And God said it was good...

For the Rowes-Our Beach Buddies



Show of hands.  How many of you have ever continued eating just to keep your blood sugar hovering around 742 just so you wouldn't have to experience the crash?  I have and do about three times a year.  Tonight I am experiencing the crash and it is not pretty but worth it.  I began eating and drinking at about 6 pm Thursday.  My co workers were amazed that Vance and I could drive to Wrightsville Beach in 3 hours and 15 minutes.  (Would have been there in 3 hours and 5 mins had it not been for the traffic light at 74). Because, I have such a wonderful girlfriend who happens to be my beach buddy, drinks, snacks, made up beds were waiting.  I didn't stop eating and drinking until 3 pm today.  I don't know why stuffing myself and over drinking makes me feel so good, but it does.  And I am really glad I gave up wearing fitted waist bands about 14 years ago with the birth of Davis.  Elastic is my friend. 
I love the beach.  Everything about it.  The smell.  The salt air.  The humidity.  The heat.  How horrible my hair looks the entire time.  That I don't care what I have on or who sees me in a bathing suit.  Wearing flip flops everywhere, (even church).  Sunburns.  Laying in the sun.  The waves.  Sand in my ears and between my toes.  Getting tossed by waves and loosing my suit twice.  Davis did warn me it was rough out there.  Watching waves mindlessly.  (The only thing more perfect is if they played MLB on the beach.  Can you imagine?  Watching baseball mindlessly on the beach with the waves in the background?  Heaven.  Pure heaven).  Outdoor showers.  Cool mornings that require a cashmere sweater on the porch but by 11 am, nice and toasty outside.  Porch sitting.  People watching.  Talking about nothing and everything.  Eating everything and trying drink comibinations you would never try at home. 
I would describe dinner Thrusday as tapas.  We ate proscuitto wrapped around mozerella, guacamole, fresh salsa (and I mean fresh), pimento cheese that was probably the best I have tasted in a long, long time toasted on baguettes, carrots (we were trying to keep it healthy), fresh key lime tarts (I don't think they are any better in Key West), the absolute best peanut butter cookies I have ever tasted, freezer Pizza (the kids had to eat something substantial), some type of double chocolate fudge tart kind of a thing, skinny mojitos (Had to cut calories somewhere), purple Jesus (that is what Davis calls it), rosemary bread with some incredible chicken salad, Vance had beer, the kids had caffeine and water, and I might have even eaten some sunflower seeds.  We ate and drank until 11 pm.  My lips were numb and I had to loosen a button.  So, I am guessing my blood sugar was about 501 when I went to bed. 
I woke up and ate a carrot muffin, a fresh peach, drank hot plum tea and then we went to brunch at the best breakfast place on the planet.  The Causeway Cafe.  What to order when you want everything on the menu?  I suggest everything.  One of each.  Which is exactly what I did.  The Eggs Benedict just doesn't get any better.  So I had half an order.  Which also comes with these hashbrowns that are heaven on a plate. My friend ordered the french toast just so I could have a bite.  My husband ordered the Hungry Man Special.  I do so love bacon.  Actually, I just love pork in any form.  Davis ordered his fave- M&M pancakes with eggs and bacon.  Merritt ordered the Hungry Man Special.  I am also quite very fond of the sausage gravy.  I only know of one other cook who does it better and she lives in Abington, Va.  I ate a whole bowl once.  Her secret is fresh sage from the garden.  But, the gravy at the Causeway is tough to beat.  So, I had half an order which fortunately for me comes with grits.  (They are good-but not as good as mine).  So by about 1 pm, my glucose is hovering around 650 and I am feeling pretty good.  Since, it was raining cats and dogs and there would be no beach walking today and it was quite chilly, I had to go shopping at my favorite haunt Redix.  Cashmere was 65% OFF.  Lucky me.  I was cold and it didn't appear to be warming anytime soon and the brown one had these lovely square buttons, so it just had to be mine.  I have always wanted to wear cashmere with linen on the beach.  Always and now I have.  The weather broke a little about three and me and my beach peep headed down, drinks in hand and wrapped up in our cashmere sweaters and watched the dolphins swim and the waves crash which I might add were pretty impressive.  We brough along a few crackers, pretzels, grapes, just to keep us on an even keel.  I was still drinking my skinny mojito and she was drinking grape Vodka and cranberry.  The weather was dreary but the company was great.  We discussed everything from the state of politics and why is there so much anger, our kids starting high school Monday and maybe we didn't do a lot right, but we raised good kids and clearly fed them well.  We discussed friends battling cancer, the changing Church and how I feel so very lost and just don't know what to do.  We discussed religious pluralism and the latest linen blouse we each bought.  We discussed her new IPhone (I'm thinking I am going to upgrade).   Caught up on our respective families.  Laughed lots.  Compared middle age notes.  It sure as hell beats our thrities.  Smiled a babies and wished we had one to hold but only for an hour or two.  She gave me sound advice about no asking open ended questions anymore.  It gets me emotionally hooked everytime.  She gave me sound advice about taking care of me and not trying to take care of all the strays that show up in my life. 
As soon as Alan arrived, we cooked dinner.  Charcoal grilled filets, ribeyes and chicken.  The pist de resistance-smother pimento cheese on that filet right before you take it off the grill.  Yum.  Yum.  Roasted rosemary potatoes and corn on the cob that was so sweet it must have just been picked that day.  We agreed it was the best of the summer.  Of course, drinking.  Desert involved key lime tarts, pecan tarts, chocolate tarts and I think the kids went to get ice cream.  We were pleased that we have raised good kids who still like to eat with us and still laugh with us and tell funny stories.  Of course, this might have something to do with the fact that we have fed them well.  Very well.  Davis has also been blessed growing up going to some of the great sporting events.  He asked, "Oh really, which ones?"  Hmm, The Orange Bowl for starters, The NFC Championship Game, Seats behind home plate at the Braves game, The ACC championship game, a couple of major golf events,  Have seen every team in the ACC play men's basketball more than once, ACC World Series, NBA game with the Spurs, WBNA game where you met Marvin in person and talked trash to him.  So, my dear son you have been to few.  Just saying.  Not to mention where you have gotten to play baseball. 
The kids were sharing stories of the night we kept them out to 130 am (they were 4) and they were having a complete melt down on the ride home.  The 15 minute ride from hell.  At one point, Merritt told Davis to shut up because he didn't have to wear duck tape all over his body.  (She was being treated for a skin condition).  I think they like us.  The kids I mean.  And this is good, very good.  I once made the mistake of taking Davis and Merritt to a scary movie while the adults went to an adult movie.  Both children sat in my lap with there heads buried in my chest the entire time.  Another shining parenting moment.  The movie-Lemony Snickets.  They were 4. 
We have been doing this beach trips about for 10 years now and sometimes don't make it every year, but I try to committ to it.  We have a lifetime of memories, laughs, growing old together, watching children grow up and few pounds between us. 
Saturday was overcast but a beautiful day for the beach.  The waves were 8 to 10 feet.  Not kidding.  Never seen them that high.  Riptide brutal.  The surfers were impressive.  It was a show.  Played bocci ball which I discovered I am much better at after a couple of purple Jesus.  Vance watched pretty bikinis (not mine) and asked Alan to name the color for him.  Vance can be a regenerate at times.  Kids ran in and out of the surf.  Played frisbee.  Ate well.  Our snacks were gourmet popcorn, honey mustard pretzels, provolone, deli sliced fresh turkey, fresh bread, pimento cheese, chicken salad and assorted cookies.
Squeezed in a little LL Baseball.  Pitching was a little lacking this year I thought.  But Sara reminds me I am a purist.
So about 7 pm we went to dinner, I figure by this time I have kept a steady blood sugar of 742 and I feel good.  Hot Crab dip, hot crab cakes, stuffed oysters, coconut shrimp for appetizers.  I had Blackened Black drum with mango salsa over beans and rice.  Melted in my mouth.  Made me want to slap my momma kind of good.  Don't see Black Drum on menu often.  Not sure why but if you ever get the chance...it is a must.  Had desert again.  This time banana cream pie and red velvet cake. 
So all this eating and drinking had me in bed early and I woke early only to eat a carrot muffin and peach on the porch.  Stopped at Savory Cafe on the way out and ate sausage, bacon, onion quiche and another cupcake.  Scrumptous. 
Beach bumming with friends not a better way to end a summer.  Eating till you are full.  Drinking till you are full.  Laughing till you pee in your pants.  Runnging hard at waves and letting them carry you across the sand.  Sitting on the beach in a cashmere sweater.  Refusing to let gray skies ruin a day.  Our big opinion of the day...We hate TATOOS.  That is about the extent of our opinion.  Remembering the kids little, seeing them half grown and knowing in 4 years, it will just be the four us.  Adults.  Beach Party alone. 
And of course the Psalm for today just happen to be: 

