We here in Virginia are inventors and entrepreneurs. The internet is based in Northern Virginia, for goodness sakes. Yes, we have a way with influencing the globe. Take for example the watermen who devised more efficient and cheaper ways of harvesting our Blue Crabs from the Chesapeake Bay. Yes, it is we Virginians who are responsible for jumbo lump crab meat at USD$31.00 (+) a pound. There just aren’t that many crabs left.

And what is summer without Blue Crabs? No jumbo lump crabcakes. No Crab Imperial. No She-Crab Soup. No pan fried soft shells.

Sacrifices will have to be made.

This year, it will be cheaper to eat lobster than to dine on the more humble crab. Chin up and uncork the champagne.

The Easy and Elegant Maine Course Lobster Salad.
Serves Four.

1 cup of cooked and chopped lobster. (Or one to two small tails.)
Grated Onion to taste.
White pepper and salt to taste.
Vinaigrette
(chill one hour)
1 cup chopped celery
2 teaspoons of dry sherry
Mayonnaise
Dash of dry mustard

Garnish with fresh parsley, pickles and hard-boiled eggs.

Mix well, lobster, salt, pepper, vinaigrette and chill for an hour to blend the flavours.

Add in the celery, sherry, dry mustard and about a tablespoon (+) of mayonnaise. Stir to combine. Serve over a bed of lettuce and garnish with chopped fresh parsley, chopped pickles and chopped hard-boiled eggs.

If you’re out of bubbly, a nice rosé goes equally well.

(“Cocktail” Gerald Murphy, 1927 available through Allposters.com)

“You hate people.”
“I know, but I love gatherings. Isn’t it ironic?”
– from “Clerks.”

I like the anonimity of the city. It seems a paradox, but you aren’t forced to interact with your neighbors that way that is required when you live in the suburbs. You may nod and smile, even wave, at your fellow city dwellers without actually having to stop and make polite conversation unless you’d genuinely like to. It seems to me a most civilised way of life.

I am sorry that I didn’t get to know a couple of my neighbors earlier, though. They are here, on the Outer Banks this same week, and the sun-kissed Mrs. E. and I enjoyed a marvelous meal of fresh fish grilled over charcoal, fresh corn, rather older wines and even older jazz with them just last night. They are a delightful couple, he an accomplished jazz musician, she a very successful attorney. I’m looking forward to more evenings with them.

Delightful though they are, they are not the subject of this post. Rather, it is their neighbors here at the beach who inspired me to write about a wonderful tradition that is sure to bring you closer to your neighbors, should you wish to get beyond nodding acquaintanceship.

“It’s five o’clock somewhere” is the rallying cry at the manse on many an occasion. My neighbor’s neighbors don’t have to shout to announce happy hour. Instead, if they wish to open the bar and soak the block, they fly the cocktail flag, and like moths to a flame, in come the friends to share in the festivities.

What an easy and elegant solution. The only question is what flag will you fly? Should we choose to show the colours, I think a pair of crossed cocktail sabres with skewered olives might do the trick. Or maybe that wonderful man on the cover of “The Savoy Cocktail Book.” “Cocktail” by Grald Murphy (shown above) would be very ambitious and completely perfect.

Or perhaps it’s time to invest in the green dock light that so entranced Gatsby.

What will your flag look like?

(Image and Swimsuit available from Brooks Brothers)

Getting my sea legs has little to do with sailing for me these days. Rather it is the moment when I must face up to the fact that I will, at some point in the near future, unveil said pasty stems and their supporting structure to the indifferent and unenvious glances at the beach or the pool.

If you, like me, are over the age of 30 and can’t quite carry off the La Perla GrigioPerla swimsuit sported by Daniel Craig in “Casino Royale”, you may be looking for a suitable swimsuit that will do the least damage to your reputation. Here are a few things to consider:

1) Length: I prefer a shorter version of the swimsuit as I am neither hip nor hop. Look for an inseam of 6″ - 9″.

2) Pockets: are a nuisence. They collect sand and balloon up in the water. Besides, my mobile isn’t waterproof.

3) Colour and Graphic Design. Less is, as with most things, more.

4) Material: quick drying and not-at-all clingly is most desirable.

And finally,

5) The Waistband: over 30 you are taking chances with an elastic waistband. Over 40, as I am, and you are flirting with the horrible muffin top regardless of how physically fit you may be. Even Sylvester Stallone had liposuction. I have had enough of hospitals and refuse to volunteer go under the knife. Or vacuum. Or whatever… Yikes. The solution is the sized waist with a draw cord closure. Buy them at your actual size and they will not slip. Nor will they bind and squeeze and redistribute that which has taken you years of sybaritic indulgence to build up.

Try the custom option or Style 301 Mid-thigh Basic from Birdwell Beach Britches. At USD$39.50 they are a steal and will last you indefinitely.

Or consider the Brooks Brothers Country Club Side Stripe Board Short with draw cord closure (shown above.) Worth the sale price of USD$73.88 and ocean tested by your faithful correspondent. The Bond-like light blue are sold out online. But then, my eyes don’t match them anyway.