Cape May
in the Fall

8:15 PM

To Ocean City

Left Lane's around 8:15 and got to Ocean City, to her family's house where we were staying, at like 9:15.

Thursday Night Football was on, so me and her just relaxed and watched some football while she edited pictures from previous photoshoots. Went to bed around 11:30.

8:30 AM

The Grind

Woke up at 8:30. I had to work, so I got right to it while Lane went to the gym - Atilis Gym in Ocean City, she just walked right over while I grinded out some work. Got a lot done.

12:00 PM

The Mad Batter

Cape May is about a 40 minute drive from Ocean City. Lane wanted to go to a brunch spot, so we left OC around 11:30 and got to the Mad Batter a little past 12.

The weather was absolutely beautiful and so sunny. We sat on the porch at the front of the restaurant, which has these open wall designs that feel like you're outside - no screens or windows - so we enjoyed the outdoors while technically seated inside.

We got cheesesteak egg rolls as an app and they were amazing. I got a crab cake sandwich, she got a chicken salad sandwich, and we both finished the whole plate. Good service and good food.

1:15 PM

Willow Creek Winery

Then we scooted over to Willow Creek Winery, where we had a reservation for 1:15. We both got a sampler, which came with three each, and hung out there for a while. It was such a nice, beautiful day - we had some good conversations and talked a lot about wedding venues, and even made a few calls. There was a wedding at the winery that day, so they were closing down a little early to get ready for it.

Willow Creek has this huge outside seating area and an even bigger inside with a ton of wood tables and seats - but we obviously sat outside and enjoyed the day under the umbrellas they had at every table.

3:00 PM

Washington Street Mall

After the winery we were feeling good, so we left around 3, went over to the Washington Street pedestrian mall and shopped around a lot.

There was this shirt I remember seeing one time and really liked. I told Lane about it, and sure enough, five minutes later we walked into a store and I found it. It was amazing, and Lane was kind enough to buy it for me - how could I not get it.

We walked in a bunch more stores after that and Lane bought a few things herself - went into a dressing room or two.

5:00 PM

Sunset Beach

We finally left the shopping area and headed over to Sunset Beach at 5. Sunset Beach is sick. There's a really cool shipwreck sitting right there just off the shore, and it's also known as a diamond beach - diamond-like stones wash up on it.

5:15 PM

Picnic in the Truck Bed

We parked the truck, walked onto the beach and just took in the view for a minute. Very rocky beach with cool views. It was still well before sundown, so we walked back to the truck and had an amazing picnic in the back of it - I brought cushions and blankets and we laid down in the bed of the truck. I made some tuna wraps and brought some wine, so we hung out back there for hours eating, drinking and talking, with a nice view of the sunset sky.

8:00 PM

Johnny B. Goode

Packed up a little before 7 and hit the road back to Ocean City. Once we made it back we decided to make a quick pit stop at Johnny B. Goode for some ice cream. She got cookies and cream and I got caramel swirl or something like that.

Night

Hawkeyes

College football was on - my Hawkeyes were playing Washington - so when we got back to the house shortly after I threw it on and we hung out the rest of the night. Bed again around 11:30.

Morning

Taking It Easy

Woke up and decided to take the morning easy - hang out and just chill, taking in the view from the house. I made breakfast for us (Lane brought the food): eggs, bacon, sausage and toast. It was amazing.

12:00 PM

The Fall Block Party

Around 12 we headed over to the main street in OC for the fall block party, with all the vendors set up right on the road. We drove over and walked around. It was extremely packed - we ended up walking on the outside sidewalk, which was the move. It was ok, we didn't last long.

1:00 PM

Atilis Gym

From there we headed over to Atilis around 1. I hit chest and tris, Lane did back and bis. The gym was really cool - Ronnie Coleman and Arnold vibes in there, with actual pictures of them on the walls of course. Lifted for about an hour and got back to the house closer to 2:15.

2:15 PM

Football at the House

Then we decided to chill at the house for a little. I threw on some football and we eventually got ready to go back to Cape May for the evening.

5:00 PM

Back to Cape May

Lane had a family photo shoot that evening and wanted to check out a few stores before it, so we got to Cape May around 5. She went into one store while I chilled outside, then we got back in the truck and headed over to an indoor place with a bunch of vendors. Didn't last too long at either one.

5:45 PM

The Rusty Nail

Lane had photos at 5:45 and I didn't know what to do with myself. When I parked the car near the beach where the shoot was, I just looked up bars near me - there was this dandy place called the Rusty Nail about a third of a mile down the road, so I got out and walked over.

Really cool bar with an outdoor seating area, but not many TVs out there, so I just sat at the bar and watched the Red River Rivalry. Got a tall beer in a stein, which was sick, and waited for the text. She was done around 6:10, so I started walking back shortly before then to meet her at the car.

6:10 PM

Congress Hall

Our dinner reservation was for 7, so we had about 50 minutes to kill. We went to Congress Hall to just take in the scenery - I got another beer, Lane got a sangria, and we sat on some rocking chairs just chilling.

7:00 PM

Tisha's

A little before 7 we got up and made the short walk over to Tisha's. We walked in and got seated, I went to the bathroom real quick, and when I got back Lane informed me it was a BYO place. Looked up the closest liquor store - a block away - so I left and ran there real quick.

Got a bottle of moscato, Bartenura. The good news: Lane loved it, and that's all that matters. They definitely knew I had just run to the store, considering the bottle was ice cold straight out of the store fridge - unless of course we'd just kept it on ice while it was "in the car."

The place was very fancy - candlelit dinner with low lighting and flowers. Our little candle barely had any wax left, so we kinda knew it would burn out.

Dinner was great. We finished both plates and the bottle.

8:30 PM

Elaine's

After dinner we went to a cool place called Elaine's. It was very decorated for fall, with a lot of Halloween stuff - a cool house-looking place with a lot of outdoor seating and a couple of decks, and they had live music going. I had one drink there, an apple butter old fashioned. Wasn't bad at all - quite tasty.

Got there around 8:30 and left around 9 to head back to OC. Back home, some more college football was on, so we watched for about an hour before heading to bed around 11.