Island Doings

Part 2 of my vacation update (and the final one for those of you who are sitting there all *yawn*). When I tell people I go to LBI they say "Well, what do you DO there? There's no boardwalk!" No, there isn't. But there is plenty to do. And aside from your typical shore-town t-shirt shops there are quite a few artsy-craftsy oriented places to explore. Not to mention things to eat. Food doesn't have calories when you're on vacation. True story.

And it's a good thing....because I ate a lot. There's a sweet little outdoor eatery called The Sandbox Cafe located not too far from the house we rented. It may quite possibly be the most "me" restaurant on the face of this earth.

Though it looks shady and cool (which it was) all the tables were located outside with a ceiling of colored umbrellas. Everything was bright and colorful and quirky.

I had a super yummy chicken salad with grapes sandwich that had grass on it. I was informed upon their removal and my "yucky" face that they were sprouts. I may have ingested a few and did not suffer any poison-related side-effects, so they must be edible...

One of our family traditions is to have breakfast at Kelly's restaurant at the tip of the island, with the bay on one side and the sea on the other.

It's one of those perfect old-timey cafes with a screen door that bangs shut behind you and old wooden floors. Despite the longish drive just for breakfast food I love going there. It'd feel like something was missing if we skipped this.

There's not really a bad seat, as no matter where you sit you have a great view of 'Old Barney--'

We went out to dinner one night (we usually cook ourselves my mom and aunt do most of the cooking) towards the end of the week. I had some delish scallops over succotash, which sounds gross, but it's really just corn and beans, with a creamy sauce. Super yum.

I ate the beans thinking they were lima beans, forgetting they were fava beans and that I wasn't going to eat the fava beans because it reminded me of Hanibal Lecter. I'm kind of glad I forgot I didn't want to eat them because they were quite good.

When we're on vacation my dad gets crazy excited about having a clam night. I'm super serious, guys. He practically skipped in the front door when he bought them. He doesn't do anything fancy with them. He chills them for a while--

--splits those suckers open--

--adds some bacon and seasonings and puts them in the oven. Super simple but super yum.

OK, enough food. We passed a shop I had never noticed before called The Firefly. It was filled with handmade goodies. Nothing crazy outstanding, but there was a painting I fell in love with. It's by a local artist named Collen Attara. She's got some bright, fun quirky bits in her shop. But this snapshot will have to suffice as it's way out of my price range.

In the courtyard of this shop was a table and chairs set I wanted to eat cake and drink tea at--

And aren't these guys insanely adorable in a weird way?

My cousin and his girlfriend rented bikes one day. It looks fun, sounds fun, but they had "saddle burn" and I tend to ride a bike like I'm riding a sit-down-keep-one-foot-on-the-ground-to-shove-yourself-along contraption, so it's best I stay on my own two feet. There is something adorable about bicycles leaning against a fence, though, eh? You know what made me fall in love with his girlfriend in a totally platonic way? When she said "I really wanted a pink bike but they only had white for girls."

One night we went to Bay Village, an outdoor conglomeration of shops and kiosks selling all things over-priced and beachy. I do love walking around and looking at everything, though. And tsk-tsking over how much nerve they've got charging that for a change purse... Outside is a giant ship that serves as a great landmark/meeting place--

There are usually only two things I come away from the Village with--fudge and ice cream. One in a paper bag and one in my belly :)

I had red velvet cake ice cream. It was really pretty in the cone but I couldn't take a picture for fear that my ice cream would hit the ground and leave me with an empty cone and a sad face (it was seriously top heavy).

On the way home we passed Fantasy Island, a small amusement park full of rides and games and a kiddie casino. It used to seem much larger years ago, but the ferris wheel still serves as a beacon of sorts--

I relaxed to such great depths on this vacation that I feel I'm still climbing the energy ladder to 'normal.' I literally sneered at my phone at work this afternoon when it rang--not because of who it might be or what they might want, but because I had to reach over and answer it and that was just too much physical exertion. You really do need to recover from vacation sometimes.

I have been highly unmotivated to switch on my sewing machine, but I've been stiching away at my paper-piecing project. I'll get some pics of my progress and show you soon. See you later!