As we wait for a snowstorm nor'easter, I am reposting this to remind myself of the love/hate relationship, and for new friends and anyone who didn't see it.
UPDATED-winter pix at the bottom
This blog was inspired by my friend Richard's Good, Bad, and Ugly Blog. When I went back to look at it again I realized that I never commented! Shame on me-I offer this as my comment and thank you for the idea, Richard!
I grew up in the Philadelphia suburbs, and although many of the kids I went to school with spent their summers down the shore, our family packed up the car and traveled all over the US and Canada instead. In retrospect I'm glad I was able to see so many places as a kid, but I never got that shore experience. Those kids spent the entire summer at the shore, and came back to the same place, if not the same house, every year. (My husband was one of the shore kids-he spent every summer from about 8 years old on Brigantine, NJ-sailing, fishing, all that good stuff.)
So-that said, when we moved down here in 1991, I didn't know what I was in for; I was just happy to be close enough to friends, family, and all the attractions in Philly and NY. Here are some of the things I've learned about the South Jersey shore-my love/hate relationship.
Love:
The sunset from our back deck (we've lived in this house since 2000)
The sound of the waves on the beach
A walk on the beach
The bird life even in the city-like right outside our back door.
A walk on the beach
The bird life even in the city-like right outside our back door.
Boardwalk bike rides in the spring and fall (summer is a little crazy, winter can be ok but normally too cold and windy) Here's Pat and I from our girl's weekend in the fall
Seeing the skyline from the causeway on my way home from anywhere.
Being 15 degrees cooler than the mainland-the ocean keeps us cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter.
Our great view of Friday fireworks over the Surf baseball stadium
The free beach three blocks away.
Arriving on the beach as everyone else is leaving-my favorite time of day.
The walkability of the neighborhood-great restaurants, corner store, and Dairy Queen close by yet not right out our windows.
Mark keeping his boat right out the back door.
Hate:
It's 60 miles to work in Philly- can be 2 hours in traffic.
The train takes forever so is not a viable alternative for the commute.
The shoobies that don't know where they're going and slip through yellow lights and leave you sitting stuck at the red.
Bridge openings-every hour in the summer.
Ventnor boardwalk bike rides in the summer-the shoobies walk/ride right down the middle of the boards and never give an inch.
There's no train direct to NYC.
Our natural gas bill in the winter is astronomical-let's just say the house is a bit leaky LOL
The greenheads, especially on the beach and on Brigantine.
And last but probably worst-the Nor'easters!
I'm sure there's more but that's enough for now. All in all, I'm very happy we moved here and stayed here. The only thing left is to figure out how to become snow birds-use this as our summer house and retreat south for the winter!
Winter update:
Hate-ice on the bay and the frozen washer drain line
Love-the beach and boardwalk after a (rare) snowstorm
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