Back to the Shore!

Good morning!

I hope your weekend was good in every way. 

With loads of sunshine and a lot of happy spring feelings.

Today I am going to take you all back to New Jersey again. 

To the Jersey Shore, to be exact. That shore is kinda infamous due to the certain reality show MTV broadcasted for years, Jersey Shore. I never really watched it, but I know it is a pretty damn trashy one. 

Mike and Karolina told us to get bagels for breakfast before we took on the hour long drive to the shore. 

So we did, and they told us exactly what kind of bagel we should order—

 “Pork roll egg and cheese on an everything bagel with salt pepper and ketchup - toasted if the bagel isn’t still warm.” 

So we did exactly what our FSIL (future-son-in-law, to be clear. Real wedding lingo, haha) wanted us to do.

 

This very one is considered the best bagel place in Jersey.

Many good ones to pick from.

But this is the one Karolina and Mike wanted us to try! 

Yes, the bagels ARE better in New Jersey than they are in Northern Virginia. 

That is for sure, so tasty and so good. Here, where we live, they are often so dense. In NJ and NY they are airier, for the lack of a better word. So very very good in other words.

We took off for Sandy Hook, a state park where you can see parts of Manhattan and Brooklyn far away. 

And you are right by the port inlet to New York City. The weather was almost summer like and very nice.

 

The light house at Sandy Point.
This used to be the defense coastal station for New York City.  But they closed this military base in 1974.  The buildings still stand, though abandoned. It was a strange feeling walking around it.

The view over New York Bay.

There is a bed and breakfast on the property, mostly open during the summers.  We also saw a little seasonal bakery and an ice cream parlor.

Old officers houses facing the New York bay to the west.
On our way to the beach.

Can you see New York City in the distance.

Peter's looking towards NYC.

Sandy Hook was almost destroyed during the hurricane Sandy in the fall of 2012.  THAT storm was something else.  I remember it clearly.  But New Jersey and New York and Connecticut got the worst of it.
In the summertime, you can swim at these beaches.  Mike says it gets crowded fast.  When were there it was so serene and empty.

The old life saving station.

After Sandy Hook we drove down the shore to Asbury Park. 

And Peter got so excited just thinking about the Bruce Springsteen song. Bruce is from this part of NJ (well, he’s from Freehold, but is is only a 15 minute drive away). Peter also got very happy to see the venue where Bruce Springsteen played a lot in the beginning of his career, The Stone Pony. 

Fun fact, Springsteen can still show up and play there without any prior announcements. How fun would that be to for a surprise as you’re casually sit at this pub on a regular Friday night when you least expect it.

 

YAY!!

On the boardwalk.

The boardwalk goes straight thru the big building in the background (Paramount Theater).
YOU bet!

Outside Springsteen's very special club.

We discovered the shore.

No it is not crappy, it is nice. Lots of cute little houses and streets.

 

There are things everywhere to look at.

The boardwalk is so wide.

People out and about.
The Jersey shore.

That evening we stayed in Red Bank, and that town is adorable.

Karolina and Mike met us at our hotel for a drink, and then we went to one of their favorite restaurants in the area. An Italian one, excellent.

You can really, really get good Italian food in this part of the US. The Italian influence is huge, so many immigrants from Italy settled here. 

The same can be said of the Jewish influence, huge. Many, many jews have settled in the area. So yea, that is why the bagels are so outstanding, for one.

 

The view from our hotel room window in Red Bank over Navesink River.

Peter and I drove back to NoVA on Easter Sunday.

We took a detour to Atlantic City.

People, people what a depressing place. It is SO run down. It is like any given inner city slum, but by the shore. SO many druggies, so many lost souls. Many hotels, bars and restaurants were boarded up. It was such a sad sight, and I have zero desire to ever return there again. 

OK, the weather was very gloomy, foggy, misty and so gray. Maybe that played a role as well. But no, we do not have to return to AC again. 

Atlantic City, what a rundown place.

Our next planned return to NJ? That will be during the wedding week.

We are planning on spending a couple of days by the shore, together with my sister and brother in law,  before the BIG I DO.

Have a wonderful Tuesday!!