Happy Birthday Cendy!

For Cendy's birthday, we decided to head to the beach for a quick getaway. We stayed at the Henlopen Hotel in Rehoboth. It was a nice enough hotel - I'd recommend it to friends. It is located on the northernmost part of the boardwalk.

We returned to Go Fish for some of their awesome fish & chips, and then it was on to the Inaugural Johnson Mini-Golf Open at Ryan's Mini Golf on the Boardwalk. After the front nine, I had a comfortable 3 stroke lead. Cendy had a few more bogeys, but managed two hole-in-ones. Little did I know that she would soon find her groove.
I would not be outdone - I followed up her hole-in-one on #7 with my own. It was then that I noticed that it was a Par 1, and you were virtually guaranteed to make it in one shot if you kept it on the green.
This is hole #11 - where the wheels fell of for me. I double-bogeyed, and Cendy parred to tie the game.
The intensity increased as we went putt for putt the following three holes. Then I bogeyed to her par. Then she triple bogeyed 16, while I bogeyed...I was now up by a stroke with two holes remaining. I had her just where I wanted - her confidence was low after the triple bogey, and there's only two holes left. Her first shot on 17 was too strong, and actually rolled over the hole without going in...but wait, it bounces off the wall, and back into the hole...a hole-in-one. I par, and it's a tie game. Her first shot on 18 - another hole-in-one. This is ridiculous. I barely miss my own hole-in-one on the first shot so Cendy clinches the win. As misery was setting in, I could tell this was one moment that Cendy will be telling our grandkids. I'm already planning to hit the practice green to prepare for the rematch.

We hit Dogfish Head for dinner (try the Lawnmower Light), then down to the boardwalk to the Ice Cream store for a milk shake. I ordered my personal favorite chocolate & peanut butter milkshake, and Cendy opted for two scoops in a waffle bowl. As I waited for my shake, I couldn't help but notice the new ice cream flavor... bacon. I'm usually pretty daring, but even after a Palo Santo Marron at Dogfish I couldn't muster the courage to try it. After finding this recipe, I may be tempted...

After checking out the next morning, we were off to the Starboard for one of their famous bloody mary's and breakfast. I had to hold this pose a while as Cendy got out the camera - note the bottle of hot sauce. Needless to say, I had an extra spicy drink.

We spent a few hours on the beach afterward, then we hit the road to go home. Sounds easy enough, but as we rode with the top off the Jeep, we noticed unfriendly skies ahead as we approached New Castle County. It started drizzling - no big deal, we weren't even getting wet. The wind currents around the Jeep from driving 70 mph shielded us from the rain. Then it started raining harder...maybe we should roll up the windows? Amazing, hardly a drop on us. Then the big ol' fat rain...OK, now we can feel some drops falling from the collecting rain on the roll bar and visors. Now I need windshield wipers for the inside of the Jeep. After checking the radar on the cell, we decided to plow forward. "We're only going to get wetter if we stop to put the top on" was our reasoning. We must look pretty funny to passers-by at this point. We kept going, and after about 15-20 minutes, the rains subside, and we start to air-dry the Jeep. I've had the Jeep 5 years, and that was the first time I intentionally left the top off and drove through rain. We barely got wet! Good times.

We capped off the day with grilled scallops with white wine sauce (keeper recipe) and a small carrot cake from Acme. It was surprisingly good. Happy Birthday Cendy!