Beach camping (Part I)

Okay, so, last weekend.  I told you it was a fun one; now I finally have a minute to get it down in words and photos. 

It started with a long bike ride on Saturday.  At that point, I was two weeks away from a 100-miler, and my training was woefully down.  There were plenty of other obligations and distractions, but I knew I needed to get in a good long ride (and it's a good thing I did, because I certainly didn't get any riding in this weekend).  I got up early and rode 70 miles in the brisk, clear air.  The weather was gorgeous, and the completely unexpected cramping in my thighs that forced me to stop and stretch a few miles from home didn't last long.
 

Once off the bike and freshened up, I threw a bunch of things in a bag and headed out for Assateague Island.  Amy and another friend of hers had reserved a campsite on the beach and I was anxious to join them for one last summery hurrah. 

Well, not so anxious that I'd pass up a chance to eat lunch at Jimmy's Grille.  This place has been a beach-trip favorite of mine for years.  A trip to the beach just wouldn't be the same without those piping hot dinner rolls and the waitresses whose every other word is "sweetheart" and "honey." 

This waitress clearly did not understand that two rolls wasn't going to cut it.

Grilled pork chops with new potatoes and cucumbers.

Pecan cheesecake pie.  Rich enough to kill a horse.

This woman took the concept of "doggy bag" to a whole new level.
I think she was actually doing her weekly grocery shopping.

Between the bike ride, lunch at Jimmy's and some unexpected traffic, I didn't get to Assateague until dusk.  Just in time for some lovely color over the water.

I had three mosquito bites within 30 seconds of getting out of the car.
After pouring approximately seven liters of pure Deet over my body, I moved through
Nature as though surrounded by a force field.

 

By the time I got to the campsite, it was pitch black.  Discovering I had no flashlight, Amy was kind enough to lend me her headlamp.  She was also lending me half her tent.  While she and Eric started cooking dinner (grilled sausages with asparagus), I set up my sleeping quarters.

 

Yes, the sequined blanket is mine; I don't have a sleeping bag. 
That's what happens when you blow your shopping money in Morocco instead of at REI.

Dinner was delicious (too dark for photos) in the way that camping dinners so often are:  there's just something about eating food freshly cooked over an open fire outdoors that makes it taste just that much better.  After dinner we carried our stack of firewood down to the water's edge and built a bonfire on the sand.  We warmed our toes, burned roasted marshmallows for s'mores and gazed at the fantastical constellations overhead as we talked into the wee hours.  It was wonderful.