jersey shore

We spent the first week of August at the Jersey shore with my fam. We had been looking forward to the trip for a long time and it was nice to go to the beach for a week. My family used to go there fairly regularly, but we hadn't been in 12 years, so it had been a while.

Saturday we drove to Philadelphia and picked Matt up at the airport. We were then off for an obligatory cheesesteak - chose Ishkabibbles on South St - before driving down to Sea Isle City where we met up with my mom, dad, Glo, Justin, Jared, Tiffany, four year old Kylee, and not-quite-one-year-old Taylor (aka the 7am alarm clock). We were in a nice new house right on the beach. While there we also saw my aunt Sonnie, Brenda, and cousins Kim, Ron, Drew, Helen, Josh, and Peter from Philadelphia.

The water was a little chilly at first, apparently the water in southern New Jersey has been near record lows all year, but the weather was perfect. It made for several great days on the beach, including me and Kylee racing several times - her dad told her of my legendary speed and the wonderful races we used to have (I only pushed Kylee down once), trying but not having the patience to build sand castles, whooping my dad in body surfing - he had some excuse about not having championship level waves to work with, and Lelaine, Justin, and me trying and failing miserably to use a skim board.

One night we went up to Atlantic City and ate at Bobby Flay's steakhouse at the Borgata. It was one of the best steaks I have had and made better by winning $100 playing craps and blackjack later on at Caesar's. In fact, of the five gamblers, three of us - my dad, Justin, and me - won, with only Lelaine and my mom donating money to the casino.

Lelaine was happy to be able to eat seafood several times throughout the trip. One night my dad bought a bunch of crabs and clams and steamed them back at the ranch, which made Justin and Lelaine very happy. Lelaine spent the rest of the time wondering why, based on the number of restaurants, everyone from Philadelphia and NJ only eats hoagies, cheesesteaks, and pizza, finished off with ice cream. One day we drove down near Cape May to go to a buffalo wing establishment that my co-worker Jean, an expert on wings, thinks is the best place on earth. It was a good recommendation.

Another afternoon we went to the boardwalk in Ocean City and had pizza at Mac's. My brother and I loved going there when we were younger and it didn't disappoint. It was a greasy as I remember it and the crust fantastic. Kylee went on a few rides, including one with Unc (short for Uncle Jared) that scared the bejesus out of her. While in Ocean City Jared made a return visit to A La Mode, an ice cream place he went to every day for two weeks the last time we went to the shore.

One night my dad convinced Lelaine, Matt, Justin, Jared, and me to go to McNutly's, a bar a few blocks from our house, for what he claimed was a big Wii bowling tournament. Not sure if McNutly's gets a super early crowd or if it just reflects the state of nightlife in Sea Isle City, but there were about five other people in the bar and we were the only ones in the "tournament". My dad entertained everyone in attendance with his bowling prowess, complete with a leg kick in his follow-through. He somehow did pretty well, but not good enough to beat me.

On Saturday we got up and drove back to Philly. My dad gave most of the group a tour of the city, including the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, Ben Franklin's grave, the Betsy Ross house, and the not-quite-as-famous Bigelow house where he grew up. Since we had seen that stuff a time or seven, Lelaine and I took Matt to Ikea to dine on sweedish meatballs and shop for furniture.

Saturday night we went to a Phillies game. Their team is playing great - currently in first place - and it was nice to go to a game in a nice new stadium with a sellout, something that doesn't occur outside of opening day for the Royals or Nats. My dad managed to score a suite behind home plate, complete with hot dogs, sliders, buffalo wing wontons, cheesesteak eggrolls, crabcakes, chicken kabobs, probably some other stuff I can't think of, and desserts. Kylee got her mom, dad, and grandmother to take her to a novelty stand. When they came back they looked like they had been Phillies fans for life, complete with a hats, tshirts, and even a Philly Phanatic doll. The Phillies won the game - I'm two for two at the stadium (went to a game there in 2006 the afternoon before a Pearl Jam show) so the team should hire me to go to their games.

Sunday morning everyone went to the airport and Lelaine and I went to a diner we had seen in Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives. It was a great breakfast and way to end our trip, particularly the largest cream puff I have ever seen that I bought to snack on during the drive back down to DC.

This morning we woke up and went to work. The first morning back to work always reaffirms what a great time you had on vacation. Instead of waking up, seeing the whole fam, and strolling down to the beach, I walked to the metro and sat at my desk all day. We are already looking forward to a possible trip next year.

Here's the link to our Jersey shore pics on our flickr page.