Wildwood, NJ

So we just got back earlier this evening from our trip to Wildwood, NJ with both of our families. It was a wonderful trip with the exception of my pseudo-dehydration episode the first evening and second morning which led me to carry around a 32 oz. Gatorade bottle every day for the rest of the trip. The heat wave was a bit of a hindrance at the beginning of the trip and I would have liked to spend more time at the beach and the boardwalk. Although, we did relax by the pool and had a chance to see Cape May, Atlantic City, and Ocean City, NJ, all of which I hadn't seen in a long time. Being back in Wildwood made me really nostaglic (although it doesn't take much...). See, every summer in August when I was little we went on our family vacation to Wildwood, NJ and drove up to Cape May one day and on the last day to Ocean City, NJ before heading back home. For some bizarre reason, what I have become nostaglic about, other than the motels in Wildwood Crest, were the Frankenstein Castle and the Dracula Castle on the Wildwood boardwalk and the "ladybug" kiddie ride in Ocean City, NJ. Does the ladybug ride still exists? Because today we peered in the Playland area which is closed during the day but we didn't see it. This was my favorite ride when I was really little. Granted, it was just red, orange, and yellow ladybugs riding around in a circle and going over minor humps every now and then...but I LOVED this ride! Ok, now to the castles. I JUST found out yesterday at our motel pool that the Dracula castle burned down years ago. Where have I been for the past six years you ask? (since apparently it was all over the media and anyone who was a fan of Wildwood, NJ was apparently aware of this). Well, let's just say I was in grad school... for a LONG time. And I don't live in the NJ area. Anyway, this guy at the pool struck up a conversation with my husband. It turns out that he is a retired Wildwood, NJ police officer. He told us wild stories about Wildwood in the 70's and 80's. About all the drugs, etc. All of this happening while I was building sand molds with my pink, plastic starfish. I happened to mention how frightened I used to be of the Frankenstein and Dracula castles so he told me all about how one of them burned down. Once I got home I checked online and found articles and pictures of them. I just remember being terrified of these giant castles. Yet, at the same time, I was intrigued and wanted to watch...from a distance. People dressed up as vampires would stand out in front of the Dracula castle and walk over to you to shake your hand. It was absolutely frightening to a young child. One thing I really liked about Ocean City, NJ's boardwalk is that it looked like the olden days still. I even had to take a picture of the huge purple octopus on top of the mini golf because that octopus just looked so old. I find myself more and more wishing that things could just stay the same. The rides, the quaint beach houses, the shops. I had a great time on our trip. But, I do have to confess that there was a part of me that kinda wanted it to feel like old times again when I was just a little kid. I hope you've enjoyed my reminiscing about Wildwood--I just missed Swingtown.

Umbrella

Do people really like this song? I mean really...?

Phishing emails

I am SO F-ING sick of these phishing emails!! I just want to tell these people who sit there all day & night and try to hack into peoples accounts or use ebay to send phishing emails & ads or just to harass people--GET A LIFE! I can't remember any password for anything because I've gotta keep changing them! I'm getting ready to devote my life to locking up these people...

Why I love miniature golf...

...where else can you interact with windmills and lighthouses?

Is it weird...

...that I created a murder mystery on my honeymoon? My husband enjoyed going along with this as well. The first murder occurred at the edge of the resort. A woman's body found in a wooded area. (We were walking along and stopped to reapply sunblock when I came up with that part). (Then, during dinner one night, we saw a male and female maid walk down a long path over the beach towards a hut--where couples massages were given--that was on a pier overlooking the water. One turned on the light and went into a back room.) Aaron and I discussed what would clearly happen next. The maid who went into the back room would discover the body. She would scream, but no one in the background would hear her amidst the clanging of the dinner plates and silverware; amdist the romantic chatter of newlyweds and the sweet-nothings of those who would never make it to the newlywed phase (because they would break up, not because they would get murdered). She would run back down the wooden pier screaming (similar to the introductory scene in "Helter Skelter", although this did not take place in a mansion in California--this was in a luxurious resort in Riviera Maya.) I'll keep you in suspense as far as the rest. Perhaps we'll write the full novel one day.

Why are my mother-in-law's cats crazy?

(Don't tell her I said this.)

A long, fun weekend in Pittsburgh

We just got back from Pittsburgh last night. It was a fun trip. We had a cookout on Sunday with the family at Rebecca & Paul's awesome new house. Emma is getting so tall! I decided that whenever we visit Pittsburgh I must take a trip over to "Groovy". I think this store was made for me. For those of you not familiar with "Groovy", they have toys and collectables from the 70's & 80's--basically everything we grew up with!! Then, after checking out all the shops in Southside on Saturday afternoon (I got some really cool beads too so I can make some new jewelry!), we ate at Fatheads with Eric & Deana. I got the Sweet MB, which is layers of Polish sausage, then Italian salami, then sauerkraut, then tomato--you get the point. Now, on Monday morning, I actually ate the other HUGE half of this for BREAKFAST. No lie. I was good to go for Hagerstown Outlet shopping for HOURS & HOURS. Now, we also saw two great horror movies from Eric & Deana's fine collection on our trip. "Ringu" had a better "coming-out-of-the-TV scene" than "The Ring", but I actually thought "The Ring" had a more interesting story and more lead-up time (lead-up time is normally more exciting to me than any climax). On Sunday night, we watched "The Eye", which was a great movie. Very freaky. Much better than most of the American horror films. And, one of the best parts of the weekend was when Deana actually GAVE me her tacky, hot pink, 1980's seashell hair clip to add to my collection!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was in heaven...(her friend loves cheap plastic shit too so she understands).