Of seven years and itching « life in the land of maeve

Of seven years and itching

June 24, 2008 — mischief0617

Last week was our vacation trip to Assateague Island, as well as the seventh anniversary of the day we promised to love and cherish each other forever. We started off so excited to go beach camping again after the fun we had last time! We got off to a later-than-planned start in the morning, but had clear sailing all the way down to the island.

The weather was clear and beautiful, and we found our campground and site with very little problems after stops in the visitor’s center and ranger stations.

You know how in most movies, the happier the people are in the beginning of the movie, the sadder it is going to be by the end?

We got our new, big tent set up. Within moments a ranger came by to warn us that a severe thunderstorm was fast approaching, and to tie down anything we didn’t want landing in the Atlantic ocean…including the kids! The wind was coming through at 55 mph. The skies turned black in a matter of moments, and the tent, which is 7 feet tall, was flattened! One of the poles snapped, too. We started trying to take it down and get everything shoved back into the car, and managed it just as the skies opened up. The car was packed to the gills to begin with, and there was no time to finesse the re-packing. The poor kids and N wound up with stuff piled into their laps as we headed out to the Crab Shack for dinner and to see what we could find out about hotels.

Feeling slightly better after a delicious seafood meal, we set off towards Ocean City to look for a hotel to spend the night in. The second place we tried had a room for us, and we checked in. There’s $120 bucks we didn’t plan on spending down the drain. The restaurant was also way more expensive than I remember it being last time, and so that was the end of our plan to go out for a nice anniversary dinner on Tuesday (which I had even packed a dress for!) The hotel had some nice features, a mini golf course & two water play areas, which we took advantage of on Tuesday.

My sense of humor, at this point, was completely gone. I used to be able to roll with it pretty well when things went wrong (6 hour delayed flight to Atlanta, anyone?), this time, however, I’m not sure what went haywire in my ability to find the humor of the situation, but I was feeling pretty low.

After (what should have been) a nice time at the hotel, we headed out in the afternoon to go back to the campsite and try again. We set the tent back up after we bought a replacement pole at the camp store, squashed a thousand or three mosquitoes…even the 100% DEET repellent wasn’t repelling them, and spent the afternoon playing on the beach with the boys, and trying to figure out what to do about dinner. We couldn’t have a campfire at the site, there were charcoal grills but we didn’t have any charcoal, and we had brought lots of yummy food to cook over a campfire. N got one going on the beach (allowed there), and we cooked hot dogs and made smores on the beach under a full moon. OK so Tuesday afternoon and evening were good, except…

At some point during the campfire, I realized my camera had gone missing. I searched the area, but it was nowhere. N and I decided we’d probably left it in the car and I tried to relax. But of course I went and tore the car apart once we got back, and it wasn’t there. I couldn’t sleep that night for worry, and in the morning I went through everything again at daybreak. (camping is the ONLY time you’ll ever find me up with the sun!) No camera. It was well and truly gone. K woke up then, and since N and R were still sleeping soundly, we went for a walk on the beach together. It was just a perfect moment….the sun rising, we were walking at the tide line and collecting fragments of shells, watching the little mollusks re-bury themselves after each wave. K was fascinated with our footprints, winding backwards side-by-side until a wave washed them away. As much as I wish I’d been able to capture the moment, I also suspect it would have changed entirely if I had brought out my little digital memory keeper.

K and I went back to the site and had breakfast. N and R finally stirred, and after a quick consult N and I decided to pack up and head home a day early. I was feeling pretty low and down on myself, and even the campfire and walk with K hadn’t really cheered me up. While we were eating though, someone came through looking for the owner of…a lost camera! Someone found it on the beach, and went to the trouble of looking for the owners amongst the campsites!! I didn’t get his name, but I am so grateful to him!!

Recovering the camera helped some, but we still decided to pack it in. We were covered in mosquito bites, my nerves were completely frayed, and I was just ready to be done. So much for our first real vacation in years.

Before coming home, we stopped in Ocean City for some lunch & to go on a pirate adventure cruise that I had booked us on. Pirate Adventures were REALLY great…definitely helped us end the vacation on a high note. N described it best, as a “Renaissance Faire on a boat”. Captain Steve, Matey Kimmy, and Matey Joe really made our day, and the boys loved it.

Some pics from the trip:

This is the tent, being pummeled with 55 mph winds:

Flattened Tent