda's camera battery before we even left the museum. We crawled around in old cockpits and took pictures of engines and training bombs and bought lots of vaguely gay postcards of naval recruitment posters (I did, anyway). After getting a little lost (and getting a little ice cream), we found our way to the bed and breakfast. I've only been to a couple of B&B's before, but this was by far the nicest. The guy running it (an unmarried middle-aged guy living with his mother. gotta be family) was really friendly and social and had a million suggestions of places to go, things to do, and places to eat. A little exhausting, but highly entertaining and very nice.

Our room was great, too. Decent size, comfortably had a large bed and a couch, not quite as tacky as most B&B's seem to be in Cape May, a/c, ceiling fan, fake fireplace, white noise machine, spa music machine, private bathroom (with a good-sized shower/tub)... I played with everything provided except for the tv (somehow we missed that one). I liked the white noise machine more than I expected, especially "summer night" (loved the crickets, but it just doesn't sound like summer without katydids and the occasional peep frog). The B&B also had a really nice garden and off-street parking. No complaints at all. It felt like home... A home we could never afford, but still.

The museum was the coolest thing we did the whole time, but we still enjoyed everything we did. The shops weren't nearly as interesting as in Provincetown, but they were still fun. The coffeeshop where we had breakfast both times was really nice (though they did forget my food the first time we went there... Oops.) if a little sketchy looking when approached from the rear. The taco place next door to the coffeshop had the best damn tacos ever. Cool antique stores. Lots of beautiful sea-smoothed rocks on the beaches. Oddly, there wasn't much of that smell you expect near large bodies of water, that wind and salt and hint of fish smell. Metal detecting was a little uneventful, which I think disappointed Amanda. She did find a bottlecap and a weird rusty thing that looked like part of a fence and we probably should have both detected with our eyes without much help (and yet somehow didn't, despite it being about a foot long). And the trowel, which I would occasionally "hide" in the sand for her to "find."

Lots of walking. Lots and lots and lots of walking. Not so much sun, but not nearly as much rain as predicted, and too much sun probably would have been worse anyway. Also learned that if I ever want to sit and stare at the beach for more than a minute while on vacation, I'll either have to slip Amanda a sedative or sit alone. The girl cannot keep still once she's got a plan in her head. Ah, well.

Fair bit of shopping. I still think P-town is more fun store-wise (and by fun I mean supergay), but pretty decent. Some cool antique shops (with some very nice - and very expensive - military garb). A store full of loose teas and tea accessories. Lots of touristy places. Good times. I got a very nice cane for six bucks, some shoelaces made from kimono fabric, cheese for my parents, tea and strainer, very cool chopsticks, and a little Bast figure.

So that's about it, I'd say. I'm already ready to go back. Of course, I'm always ready to be as far away from my job as possible. Yeesh. But anyway. Good times, fond memories, and all of that. Now, back to life.