Surviving NJ

I’ve never been a huge fan of Cape May, New Jersey. I know people love the charm and Victorian feel, but it never did much for me. Recently, I was in Wildwood Crest, just a few moments away, and I had no desire to go over and visit. I’m not really sure why. Maybe it’s because Long Beach Island has all ready caught my heart, and Wildwood is my playground. Don’t get me wrong, I have room to enjoy other places. In fact, I was just down Sea Isle City during mid August and really enjoyed it.

The other popular Jersey shore that does nothing for me is Ocean City; though I hate to hear about problems like syringes washing up...sad, sad stuff. People rave about it, but eh, just doesn’t hold anything for me. I’m sure if they were the places I visited often as a child, they’d hold memories, and they would be the beach for me. Oh yeah, one more….Point Pleasant; does nothing for me.

When I want a beachy place, I’ll take Beach Haven…if I want a boardwalk, it’s Wildwood for me. What are you favorite beaches? Don’t even get me started on the snobby north end beaches that have walls down the length of them, so they’re damn near impossible to hang out on. What is that Sea Girt or Sea Bright? You can have those and Asbury, and I’d be damn fine without them. Seaside Heights is one I enjoy for a quick day trip, but it’s seen better days and is slowly going low rent. I hope someone goes in there and spruces it up. It’s getting more than a little run down. I am seeing a lot of condo activity going on, so I think it's going to improve its reputation over these next couple of years. Fresh money, people caring again...that's always a good thing.

While Ocean City, Atlantic City, Asbury, Wildwood, Point Pleasant and Seaside all have boardwalks- Wildwood is the boardwalk we prefer.

Beaches without boardwalks...Sea Isle City (while they have a promenade), Long Beach Island and Cape May, I'll take LBI in a heartbeat.

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Still totally in love with this song. This has got to be the sexiest song...even though it's sad. If you haven't listened to Paolo Nutini's "Last Request", give it a listen!

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Do you remember when people used to send out things like birthday invitations and party invites? These days, it seems with email, people skip that formality and just send somebody a quick email. I don't know, I like the formal invitation. I think it's a nice touch to still get something in the mail like that. Look at wedding invitations; you don't see those being done online as much as others. I guess it's because weddings are more formal, so people want something special.

 Birthday and party invitations can be special too. It's just finding nice cards, and taking the time to write them out. I just did a large mailing project for a site I own, and handwrote about 100 envelopes. I think it's a nice touch to take the time to handwrite something out. It shows people you took out more than one moment of time for them.

If you're looking for a nice selection of invitations, try ThePartyStartsHere.com. 

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My husband was thinking of seeing the movie "Traitor" today. I hope I spelled that right, since I don't know which movie he's talking about. I was actually surprised to see there are so many movies in September I want to see! I don't have extra time in September, so that's not working for me!

I'm sure my son will want to see "Disaster Movie", since he's a big fan of spoofs, so we'll probably see that this weekend. It's not my first choice, but I'll take him, since he likes them a lot. Don't get me wrong, I love spoofs, but some of them are getting downright bad. I did like "Superhero Movie" though, so maybe there's hope for this one.

"The Women" looks good, along with a few others. Funny thing is, now I can't remember what I wanted to see. I think there's another that's due out September 12 that looked good. Bad timing for me, but whatcha gonna do?

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I'm 41. I've had two children. Let me just say now, I pretty much know where every bathroom is on the East coast, because my bladder has made that an important part of my life these days.

I'm a little nervous about doing Yoga in the Park next week! I mean, what if there are no toilets nearby! Okay, okay, so it's only an hour, and I should be okay, but I think of those things!

Sure, sure you laugh! Go ahead, but wait until you've had kids, hit your 40's and drink too many liquids. You're day will come! Then all you'll be able to do is remember you read this post years ago!

That's right, my bladder and yoga post will haunt you in the future, as you suddenly start looking around for a place to go!  

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Speaking of cars...was last weekend New Jersey Car Shows weekend?

Seriously, they were all over the place last weekend. Even our little diner near us had nearly 100-200 cars on their major cruiser night last week. Then I drove down a little farther, and there was another car show.

Usually when it’s cruiser night, you’ll see 20 or so cars, but this was massive. Then I went over to pick up my son, and in Coopersburg, PA there was a massive Mustang show! I think there was one in Doylestown too. Maybe it’s not just New Jersey Car Shows weekend, maybe it’s across the states.

Is this a big yahoo weekend before summer is over? Not sure, but I kept passing them all over the place!

