My summer holiday at the Jersey Shore...

After the trip to Eastern Serbia I had two days to pack and clean my house. I was scheduled to leave for a month holiday in the USA right away. The last 6 weeks here in Serbia had been an intense whirlwind, but I loved every minute of it and had gotten so involved in my work here that I almost didn’t want to go home! Still, the thought of being at the beach for a month did sound enticing!

When in the US I live on an island near Atlantic City, so in the summer it is something of a genuine pleasure! I ride my bike around the island, jog on the beach and swim in the ocean. Now you may have heard a lot of things about the Jersey Shore, and some may be exaggerations, some may be truth. Not being from the region originally myself I feel like I get an outsiders view of things here!

So, I have no idea what the North Jersey Shore towns are like. Basically the island I live on is sort of like the first point on the South Jersey Shore. Each of the shore towns has its own personality. The place where I live is more like a nature beach and is family oriented. No boardwalk. Only a couple bars (though 2 of them are open 24 hrs!) Just a few restaurants. A golf course. A huge marshland that is a protected bird sanctuary. And while there are a lot of families and summer folks, during the year the island is mostly populated by fisherman, casino workers and families that have lived on the island for generations. In winter the place is a ghost town – which has its benefits and drawbacks!

Then you have Atlantic City, which is lots of fun when you have guests but is not really like a cultural center or anything. The beach there is kind of trashy. You see a lot of sad people – drug addicts, gambling addicts, and the like. But, all that said, AC is not as trashy as people think. The boardwalk is pretty cool. Rides, games, shops, bars, restaurants and “massage parlors.” You also have a beautiful elitist mega-mall, and really a lot of shows and attractions in general. Like I said – it is a great place when you have guests. Very entertaining! But not such a fun city on your own. It’s not as if they have a 1st Friday gallery hop or anything!

After AC you have Margate & Ventor. From what I can tell, these are the spots where very wealthy people live. Amazing houses. Clean beaches. Some good restaurants. But it also seems that Ventnor has a somewhat significant year-round population. Margate is famous for this huge plaster elephant that is like 100 years old or something called “Lucy the Elephant.”

Now after this I get a little confused about the order, and I may leave a few out here, but I think next you have Somer’s Point. I have not spent a lot of time here, but I get the impression that it is a place that is fun for people in their 30s and 40s – like Yuppies perhaps? I could be wrong.

Then Ocean City. This is the kid-oriented beach town. Huge boardwalk with put-put, games, junk food, rides, etc. This is a dry town and there are no bars. Instead, there is a lot of activities throughout the community planned for kids each day and it seems to be quite safe.

Then you have Avalon and Stone Harbor which seem to be for those people who are too old for the wild “spring break” kind of party, but still like to have fun – maybe late 20s and 30s maybe even into 40s.

Next is Wildwood. Now this place is the PARTY Spring Break style type of place. It caters to the barely legal. The boardwalk here, aside from games, rides and junkfood, seems to be a cruising place for picking up people of the opposite sex. From what I can tell, this place would have been awesome to be when I was between 18 – 25, but now I think it is kind of gross. It’s OK during the day, and in North Wildwood there are some good places to eat and drink.

Finally, there is the crowning jewel of the south Jersey Shore – Cape May! This is known for its beautiful old Victorian homes, its sophisticated beauty and its old money residents. It is also known to be a favorite spot of sophisticated gay couples and has further become THE place for straight couples from throughout the region to hold their weddings.

OK…so there is your shore orientation. From the perspective of an outsider.

Now, when I moved there it was to be close to my NJ job, and I am close. In the summer it is a great place to live, but in the winter there is, if you will pardon my language, exactly fuck-all to do there! BUT – since I pay rent for the place and had a month off of work here in Serbia, I was anxious to get some summer use out of the place.

So, what was my trip like?

Week 1 was spent largely at the beach. I had lent my car to PC, so I was biking and walking everywhere and was generally re-orienting myself. One really fun thing for this vacation was that PC had recently inherited a 1980s red convertible corvette – complete with HUGE orange and white flames all over the hood! This was a fun car to have at the shore. PC came down basically every time he had days off and we would pick a shore destination and drive. The car is fun. Little kids look and point and think it is “bad ass” while I am pretty sure that adults look at us in that car and think “What an asshole!” But whatever! I’ve always wanted a convertible and what better place to have one than at the beach for the summer!

Other than lots of fun days driving, eating and drinking with PC, I had several other visitors including my good friend “A.” We had a wonderful time! Riding bikes, walking on the beach, sitting in the sun on my back deck and playing games. It was a really special time in fact b/c “A” and I are celebrating our 10 yr. friendship anniversary! And while we regularly see each other while both in the country, it had been a while since we had some one-on-one time – so AWESOME!

My cousin “AB” also came for a visit. She had come last year as well and we had such a great time that we decided to try to make it an annual thing. She and I were best of friends when we were growing up, but since we are adults – she with a family and me with a travel intensive job – we do not get as much time together as we would like these days so it is super fun to hang out! We spent some time in AC, did some light gambling (in fact, she won like $300 on penny slots from a mere $10!). We went to see a rip-off of Cirque de Soleil (which was still pretty cool), and one afternoon we rented a boat with PC and went crabbing in the bay.

Now a boat on the bay and a day crabbing sounds awesome in theory, but in practice…well for me it was a somewhat difficult day. Oh, don’t get me wrong…I loved the boat and the crabbing. The problem was the greenhead flies! These huge nasty biting flies breed most aggressively in the salty marshland of my island. They feed on the blood of humans and warm blooded animals. Their bites are painful, like a cigarette burn, because they have a crude slicing implement similar to tiny scissors. I am allergic to their bites and one will swell to the size of a quarter, itch like mad, and last for 2 weeks. Well, for some reason, on that boat on that day, these stupid flies made a meal out of me! By the time we got home I had easily 40+ bites and was intensely uncomfortable for the next few days! YUCK!

But overall I had a really fantastic time with my cousin’s visit and I am excited for her visit next year! As I drove her to the airport on that last day, we stopped in Phillie for lunch as I had been craving tex-mex and guacamole for like 6 months! This was the perfect ending to a wonderful time together.

Also while home in NJ I went to visit my family in Cleveland for a long weekend. The time was action packed! We went to a comedy show, had a BBQ party, did some shopping and visiting and then it was pretty much time for me to go home. It was great to see everyone and we had a lot of fun. I do regret I could not spend more time there and especially that I was too busy with family to actually see any friends. Maybe over xmas!

After getting back from the CLE I went and spent 4 days in Phillie – hanging out with “A” and “Em” and helping “Em” move – again! This time a permanent move to North Carolina. Sad for me, but great for her!

The last few days of my visit I spent at the beach and with PC.

In all it just flew by! And now I am back in Belgrade and I am glad to be back. I am trying to make the most of it b/c I know it will be over before I know it!

Well anyhow…thanks for reading…

Until next time…

Xina