I only have a few more Fridays off from work during the summer, so Josh and I took advantage of one by going to the beach again this past Friday. We went to Hammonasset Beach on the Connecticut shoreline, like we did last month, but we had a slightly different set-up this time around. We borrowed a pop-up tent from my parents instead of using the patio umbrella, and it was surprisingly easy to set up ourselves, plus it provided a lot more shade.

The beach wasn’t as crowded as last time, and for most of the day, we had a clear view of the water. There were a bunch of low-flying seagulls, and we watched a group of them eat someone’s bag of chips; we brought a cooler with us and kept all of our food in there so we didn’t get ambushed by those ruthless creatures.

Of course, I brought a book with me—from my latest library trip—and Josh caught me in the act of taking pictures.

We went in the water twice, which was a bit cold at first but was fine once you were in it. There was a little girl a bit further down in the water who had a unicorn tube float, and I was pretty jealous.

By the time we finished packing up everything and taking down the pop-up tent, it was around 5:00 p.m. We quickly changed in the bathrooms—which don’t have showers or mirrors, which we think is weird—and then headed to dinner.

We went to Eli Cannon’s in Middletown, and even though it was close to 6:00 p.m. by the time we got there, it wasn’t too busy and we were seated right away.

I got a mango margarita and Josh got Cloudscape from New Park Brewing. We split fried pickles—always—and I got a BLT with avocado while Josh got a patty melt. The food was good, and I’d definitely go back there if we’re in the area.

Here are some of the animals we saw. Some of them were hiding in the shade or in a hut because it was so hot that day; I don’t blame them.

We stayed for a couple of hours, and it was a lot of fun. We’ll definitely go back next year.

I took Monday off—I wanted to use a vacation day—and knew I didn’t want to stay home all day. It was 90 degrees, so it had to be an indoor activity, so I decided to go to a Target in a different town than the one I live in—all Targets are the same, really—and then went to Evergreen Walk. I figured the shops wouldn’t be too busy on a Monday afternoon, so I went and walked around for a couple of hours. (I also like to go into the shop at Evergreen Walk that I can’t afford and laugh at the prices.)