I waited for many weeks for the last five days and now they are over... wahhhhh! We had a fantastic time on a limited budget.
We stayed at the Aqua Beach Ocean Resort (new name for hotel) which is the second hotel, I mean resort, off the southern end of the Boardwalk...
Aqua Beach Ocean Resort
We arrived just before check in time (3:00 pm.) and were told our room "wasn't ready" yet. I asked what our room number was and we went to check... It was done. So, we returned to the desk among the throngs of people in the hotel lobby and asked for our keys (another name for the credit card-like plastic). We had all our stuff packed into the room within the hour.
Our first stop, which is a ritual for our family, was to take in the Early Bird Special at "Duffy's On The Lake".
Duffy's Facebook Page
Julie's anticipating her meal at Duffy's... What a beautiful view of Sunset Lake!
Jet Skiers and a Pirate Ship sailing the lake...
This is the boathouse where the jet skies are rented. (Excuse the glare from the window)
We hit he beach the next three mornings. Wildwood's beaches keep growing. It's like a quarter mile from the hotel to the actual beach... A nice hot walk across the Sahara Desert. But once you arrive, you will fine some of the nicest and cleanest beaches in Jersey.
Julie is chillin' at the beach
The Old Man sitting in the shade after a long walk on the beach... Ahhhhhh, shade!
The beautiful Atlantic Ocean...
This is a view of the Wildwood Boardwalk Piers and the Convention Center is just to the left.
The woman in the pic above had a hot green fluorescent two piece bathing suit on... It reminded me of my "Ugly Bait", the Firetiger 3/8th oz. Big O... and a few other things... Like my younger days! :)
That evening, we followed another Boyd family tradition... Early Bird Specials at The Lobster Shack.
The Lobster Shack, Wildwood, NJ
Hey, these are awful small lobsters... LOL!
Check out the interior of The Lobster Shack. That's "Nails", the hammerhead shark, hanging from the ceiling. This has been the decor of the Lobster Shack every year we have been going to Wildwood.
That evening, I donned my bball gear and headed down to the local park to shoot some ball... My last hurrah before next week's total knee replacement... Egad! Call me crazy or nostalgic, but I ran so much bball down at the shore in my day that they should name a court after me... LOL! No wonder my knees are like mush.
I have been going to Wildwood NJ since I was twelve years old. My oldest brother, Denny, used to "drag" me along when we headed to the beach. This was the late 60's, folks, and Wildwood's beaches were blanket to blanket teenagers with transistor radios blaring in the summer sun. The smell of baby lotion and iodine filled the air along with the burning of young human flesh... Ahhhh, the good ole' days!
Did you know that the NJ government has declared Wildwood the town to preserve the great sounds from the 1950's... Chubby Checker, Doo Wop and the like?
We ate at a very nice restaurant called Groff's on the third evening...
...which was suggested to us by my brother and his family.
Julie had the broiled scallops and I ate the broiled flounder. Let me tell you, those scallops that my wife ordered were the sweetest and juiciest scallops we have eaten in a long, long time. We will often share our meals and that night, we had a great seafood fest. For dessert, I ate a piece of their famous pie... Coconut Cream!
After supper, we headed to the Casba Comedy Club to see a great comedienne, Carole Montgomery. Carole performs a ton of shows for the USO and our troops oversea. She's a bit "upfront" with her humor and I died laughing.
Carole Montgomery
Julie and I always ask to sit right up front and will often have exchanges with the comics... What a blast!
Casba Comedy Club
Julie and her Chocolatini ... a chocolate martini
$15 cover charge (2 for 1 Coupon) and a two drink per person minimum at the table.
Notice that Dom Irrera is a headliner at the Casba Comedy Club. This guy is outstanding! If you ever get a chance to see Dom, take advantage of it and go, go, go! He has been on so many shows that it makes your head spin... and ""I don't mean that in a bad way."
Dom Irrera
When we exited the comedy club, we were greeted by the only rain/drizzle of our whole trip. We jumped the tram car back to the end of the Boardwalk.
We stayed around the pool most of the last full day we were there. The pool was nice and cool and they also had a hot tub. I always enjoy meeting and talking to folks I meet at poolside. People from all over the east coast and we even ran into a few families from Lancaster County.
The fog started to roll in off the ocean Wednesday evening. It reminded my wife of the sci-fi movie "The Fog". People just seemed to appear out of nowhere... oooooooo!
Don't be frightened by the teenager carrying a Reggae Banana (Only at the beach)... Looking North to the Boardwalk
We ate at Jumbo's upon recommendation. We had jumped the tram car to head up to the Boardwalk and a young worker sat beside us eating a piece of pizza and drinking a cold soda. I asked him, "What's the best pizza on the Boardwalk?" And without hesitation, he said, "Jumbo's!"
Jumbo's Seafood Grill
I thought, "If anyone knows pizza, it's a teenager working for minimum wage on the Boardwalk!" That was good enough for Julie and me. We headed into Jumbo's and had a couple slices of pizza and some fried calamari... Oh, boy!
We had such a great time that I hated having to pack up and leave today. We met so many new and exciting people, including restaurant workers from Russia, Bulgaria, Greece, and many, many more places from throughout Europe. It was like visiting the United Nations except a lot cooler since we had the beach and the boardwalk, too.
I couldn't leave you without this one last picture...
"Wa, wa, wa, wa, watch the tra, tra, tra, tra, tram car, please."
Take care and Be Safe!
Dad
