Another Weekend Road Trip
The weekend started the way a good weekend should start, which is to say on a Wednesday.
Number One Son has 100 mommies, as I’ve mentioned, and one of them came for dinner Wednesday with her 2 kids. We were joined by a friend of hers (and now a friend of ours) from another internet board, and four of her five kids. SOBUMD had met Auntie Jenny once before; none of the rest us had ever met in real life. I find it amusing that some peoeple are still freaked out at the idea that we would have them all over for dinner. Just because all the introductions have been virtual doesn’t mean we don’t know them (outside of the biblical sense, because that’s still tough to do over the internet, you know).
I have spent so long hearing about all the Mommy board people that in my head, Auntie Jenny is first and foremost one of Number One Son’s 100 moms, and since she’d (virtually) introduced us to Jen From Around Here, I’d sort of lumped the evening into that category – so I had a small doubletake when I remembered (by dint of a few of their comments) that they’re also faithful readers of the BUMD. It’s so good to get in touch with my fans, especially when they’re as cute and fun to hang out with as the ones I’ve met so far! A great time was had by all, and repeat visits are in order.
The next day it was wheels up for the beach, because the Boss said that down the shore everything’s alright, and we could all use a little more alright in our lives. The best part of the New Jersey Turnpike is driving with SOBUMD and The Magic iThingy, since she was able to guide us to lunch at Hot Diggity Dog in Bellmawr, which we had not until noon that day even heard of. It’s a wall into which someone has knocked a hole so that someone could set up a hole-in-the-wall hot dog joint, and they have GREAT dogs. You know you’ve gotten off the Turnpike at the right exit when you order a slaw dog and the guy at the grill looks at the young lady at the register and says, “Hey, go make some fresh slaw, will ya?” Hot Diggity Dog, 432 Creek Rd, Bellmawr, NJ – a hot dog worth the exit.
We found the Atlantic ocean the way people have found it for years – go east, stay east until wet. It was cold, as the Atlantic often is in April, which likely had something to do with why we were the only ones there.
Cold Kids Are Cold
They don’t just roll the sidewalks up during the off season, they actually roll up most of the places to eat and sleep, too. We found a place to sleep in a town called Toms River, although I never saw the river, nor Tom, come to think of it. It could just as well be called Bob’s Diner for my money – I could at least see a few diners. Actually, I’d’ve been OK calling it OB-CO, which is the name of the Doughnut shop you should stop at if you’re around the Toms River area. Yum.
The hotel had a pool, which was filled with water, kids, and noise – the volume in decibles was exceeded only by the volume in deciliters. The hotel did not have rooms for five, nor adjacent rooms, the upshot of which was that I got to spend the night with Number One Son kicking me, then waking me up at 0630 because hey, get up.
We rolled out to see the State Park, which had a sign requesting we not feed the foxes.
Foxy Little Thing
That the “Jersey Shore” jokes wrote themselves on this trip, I probably don’t have to mention. Driving up the long spit of dunes that is this State Park, we saw a fox – four legs – which walked almost right up to the car and gave me a look as if to say, “Hey, who’re you going to listen to, some dumb sign or an actual fox like me? Amiright here? OK, I’m right. So where’s the doughnut, fat man?” Sly little devil.
Back to the beach to run in the sand for a bit. Number One Son let the water crash over his ankles a few times, then calmly walked up to me and mentioned, “Daddy, I can no longer feel my extremities.”
Cold Feet!
I hate when that happens.
Next up, Friday and the Rush to Easter!
i grew up in toms river, i would like to point out. and as a person who grew up there, i can share with you that there is, in fact, a toms river. i have fallen into it in 30 degree weather. if you require a map the next time you sojourn, let me know. in the meantime, if you can see the blue on this link, that would be the one and only toms river. no apostrophe, thanks:
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=toms+river&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=Toms+River,+NJ&gl=us&ei=lJHCTZiDOMe2tweu_oCzBQ&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CDEQ8gEwAA
i would also point out that there’s a great deal of uncertainty over whether tom was a native american or a man named thomas luker who ended up marrying a native american. this thomas luker, incidentally, is my husband’s great X 10 grandfather; and he is the reason why my son’s middle name is, in fact, thomas. (contrary to what he thinks, which is that he has been named after a certain tank engine. which, by the way, does not sit well with him, but he thinks it nonetheless.)
so there. more toms river lore than you could possibly want for one day. you’re welcome.
Sher, thank you! I know that the enquiring minds of my readers are all asking the same question right now: What on earth were you doing in the river, regardless of whosofor named, in 30 degree weather? Was this a slip of the foot, or perhaps a slip of the rational part of your mind? Or are you just more of an exercise buff than any of us knew? I’m certain there’s a story here. Do tell!
oh, that involves my youthful playtime at riverwood park with my BFF and her dad, who, may he RIP, was loveable but rather clueless. i was pretending a log was a balance beam, and you can guess the hilarity that ensued. my BFF’s dad let me run around, still wet (it wasn’t really frozen through, oddly), for hours. when i returned home, my mom was PISSED… mostly at my BFF’s dad, who didn’t think to bring me home but let me run around soaking wet in the cold.
and yet, i lived to tell the tale. and there you have it :)
OMG IM IN THE BUMD BLOG. I AM SO FAMOUS!!
Altho how you got the name wrong I dont know…it’s JEN The Queen of Everything not Jen From Around Here.
Hell, who are we kidding? Im just happy you spelled Jen correctly…