We arrived at Salisbury at lunch time and enjoyed a quick meal with Allison, shopping at the Salisbury book store, and a tour of the new library before packing her up and driving over to our hotel in Rehobeth Beach. Turns out the weather was quite a bit chilly and not terribly enjoyable for strolling along the beach. However, we did enjoy strolling through some of the many shops along the strand, but it was getting late and we were getting hungry again. We decided to try the Japanese restaurant next to our hotel. We loved our sushi and box plate dinners(little compartments with salads, chicken and dumplings). But the big, unexpected pleasure was the dessert. Normally we pass on dessert, but they brought out a tray of incredible cakes that fit each one of our tastes. Tom had a big piece of coconut lemon cake and Allison and I enjoyed a Peanut Butter Chocolate Fudge cake. Plus I had to have a bowl of green tea ice cream to wash it down. Turns out the desserts are brought in from a bakery in Philly. We need to find that bakery! We were plenty tired and needed to get up early the next day. So Allison and I helped each out with manicures before we went to bed. Neither one of us had time for professional manicures, but I did spend a few hours at the salon the week before getting my hair cut and highlighted. Allison figured she was wearing a cap, so she was waiting on a hair cut.
Thursday morning we had breakfast at the hotel and drove back to Salisbury. Allison had to get dressed at her condo and we did too. Her ceremony was set for 2:30 in the afternoon at a large indoor concert arena near the campus. We got dressed and stopped into one of snack shops on campus for a quick sandwich before heading to the arena. Fortunately the weather was cooler, but we still packed some water bottles. There was no assigned seating, but we each had to have tickets. Since we didn't have any more guests to the ceremony, Allison was able to sell off her extra tickets and made quite a profit. The place was filled to capacity. We found great seats near the stage, although Allison's row in the Business school was towards the back. And she was one of the last students across the stage to gather her diploma and get a photo shot. Besides the Business School, we had to sit through the Degrees in Fine Arts/Liberal Arts. Two hours later our Allison walked across the stage graduating with Honors. Thanks to those that logged in and watched the ceremony live! Allison appreciated the support. It was a very nice ceremony and it was time to celebrate. Tom had made dinner reservations at Ruth Chris Steakhouse near Ocean City. Turns out the restaurant was located on a Golf Course. The actual restaurant was a converted horse stable that once housed Man O War and War Admiral-two very famous racehorses. We had a lovely table next to the window looking over the golf course and an incredible dinner. Allison's dessert was on the house. She opted for the chocolate lava cake after her steak dinner. We also enjoyed steak dinners and Tom and I shared a white chocolate bread pudding. And we brought in our own bottle of wine to celebrate the special occasion.(with no corking fee!). So dinner was incredible and we drove back to our hotel during a big rain storm.
On Friday, the day was chilly but sunny. It was still too cold to sit out at the beach, so we decided to visit a local State Park in Delaware on the coast. The park had been a Military compound used during WWII to locate German ships. They built about a dozen 75ft towers on the compound to spot German ships. Then they had a base camp and lots of large guns to shoot at the ships. They never had to shoot at any ships. We figured we would hike the park, but they had free bike rentals, so we rode around the park for 2 hrs, checking out the military compound and climbed the spiral steps in one of the towers. They also have a public beach and camping in the state park, along with sand dunes(and lots of black snakes! Yuk!). So we really enjoyed our morning out, and then headed back to Rehobeth beach to walk through a few more shops and have lunch overlooking the boardwalk at The Greene Turtle restaurant. Then we decided it was time to head home. We dropped Allison off to her condo as she was staying for the holiday weekend to celebrate with her friends and Tom and I got home early Friday evening.
Unfortunately, Scott was not able to join us on our mini vacation since he still had school. He is wrapping up the end of his school year with tests and projects. He managed to get himself to school and scouts on his bike. Plus he had dog watching duty. Our friends with their cavachon Ripley were going out of town for Memorial Day weekend and asked if we could puppy sit. Scott had his hands full with the cat and two dogs! But he did a great job. On Friday night, before we got home he headed off with the Scout Troop to place American flags at the gravesites in the Military Cemetery. This was the Troops 30th anniversary of placing American flags at the cemetery. Scott had to work Saturday afternoon, but when he got home we both packed up the van for an overnight Boy Scout camping trip.
Each Memorial Day Weekend the Boy Scouts camp out overnight at the fairgrounds and help out with a Ham Radio/Technology garage sale held on Sunday morning. The boys help direct traffic and we clean up after the sale. We arrived in time to set up camp and sit down to dinner. We also had the unexpected pleasure of enjoying a High School jazz concert that was being held in the Fairground pavilion. They had moved their concert from an outdoor venue in case of rain. Most importantly, Scott sat down in the evening with his Scoutmaster to complete his Eagle Conference. Stage II. The meeting takes 2 hrs and the Scoutmaster reviews the Eagle project and then tests the boys on their scout skills, asking questions about safety and first aid, even demonstrating knot tying. Scott passed! So now his application for Eagle is on to the way to the Eagle Board for review. We may get through this process yet! On Sunday morning we were up at 4am for breakfast and set up for the sale. The vendors start showing up around 5am and the actual sale starts at 8am. We were done by noon, but the vendors hung around until 2. The boys were excited to pick up a few treasures. Scott even bought himself a hand held video game! The Troop participates in this camping trip each year since they get paid for working and it gives the boys a chance to work on scout skills, like cooking. Again I was the only female on the trip. I always feel like a den Mom!
I was signed up to work on Memorial Day Monday, so we decided to celebrate our Holiday on Sunday. Tom put on some ribs in the crock pot in the morning and I picked up my Mom in the afternoon when we got back from camp. Allison was still at school enjoying her weekend at Ocean City with her friends. We had a lovely evening sitting out on our deck for dinner, listening to the backyard birds and frogs singing!
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