We recently took a trip to Pennsylvania and New Jersey to visit family and friends. It was such a fun trip and a great way to kick-off summer!
The big unknown was how L.J. would do on the plane ride, as “sitting still” and “being quiet” are not adjectives frequently used to describe him. I packed the big diaper bag with as many new and novel snacks as possible! We ended up timing our flight perfectly and L.J. slept for almost the entire trip. Success!
We once again scored with a rental car, ending up with a nicely equipped Volkswagon Passat. As you will soon see, we did a lot of driving on our trip – and by the end of it we both said that we would consider looking at a Passat when it comes time to replace a car. Very comfortable, great gas mileage and decently easy to get L.J. in and out.
We drove from Philadelphia to the Jersey Shore, about 1.5 hours driving time. It was a nice drive, albeit with more stoplights than I think exist in the entire state of Georgia. Another Jersey fun-fact: making a left turn is frequently not allowed. Instead, you have to make a right turn past the intersection and do a funny little u-turn maneuver.
A delicious lunch was awaiting us when we arrived at Mike’s aunt’s house. Fresh Italian bread for sandwiches – Mike’s family has informed me that you can only get “real” Italian bread up north. After sampling the Italian bread in New Jersey, I am inclined to agree.
L.J.’s favorite part of visiting Aunt Lynn and Uncle Dom’s house was their three little dogs. He glued himself to the back door and watched them for the longest time!
A bit later Mike’s cousins arrived and it was time to introduce me to the Jersey Shore! On the way to Seaside Heights we saw the damage from Sandy. It is immense and sobering. There will be several houses next to each other, and then a big blank stretch where houses used to be. Most of the condemned structures had been torn down, but there were a few still remaining. Cousin Dom is a police officer in the area, and he said that as bad as the media showed Sandy to be, it was a pretty sanitized version of what was actually happening. It was amazing to see how far inland the water came.
We walked along the Boardwalk in Seaside Heights. (Where the roller coasters went into the ocean) It was very different than anything I’d seen before! It was interesting to see, but I have to be honest and say that I don’t think I would like it at all in the middle of summer when it’s packed with people. We took L.J. into an arcade and he actually won a few tickets! We combined everyone’s tickets and he picked out a hackey sack and a tiny maraca from the prize booth – he was so proud of his little treasures!
We walked further down the Boardwalk and saw the damage from the fire. There wasn’t much to see, but it was interesting to see where the new wood on the Boardwalk connected with the even-newer wood.
On the way back we drove past the house where the show Jersey Shore was filmed. Fist bump! Just kidding. It really was not all that remarkable.
We drove a bit north to Point Pleasant Beach to have dinner. We ate out on the restaurant deck overlooking the wharf – great view and great food! Mike and I split a seafood basket with fried fish, clam strips and fried shrimp. There was a little stage area, which turned out to be an excellent spot for L.J. to run around.
We stayed at a hotel that night, and I was more than relieved that our hotel room was clean, comfortable and recently updated. I was a bit concerned about what we would end up with after reading a lot of so-so reviews about hotels in the area.
On our second day we took L.J. to Jenkinson’s Aquarium at Point Pleasant. The whole aquarium was about half the size of a single exhibit area at the Georgia Aquarium, but it was a nice size for L.J.
After lunch we said goodbye to Mike’s aunt, uncle and cousins and headed back toward Philadelphia for the next stop on our adventure…stay tuned...
No comments:
Post a Comment