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| Skipping through the foamies, 67th Street, Holiday's. 5/26/2016 |
It's the official start of summer and the Wattman managed to make it back home to the 'Shore. While his official stance was to see his nephew graduate from the Navel Academy, a Crew reunion and the first surf session of the year was a close second; sans mandatory. With the Watt living out of state the events calendar has been very limited for the Crew. Missed our annual St. Paddy's Day and Cruisin' OC reviews this year. However, the biggest loss was within the four weeks between the end of April and the front of May when our water time season usually starts. Now, I know these weeks are usually cold, windy; not the most auspicious of beach days. Nonetheless, as the pics have shown over the years- some of the sweetest rides always seemed to have come at the beginning of each season. All of these missed opportunities weighed heavily on me this offseason.
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| "Riding on a lifelong swell" -K. Chesney. |
Yet this Right Coast day was a new day, and the beach has special powers that few truly understand. In the spirit of these powers and in consideration of this out of state arrangement, DWatt finally told Lisa, (his future wife) about our Blog. I am not yet sure if she plans to apply to become a Crew Member...the initiation rites and hazing aspects...frightening. I mean it usually take a year or so just to become a friend of the site. But, as the three of us crossed the dune line, the temps dropping twenty degrees, she showed traces of worthiness remaining a trooper, gritting it out. Didn't matter to us. Never seems to matter to the Watt. For more than six months the stick has been dry. Today, today it once again got it's crust of ocean salt. Enveloped in the sea of life. With a very low tide and what seemed like sub-gale force winds, maybe 15 mph, the wave action was less than ideal. Sloppy, sectioning thigh or so surf. For the next ninety minutes wearing more rubber than a seal, Wattman jumped every possible wave. His need to be back in the ocean could be seen on his face. A mix of rusty struggle, profound joy, determination, and maybe even some relief that he was back in his element- the sea.
After finally snagging the last ride of the night, we headed into the second half of the evening's Journey. As his position from within the crew requires, Watt had picked Steamers on 45th and the bay for our foodie review. We arrived. The place was closed. This seems to a recurring problem for Wattman. Several of his choices over the past year had been closed upon arrival, though he claimed to have checked them out in advance. So after some rerouting we end up at Ocean City Fish Company, formerly Captains Galley. A dockside institution on the south-side of the commercial fishing wharf in West OC. It had come under new ownership in the last year, been remodeled, and thus was on our radar. We headed upstairs to the bar and got ourselves seated with a view of the harbor. Still not quite into the holiday weekend there were few customers left in the place. Service was good and we quickly got a cold beverage in a sweet take home glass. The improved Galley (as it was known) is a year round restaurant so we expected the meal to be good. We ordered the Old Bay Wings, "Off With Their Heads" Whole Steamed Shrimp, and Bacon Wrapped Scallops, getting caught up while we waited. An immediately apparent issue we noticed was no music or TV at this bar (though there were several flatscreens around the inside bar). On the other hand, the food arrived quickly and we jumped in. The wings were pretty damn good, and the scallops not bad. But, the shrimp with the heads still on were over cooked and a bit dry. Beers were cold. Conversation buzzing. Nevertheless, the night had to come to an end and we headed our separate ways. Back to the 'Bury. Till next week. It seems holidays allow for extended stays.
*Note- the scores I believe were too high. DWatt had been gone too long. Gotten soft in his scoring. Just my opinion. But I am almost always correct. We'll see next week.
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THE RATINGS-
Old Bay WIngs: A-
Bacon Wrapped Scallops: C+
Steamed Shrimp: C-
Beer: B+
Atmosphere: C+
Overall Score = 2.65
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| Bar with a view, West OC Commercial Harbor. |
