Ann Delaney Beach Blog

Author: ann

  • What’s Open?

    As of this weekend, plenty of food options. 

    Just saw the banner outside of  Kohler’s Bakery http://www.kohlersbakery.com/  – “Celebrating 60 years in Avalon”.  Opening Mother’s Day weekend-   I will be there!

    Nemo’s Pizza from Avalon opened an additional restaurant in Stone Harbor- 98th and Third Avenue;  Mack’s Pizza at 83rd Street re-opens on May 15th for the season; and  Circle Pizza in Avalon is back open after major renovations, too.

    Quahogs on 97th Street was open last weekend- indoor and sheltered patio dining; and on the opposite corner, Black Fish (in the Henny’s location) is freshly painted and ready for their Mother’s Day weekend grand opening.

    blackfish

     Looks better in person- we haven’t seen sun for a few days  :(   so the gray exterior just fades into the sky.   The owners are smart- they set the tables and left the interior lights on last weekend for people like me to snoop in the windows!

     Also hearing good things about Fuze- the new restaurant at 79th and Ocean Drive. 

    Can you tell we are ready for the season to begin??

  • Sand and Real Estate

    sandcastles Castles by the sand.

    Just returned from a quick trip to the west coast of Florida.  In spite of their challenging real estate market, construction continues in the high end locations along the beach.  The magnificent homes along Gulf Shore Blvd in Naples are comparable in size to the homes nestled in the Avalon dunes.

    Like other coastal areas,  the real estate values on our island are driven by the location of the “sand” under a house.  The closer the sand is to the water…the better!

    A weird aside- on the flight home last night, almost 1/2 of the passengers were wearing surgical masks.  Very unsettling.  Glad to be back in the fresh, salt air!

  • May Weekend

    shboatshow This is the weekend for the annual Stone Harbor Boat Show & Seafood Festival on 96th Street.  The gray skies and drizzle should not stop the true boaters from shopping!

  • Double Vision

    doublevision Seashore double vision- the bay front homes reflecting off of the calm water in the early morning sun. 

    Took advantage of our summer like weather and kayaked for the 1st time this season.   Very peaceful…

     

    aprilkayaking

     No boat traffic or bugs…but the bay is still cold.  I stay close to the docks in the event of an oops!

    What an odd month- record rain fall, freezing temperatures, severe thunderstorms, a nor’easter or 2, and now a heat wave.  

    Celebrate May at the Stone Harbor Boat & Craft Show next weekend.  All day Saturday and Sunday along 96th Street- food and music, too.

  • Sights & Sounds of Summer

    parkingmeter Parking meters in the business district of Stone Harbor are in,  and will be operating as of May 1st (the 2 blinking traffic lights on the island will be turned on the same day- watch out!)

    What a weekend.  It feels like July.

     

    111thbeach The distinct sound of  outside showers;  hearing  noise on our street while sleeping with the windows open (versus the silence of winter!); geese flying north; the return of the die-hard surfers (they call themselves the 110 Surf Crew); and defensive driving on my “commute” to work around the numerous walkers and bicyclists.  All definite signs of summer 🙂

  • Dolphins Return to the Shore

    dolphinsightingBeautiful morning… and warmer temperatures expected this weekend  🙂

    The dophins were swimming by during my walk- glad to see them back for the season!

    Unrelated info- I was driving behind a plumber’s truck today  and loved their bold mission statement:  “Our technicians smell good”- how funny…

  • Earth Day 2009

    earthday I read an article in today’s paper about the relevance of Earth Day – “has it outlived its usefulness and potentially become more of a feel-good token symbol…”,  and was thinking  about this as I approached the beach path for my morning walk.

    Unfortunately, it didn’t take me long to mentally draft this post after spotting the deflated balloon stuck on the snow fence. 

    In my quick walk, I picked up 5 or 6 balloons, a beer can, a plastic cup and jug, and a potato chip bag.  That was all I could carry- so I stopped there.

    If Earth Day is an opportunity to remind all of us about the environment- then it has value.  If it inspires me to pick up trash along the beach- then it has value.  Hope you are equally inspired today!

  • 2 for 2

    apriljettyBack to work for me…but another beautiful “beach day” in April.   People are out taking advantage of the warm weather- should be a great weekend.

     

     

    aprilsnow

     

    In response to my “1st Beach Day” post, my daughter in law sent me a picture of their “beach day” in Colorado- several feet of snow!

  • 1st Beach Day

    aprilbeachdayWell…sort of.   The beach chair was there, along with a good book.  Wearing jeans and a fleece jacket though.  But the sun felt great.  April is so fickle…

    One “pet peeve”- literally:  dogs with  poorly trained owners.  Saw two incidents just today:  a dog chasing and running in front of the police vehicle patrolling the beach -while the owner unsuccessfully used a clicker to get the dog’s attention; and then another dog that barked, growled, and jumped on a woman walking along the water’s edge- and headed toward me with the same aggression.  The owner was insulted when I complained and asked him to leash the dog- hey, it’s the law either way.   

    Otherwise, a perfect day at the beach…for April  🙂

  • April Weather

    aprilrain The sun is finally back out after several days of rain.

    In February, we long for April.  But the reality of our east coast spring looks more like this picture taken yesterday.

    The gusts of wind on Stone Harbor Blvd had to be close to 60 mph! 

    Always wondered how the year round residents along the boulevard cope with the non-stop wind.  Our house shakes and roars during a wind storm, and we have some protection from neighborhing houses.   Their homes are completely exposed- I can’t imagine how loud it must be.

    Thankfully, only 2 weeks until May!