What you may not know is that the hubby and I lived in the same town and graduated from the same high school. Although 2 years apart and never formerly introduced until my first day of Community College (Go Brookdale), more on that later, we had similar hang outs and had some of the same friends. Everyone at our High School tended to hang out at Manasquan Beach. Sometimes in the summer but mostly at night and during the fall and winter. Needless to say, we were sometimes up to no good. Manasquan was the place we went after Football Games and Prom. The shore is only about an hour away from where we live now, but during work days it might have been 3 hours because getting down there, especially during the summer was near impossible.
That's why it was so much for this past August to go down there and sit on the beach. Our favorite time of day is when everyone is packed up and headed home for showers and dinner, around 5 or 6 pm is perfect!! People have asked what I'm enjoying most about being retired and I think having the ability to say "Hey, it's a nice night, lets pack some food and head to the shore" without much planning. This little guy below paid us a visit because he wanted a snack. Look at that amazing white, powdery sand. Never thought of New Jersey beaches as being some of the most gorgeous in the world (and yes, I've seen enough to say that) then you owe yourself a vacation at the Jersey Shore.
The second time we went, it was during a full moon. Using my handy dandy star tracker app, I was able to spy where the moon would be coming up and what a glorious display it was coming up right from the sea. Not only was it beautiful but it made me realize how few times in the last 20 years I was able to watch the moon rise. If you live anywhere were there is open space you probably take it for granted but at our house, we don't see the moon until it's super high because of all the homes around us! This picture below does not do justice but it's the best I could do with my cell phone.
Yesterday, Kevin and I did another impromptu visit to another favorite town of ours, Asbury Park and yes sometimes you can find Bruce Springsteen there. We woke up to a sunny day and Kevin asked what I might want to do and I thought a picnic lunch would be fun and then a drive to Asbury to walk the board walk and visit our favorite arcade. After packing up some left overs in the frig we set out for Allaire State Park (the place we got married and so worth a visit) and were the only ones in the picnic area. After nibbling on chicken, carrots, cucumbers with dip and peanut butter crackers, we headed off to Asbury. The boardwalk was mostly quiet (probably because it was a Tuesday) but the restaurants had lots of patrons sitting outside, enjoying lunch under umbrellas. We walked right to the edge of the sand and got to watch leisure boats out fishing. The temperature was just under 70 degrees and some folks were on the beach in bathing suites. Not back for mid October!
We continued walking down towards Convention Hall and The Paramount Theater. We poked around the shops (they have a new plant shop that is super cool), used the bathrooms and then continued on to the other side, stopping again to sit and view the boats. I spied what I thought was a whale! Many of our friends who live near the beaches have shared pictures of whales in those waters on their Facebook pages. Sadly what I saw was a scuba diver which was still pretty fascinating to me. Did you know that Convention Hall and the Theater are haunted? Amy and Adam from Kindred Spirits did a very interesting ghost investigation from there a few years ago. There was a shipwreck right in front of the Convention Hall which caused the SS Morro Castle to run aground and catch fire causing a loss of 137 passengers and crew. They have some information about the ship right in front of the building. So sad!! It really is a beautiful building though!
After getting some fresh air and sunshine we went into our second favorite spot in Asbury (Wonderbar is our first but no drinking for us on a Tuesday - lol) which is the Silverball Retro Arcade and Museum. The arcade is a Museum because of all the vintage games, some going back to the 1950s! Each one has information posted above the game giving you the year the game came out and lots of information about who created it. The cool thing is that you can pay one price and then play with out having to worry about quarters or swipe cards. In addition to pinball they also have video games going back to the early 80's and the ever popular Skeeball! You can play for the whole day for only $20! What a bargain!
We really got a kick out of seeing all the other retirees there actively playing games (some in walkers - oh Geeze). I guess this place is popular with the older crowd on weekdays but I'm not surprised. When Kevin and I were dating, we spent many a night at the arcades in Point Pleasant so the Silverball Museum gives us a chance to play all those old 80's games like Ms Packman, Centipede and Asteroids, which many arcades no longer have.
This was the first time we had been there this year and we were so excited to see that they actually have expanded into a space next to them, adding more games and full fledged restaurant with tables. They even host parties, which sounds like great fun to me. Hm, perhaps a great idea for the future with our friends!! Many of the games, including the Skeeball come from iconic arcades, which makes them even more special. As you can tell, we had a nice day and it's nice to get back to things we used to do when we were younger. Let me know if you have ever been to Asbury Park or Manasquan!
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