Singing: Cockles and Mussels -- Alive, Alive, O!

We were fortunate to spend most of this weekend away! Our friend Cessie has a condo at the New Jersey seaside. I had made a quilt to celebrate her having acquired this new home, and in return she offered us the use of it for the weekend of our choosing.
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We left Near Philadelphia before five o'clock on Friday afternoon, and arrived at Somer's Point and settled in very quickly before heading over to the CrabTrap for dinner.
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Here's where a little history is in order. From the time I was about twelve years old, I have been allergic to shrimp. Not the throat-closing-can't-breathe kind of allergy, but rather the other kind -- the one where six hours after eating the dang things I become very, very sick in all forms of the gastrointestinal division. Very, very unpleasant. So I've not knowingly consumed a shrimp in many, many a year. This was not a terrible loss for me -- there were plenty of other shellfish to my taste. In my thirties and forties, the allergy spread first to crabs and then to soft-shell crabs. This was more of a loss, but there were still other options. Seventeen years ago I got very sick after eating a fried oyster sandwich, and have not had a shellfish of any sort since. I never knew whether the allergy had spread further or whether I'd just had a bad oyster. Recently, however, I'd been thinking of putting it to the test.
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We went to the CrabTrap, which is a huge kind of a place, and sort of noisy. But they had good red wine and a terrific menu and an attentive server. I looked at the steamed mussels listed under "appetizers" and decided this was the night! The mussels arrived at 8 p.m. and I cannot tell you how enjoyable, how succulent, how magnificent they were! After a seventeen year hiatus, you probably can imagine. The rest of the dinner was superb, too. Went to bed, not knowing if I'd be rudely awakened at 2:00 or not. And I was not! Imagine my delight! Saturday I was seriously tempted to have oysters on the half shell, but DH suggested I take this at a slower pace, and I agreed.
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Our little getaway was awfully nice. We snoozed and read and explored Somer's Point. We ate all of our meals out. On Saturday I took Joe to the Ocean City landmark The Chatterbox for breakfast and then we visited the LQS three blocks away. I picked up some I Spy squares -- Sam is nearly sixteen months old and I'm thinking he'll soon be ready for an I Spy quilt -- and I bought some fabrics to give to a friend recovering from an illness. Saturday evening we drove down to Cape May and met Sue and Tom for dinner -- it is always good to be with them and to catch up on the Cape May gossip. We did a little shopping and I finished the Guilt Quilt -- pictured to the left.
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The story on that, if you don't remember, is that when Caleb was born, a first baby for Russell and Shira, I made him a Bible blocks quilt. I don't usually make quilts for subsequent babies, and when Maya was born and we attended her Naming Ceremony, I took her a little outfit. For reasons that aren't clear, when Russell told me this winter that another little girl would be born in the spring, I made her a quilt. And then got to feeling bad about not having made one for Maya, now not only no longer the only daughter, but also the Middle Child! So I started a simple quilt for her and finished it today. I tied it in variegated pink floss and think it turned out cute. Surely a three-year-old girl will like all that pink and green!