Tea by the Sea: A Splash of London in Ocean City

Earlier this summer, my mom went to high tea with two of her friends at The Flanders Hotel in Ocean City.  She loved it and said it was the kind of thing I'd appreciate, so last week she took me!  

The Flanders Hotel was built in 1923, and although I've been to Ocean City countless times, I've never been inside.  It's unique, like stepping into a vintage postcard.  There are murals and tchotchkes and it kind of smells like it's underwater, which I mean in the best possible way, as it adds to the atmosphere of oldness.  There's even a shop, crammed with bedazzled and bizarre Ariel-worthy baubles and bric-a-brac.  But the belle of the ball is the bathroom.  Dressed up in flowers, rhinestones, and bows, it truly harkens back to an era when a lady's toilette was an art to be savored.  Speaking of savoring, the food was delicious.  (Leave it to me to leave that for last, distracted as I am by shiny objects.)  There were scones, finger sandwiches, and other diminutive delicacies.  My favorites were the crab puff and the lemon square and, of course, the alpine berry tea.       

Although we didn't get a picture of it, one of the murals is of John McCrae's poem "In Flanders Fields," with the soldiers and graveyard in the background.  I'd always assumed that the hotel was named after a person or family, but Google revealed that it was named for the World War I battlefield.  Which is sad but beautiful.  Knowing that added another dimension to the day.

I don't think this is a saying, but maybe it should be.  History is best heard when wearing a hat.👒

Panhandle Scandal

Vacations mean Mary Kay Andrews.  After all, you may recall that last spring in Cape May I picked up Sunset Beach.  And I enjoyed it so much that during last month's trip to Ocean City, I bought Hello, Summer.  Of course, I didn't get around to reading it until last week.  But then, anywhere you can disappear into a book counts as a vacation -- at least in my book, hehe.   

As with its predecessor, Hello, Summer's deceptively tranquil cover harbors a whodunit.  And although its vibe isn't quite cozy, I found it to be comforting.  Ace reporter Conley Hawkins plays career Russian roulette and loses, landing back at her family's small-town Florida weekly.  She's had enough of The Silver Bay Beacon, as well as her new boss-slash-sister, when she and boy-next-door Sean "Skelly" Kelly stumble upon the body of a congressman.  Investigating the good ol' boy's death becomes Conley's raison d'etre, and soon she's writing for NBC and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution as well as The Beacon.  But Silver Bay has a lot to say about that.  Big sis Grayson wishes Conley would keep her eyes on her own paper, her grandmother is one fainting spell away from the hospital, and Skelly, although supportive, worries that his charms are no match for a hot story.  Will Conley be able to have it all?  Or will she lose it all looking for answers?  

Andrews entertains with intrigue and wit as she helps us find out.       

A Decade of Dinner Dates

Dresses: Nine West, Kohl's

Shirt: Izod, Kohl's

On July 27, the husband and I had our tenth wedding anniversary.  Which is crazy because I feel like we just got married!  Anyway, we were on our Ocean City family vacation but snuck away that night to have dinner at this newish BYOB, Sunday Gravy, in nearby Linwood.  We'd heard it was great, and,  happily, the food was as delicious as advertised.  I had the Crab Positano, which was lump crabmeat, tomatoes, and garlic over gemelli.  And the husband had the eponymous Sunday Gravy, which was braised beef and pork, meatballs, sausage, and gravy over a pasta called paccheri.  We also shared a side of buttery broccoli and a Caesar salad, which had these addictive little cheese cracker things in it.  Everything was lovely.  We'll definitely be back!

Earlier that day, my mom and I peeked into Asbury Avenue's Sun Rose Words and Music.  It isn't often that I get a chance to browse an independent bookstore, and it's always so much fun.  Even though I get most of my books from Amazon, I was so excited that I decided to buy a couple of paperbacks, preferably some not already on my Amazon list.  So I scanned the mysteries and stopped when I found the lone Lee Hollis.  Lee Hollis -- which isn't one person, but a brother and sister team -- writes cozy mysteries, and I'd read one or two novellas as part of compilations including Leslie Meier and other cozy queens.  But this was the first full-length novel I'd stumbled upon in person and it was called, no lie, Death of a Wedding Cake Baker.  How weird was that on my anniversary?!  (I also bought Mary Kay Andrews' Hello Summer, but more on that later.) 

Once back home (home home, not beach house home), I slogged through the book I was reading (which was a real stinker), then dove right in.  And it was such a delight.  Heroine Hayley Powell's bestie, Liddy Crawford, is engaged to a younger man with whom she has a prickly relationship.  But those problems pale when Liddy's wedding cake baker -- who also happens to be her incredibly mean-spirited cousin -- turns up dead.  There's all sorts of wedding-related high-jinks and intrigue in this Bar Harbor-set story, interspersed with Hayley's funny and nostalgic newspaper columns.  The mystery itself is also satisfying, and there's even a cliffhanger.  I'm definitely adding Lee Hollis to my go-to reading roster --  and planning a return trip to Sun Rose!

So yeah, July 27 was a special day.  And not just because I got to eat seafood and buy a book.  But because I got to celebrate a decade of being married to my best friend.  I say it a lot and maybe it's a cliché, but it couldn't be more true.  As you may have observed, I'm not someone who clicks with people easily, or, quite honestly, clicks with people at all.  So to have met someone who gets me -- and whom I get too -- is nothing short of a miracle. 

It also helps that he takes good pictures.          

A Word to the Wise and OC Beach Buys

No trip is complete without a treat or two to take home once all the fun (and yes, exhaustion) is over.  From farmer's market magnets to beaded necklaces to a very special bejeweled clutch, I chose my Ocean City souvenirs wisely.  

My carb intake (as evidenced by yet more taffy), not so much!

Jersey Shore Core: A Photo Album

Surprise!  Last week's bit of a breather was actually a family vacation.  The husband and I, my parents, and my sister and her family piled into a house in Ocean City.  And one of my favorite things to do on vacation (aside from eating my weight in salt water taffy) is take colorful pictures.  So here are (more than) a few of my favorites.  

Free taffy for the first one to spot Gritty.