Many of my memories take place right here in my home state of New Jersey, and around this time of year, when it is COLD and I’m busy stoking my wood stove up here in the hills of Northern New Jersey, a Jersey Shore beach vacation isn’t the first thing that pops into my mind…so it’s good to have a reminder to make summer plans ahead of time when the prices are GREAT. Now that our children are grown, we love to vacation at the jersey shore in September. Last year the Spring brought with it warm weather as early as April, so we were down at the shore for several days.
When you are vacationing with children, a fun place to enjoy a New Jersey vacation is in the Wildwood area of the Jersey Shore at Morey’s Piers. Not only are you in the vicinity of beautiful beaches as well as the natural beauty of preserved land, but there’s plenty of water park fun for the children!
There is a special going on right now, from December 1 through January 9, you can save close to 40% on a season pass to Morey’s Piers, and enjoy both of their water parks, and these days, with all of us counting our pennies, sales like this are just what we need. So visit the link above, and makes some plans to make some memories with your family this summer…come to think of it, this may be a great Christmas gift idea!
Summer vacations were something we always looked forward to when we were children, they were spent at my grandparents every year. It sounds like such a simple vacation compared to the elaborate vacations many take these days, but we loved it and I don’t have a single regret. My grandparents were wonderful, as I’ve probably shared in other posts.
They lived on property surrounded by woods, with what I thought was a HUGE hill in the yard. Everything seems bigger when you look back on it from the perspective of an adult. At the top of the hill was a metal shed that always smelled like gardening…manure probably, but it was a good, clean smell.
In the shed was a box that contained fun in the form of rolled up yellow plastic. We’d take it out, unroll it down the hill, and then attach a hose to the top so there was a steady flow of water, and we’d slide down the hill on the Slip ‘n Slide to our hearts content. Oh yes, there were times when the water wasn’t flowing as nicely as it could, and you’d get a nice “belly burn” on the plastic, but it was fun as can be and among the treasured vacation memories stored away in my mind.
Slip ‘n Slides have come a long way, now there are Slip ‘N Slide Mega Sharks, can you imagine? Now you can feel like you are escaping the jaws of a shark when you slide down the hill, but for us, just a plain piece of yellow plastic was enough.
In our town it was the last day of school for the young ones, and a flood of memories came to mind as a result, I’ll have more for you. When my husband and I went to my Grandparents house after Grandad passed, about 10 years after Gram, we took a look in that shed, and sure enough, the box was still there. Now the house and property have been completely redone, but pictures and happy memories remain.
Last week my husband and I packed a few days worth of cloths, hopped in the car, and went away for a few days to use some of his vacation time and get away. We had no real destination, just knew it would be somewhere down on the jersey shore. We decided to start at the northern-most part of the shore destinations, Sandy Hook, and work our way down, and never got beyond our favorite spot, Long Beach Island. You’ll find a lot more about the history and spots we stopped at as I post them to New Jersey Baby Boomer, but for this post, LBI is the focus.
We have great memories of taking our children there for a weekend. We spent time on the beach, my favorite being early morning or very late afternoon, as the sun is going down. Especially nice if there is a full moon. We enjoyed our just-the-two-of-us time very much, but also missed the good old days with the added excitement of having our children with us. When you’re raising your children, you love being with them, but dream of days when it can be just the two of you, then when it IS just the two of you, you realize how much life and vitality children add to your life…no, we’re not sad or depressed because they are grown, but treasure and hold tight to those special memories.
I took LOADS of pictures, and again, will be putting some up on New Jersey Baby Boomer where I share more history, but for now, here’s Barnegat Light, the lighthouse in Barnegat Bay, fondly called “Old Barney” - what a great history it has. We had been here years back with our children, and this trip my husband took on the challenge of climbing the 200+ winding steps to the top.
And what is a trip to the shore without seagulls? This one posed for me on the rocks that are on the other side of a railing along a cement trail at Barnegat Light on the bay.
Wishing those of you that are able a happy and safe vacation. There are, and will be more, tips on saving when you vacation this summer at Baby Boomer Penny Pincher, stop by if you like.
I’ve been away on vacation, which lead to a lot of memories I’m looking forward to sharing with you…pictures too! I had no internet access, so blogs have been neglected, but wanted explain my absence and let you to know I’m back and to stop by again soon.
