Tuesday, July 21: Rainy Cape May

I went for my usual bike ride first thing this morning, and then walked with Greta to the beach so she could take a quick dip pre-geometry. The weather turned unpredictable and rainy after that, so we had to pivot to non-beach plans. We decided it was the perfect day to rent a surrey. 

Andrew drove Molly, Jeremy, and I to our bike rental place, where we asked to rent a surrey for four hours. This was not an option. The only option was a one-hour rental. The stoic young guy working the surrey rental area was unmoved by our request to rent it for longer than one hour, dismissing it as impossible because, in the past, anyone who rented a surrey for more than one hour would bring it back early and, disillusioned, demand a refund. The surrey, he told us, was heavy and diffcult to use and would not be fun for longer than one hour, if that.

Without a surrey, we called Andrew to pick us up and went back home. By that point we were all starving, so we took a car and several bikes and made our way to Uncle Bill's for lunch. There, we decided we'd been wronged by the rental kid and would, in fact, enjoy a surrey, so after we ate we returned to the rental kiosk, where Molly loudly requested a surrey for one hour. A spite surrey, the kids called it. The kids, Jeremy, Mom, and Dad piled in. Andrew and Molly rode the existing bikes behind them. I drove the car home, got my own bike, and then joined them en route.

Unfortunately, we found that the surrey was indeed heavy and difficult to use. We navigated the surrey home, dropped everyone off, and then Jeremy, Molly, and Andrew pedaled it back to the rental place, the surrey's chain coming dislodged halfway there. I picked them up, their hands grease-stained. We were all glad we had not rented a surrey for four hours.

We spent the afternoon reading in various places (porch, beach, inside). We began our beach craft--this year, it's punch needling--with varying degrees of success. There was lots of rain and even a tornado warning. Andrew and Jeremy went out to pick up tacos when the warning passed, giving the rest of us a chance to play a few loud rounds of Pit. After dinner, the kids wanted to go to the beach to play Spike Ball, and we stayed until it got too dark to see. Then we came home and played Code Names.

A full day of Cape May.