The last New Jersey car show we went to was a Corvette show down in Long Beach Island back in June.

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We’ve been looking at used cars in New Jersey, and we’ve found a few that might fit the bill. We’ve got a Jeep rolling up to 100,000 miles soon, and we may be replacing that (luckily it's just a weekend and errands car, as we have two others).

We keep talking about it, but we’re holding out a little longer. One plan is keeping the Jeep, and getting another car, since we won’t get much on the trade. With all the driving we do, we need to scope out those used cars. New Jersey, in the area I live in- you have to have a car to get places. The public transportation isn’t that great, since we’re in the suburbs. In the city, the New Jersey transit is better I think. We do have train stations, but if you don’t want to go into the city, they aren’t taking you to the grocery store, ya know?

The thing is, the Jeep is the dog car, so we’re looking at another station wagon or SUV for things like errands and the dogs. We found a nice deal on an Explorer, but hubby wants to hang in there just a little longer. I laughed and said, just until the Explorer is bought by someone else! SUV pricing is way down, so if we’re going to get another one, we should buy it sooner than later. Once gas prices start to drop, people won’t be so panicky, and SUV prices will go up again. We have a car for commuting, and I have my own truck, so it’s not an urgent thing. Oh well, I guess we’ll keep looking at the used cars. New Jersey gas prices are dropping, but I don’t think my honey is biting quite yet.

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When it comes to resorts in Wildwood, NJ, there’s a new place going up right next to Pier 6600 Motel in the Crest. It’s called The Grand at Diamond Beach. It looks fantastic, and should be gorgeous when it’s done. They’re in the middle of construction. I can’t wait to see the final result next summer.

I probably won’t get back down to Wildwood any more in 2008, but there will be plenty of time in 2009. If you’re looking for resorts in Wildwood, NJ be sure to check this new one out.

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I was thinking of doing a New Jersey Yellow Pages kind of directory. I’m not sure if I’m up to the task, but I thought it might be neat to build a massive online directory.

I put a book together called a Fun Finder, and that was pretty time consuming.

What do you think of an “All Things Jersey” kind of directory? I’ve got a couple of NJ sites I’m all ready working with; one for Wildwood, another for Long Beach Island.

Do you think the full state would be too big of a project? We’ll see if I'm up to it once school starts. I picked a domain, and pointed it elsewhere for now, but the idea is floating around in my head.

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Nah, not the New Jersey Devils hockey team, I'm talking about the famous spooky tail of the "New Jersey Devil”….or the "Jersey Devil".

I remember hearing the story, and when I’d drive through the pine barrens at night, sometimes I’d be thinking… “What if it is true?” Of course, I’m only thinking that because it’s pitch black, and it feels like the pine barrens go on forever. I know it’s silly, but my mind starts playing tricks on me. I have way too visual of a mind!

What do you think of the Jersey Devil? I know, I know…..superstition, but was there ever a time when you went “maybe”. I just don't do spooky stuff well. I'm a big ole chicken.

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The New Jersey Devils are a hot team; Jersey folks just love them. I’m not a huge hockey fan, but did have the chance to see the New Jersey Devils take on the Philadelphia Flyers about a year ago. It was a lot of fun, since there were plenty of Philadelphia fans there, as well as a loud Devils crowd.

Growing up in Bucks County, we cheered on all the Philadelphia teams. I still cheer on the Eagles, but my hubby has us rooting for the Yankees when it comes to b-ball. I won't even mention his Jets team. (Boo!)

We don’t do basketball or hockey at my house.

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Please don't disturb me....or do that either! We got a kick out of this "Do Not Disturb" sign on our hotel door.  

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Man, I opened my comments for 2 days, and that quickly...tons of SPAM...It would be nice to have a discussion, or hear your thoughts, but honestly, I just don't have the time to delete spam messages left and right. I'll be closing comments once again.

 Feel free to email me if you want to contact me or say something. I'm available at DebsMix (at) Gmail (dot) com

 Cheers, Deb 

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Here was my view from my balcony. I pulled the picture off my camera, so I could get it up here. I love looking out at the ocean! The guy who played music was almost under my balcony, so we just opened the sliding glass door and listened to music as we chilled after a day in the sun.

This is one place I'd happily return to. (Pier 6600 Motel, Wildwood Crest) 

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Going to Wildwood was a last minute plan. On a late Saturday night I started calling around for a room. The plan was I’d go down with my son Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, but it was looking pretty grim when it came to finding a hotel with openings. I finally lucked out and found a 2 room efficiency at a place called Pier 6600 Motel. All I knew was it was at the end of the Crest. That worked for me, as Wildwood Crest is my favorite place in the Wildwoods.