Psalm 148¹ 

Praise the Lord.^[a]

Praise the Lord from the heavens;
    praise him in the heights above.
² Praise him, all his angels;
    praise him, all his heavenly hosts.
³ Praise him, sun and moon;
    praise him, all you shining stars.
⁴ Praise him, you highest heavens
    and you waters above the skies.

⁵ Let them praise the name of the Lord,
    for at his command they were created,
⁶ and he established them for ever and ever—
    he issued a decree that will never pass away.

⁷ Praise the Lord from the earth,
    you great sea creatures and all ocean depths, ⁸ lightning and hail, snow and clouds,
    stormy winds that do his bidding,
⁹ you mountains and all hills,
    fruit trees and all cedars,
¹⁰ wild animals and all cattle,
    small creatures and flying birds,¹² young men and women,
    old men and children.

¹³ Let them praise the name of the Lord,
    for his name alone is exalted;
    his splendor is above the earth and the heavens.
¹⁴ And he has raised up for his people a horn,^[b]
    the praise of all his faithful servants,
    of Israel, the people close to his heart.

Praise the Lord.

I like to think I was close to God's heart this weekend.  I like to think God was celebrating right there with and can't wait to come next year.  I know he has been watching us all grow up and hope he is pleased.  Because I think I heard as I pulled away today....

IT WAS VERY GOOD.