From Wildwood to Asbury - A day on the Jersey Shore

I woke up Saturday morning iwht nothing really planned. Ocean Grove was having their giant flea/craft fair and my sister was working this with her stuff. So I hopped on my bicycle and off I went - through Deal, Allenhurst and Loch Arbour anf finally along the Boardwalk. This is always the best part, for some reason. North Beach under construction, the quick foul smell of the sewer plant. Once you reach convention hall, you ride through at 8 am and the the air inside is cool and you look down the whole boardwalk to the Casino. This entire stretch of the boardwalk is all new. The Casino is once again opened for passage and through I went. New roof. Into Ocean Grove I rode and walked around the festival. Free sample of Kettle Corn, got a "caribbean" iced tea and braided pretzel. How could you resist? Then for some reason, I came across a postcard that I hadn't seen of Asbury. $8.00. Oh well.

I hung out for a while and rode back to Ocean Township. Shook my daughter up and siad let's go for a ride. She got a jeep and has a permit and I want her to drive around some. "Where?", she asked. Wildwood, I said.

We got down to Wildwood, parked and got out. I told her all I wanted was a Kohr's Ice Cream and a cheesesteak. We walked around some and she commented on the people and some of the stuff that was going on. We then noticed they had a motocross event on the beach. So we paid and watched that for a while. Ate a burger, walked around and then she told me she never really liked boardwalks. Like her mom, I thought.

I got the hint and found a Kohr's. I got my favorite - the orange and vanilla in a cone. She got a vanilla. She couldn't even eat the whole thing. Dad, this is REAL. Real heavy. They'll admit it. Same recipe since 1920's. Fat and more. Yum. Like eating a filet mignon. Actaully, I once saw an old hershey bar wrapper with the slogan "more nuttious then meat". Well, so was this Kohrs.

We hopped back in the jeep and worked our way along the shore towns heading north. All thos cute little bungalow towns long gone. Most replaced with the same 3 story, narrow lot home. No one outside. Boring. We wiggled our way to Ocean City, where we once again hopped out. She looked around and "nope". Off we headed north. We drove through Atlantic City and we were tired. So we headed back to the parkway and got home by 7pm. My grand tour. BUT, we drove back through Asbury, where she remarked how unique and different Asbury WAS and IS. It has it's own life, identity.


That night, I needed something to do. I wound up on the boardwalk in Long Branch, I mean Pier Village. Packed. NO place to sit for even a drink. So I jumped back in the car and went to Asbury and wound up at the Brick Wall on Cookman Avenue. Great Burger. Then my wife called, "meet me at Rooneys". So back I went to Long Branch.

A long day on the Jersey Shore. There is something magical about the Atlantic.