Archive for September, 2010

To the Beach

Tuesday, September 7th, 2010

In July we went to the beach in Seaside Park, New Jersey. This town, which is ironically a dry town, is right next door to Seaside Heights, which is the home to the notorious TV show Jersey Shore. We have liked Seaside Park for years, because although it’s pretty and quiet, the boardwalk in Seaside Heights, with its frozen custard, cheese fries and deep-fried Oreos, is only a five minute walk.

This boardwalk is quite the scene. Teenagers proudly wear “I’m a Guido. Love me.” and “I’m a Guidette” t-shirts. There’s an arcade game where you can shoot paint balls at a heavily padded guy wearing an over-sized so-called Guido head while he wiggles from side to side. But the weirdest was a “game” where you could shoot BB’s at life-sized manikins, about 8 of them rotating on lazy susans, holding plates. If you break a plate you win a prize. But what was truly scary were who the manikins were: Saddam Hussein, Michael Jackson, Louis Armstrong, and, wait for it…President Obama. Is this legal? Did I mention that Seaside Heights, at least on the boardwalk, is a terrifying place?

to the beach stephen springer davis 2010 To the Beach

To the Beach Stephen Springer Davis 2010

But I digress. Not far south of Seaside Park is Island Beach State Park, which is a whole other world. This park is serenity. Seldom do you see people, because no one owns land in this section of the island. You park, pay a fee and head to a pristine duney beach. It’s lovely. This is a painting of an entrance to the beach through the dunes. It’s the Jersey shore, but not Jersey Shore, for sure.

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