Man, did I luck out! I got a great view of the ocean and pool, and right now I’m listening to live music. ( I typed this out on my laptop. Just loaded it when I got home tonight- we got home at 11pm) They have a guy who comes in and plays guitar from 4-7. After enjoying the boardwalk this afternoon, we’re taking a break from the sun, and will go swimming from around 6 to 8. Tomorrow (Wed), we’ll swim and sun during the day, and do the boardwalk at night. We like to mix it up.

I’m sure I’ll be pink later. I forgot the sunblock for the boardwalk. I’ll regret that later, but it was an honest mistake. We’re usually good about slathering it on, so I’m not too happy I forgot this time.

The only small thing is the lack of internet. Don’t get me wrong, they say they have it, but I get all of maybe 2 bars, and then after you connect, you can’t log into any webpages. It just doesn’t have a strong enough signal. It doesn’t make or break my trip, but don’t say you have internet if you have to stand on your left foot on the balcony, leaning over towards the pool to truly get the signal.

I’m happy we found this place, and they also offer a café, an outside bar and grill, along with an arcade and small gift shop. It’s a nice little family place, and sits right at the beach. This is one I’ll add to my list of hotels for future reference in Wildwood.

I've got a great shot from my balcony on my camera, and hopefully I'll get that uploaded tomorrow to share.  

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I have two weaknesses when it comes to shopping; purses and sunglasses. I own way too many (if there's such a thing), and am always happy to buy more. Recently, I was on vacation in South Carolina and I broke a pair of sunglasses. I don't know what that means to other people, but in my mind, one broken pair equals two new pair of sunglasses!

Much to my son's disdain, I had to try on so many different styles to find just what I wanted. I'm partial to polarized glasses, so I was specifically looking for sunglasses that were not only stylish, but were polarized.

I have no less than 8 pairs of sunglasses. I have about three pair in my car, a couple on the kitchen counter, and another pair in my purse, while a last pair sit on my desk, just in case! I just never know what pair I'll feel like wearing.

I just learned that SuglassWarehouse has over 1,000 different styles and colors of sunglasses for under $20. I was really pleased to see they're part of the Better Business Bureau's Online Reliability Program. That means I can shop with confidence.

I was flipping through their accessories, and found a glass case that would match my laptop bag great! I can actually toss my reading glasses in the case, or sunglasses. 

It's actually easy to look at different styles easily, because the navigation makes it simple. I was able to sort and find different styles, men's, women's and children's glasses easily. 

Shipping is free on orders over $25, and just under $2.00 if you choose USPS First Class mail. They do offer other options for shipping if you prefer an express delivery.

I also like how they tell you if your item is in stock. Ordering is simple with an easy press the button to add something to your cart.

Another note I found interesting on their site says that they aren't selling copies of designer brands. They aren't trying to fool you. They make sunglasses that capture a similar style, while offering high quality products at a great price. 

You can click on a link on the side bar to compare pricing and style with some popular brands. If you're a Coach fan, you'll find similar styles and affordable pricing. Now you can have a great look, at a fraction of the price!  

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You can read more about the Drifting Sands motel in Long Beach Island here.

We stayed at the Drifting Sands Motel this past week in Long Beach Island. This was my first time staying at this particular hotel/motel. I generally stay in one or two others, but they were fully booked. We liked that the room was large and clean, but were a bit disappointed with what they called a "partial ocean view". I'll be honest, I had to get on my toes, and lean to the left, and I saw about 1-2 inches of ocean. Maybe some of the closer rooms had a better view. I had a great view of the sand dune. It's okay though, I enjoyed sitting on the balcony regardless and enjoying a light breeze. They supplied the deck area with two chairs.

What I liked a lot was the parking was assigned, which means you can actually find a spot, and it's not in the most inconvenient possible. I liked their outdoor shower so you could clean off extra sand before going up to your room. I also liked the location of sort. While it's on the busy circle, it is half way to both ends, which makes driving to either side of the island easy.

What we missed? We missed that there wasn't a pool. We love a pool at the beach. While we swim in the ocean, we also like to swim in the pool. If you have small children, and the waves are rough, the pool is a nice option to have. Usually every time we go down, we swim in both the ocean and the pool each day.

Would I stay at this motel again? Yes, I liked it well enough, but we're partial to another because we've been going to it for so long.

