Hot, With No Chance of Early

Water temperature: 57 degrees
Beach Reading: Scientific Jefferson Revealed
Best song heard randomly on the radio: Waltz #2, Elliott Smith

Thing 1 had assured me he'd be up at 6 a.m. and ready to walk; I'd told him to have a good time because there was no way I'd be up that early.

Some three hours later when we did finally walk, it was to find the ocean temperature markedly colder, a shock after last night's moonlit stroll through bath-like warm water.

The beach was littered with tiny little fish flopping in the throes of death, so obviously there had been some changes overnight.

It was hot today, but luckily with strong breezes to moderate the heat, if not the sand temperature.

Reading on the beach for hours, I learned all kinds of new Jeffersonian tidbits (the ha-ha fence? How did I not know of this? His affinity for prehistoric animal bones and disdain for the concept of extinction? Tell me more.).

Thing 1 shared beautiful bits of language from the O.Henry short story collection he was reading.

Geek good times.

When lunchtime rolled around, we were too lazy to prepare anything, so we got take-out from the nearby Rundown Cafe.

The menu said only that their fish sandwich featured "grilled game fish of the day" so we each ordered one, not caring what that fish might be.

Turns out it was mahi-mahi and about as fresh-tasting as it could be; we enjoyed our lunch on the porch overlooking the brilliant mid-day blues and greens of the ocean.

It was later in the day that Thing 1 had to depart, so I used my brief alone time to take a beach nap before Thing 2 arrived.

Thing 2 was all about the ocean (damn New Englanders!), freezing or not, so we made our way into the surf, first feeling out calves go numb, but gradually adapting to the chill the further out we went and allowing it to cool our cores because it was one hell of a hot day.

As we were coming out of the water, Thing 2 inquired, "Is it too early to start drinking?"

On vacation, we drink and nap at will, so the answer was a resounding no.

Happy hour on the porch featured a 2006 Mendocino County Petite Syrah (complex and downright chewy, to Thing 2's delight) and two varieties of cheese.

Just as we were noticing the 14.5% alcohol content, Thing 2 got a call from friends, a couple of locals who live nearby, so we invited them over to join us on the porch.

They brought their lab, understandably a water-loving dog, so we convened on the beach for a while,the dog doing endless Frisbee retrieval, and discussed the changes we've all seen on the beaches since we started coming down.

Having a dog in the house here made me miss the beagle; this was the first time in 15 years that he wasn't along for the beach exploits, something he enjoyed as much as I do.

I got to know these people, Thing 2 caught up with their lives and beers were opened and tossed, wine was sipped and the sun began to set.

It was getting to be dinner time, so they left with plans to meet us again.

We cleaned up nicely and headed up to Ocean Boulevard for some sustenance.

Like almost everyone these days, OB is big on the local and the fresh (they grow their own herbs right out back), but they do it very well.

The chop salad had mixed greens, ripe tomato (and boy, was it), grilled local peaches, roasted sweet corn, house-smoked bacon (to die for), Wisconsin bleu cheese and buttermilk dressing (like my Richmond grandmother used to make).

I'm honestly not sure that this particular combination of ingredients could be improved upon.

Dinner was one of the specials, the local flounder with a fritata of crab and North Carolina sausage, accompanied by a hash of caramelized onions, potatoes and local butter beans (no words can do them justice) with hollandaise.

Judge all you want, but I ate those creamy butter beans first and I'm not the least bit embarrassed to say so.

With the Martin Codax Albarino, this was an outstanding beach meal, especially surrounded by the oddball collection of staff and customers we had around us for entertainment.

Best line of the evening:
Thing 2 during happy hour: "Could I already have a hangover after my second glass?"

Anything's possible on vacation...