Watch the Tram Car Please

[Tenbatsuzen]

Greetings from the Jersey Shore.

This is the first summer I can remember in a while where I've actually 1) had money 2) had my weekends free and 3) decided to go to the Jersey Shore for something that wasn't work-related.

I forgot how fun it could be.

My wife and I left Friday night and I was expecting the worst traffic; we breezed right down here. It's probably the best time I've ever made getting down here.

As we pulled into the scenic beach town where we're spending our weekend, we noticed a sign advertising the NJ State BBQ and Blues Festival.


SCORE!!!

So we spent last night just getting TRASHED In a local bar that was walking distance from the house (with my wife calling me a homo for drinking malibu) and eating cheese fries. This morning we went down to Cape May, where we played "Spot the gay Guy or pregnant girl"

Then we went back to the BBQ festival. And surprise surprise... my old job is there on-site. Bastards.

I decided to avoid it because I didn't want to make a scene. And trust me, with three dollar beers, there was plenty of potential for me to make a scene.

So Liz and I took a ride on the tram car on the boardwalk. Quote Liz, "Does it make me a bad person because I really enjoy seeing people scatter when the tram car barrells down on them." Me: "No, because you're not visualizing them being bounced off the bumpers Grand Theft Auto style."

We returned the BBQ festival and had samples from all the different vendors, including some of those three dollar beers, BBQ brisket, pulled pork, turkey, chicken, etc. It was a meatstravaganza.

So the topic of the thread is this - if you go to the beach, whether it's Jersey, New York, etc, where do you go, what have you done down there, and have you gone this year yet?

[Judge Smails]

When I was a kid, my family would go to Wildwood for two weeks every year, so I'm very familiar with the tram car. My friends and I would also go every summer when I was in high school and college. I've been back once, about five years ago, and was shocked to see that they still have the same exact tram cars, as well as the same nasally "Watch the tram car, please" recording.

When my son was born we decided to try going to the shore for the weekend. We made the mistake of going to Seaside and spent about two hours just driving around looking for a place to stay that didn't look like a broken down third world hostel. We finally found this one place than was beautiful and had obviously just been renovated, so we got a room for two nights. Unfortunately when we got in the room we realized that they only renovated the outside of the building. We actually made our son sleep in the playpen and put that up on the bed to get if off the floor. My wife and I slept in our clothes on top of the covers. In the morning we made up some story about having a death in the family and having to leave immediately. We learned our lesson to never show up to the Jersey Shore without a reservation and without properly researching where you're staying.

We now stick to Point Pleasant for day trips. If we are staying overnight, we go to Atlantic City where you can at least be certain to have a nice clean room in a decent hotel and some very good restaurant choices.

[Sarge]

For years my friends and I rented a house every year in Oartley Beach. It was in a great spot, right on a lagoon off of the bay. We used to get hammered, and jet-ski all day, and then go to Seaside Heights and drink all night. For a while I bounced at Temptations in Seaside, but it turned into a drug den in the late 90's so I got out.

Now I take the kids on day trips to Point Pleasant mostly. The last two years I spent a week in Bethany Beach Delaware. This year we're going to L.B.I. for a week in August. I've never been there, I've always heard it was nice.

[topless_mike]

my wife and i only go to Ocean Grove- its next door to as-beirut park.
its a quiet, dry, bible-thumping town.
parking is free, and main st has a few good food spots.

we go here because there is no ny trash clogging the beaches and roads. there are no bars or clubs for the guidos to congregate, no lowriders or systems going boom.

the beach is clean, and our son has a great time- usually lots of other kids to play with.

[topless_mike]

For years my friends and I rented a house every year in Oartley Beach. It was in a great spot, right on a lagoon off of the bay. We used to get hammered, and jet-ski all day, and then go to Seaside Heights and drink all night. For a while I bounced at Temptations in Seaside, but it turned into a drug den in the late 90's so I got out.

Now I take the kids on day trips to Point Pleasant mostly. The last two years I spent a week in Bethany Beach Delaware. This year we're going to L.B.I. for a week in August. I've never been there, I've always heard it was nice.

bethany beach is beautiful.

LBI is beautiful, just lots of 21+ floating around.
great place to eat called the "Mud Hole". expect a 2-3 hour wait every nite. if you order for pickup, you can enjoy it at home, and it usually only takes like, 20 min.

[Don Stugots]

last Saturday I skipped out on work, took the cell phone, Regina and Vegas to lay out in Manhattan Beach. its about a 2 mile walk each way. I just did my stuff from there and no one knew the wiser. Great afternoon.

Last Summer, every Sunday we went Midland Beach in Staten Island. The beach has come a long way in terms of becoming cleaner and nicer.

[Tenbatsuzen]

my wife and i only go to Ocean Grove- its next door to as-beirut park.
its a quiet, dry, bible-thumping town.
parking is free, and main st has a few good food spots.

we go here because there is no ny trash clogging the beaches and roads. there are no bars or clubs for the guidos to congregate, no lowriders or systems going boom.

the beach is clean, and our son has a great time- usually lots of other kids to play with.

Agree on Ocean Grove. Ocean City used to be like that but it's gotten a lot trashier in the past 10 years. Not as bad as say, Seaside or Point Pleasant, but still pretty bad.

[Ritalin]

The Missus and I are big beach goers. We'll be down at LBI for a week starting on Saturday. I love it. I can rent a house for a week a block from the beach, the vibe is friendly and the beach is beautiful. We go in the morning, sit there all day, go back to the house, barbeque, watch the nephew play with the other kids on the street until it's dark, chat and laugh with the other parents, go to bed and do it all over again the next day.

Last weekend we took the ferry to Sandy Hook for the first time this year. It's a little expensive ($33 round trip) but worth it if you want to feel like you're getting out of the city for the day.

Sometimes we take the LIRR to Long Beach, too. It's easy and not so bad.

[DarkHippie]

great place to eat called the "Mud Hole"

Gay bar?

[Fat_Sunny]

TBS, This Is A Very Nice And Charming Thread. Why Don't You Do More Stuff Like This Instead Of Chasing People Off? Maybe You Need More Of These Vacations To Warm You Up. Whatever It Was, It Worked.

Every Summer Growing Up, The Sunny's Would Pile Into The Family Station Wagon, And Drive From Wisconsin To Ocean City, MD, Where Fat's Grandparents Spent The Summer.

The Drive Always Seemed To Be Eventful, National Lampoon Vacation-Style (Getting Lost/Flat Tires/Engine-Overheating/Etc Etc). The Parents Would Put Down The Two Back Rows Of Seats, So The 3 Kids Could Stretch Out In Their Sleeping Bags. We Would Leave Around 7:00 PM On A Friday Night, And Would Drive Straight Through The Night And Usually Arrive The Next Evening. Despite The Kids Screaming To Drive Directly To The Ocean, Dad Would Always Stop At A Civil War Battlefield Or Some Other Historic Landmark.

F_S Remembers The OC Sites And Smells Like It Was Yesterday. The Boardwalk And The Arcades And The Beach And Crabbing In The Bay And Philps Crab House And Everything A Kid Could Ever Want Out Of A Summer Vacation!

[MadBiker]

I get taken back to the smell of zeppole, boardwalk fries, and cotton candy when I hear "Watch the Tram Car Please!"

I do not really miss Wildwood; it is too busy and crowded for someone like myself, who enjoys wide open, sparsely populated, mountainous spaces. But I have mostly-good memories of the place, and as such it will always occupy a warm place in my heart.