Amanda and I got up a bit early today to take care of some things then went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast. They had a huge display of Tar Heel crap when you first walk in which made me want to vomit and leave, but the Mama’s French Toast breakfast is really good so we stuck around and ate.
When we got home Amanda cleaned up the house a bit while I mowed the yard. The little gas can I filled up a couple years ago when Amanda’s parents, Karen and Phil Mercer, first gave us the lawn mower has finally been emptied. So we’ve gone about two years on a gallon of gasoline. Wish our cars did that.
Speaking of Karen Mercer, she came for a visit today. She’d wanted to get down here to spend some time with us before school started back up for her, but our weekends are rapidly filling up so she decided to come on down this weekend. Unfortunately, she left from breakfast at her parents’ a little late, then she forgot her medicines at home and had to go get those, then a bridge was closed with no warning signs so she had to backtrack several miles and go a longer route. So it took us a while to get to the beach today.
While we were waiting on Karen Amanda and I went ahead and lathered on the sunscreen and changed into our bathing suits.
Michael Mercer, Amanda’s brother, was also coming over to meet us and head to the beach. He’d just gotten off work and called when he was on the way to tell me, in French, that he was on the way. He and I ended up on the phone pretty much his whole drive over, alternately conversing and yelling at each other in several different languages, including a non-language Michael was speaking. I knew it was gibberish because he was speaking it without any thought or hesitation.
Anyway, we all packed up and went to the beach. Mike “Lars” Boscaljon and his wife, Kaitlyn Boscaljon, were sitting on the porch at the usual parking spot- Anna and Barry Frazelle’s house on Wrightsville Beach. Unfortunately someone had parked behind them without leaving the keys or a cell phone number so they couldn’t leave though they were ready to.
They stayed behind- they’d been out there for quite a while already, and the rest of us headed on out to the beach. The water was about as flat as a lake, so Michael and I didn’t surf. I mean it was flat. I can’t recall a time I’d seen the ocean so flat. Michael and I got in the water a bit and did stupid stuff like racing and seeing who could swim the furthest without taking a breath. We were pretty equal in both of those.
After we got out Amanda wanted to play Ladder Ball (or Horse Nuts, if you will), so Michael and I went back to the car and got it. It was me and Amanda, the Dotseys, versus Michael and Karen, the Mercers. Amanda and I won two out of three, making us the Horse Nuts champions.
One negative side to enjoying surfing now is that I get a little bored just sitting out at the beach, so we all packed it up and went back in after a bit. We headed home, trying to decide what to eat. Showers were taken, basketball was played (I did horrible, losing pretty badly at two games of HORSE and almost coming back in the second or third game of 21) then we all headed downtown to eat at Front Street Brewery. Karen treated. I told Amanda to make sure to buy her mom’s breakfast when they went out for it tomorrow. (I’ll be helping with the production at church and won’t be able to join them.)
Our waitress was very nice and though she didn’t really look like her, her mouth and eyes reminded us of Renee Sikes, the fiancee of my brother, Adam Dotsey.
After dinner we walked over the Killwin’s for some ice cream but the line was (as it usually is there) out the door and didn’t seem to be moving much, so we just took a stroll down the Riverwalk in downtown Wilmington and back up it. It was a nice night.
Zach Dotsey
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