Friday Catch Up
Sorry kids. It's been one of those weeks!
Last weekend, Obbie & I did an advance scouting trip to Seaside Heights, NJ. There's a potential craft show there in June, and since neither of us had ever been there, we wanted to check it out. (It'd be a bitch to get accepted as a vendor, then drive to the place and have no clue of parking, lodging or whatever. The interweb is very helpful, but it never hurts to actually visit the place if you can)
Since it was a cheap trip weekend, we opted to camp, and stayed at a campground Obbie found online. The site was reserved and paid for before we even were done with work for the week.
It didn't take very long to get there from The Ranch. We left around 8:00 (after a coffee stop) and found the campground by 11:50, which would have been earlier if Yahoo didn't have such fucked up directions.
After we set up the campsite, we headed to the boardwalk. The traffic in Jersey sucks. Just so you know. It just plain sucks. Maniac drivers are everywhere, and since we were at the beach, and it was an awesome day, congestion was the word of the day, traffic wise.
We got there and parked, and started walking. The 'boards' there are over a mile long. With lots of rides and games, and FOOD. Dear God the food:
Last weekend, Obbie & I did an advance scouting trip to Seaside Heights, NJ. There's a potential craft show there in June, and since neither of us had ever been there, we wanted to check it out. (It'd be a bitch to get accepted as a vendor, then drive to the place and have no clue of parking, lodging or whatever. The interweb is very helpful, but it never hurts to actually visit the place if you can)
Since it was a cheap trip weekend, we opted to camp, and stayed at a campground Obbie found online. The site was reserved and paid for before we even were done with work for the week.
It didn't take very long to get there from The Ranch. We left around 8:00 (after a coffee stop) and found the campground by 11:50, which would have been earlier if Yahoo didn't have such fucked up directions.
After we set up the campsite, we headed to the boardwalk. The traffic in Jersey sucks. Just so you know. It just plain sucks. Maniac drivers are everywhere, and since we were at the beach, and it was an awesome day, congestion was the word of the day, traffic wise.
We got there and parked, and started walking. The 'boards' there are over a mile long. With lots of rides and games, and FOOD. Dear God the food:
This is one of MANY food stands. The pizza (behind glass with reflection) was probably 30 inches across. One slice (or cut) was bigger than my head. And man was it good!
The one end of the boardwalk is a big bar. Multilevels from what I gathered, but on Saturday, since it was Cinco de Mayo, all Sols, Dox XX, and Heinekens (Heinekens for Cinco de Mayo?!) were a buck. Obbie and I did our part, and came very VERY close to spending the rest of the day there. Our saving grace was the hellish traffic back to the campground.
This wasn't the bar, but I really dug the sign. Can't WAIT to see it all lit up at night.
After all the beer and the big ass pizza, we walked to the other end of the boardwalk. Just to see. They have a really cool cable car ride that takes you along the length of that end of the boards, which would be really neat in the summer, to get past all the lollygaggers and buggy-pushers.
We walked around town a little, to scope out a hotel for next time, then left to go up the road to a calmer, more peaceful part of the greater Seaside Heights area: Island Beach State Park. It's a big BIG beach park, with several beaches and lots of trails. For $5.00 you can go and spend the whole day there and not bother anyone. It's very cool, and on the list for the next trip. We also found a nifty hotel right at the entrance of the park where we'll be staying during the craft show. Too many of the hotels downtown cater to the kids, and all that teenybopper hormone and beer driven nonsense. I'd rather have to drive a half mile, and pay to park than to stay in some pissy puke smelling hotel room.
We went back to the campground, and hung around the campfire the rest of the evening. It was chilly, so the campfire was perfect.
We walked around town a little, to scope out a hotel for next time, then left to go up the road to a calmer, more peaceful part of the greater Seaside Heights area: Island Beach State Park. It's a big BIG beach park, with several beaches and lots of trails. For $5.00 you can go and spend the whole day there and not bother anyone. It's very cool, and on the list for the next trip. We also found a nifty hotel right at the entrance of the park where we'll be staying during the craft show. Too many of the hotels downtown cater to the kids, and all that teenybopper hormone and beer driven nonsense. I'd rather have to drive a half mile, and pay to park than to stay in some pissy puke smelling hotel room.
We went back to the campground, and hung around the campfire the rest of the evening. It was chilly, so the campfire was perfect.
The next day we were up and out by 8:30. Obbie made a nice breakfast on the camp stove, complete with coffee, eggs, and sausage. We cleaned up the campsite and left for home.
Traffic was light (except for ANOTHER trash can in the 'fast' lane of the Garden State Parkway) so we got to Philadelphia pretty quick. Since it was only 10:45, we decided to stop in to the new Philadelphia Park casino. (Casinos are brand new in PA, big fat hairy deal) I had only ever been in one casino in Niagara Falls, NY, and wasn't impressed. So we thought this would be a less crowded time to check it out.
We got some ATM money, and Obbie showed me about nickle slots and penny slots. In about two hours, I lost $40, which is all I intended to lose (but I was up for awhile!) but Obbie did very well, and cashed out about $100 ahead. We took this as a sign and left. I drove most of the way home, fueled by the iced Vanilla Lattes from Starbucks that I made Mr. Big Bucks buy.
It was a nice weekend, but DAMN it was good to be home! The craft show ought to be good. The check went out on Monday morning. Wheeee!!!
Traffic was light (except for ANOTHER trash can in the 'fast' lane of the Garden State Parkway) so we got to Philadelphia pretty quick. Since it was only 10:45, we decided to stop in to the new Philadelphia Park casino. (Casinos are brand new in PA, big fat hairy deal) I had only ever been in one casino in Niagara Falls, NY, and wasn't impressed. So we thought this would be a less crowded time to check it out.
We got some ATM money, and Obbie showed me about nickle slots and penny slots. In about two hours, I lost $40, which is all I intended to lose (but I was up for awhile!) but Obbie did very well, and cashed out about $100 ahead. We took this as a sign and left. I drove most of the way home, fueled by the iced Vanilla Lattes from Starbucks that I made Mr. Big Bucks buy.
It was a nice weekend, but DAMN it was good to be home! The craft show ought to be good. The check went out on Monday morning. Wheeee!!!
Since we've been back, Mr. Lucky has gotten an impacted molar, and insanely high blood pressure. He's racked up a doctor's visit AND a consultation visit to the oral surgeon. Next week the tooth comes out, and the BP gets checked again. So much for luck, eh? (Or is it luck that he found all this out now??)
Labels: road trips
posted by Amy at 11:02 AM
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