"Liberty is the breath of life to nations." - George Bernard Shaw

Most years we spend Fourth of July weekend with my in-laws to celebrate my mother-in-law's birthday (July Fifth).  While we always have a great time, and great food courtesy of my mother-in-law, this year the in-laws were at Wimbledon and we had their shore house to ourselves!  It was extremely relaxing and, to my delight, we were able to enjoy the air conditioning all weekend long (my in-laws prefer to open the windows and forgo a.c. - to my southern heart's dismay).

The first night, B and I went to Plantation Restaurant for dinner.  To start B ordered the clam chowder.

Plantation is known for a fantastic New England clam chowder - creamy with plenty of clam and topped with a couple crispy clam strips and a drizzle of parsley-infused olive oil - and our order did not disappoint.

For dinner I had the crab cakes with a side of tempura mushrooms and B selected the salmon special.

Both of our entrees were fine, but nothing to write home about and certainly not worth $28.00 a pop.  The fried mushrooms, on the other hand, were delicious.

The rest of the weekend was filled grilling out, soaking up the sun, and enjoying a beverage or two.

 [beautiful sunset over the bay]

[special addition American flag Budweiser - necessary...]

Happy Fourth of July one and all!