Picture Perfect
Hello World,
So here I am, back from adventures in vacation-land, and this was certainly one for the books, and that's not just the marshmallows talking, believe me. I can honestly say that I don't ever remember having this kind of weather in all the years I've been camping, every single day was just perfect, one right after another, eight of them in a row, and it could not have been more ideal the whole time I was out there. I take a weather radio with me so I can keep abreast of the local conditions, in case there's anything I need to be prepared for, and I never turned it on once. Every single day started out beautiful, stayed beautiful, and then turned into a beautiful night of full moons and sparkling stars in every direction. It was like "The Stepford Wives" of vacation weather, and I can tell you that they could sign me up for a time-share of that every year, by golly.
It all started on Friday, when I took off from work so I could finish packing up the car, although it must be said that having hot-and-cold-running contractors all over the driveway made this process a lot more complicated than it usually is. We set off bright and early on Saturday - and even remembered the tent this time - and even better, found out that it hadn't been chewed apart by furry varmints over the winter as might have been expected. There was no traffic to speak of, which is a first in our travel experiences over the years, and we not only arrived at the park in record time, but found both campsites already vacant. In fact, we were surprised not to see the usual "CAMP FILLED TO CAPACITY" sign at the entrance, because it was obvious that there was not a free campsite to be had for love or money, no matter where you looked. We quickly tossed up the tents and rain fly and clothesline, and then hurried to the beach for some fun in the sun. The beach was crowded, as indeed it should have been on such a day, but splashing around in the water is definitely a tonic for what ails you, that's for sure. For lunch, the cheese fries were up to their usual standards, and we made short work of them. This was already way better than last year, when we had all the tedious driving and setting up the campsite, but because it was raining, we never got the reward of spending the afternoon at the beach, which makes it all worthwhile.
After enough sand and surf for one day, we turned toward our next destination, the Gaslight Motor Inn at Medford, where we had stayed last year, and found it much the same, although somehow even quieter. They had been busy refurbishing the rooms since our last stay, and were happy to give us one of the new ones with a 42" flat screen TV, which was nice because we had brought our own DVD player, and had a chance to watch some movies while we were there. The first night, we went down the block to the Metropolis Diner as usual, and glad of it, but the night after that, we found a way to bring our vacation experience to a whole new level. Alert readers may recall that my sister had introduced us to what we thought was the first Denny's on Long Island in Levittown, but we later found out that another one had opened before that in Centereach. So you can imagine how pleased we were to discover that Centereach is handily located within minutes of Medford, and our GPS brought us to the exact spot for dinner, which was a vacation treat that had never been within our grasp until now. Between the weather, the water, and dinner at Denny's, this was about as close to vacation nirvana as we could hope to attain.
In addition to eating out two nights in a row, I can assure you that the President's economic advisers have much to thank us for, as we did much to improve the local economy by shopping at not one, but two Wal*Marts, Target, Walgreens, King Kullen, and numerous CVS stores during our stay, snapping up not only practical household necessities, but also the usual ridiculous souvenirs and junk food that are synonymous with vacations. I'm expecting my commendation from the White House any day now.
Bill went back home on Monday afternoon to hold down the fort, and I hunkered down to setting up the rest of the campsite for the duration. Monday night it was so quiet at the park that I actually didn't need my earplugs, which have been a mainstay of my vacations since the beginning. One big improvement in my campfires this year was bringing along a new "zero-gravity" lounge chair to replace my old busted lounge, and it was not only blissfully comfortable for enjoying the campfire with, but has a handy feature that when you take the lock off, it basically launches you right up onto your feet, so you don't have to try and struggle to get yourself out of a regular lounge and instead wind up collapsed in a tangled heap. On the wildlife front, there were plenty of squirrels, even black squirrels, which are so new to the park that startled campers mistook them for skunks. There were the usual deer and raccoons, and all the blue jays, crows and grackles that you could ask for. I could hear chipmunks, and actually saw a couple in different parts of the campground, but alas, this was yet another year with no bad chipmunk pictures at my site. But I did hear what I believe is an Eastern Screech Owl at night, which is the first time I ever remember that happening. And speaking of firsts, I went to the locally famous Duck Pond to take pictures as I always do, and noticed that there was not a single duck at the place. There were seagulls and mallards and Canada geese, but not one solitary regular white duck to be seen from one end to the other, and this is a pretty sizable pond, believe me. I haven't heard of white ducks becoming scarce, but if things don't change, they're going to have to call this the Goose-Gull-Mallard Pond instead.
