Fishing in the Chesapeake, Playground Removal, and New Neighbors

 Dear Friends and Family,

It's been another fun week of summer. Our neighbors Doug and Sunny invited us out to go fishing on their boat!!! Claire was in heaven and hung on our friend Doug's every word about fishing tips.  We headed down near Calvert Cliffs to see Sharps Island Lighthouse and to fish for Spanish Mackerel. Despite fishing in water where the fish were almost jumping into our boat, we only managed to get one mackerel to bite! Doug showed Claire how to filet the fish when we got back and we cooked it for dinner. Spanish mackerel is now one of my favorite fish. It was very mild in flavor and had a deliciously delicate texture. 

Our friends, Sunny and Doug!

Sharps Island Lighthouse - It's not rocking on the water. 

The structure gained its permanent lean due to an ice floe in 1977.

We tried cooking the mackerel two ways - Frying it. YUM!

And sautéing it with lemon pepper seasoning. It was even better with the lemon pepper! 

We caught a few crab so we decided to let the Bay feed us dinner that night!

This weekend, I organized a neighborhood crew to remove our old community playground. It was no longer safe to play on, and I need to get the community thinking about a new structure for the spot. I was so pleased with how well this team of neighbors worked together.  That big, heavy playground took no time to remove thanks to lots of strength and teamwork!

The empty playground!

Later that day we headed over to our friends Pam and Ken Turner's home. They are Kasey's parents - Kasey was our best man at our wedding.  Pam and Ken just bought a house on Turkey Point Island! We are so happy to have them as new neighbors. Claire especially loves having a fellow artist with whom she can draw!

 Chris was super excited to get to hold Kasey's dog, Walter. 

Ken and Pam

I hope everyone is having a great week!

Love,

Bethie