mission: jersey shore

last weekend patrick and i hit up the good ol' jersey shore to celebrate mother's day with my mom and grandmom (aka...mimom). now for those of you who did not grow up with me, i don't want you to begin imagining this trip like some MTV reality show version of what the jersey shore is. i can state that there were no fake tans, boobs, or nails involved in our "situation." there were no brawls or drunken make-out sessions in a nasty hot tub. it was merely a good time hittin' up the boards and partaking is some good eats, delicious treats, and a round or 6 of skee ball!

before i reveal my top favorite things to do on the boards of ocean city, nj, let me take you down my memory lane, so that you can picture this wholesome family resort. my very first memories of the oc go way back to the time when i could ride on my dad's shoulders. every summer, my parents took us to the favorite destination for some fun in the sun and surf during the day and to ride the rides and eat funnel cake at night. the drive to the beach was always boring, until we could smell the salty air and we knew we were getting close. as soon as we crossed over the 34th street bridge, our excitement really began to mount, especially when the "big wheel" was lit up in all of its rainbow glowing glory! as little kids, our inside happiness would well over and we would shout, "i can see it!!! i can see the ferris wheel!!!!" once we found an almost impossibly located parking spot and climbed the ramp onto the boardwalk, it was as if summer had officially begun. and as we know, summer is the best time of the year as a kid.

we would then proceed to buy tickets for our selected rides, usually including the blue choo-choo train that encircled "wonderland" pier and the carousel. this particular carousel is super fun because when i was about 8 or 9 they began to have the game where you sit on the outer circle of horses and try to grab a ring from the long wooden ring holder. if you got the golden one, you received a free ride. it was such victory when one of us got the golden ring. from there we would peruse the restaurants, usually ending up at mack and manco's for the best pizza in town, followed by a kohr brother's custard, and a take home bucket of johnson's popcorn.

if we could convince our parents, we also got in a round of mini golf or an extra ride on the choo-choo train down at "playland" pier.

the older we got, the bigger the rides became. soon wonderland had a log flume and the "twister." we also were allowed to go on the boards by ourselves, which was always the cool thing to do had we spent a week or two in a rental beach property. yes those were good times.

my favorite memory of all, though, is the time we spent a couple of weeks in this little third floor rental. i was fourteen, my grandparents from florida stayed with us, and of course we had friends in and out for that time. i had to share a room with my sister, which was fine, until i realized that i could fall asleep on the super comfortable couch located on the front deck. it was nice falling asleep while reading the "chronicles of narnia" to the sound of the surf hitting the shore line and feeling the cool breeze that did not enter my shared room. i felt safe and woke up with the sun every morning. to this day, if i am staying near a beach, i have to have the windows or doors open so that i can hear that same sound from my youth.

ok, so that is ocean city in my mind. now this past weekend, of course we ate mack and manco's, licked up a cone of custard, and wandered around the amusements, only to play skee ball. i would like to say that i rock at skee ball! i earned patrick and i 2 free games! i decided to skip the popcorn this time around, but i did sample my free piece of fudge outside of the fudge kitchen! i even got a second free piece when i entered the store to watch my sister purchase the melt in your mouth goodness. my mom had requested this shore adventure for mother's day, and i was a one well spent. we were all happy to celebrate the women in our lives who have provided so many good times for us...down at the shore or anywhere else we have been!

so those of you who want to avoid the perversion of the "jersey shore" mentality, check out the real shore and have a great time reliving or making new memories.

this is beth signing off.

mission: accomplished

i will post pictures of the ocean city, nj boardwalk as soon as i can!!!

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