We generally spend odd Christmas years in Iowa and even ones in DC, but since this was the oddest year of all, we decided back in September that this would be the perfect chance to celebrate the holidays at the beach. In a big, fancy, heavily discounted house. With an expanded pod to include Nancy and Danny and Adrienne. And lots and lots of alcohol. Because, you know, pandemic.
So we looked up big fancy places in the Outer Banks, and after some lobbying by Allen and the kids, selected the Pineapple House (which had the superior kitchen and windows, plus nine bedrooms for eleven people). We packed and baked and prepped for a solid week's worth of meals (which for Katherine included roasting two entire turkeys), games (which for Katherine meant bags and bags of them), and adult beverages (which for Katherine necessitated also bringing her trusty breathalyzer).
We arrived on Sunday and spent most of the afternoon and evening unpacking and getting the lay of the land. Monday the kids had school and we had work, but we all managed to finish early enough to get in character for a game of LARP Clue, where Professor Plum eventually deduced that it was Madame Rose in the Studio with the wrench, while Miss Peach screamed about the murder of her long lost step-uncle/lover (resulting in the loss of Katherine's voice for the remainder of the trip) and Mrs. White talked smack about everyone.
On Tuesday Adrienne arrived and the clouds parted which meant that the fun could really start and we could belatedly catch the Great Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn.
On Wednesday we celebrated the Newfoundland tradition of Tibb's Eve, "the day you get drunk and celebrate Christmas with all your friends before having to spend time with your family." Our celebration included ketchup chips and other Northern treats; questionable fashion choices; a Canadien Pandora station; crackers; a zoom call with Adrienne's mom, Brenda, and Nancy and Danny's child, Keegan; toilet paper races; pie cake; and a polar bear plunge followed by a dip in the hot tub. After that it gets fuzzy.
Christmas Eve was a balmy 67 degrees, so Allen and I enjoyed a long, walk on the beach before prepping dinner, which due to Katherine's aforementioned surfeit of turkey, meant changing our planned menu of Rick Bayless's Sweet and Smoky Pork Chops with Tomato-Chipotle Sauce, to "Great After-Thanksgiving Turkey Enchiladas." No one seemed to mind. We had Cranberry Tom Collins for the cocktail hour with entertainment provided by Owen's Instrumental Music concert and Nora's DCYOP concert (her ensemble starts at 12:29). Dinner was followed by White Elephant (and some other non-sanctioned) presents, the traditional Christmas Eve flan, and a number of games (bridge, shuffleboard, pool, marbles, puzzling, etc) as we competed for the Pineapple Prize. Then it got fuzzy, again...
Christmas morning started with a lovely brunch of Virginia sausage and biscuits, eggs, and maybe a few too many Blood Marys. There was a lot of games of bridge and pool during the afternoon, and a number of family zoom calls including with all the Zimmermans, but it was generally quiet before we got dressed for dinner. Happy hour (which was more happy for some than others) included a holiday performance by Owen and Nora (with some interpretive dance from Katherine and Adrienne). Dinner was an amazing beef tenderloin with peppercorn sauce, Brussels sprouts with cranberries, Santa Fe potatoes, crescent rolls, and salad followed by a white chocolate with apricot filling cake that Mom Mom and Nora had made.
The official present exchange, for which we had each chosen a name that was not from our household, was held after dinner. We'd originally planned to exempt the kids but they begged to be part of it, which is how Grandpa Don came to receive a very special gift from Nora – her first (self-published) book. He really, really liked it.
There was a bit more frivolity, but not as much as previous nights (some people enjoyed the Bloody Marys at brunch a bit too much...). And so by midnight we'd wished a Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night (and then took the next day to recover...).
(To see all of our Christmas beach pictures, click here.)
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