It was on Tuesday that I walked all the way to the beach, carrying everything I need to stay there all day, and discovered to my horror that I had somehow forgotten to bring the camera along with me. It will come as a surprise to everybody, myself most of all, that I dumped everything in the sand, and turned right around and walked all the way back up to the campsite to get it. So now it can be officially said that I have finally gone completely insane, because anyone can tell you that there is no one more "old school" than I am when it comes to Wildwood Beach, where there is no such thing as walking all the way back up the hill just because you forgot something. In the old days, the camping old guard would not only laugh, they would have you committed to a shady retreat for victims of sunstroke. So I have now officially joined the ranks of the insane, and lived to tell the tale, and still had a great day at the beach anyway. Although I did get more exercise than I wanted to, that's for sure.
Speaking of more exercise, this was yet another year that the vending machine wasn't working by the ladies room, so every morning I had to walk two sections away to the Registration building, and back again, to get a cold drink for breakfast, thanks not. They also moved the barrel where people dump their campfire ashes, so I spent more time running errands than I really wanted to. But in my travels, I noticed that there was really nobody at the park on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, not even the usual spies that crop up every year with their telltale abandoned-looking campsites. It started to pick up again on Thursday, with a steady stream of arrivals from mid-day until late at night, which is what makes good weather a kind of double-edged sword when you're looking to enjoy a quiet week in the woods. Oddly enough, there was a little bit of a sprinkle on Wednesday evening while the sun was still shining, and we thought nothing of it. But they must have had some severe storms somewhere, because the next day, the usually placid Wildwood briny was a roiling tempest of angry swells, with whitecaps everywhere, and thunderous waves crashing onto the shore so that you couldn't even hear yourself think. This was so unlike an ordinary day at Wildwood that I made a short video of it, because even long-time regulars like me very rarely see any real surf at the place, if ever. The beach was strewn with seaweed and driftwood all the way past the boardwalk and up to the bluffs, which is a good 30-feet beyond the usual high tide mark, so it must have been quite a sight at its height. The waves were so ferocious that they scared off the casual bathers, and even the youngsters were wary of splashing around at the water's edge. I was about the first person to actually brave the breakers, and got knocked down for my trouble, but I stuck with it in spite of the extraordinary conditions. Of course, everyone knows that I am now officially insane anyway.
After an otherwise uneventful week where nothing bad happened for a change, Bill arrived back at the campsite bright and early on Saturday, to help pack up so we could check out on time. This actually worked better than expected, and we had some extra time to just relax and enjoy the morning, without racing around like a couple of lunatics. Then it was off for a last time at the beach, and although it was crowded again, it was another lovely day and nothing to quibble about. When it was time to pack up and call it a day, we were sorry to bid our fond farewells to vacation-land and turn towards home. Suddenly a brilliant inspiration! It occurred to Bill that we would be driving right past that Denny's in Centereach on our way home, and just about dinner time, and why not take advantage of this additional opportunity to stop there once again, thus adding a little more vacation magic to our journey, before we would have to leave it all behind for another year. So that was just about the perfect cap to a perfect vacation, where the weather could not have been more spectacular, and everything else just seemed to fall right into place. At least that's how I intend to remember it, and now that I've officially gone insane, I can tell you that it will do no good to argue with me, heaven knows.
