Road Trip Part II - The Jersey Shore

Avon by the Sea Pavilion

"Why does New Jersey get such a bad rap?" asked Tom on our way from the Boston area to the second part of our road trip in New Jersey.

"I have no idea," I replied since its beaches are some of the best around. After all, I spent many summers on the beaches of the Jersey Shore. I hadn't been back in at least a decade but I wanted to share those beaches with my kids and Tom now.

We started out at Avon by the Sea - this may be my favorite! Great boardwalk, beautiful homes, the right sized waves for our kids, good restaurants and a very cool pavilion area where even Hailey put on her dancing shoes for some live music.

Nap time!

Avon by the Sea - getting used to the sand

The next day we ventured to Mannasquan. Now this was one of the beaches that I spent the most time at as a kid. It looks a lot different now - some 30 plus years later (no thanks to Hurricane Sandy) but there is one thing that I remember - the waves! They were huge! I read later that Mannasquan is one of the best surfing beaches on the Jersey Shore and I can see why. I remember as a kid getting tossed around by the waves trying to ride them with my boogie board and getting sucked under by the undertow. That might have been fine when I was 9 or 10 but I was in no hurry to let their strong waves pull me under this time so I mostly played it safe. So did Austen and Peyton epecially since there wasn't a real good low tide so they couldn't venture out too far at this beach but they were in awe of the big waves.

 The last beach we visited was Spring Lake. Again, beautiful homes and a beautiful boardwalk lined the beach. Hailey had her second good nap of the week on the beach - two plus hours and the kids enjoyed the good sized waves and the low tide where they could venture out farther in the water.

We ate a lot of seafood, played a round of mini golf (Papa joined our trip and the golf game - Austen beat him though), built many a sandcastle and Austen learned to use his boogie board.

In fact, he is the same age as I was when I moved to New Jersey for the second time and learned to use my own boogie board. I'm sure he would ask to go to the beach every day like I did when I lived there. I think he really enjoyed our beach trip. Everyone did.

See the Jersey Shore isn't so bad.

We'll for one, definitely be back!

 

Now you see Austen, now you don't - right before he got pulled under by the strong Mannasquan waves!

Dinner at The Columns at Avon by the Sea - Great Ambience!

Dancing the night away at the Avon by the Sea Pavilion

Sibling love at the Pavilion

Spring Lake

Look Mom, there's Taylor Swift (in my US Weekly magazine). How does she know who Taylor Swift is? She's 5!

Last night at Dinner - Pier Village at Long Branch

Mini golf with Papa!