Having retired on January 1, 2011, I decided that I wanted to spend as much time on Long Beach Island as humanly possible this summer. Originally I was looking for a full season rental but in the end I decided to share a house with my friends Todd and Michele for the week of July 16 – 23 when a whole bunch of other friends would be nearby. From July 23 until Labor Day, I shared a house with my love, Liz. This blog is to document what we did for most of our time there.
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Landshark!
We got out on the beach a bit earlier since Todd & Michele had to leave around 3:30 to attend their family graduation party. The surf fisher guy caught another shark. Everyone nearby on the beach watched him bring it in.
After the BG's left the beach I walked to Wawa to get a sandwich. Took about an hour nap and woke up to overcast skies. We were too close to people on the beach and I could hear their annoying conversations regarding politics.
We left the beach around 6pm. Showered and made G&T's. I got the coals going because it was starting to rain. Cooked some great burgers and dogs. We were both stuffed.
Todd & Michele returned and we just hung around and drank some wine. Rain would spritz and stop. I went out on the deck and played the guitar. Todd went to bed early. Liz and Michele worked on a jigsaw puzzle drinking wine.
Michele called it a night about 11:45. Liz talked me into going to Buckalew's to see Jody Joseph band. She sounded good but the keyboardist's vocals were bad and very loud. We had a drink, came home and went to bed.
Friday, August 12, 2011
Watch Your Rear!
So Todd and Michele are to arrive today. We received a text that they got a late start expecting to arrive around 1pm. Around 1pm I was going to make some tuna for a sandwich but before I did I decided to text Michele and ask if they wanted to get lunch when they arrived. When I didn't hear back, I called. Well just minutes before they got rear ended by a young girl, wrecking their bicycles and damaging Todd's truck.
They finally got here after 2pm. They rented bikes from Acme Surf. Todd and I rode them back. We stopped and saw the Fox's on the beach.
We got on the beach after 4pm and it was a beautiful day. Stayed till about 7pm. Water was very warm. We came back to the house and made G&T's with the Tangueray 10 that Todd brought us. Chips and salsa as usual.
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| BG's |
Went to the Terrace Tavern and saw the Pickels. After we came back and went to the beach to see the Perseid meteor showers. I saw a very bright one due east over the ocean. It was very bright due to the full moon.
Lizzie decided to roll around in the sand for some reason and was covered. Went to sleep late.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
I slept till noon today. Around 1:30 we headed out on bike, stopping at Hand's first to exchange the basket for my bike. Liz found a new puzzle for us to work on. We then headed to the Sand Bar for lunch. We both had the tuna taco and a couple of drinks. We then went to Murphy's, grabbed a couple steaks and corn to cook for dinner. I bought a charcoal chimney.
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| Anthony the Bartender |
We didn't get onto the beach around 4:30. I did some boogie boarding. Water was warmer than the day before.
We had G&T's after 7. I tried out the charcoal chimney that worked real well at getting those things lit without using fluid. Cooked the steaks, Liz took care of corn and salad. We were stuffed.
We rode bikes up to see the Fox family. John and Deanna left so all was pretty quiet. We had fun. Liz dropped a bomb when she cast doubt on the guys' "NY Cops story" for staying out late on Tuesday night, saying something like "They didn't look like cops to me". Michelle says "Oh really". It was awkward, we stayed a bit longer. We left, came home and I told Liz she really shouldn't have said that.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
NERD Alert!
We had a sandwich from the Wawa for lunch and got out to the beach late. Flies got bad and we had to abandon the place around 5. But I got a good swim in, water was colder than usual.
Came back, had G&T's on the deck planning to meet up with the Fox kids at Joe Pop's to see the Nerds. We went to California Grill and Pizza for dinner. Liz had fish tacos that were horrible and I had a steak burrito which wasn't much better.
We got to Joe Pop's around 10:30. The guy at the door tells us the cover is $15 each. I was like, "are you crazy?". He tells us that they're real popular and good and worth it. I said, "I've seen them before and they're definitely not worth paying $30". He kinda laughed in agreement.
This guy Chip that John works with recognizes me and says "Hey, you're uncle Ray". I explain that John is supposed to show. Long story short, after texting back and forth we go in, John and Deanna show up later. Jim Monahan from E. Hanover is there too with his wife.
John tells me about the night before after Nardi's that they went to party with some NY Cops, and he gets hammered and wound up at Chicken Or The Egg. They get home at 5am and he woke his kids up. He was paying for it.
The Nerds sounded really crappy, likely due to the acoustics. I took some video and was going to post it but it sounds so annoying!
We do the Irish exit at some point and drive down to Buckalew's and have a drink there before going home.
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Everyone Loves Shorty
Well we goofed around and got out to the beach around 1pm but it was overcast and rain was in the forecast. We were probably out there for at 1 1/2 hours. I got a good swim in. The water was rough, huge waves.
It started raining pretty good so we headed back to the house. Rain got very heavy at one point, thunder and lightning. Once over, the sun came out. Liz and I both took a nap, got up, went to Wawa for ice to make G&T's. Had our G&T's around 7p. Had dinner at Calabria. I had lasagna and meatballs, Liz had spinach ravioli and sausage.
We drove up to the Surf City Hotel to see Shorty Long. There was a $5 cover. We were lucky, a couple left and we got their seats at the bar. After the band was on for a while I turned around and saw Michelle. I had texted her earlier that we were going there. MaryAnn, Karie, Kelly, Barbara, Nicole, Danielle, Susan and Cora were there after having dinner at the Engleside. So once again I am the only sausage at the party.Everyone enjoyed Shorty. We left after 1 am, made a stop at Nardi's. John, Darren and Danny were there. We were BS'ing with Darren for awhile. We had a beer and came home.
Monday, August 8, 2011
Tangueray or Bust!
What was supposed to be a trip to the liquor store to replenish our Tangueray supply turned into a all day shopping trip.
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| Our Lady of Fatima |
Had hot dogs, rice and beans for dinner. Thought about going to Nardi's and instead stayed home and watch the Daily Show.
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| Tried on some specs |
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| We did in fact get the Tangueray |
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Today we goofed off watching news shows. I started with Meet the Press and we watched Fareed Zakaria. Completed the Jersey Shore jigsaw puzzle.
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| Jigsaw Puzzle |
Decided to go to the laundromat in Beach Haven. We saw Wayne, the guy we've run into for a couple years at Buckalews. Hit Murphy's and came back for a G&T.

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Tacos for dinner. Stayed home, watched Steven Hawkings on TV. A pretty lazy day all in all.
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