Bayside 39

Snow is falling; plump white kisses from the sky. It doesn't concern me much, because where I come from, this amount of snow doesn't even raise an eyebrow. Still, the sky is white and the air is cold, and I find myself miserably anticipating three more months of the same. I like flowers and color and warmth, t-shirts and flip-flops, so my mind started to wander towards heading south.
Not likely. No time, no money for a Caribbean vacation, unless I could find a reasonable facsimile closer to home.....Didn't I see a press release a few months ago about a new indoor theme pool? A place to swim, play and pretend I'm warm? I searched the web, but couldn't find mention of any such place. It is said there are no coincidences, so when my companion and I had dinner at the Francis Scott Key's signature restaurant, The Marlin Moon Grille, I vaguely registered that there was a cool new pool open to the public.
I love the Francis. Opened in the fifties, it is a sprawling complex of rooms, cottages, pools, and playground, grounded by the main building, with it's fat Adirondack rockers on the porch, and the restaurant. It is old school hostelry at it's best, reminiscent of the grand old Catskill Mountain establishments in New York. The walls of the restaurant are unashamedly nautical, with huge taxidermied marlin staring fiercely at you as you eat. We had mussels with fennel and garlic to start, and the rockfish and combination seafood platter were perfectly prepared, generously portioned, and tasty. It was the happy/stuffed, unhappy/omigod-I'm-getting-fat feeling after dinner that triggered my memory of their theme pool. I resolved to check it out, swim my way to svelte, and find my bit of the sun in the dead of winter.
This morning, as the snow began in half-earnest dribbles, I wound my way to the very back of the hotel's buildings. As I entered the steamy pool area, several smiling seniors, hair damp and towels in tow, emerged. Eureka! I found my little bit of winter paradise. Oh, it's so much fun! Grimacing, life-size pirates greet you at the door, and a 5 foot serpent undulates in the water. Hanging red, blue, and green crayontip buckets continually fill with water, then splash into the pool below. A portly blue whale floats in the kiddy pool, his blowhole a cascading fountain. When I got my childish enthusiasm under control, I noted the Jacuzzi, the state of the art exercise room at the entrance, and the arcade that completes the complex. What a wonderful way to exercise, to bask in warm water, to dispel the gray of winter. I've really hit the jackpot with this find, folks.
The hotel has several offers for us "locals" this time of year. They have a pool gift/membership card that costs $100.00, entitling the bearer to 14 general admissions OR 28 children admissions. If you just want to come for the day, the pool is open to the general public Sundays thru Thursdays, from 12p.m to 8p.m. Admission is $10.00 per adult/ $5.00 per child.
Another nice alternative is to do a mini-vacation at the hotel. If my kids were still little ones, I would definitely opt for the 1 night package that includes a roll of quarters for the Caribbean arcade, one large pizza from Lombardi's, and a full day at the pool.
You're going to thank me for this little oasis this winter. Pina Colada anyone? See you next week!