Family Christmas Dinner at Sandgates

Twice a year, Mom and Dad treat the whole family to dinner at Sandgates, a riverfront seafood restaurant nearby. In the summer, the children have fun walking the piers and enjoying the beautiful river views while waiting for the food to arrive. But tonight it was dark when we got there. The restaurant was decorated beautifully for Christmas. My three brothers and their families were there.

I lost count of how many dozens of crabs we ate. They were the best crabs I have ever tasted. The best part is that I was given the dozen leftover crabs to bring home for breakfast tomorrow morning.

Mike got an oyster sandwich, but my children and I ordered softcrab sandwiches. They were wonderful. The cook was really nice about not dipping them in egg and milk.

We went through 4 dozen steamed shrimp. Sandgates makes their own cocktail sauce that is simply the best.

My hubby and brothers ate steamed oysters. My brother Mike ate fried oysters and they sure looked good.

We decided this crab was the largest.

We all like the relaxed atmosphere. A few years back when the hurricane Isabella came through, our family's annual trip to Bethany Beach got canceled, so Dad took us all to Sandgates for a most memorable dinner. There was no electricity for miles around, so we ate in dim light provided by generator. But the crabs were plentiful and everyone was in a festive mood. The bathrooms didn't work, so it was really roughing it! But we will remember that dinner forever.
Afterwards, Mom and Dad came to our home for tea and fellowship. Dad sat in front of the fire, but Mom and I had fun playing two-piano music. We even played some of Shelley Garlock Hamilton's two-piano music ~ I could hardly keep up! Sure was fun.

Have a good Friday. Hopefully it will be a little warmer than today. If it isn't gonna snow, it might as well be warm!

Many blessings ~ Kathie