August 12, 2017
Our anniversary celebration excursion to North Beach ended up being quite an adventure. We had been told that North Beach on a Friday night was a quite lively place and well worth a visit… especially for two people who basically had not been out of the marina for six weeks! The plan was to bum a free ride from the Harrington Harbor office staff (who offered this service if they weren’t too busy), have a nice dinner, and wander around the boardwalk at the beach, people watching and enjoying the Friday evening entertainment.
The free ride went off without a hitch and we were dropped off right in the central area of North Beach just outside a Mexican restaurant… perfect. Not a fancy place, but eight years in Malaysia had given us a revitalized passion for Mexican food; not in small part due to the fact that Mexican cuisine was rarely pulled off successfully by Malay restaurants – even those that advertised themselves as Mexican restaurants! The food was great, including fresh guacamole prepared right at our table. However, Kris was not at all impressed with the happy hour house margaritas and, after one, changed to the “premium margarita” (which also came with a premium price). I opted to take one for the team and stuck with the cheap version, allowing us to consume more while maintaining a semi-reasonable price averaged between the two.
After dinner we went for a wander through North Beach. The Friday night Farmers Market was certainly worth the visit. Though we didn’t find any crafty items that jumped off the tables at us, we picked up some fresh veggies which included an absolutely mahoosive sized tomato, some delicious corn on the cob, fresh bread and cookies at a booth run by an Amish family, and plenty of beverages at the take away beer trailer! A live band was playing classic rock on the boardwalk and ten or twenty classic cars were parked on display which made for good times. The boardwalk stretched for a few hundred yards along the beach and was lined with benches that had been donated by various individuals, families, and groups; all of these had plaques with rather touching quotes meant for the loved ones the benches had been dedicated to.
People watching is almost always a fascinating endeavor, and North Beach was no exception. Kids, teenagers, middle age folks and older couples all seemed to flock to the area for the Friday night happenings. While we sat having a beer and listening to the band, one man quickly walked past us with his dog, all the while explaining to the dog that they needed to get going before the big rain hit; he turned to us as he shuffled by and warned us as well. Apparently Chesapeake residents know their weather; less than five minutes later the heavens opened up and a downpour commenced!
Our intention was to get an Uber taxi back to the marina so we hightailed it back to the Mexican restaurant for more margaritas while we waited for the Uber to arrive… an hour later with an absolute deluge coming down outside we still had no Uber driver! The margaritas kept going down but no taxi was to be had. A guy waiting for his girlfriend at the bar struck up a conversation and eventually, after telling him our story, we were being invited to come back and stay at his place for the night – “You guys are living the life! I have to party with you!!!”
Fortunately, one of the restaurant employees kindly offered to provide a taxi service back to the marina for us through the onslaught of rain and we were spared what would have certainly been an “interesting” night partying at Crazy Tim’s house.
Unfortunately, we didn’t know when to stop the margaritas. We finally arrived back at the marina after midnight in a pretty sorry state! The next morning hit like a freight train when we woke up at about 11 a.m.; we were distinctly reminded of two things: 1) anniversary celebrations great… 2) tequila dangerous!!!
sv-exit.com 