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1. Long Beach Island
2. Six Flags "Great Adventure"
3. The Old Red Mill in Clinton, New Jersey and the great Ducky Race
4. Wildwood boardwalk
5. Charming Hopewell Boro (Main Street USA)
6. Atlantic City Casinos
7. Liberty Village in Flemington
8. Old West BBQ in Annandale (fall off the bone Babyback Ribs)
9. Trenton Makes Bridge
10. Rutgers and a renewed football team (my husband went to Rutgers)
11. NJ State Theater
12. Adventure Aquarium
13. Lots of great malls, including my favorite Quaker Bridge Mall
14. Diners, lots and lots of diners with great food!
15. Old Barney: Barnegat Light's Lighthouse
16. Cape May, New Jersey (Charming Victorian town)
17. Easy Access Roads: 95, 195, 295, NJ Turnpike, Garden State Parkway
18. Ocean City, New Jersey
19. NJ 101.5 "Not New York, Not Philadelphia" (I miss Craig Carton with Rossi at the 2pm slot)
20. Jenkinson's at Point Pleasant
21. Morey's Pier in Wildwood, can you say rollercoaster?
22. Grounds for Sculpture (gorgeous grounds, great for walking during spring and fall)
23. Princeton University
24. Lakota Wolf Preserve, Columbia, New Jersey
25. Scenic Route 29, River Road
26. Long Valley, New Jersey
27. Farm Produce Stands, and our own sweet yellow corn
28. Pennington, New Jersey
29. Hunterdon County
30. Location, location, location: close to NY City, Philly and Washington, DC
31. The Showplace, Beach Haven, New Jersey
32. Trenton Thunder
33. Somerset Patriots
34. Blueberries, and pick your own orchards
35. Small State, Big Personality
36. Hoboken, park your car and take the path train to New York City
37. Crabbing on the bay
38. Bon Jovi
39. Lambertville Station
40. New Jersey Devils
41. Columbus Farmer's Market
42. Popcorn Park Zoo
43. Uncle Will's Pancake House
44. Bruce Springsteen
45. Frenchtown
46. Every other Jersey Shore location not listed! There's something for everyone
47. Campbell's Soup
48. Joe Pesci
49. NJ.com
50. "At least we drive better than New Yorkers"...so we aren't at the bottom!

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Indiana Jones, Wanted, Hancock, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Mama Mia, and we'll be catching Batman this week....

 That's a lot of movies! I didn't realize just how many movies we saw at first. I have to say, I liked all  5 of them! Let's hope I like Batman too, which I expect to.

 Swing Vote looks like it could go either way...ahahah, no pun intended. I'll wait for the reviews on that one. Step Brothers, I saw the preview with my son at a movie, and it looked funny. WAIT! It's rated R, and when I saw that same preview at a rated R movie with my husband, suddenly it was LOADED with the F bomb, ya know? Seriously, what looked like it could be a fun idea, turned into non-stop cursing. That movie is out, and a shame...could have been fun.

 I guess with school coming up, and my husband's schedule changing, we won't be seeing many more for awhile. I guess our next run will be around the holidays when the big movies are coming out again. 

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It's time to pack away the women's lingerie. I've got two small trips coming up that were sort of unexpected.  I'll be heading to the shore both next week, and the week after that! I hadn't anticipated either trip, but they fell in my lap. I'm never one to turn down beach time!

Next week I'll be hitting up LBI for 2 nights with my son. The following week, I'll be visiting Sea Isle with my sister, niece and mom. I've only ever been to Sea Isle once on a day trip to visit someone. It will be interesting to wander around a bit and see what it's like. We'll be there for 3 nights.

I normally take extra time to visit LBI in September as well, but this year, I have a conference in Orlando during September, and I'll be back in school. I'm going to try to find a way to at least get a weekend down there during maybe late September or early October. September is a fabulous time to enjoy the shore. The crowds have thinned, and the weather is incredible! It's one of my favorite months for the shore.

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Man, my skin is doing swell! I have Rosacea, as I've mentioned before, and during July I had to take two doses of antibiotics to clear up a sinus infection and a bad cough that wouldn't go away. After twenty days of antibiotics, my Rosacea was looking great! They've put me on tetracyclene in the past, but that just kills my stomach.

 Anyway, it was a lovely side effect for me. There was no blackhead removal, no break-outs, no thickened, red skin on my cheeks or anything. It was just clear sailing baby!

 Oh well, it was nice while it lasted. It's August now, and the Rosacea is flairing up again! I guess you just have to enjoy it while you can.

 I considered getting laser treatments for the Rosacea, but I haven't made any final decisions on that quite yet.

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