5 Years and Counting…

Wedding Kiss

This past weekend was my wife and my five-year anniversary (yep, hard to believe that we got married 5 years ago). On July 13, 2002, I stood on the beach at Namale Resort outside of Savusavu, Vanua Levu, Fiji. As I stood, barefoot, on the beach waiting, the sun was making a break through the frequent clouds that had covered the sky until only 15 minutes before. Then, my wife came walking down the vine-covered steps, resplendent in colorful flowers and her beautiful dress. We wed at sunset, barefoot, to a chorus of native Fijians.

Originally, we had planned to go back for our fifth anniversary – but funds weren’t available at this time; instead, we decided to spend a long weekend down in Cape May, NJ for some birding, beach time and relaxation. It had already been a long two weeks of work, so I was very ready to get out of town and start doing some relaxing by Thursday night when we left.

Angel of the Sea Bedroom Shari had made reservations at the Angel of the Sea bed and breakfast, which was supposed to be one of the best B&B’s in NJ, and one of the best in the country (at least by people who are the experts). I didn’t know the place from anywhere else in the area, since I had only been there twice before, while Shari grew up in that area and seemed to know everywhere and everything. I trusted her judgement, though, so I packed up and went along for the ride.

We got there fairly late at night, and wanted to get out and do some walking on the beach. It was a little chilly, but I had a really good time as we walked down to the ‘boardwalk’ (a 3-block set of concrete along the main ocean boulevard, then through the nearby neighborhoods to the ‘mall’, where we picked up some books for Shari and some ice cream. It was a good night to start our trip as we admired the architecture and she told me about her time down here when she was younger. It was great to hear her reminisce about her younger days.

Nymph of the Woods The next morning, we got up early and began our daily excursions out for birds, butterflies and – for me, at least – dragonflies. Over the next three days, we’d go to Higbee Beach, Cape May Meadows, Cape May Point and the Cape May beaches themselves. It was a great time as we ran around seeing great things like Common Wood Nymphs, Piping Plover and Least Tern chicks, Black Skimmers skimming the waters, and a huge group of darners (big dragonflies) swarming in one particular nook of the forest at Higbee Beach.

Eating Like A Kings & Queen

While we were there, we tried to eat healthy but we were also treating ourselves. We had to do a quick snack on Thursday night on our way in (which included some peanut butter and chocolate frozen yogurt). We had planned our big romantic dinner for our actual anniversary night – Friday the 13th – but Shari wasn’t feeling well so we put it off until the next night. No sense wasting a big dinner, right? But the place we went – Bella Vida Cafe was fantastic, too. Our waitress was bubbly and friendly, and even if she didn’t know what ‘fresh mozzarella’ really means, it was still fun to have her serve us. The food was delicious – tilapia for me, and a seafood pasta dish for Shari – and we enjoyed some romantic time talking and relaxing. Saturday night, we did our belated anniversary dinner at The Mad Batter. Shari had been there for their famous brunch, but wasn’t sure about their dinners – but the reviews were promising so we set it up. It was worth it. Her dinner was better than mine, but overall it was still very good. Again we had a great dinner and enjoyed looking around at the scenery, people-watching and relaxing.

Unfortunately, whatever bug she had came back later in the evening, cutting short the planned festivities which were to have included – in no particular order – miniature golf, skee ball, getting fudge and/or soft ice cream at one of the 1,000 places available and a walk on the beach. Instead, we retired early. It was a shame, because she was a trooper for the whole weekend despite not feeling well at all. She was sick, and worse, she was frustrated because as she put it, “this wasn’t the big, romantic weekend she had planned.” I felt really bad for her – so things didn’t go as planned, but I know that I had a great time anyway, and I think that she did, too, for the most part. I can’t say that I didn’t wish that she felt better, because that’s obvious, but I still enjoyed the chance to relax and spend some quality time with my wife without worrying about housework, my job, the dogs or pretty much anything or anyone else.

It had been a particularly tough two weeks lately, and I was bushed. We haven’t had a whole lot of quality time together, either. So, i took it for what it was – an opportunity to sit back and enjoy a little beach time, some togetherness and some time to just be with my wife, celebrating our first 5 years together (and the fact that she hadn’t killed me yet). In that respect, it was a GREAT weekend.

Leaving Exit 0

On Sunday, we packed it up and decided to hit a few more places on the way home. We stopped at Cape May Meadows and Cape May Point, stopped by Stone Harbor (where we had a fantastic lunch at Polly’s that more than made up for the fact that Stone Harbor had none of the birds we had expected to see) and then went up to our old stand-by Forsythe NWR. We had hoped to see the Roseate Spoonbill which has made an appearance there, but we were out of luck on that one. We did, however, get to see a lot of really cool stuff including a pair of Clapper Rails with 9 chicks, black skimmers running along the waterways and an aberrant Glossy Ibis (it had a white cap that doesn’t normally exist in the species). It was a little windy, but we still had a good time. By the time we got home, however, we were both exhausted – not that we would have had any time to unpack because the menagerie was there to great us with licks, tail wags, meows and offered toys of greeting.

So, things weren’t perfect this weekend – they were still great in my mind. Shari wants a do-over, and I’m never going to argue that one. For me, however, our fifth anniversary did what I wanted it to – reminded me why I married her in the first place, and why I’m looking forward to the next 5 years – and more.

Facebooktwitter

8 Responses to “5 Years and Counting…

  • This is a really sweet post. I’ve looked at your wedding photos on Flickr before and they always make me smile. I’m sorry that Shari wasn’t feeling well for your special weekend, but sick or not, at least you spent it together. And if she wants a do-over, tell her she can have one same time next year. 😉 Happy belated anniversary!

  • Congratulations on your five-year anniversary. That’s fantastic. It’s too bad she wasn’t feeling well, but it seems like you made the most of it. Here’s hoping you’ll have many more.

  • Congrats Marty. This is love and I needs to hear about love these days. I appreciated this post a lot.

    I now owe you a Chimay of appreciation,

    Perhaps some Dragon fly – dog playing – CHimay drinking afternoon one weekend soon?

  • I agree wtih everyone, congrats to both of you for your five-year aniversary. Keep up the wonderful work and love seeing all your butterfly shots!

  • Congratulations and belated Happy Anniversary Marty and Shari! Here’s to many, many more…

    *holds out orange juice in a wine glass (It’s 6:30am here. Too early to drink the good stuff)*

  • Thanks, everyone. Sorry for the delayed response. I’ve been swamped and haven’t been able to write much. Hopefully, I’ll finish posting the 3 half-finished posts I have tomorrow!

Trackbacks & Pings

Leave a Reply