Elle
So here I am, back from adventures in vacation-land, and this was certainly one for the books, and that's not just the marshmallows talking, believe me. I can honestly say that I don't ever remember having this kind of weather in all the years I've been camping, every single day was just perfect, one right after another, eight of them in a row, and it could not have been more ideal the whole time I was out there. I take a weather radio with me so I can keep abreast of the local conditions, in case there's anything I need to be prepared for, and I never turned it on once. Every single day started out beautiful, stayed beautiful, and then turned into a beautiful night of full moons and sparkling stars in every direction. It was like "The Stepford Wives" of vacation weather, and I can tell you that they could sign me up for a time-share of that every year, by golly.
It all started on Friday, when I took off from work so I could finish packing up the car, although it must be said that having hot-and-cold-running contractors all over the driveway made this process a lot more complicated than it usually is. We set off bright and early on Saturday - and even remembered the tent this time - and even better, found out that it hadn't been chewed apart by furry varmints over the winter as might have been expected. There was no traffic to speak of, which is a first in our travel experiences over the years, and we not only arrived at the park in record time, but found both campsites already vacant. In fact, we were surprised not to see the usual "CAMP FILLED TO CAPACITY" sign at the entrance, because it was obvious that there was not a free campsite to be had for love or money, no matter where you looked. We quickly tossed up the tents and rain fly and clothesline, and then hurried to the beach for some fun in the sun. The beach was crowded, as indeed it should have been on such a day, but splashing around in the water is definitely a tonic for what ails you, that's for sure. For lunch, the cheese fries were up to their usual standards, and we made short work of them. This was already way better than last year, when we had all the tedious driving and setting up the campsite, but because it was raining, we never got the reward of spending the afternoon at the beach, which makes it all worthwhile.
After enough sand and surf for one day, we turned toward our next destination, the Gaslight Motor Inn at Medford, where we had stayed last year, and found it much the same, although somehow even quieter. They had been busy refurbishing the rooms since our last stay, and were happy to give us one of the new ones with a 42" flat screen TV, which was nice because we had brought our own DVD player, and had a chance to watch some movies while we were there. The first night, we went down the block to the Metropolis Diner as usual, and glad of it, but the night after that, we found a way to bring our vacation experience to a whole new level. Alert readers may recall that my sister had introduced us to what we thought was the first Denny's on Long Island in Levittown, but we later found out that another one had opened before that in Centereach. So you can imagine how pleased we were to discover that Centereach is handily located within minutes of Medford, and our GPS brought us to the exact spot for dinner, which was a vacation treat that had never been within our grasp until now. Between the weather, the water, and dinner at Denny's, this was about as close to vacation nirvana as we could hope to attain.
In addition to eating out two nights in a row, I can assure you that the President's economic advisers have much to thank us for, as we did much to improve the local economy by shopping at not one, but two Wal*Marts, Target, Walgreens, King Kullen, and numerous CVS stores during our stay, snapping up not only practical household necessities, but also the usual ridiculous souvenirs and junk food that are synonymous with vacations. I'm expecting my commendation from the White House any day now.
Bill went back home on Monday afternoon to hold down the fort, and I hunkered down to setting up the rest of the campsite for the duration. Monday night it was so quiet at the park that I actually didn't need my earplugs, which have been a mainstay of my vacations since the beginning. One big improvement in my campfires this year was bringing along a new "zero-gravity" lounge chair to replace my old busted lounge, and it was not only blissfully comfortable for enjoying the campfire with, but has a handy feature that when you take the lock off, it basically launches you right up onto your feet, so you don't have to try and struggle to get yourself out of a regular lounge and instead wind up collapsed in a tangled heap. On the wildlife front, there were plenty of squirrels, even black squirrels, which are so new to the park that startled campers mistook them for skunks. There were the usual deer and raccoons, and all the blue jays, crows and grackles that you could ask for. I could hear chipmunks, and actually saw a couple in different parts of the campground, but alas, this was yet another year with no bad chipmunk pictures at my site. But I did hear what I believe is an Eastern Screech Owl at night, which is the first time I ever remember that happening. And speaking of firsts, I went to the locally famous Duck Pond to take pictures as I always do, and noticed that there was not a single duck at the place. There were seagulls and mallards and Canada geese, but not one solitary regular white duck to be seen from one end to the other, and this is a pretty sizable pond, believe me. I haven't heard of white ducks becoming scarce, but if things don't change, they're going to have to call this the Goose-Gull-Mallard Pond instead.