Years ago when my son was about 3 months old, we were on one of two business trips that we took to Arizona, and while there took in as much of the beauty of this magnificent State as we could. One of those trips was to the Grand Canyon. Like most of us, I had heard of the Grand Canyon, and viewed beautiful pictures of the canyon in magazines, but never did I think I’d have the opportunity to see it. There is NOTHING like seeing it with your own eyes, right there, standing on the rim. The only thing that would have been better would have been to see the canyon from many different angles, or look down into the canyon, our view was from only one side, but it was a truly majestic sight, and one that I will never forget.
If you are planning a trip that will take you anywhere near Las Vegas, you will be close to a wonderful company that can arrange Grand Canyon tours for you from the air either by helicopter or small plane. You can also tour by a luxurious motor-coach if you would rather not tour in the air. As if that isn’t enough, they will help you get from your hotel to the destination by limo. If you plan to be in the area on Mother’s Day weekend, think of what a wonderful gift this would make? Many tours include lunch as part of the price you pay. I am sure that you will have a wonderful time…and when you do, please comment and tell me about it, or better yet let Hot Spot Tours know how much you enjoyed your tour!
Can it be that 29 years have passed since hubby and I said “I do”? I have the TV on and the beautifully-filmed movie, “Witness” with Harrison Ford is on, it is so peaceful except for the violent moments that are made all the more harsh by their contrast with beauty. Toward the beginning of the movie there is a tranquil scene that simply shows a field of long grass blowing in the wind. I long to be there.
And what does all of this have to do with our anniversary, this is our favorite place to go on our anniversary weekend, we love staying at a quiet motel that isn’t close to the where the tourists haunt. We like to ride up and down the backroads, park the car and walk, watch the Amish farmers turning the soil with their mule teams.
One of the best memories we have is of a time when we decided to visit an Amish/Mennonite church. I wasn’t dressed properly for the occasion, but we were welcomed. Men sat on one side, and woman on the other, but since we were guests, we could sit in the back together. There are no pianos or organs, just singing, and we were there to see a foot washing, our first in that kind of setting, very moving.
After the service, new guests are always invited to a home for dinner, and we decided to accept the invitation. What a beautiful time with special people in a simple but beautiful home. Bountiful table full of delicious food, woman in their simple dresses with hair pulled back and head coverings, men with their black suits and hats. Wonderful, friendly people. The only awkward moment was when I tried to help by bringing some dishes into the kitchen from the table..awkward because I was in blue jeans. The woman did give me looks, but it wasn’t long before they warmed up to me. That was a once-in-a-lifetime memory.
29 years of marriage on the 7th, I’m sure to have more thoughts on that in the next few days.
My daughter and I have just been “virtually visiting”, chatting online, and remembering something that happened on one of our vacations that was so funny, at least to us, maybe it’s one of those “you have to be there” kind of things, but I can’t resist posting this.
We had all piled into the Ford Taurus for a “spontaneous” unplanned vacation to Philadelphia, PA. We thought we’d just find an inexpensive hotel outside of town, and see the historic sites, and maybe a museum or two. Well it really helps to plan where you want to go and how to get there before you do something like that, we discovered. After a frustrating day of trying to find our way around, Paul did one of his quick pull-off-the-road things that he’s famous for, onto a dirt island of sorts, with some tall grass. I was afraid the grass would get set on fire with the hot muffler, and it lead to some funny when you look back on it arguing. Right then and there we decided to leave Philadelphia behind, and head for the shore, Long Beach Island. So we pulled out, and oh my, did we ever smell something awful, and I said “see, I told you we’d start a fire”, but it felt like we were dragging something.
So Paul got out, got down on his hands and knees, looked under the car, and found a dead goose stuck to the muffler…it must have been in that tall grass and we couldn’t see it. He had to run and get a stick to “unstuck” it so we could move on…but the laughs we had when it happened, and have had since, made for a great vacation memory. OH, and we had a GREAT time once we got to LBI, there’s nothing like a sunrise and sunset over the ocean, my favorite times to be on the beach.
Years ago when my son was about 3 months old, we were on one of two business trips that we took to Arizona, and while there took in as much of the beauty of this magnificent State as we could. One of those trips was to the Grand Canyon. Like most of us, I had heard of the Grand Canyon, and viewed beautiful pictures of the canyon in magazines, but never did I think I’d have the opportunity to see it. There is NOTHING like seeing it with your own eyes, right there, standing on the rim. The only thing that would have been better would have been to see the canyon from many different angles, or look down into the canyon, our view was from only one side, but it was a truly majestic sight, and one that I will never forget.