It was on Tuesday that I walked all the way to the beach, carrying everything I need to stay there all day, and discovered to my horror that I had somehow forgotten to bring the camera along with me. It will come as a surprise to everybody, myself most of all, that I dumped everything in the sand, and turned right around and walked all the way back up to the campsite to get it. So now it can be officially said that I have finally gone completely insane, because anyone can tell you that there is no one more "old school" than I am when it comes to Wildwood Beach, where there is no such thing as walking all the way back up the hill just because you forgot something. In the old days, the camping old guard would not only laugh, they would have you committed to a shady retreat for victims of sunstroke. So I have now officially joined the ranks of the insane, and lived to tell the tale, and still had a great day at the beach anyway. Although I did get more exercise than I wanted to, that's for sure.
Speaking of more exercise, this was yet another year that the vending machine wasn't working by the ladies room, so every morning I had to walk two sections away to the Registration building, and back again, to get a cold drink for breakfast, thanks not. They also moved the barrel where people dump their campfire ashes, so I spent more time running errands than I really wanted to. But in my travels, I noticed that there was really nobody at the park on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, not even the usual spies that crop up every year with their telltale abandoned-looking campsites. It started to pick up again on Thursday, with a steady stream of arrivals from mid-day until late at night, which is what makes good weather a kind of double-edged sword when you're looking to enjoy a quiet week in the woods. Oddly enough, there was a little bit of a sprinkle on Wednesday evening while the sun was still shining, and we thought nothing of it. But they must have had some severe storms somewhere, because the next day, the usually placid Wildwood briny was a roiling tempest of angry swells, with whitecaps everywhere, and thunderous waves crashing onto the shore so that you couldn't even hear yourself think. This was so unlike an ordinary day at Wildwood that I made a short video of it, because even long-time regulars like me very rarely see any real surf at the place, if ever. The beach was strewn with seaweed and driftwood all the way past the boardwalk and up to the bluffs, which is a good 30-feet beyond the usual high tide mark, so it must have been quite a sight at its height. The waves were so ferocious that they scared off the casual bathers, and even the youngsters were wary of splashing around at the water's edge. I was about the first person to actually brave the breakers, and got knocked down for my trouble, but I stuck with it in spite of the extraordinary conditions. Of course, everyone knows that I am now officially insane anyway.
After an otherwise uneventful week where nothing bad happened for a change, Bill arrived back at the campsite bright and early on Saturday, to help pack up so we could check out on time. This actually worked better than expected, and we had some extra time to just relax and enjoy the morning, without racing around like a couple of lunatics. Then it was off for a last time at the beach, and although it was crowded again, it was another lovely day and nothing to quibble about. When it was time to pack up and call it a day, we were sorry to bid our fond farewells to vacation-land and turn towards home. Suddenly a brilliant inspiration! It occurred to Bill that we would be driving right past that Denny's in Centereach on our way home, and just about dinner time, and why not take advantage of this additional opportunity to stop there once again, thus adding a little more vacation magic to our journey, before we would have to leave it all behind for another year. So that was just about the perfect cap to a perfect vacation, where the weather could not have been more spectacular, and everything else just seemed to fall right into place. At least that's how I intend to remember it, and now that I've officially gone insane, I can tell you that it will do no good to argue with me, heaven knows.
Elle
posted by El Tango Fandango @ 8:26 PM
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