New Jersey ~ Fathers Day & Asbury Park

 It is Sunday morning in the States so today we will have our Aussie Fathers Day!!
The kids came in and gave hubby his pressies from them. First was the card with a little note as we ordered him the Bruce Springsteen "Born to Run" music book so he can learn some of his fav songs to play on guitar! Sadly all shops had sold out and the order was not in!
Next pressie was a $100 gift voucher at the music shop in Downtown Fredericksburg so he can learn how to play guitar a 'little' better than he does now!!! lol It is something he has spoken about for so long and being proactive I thought I'd help him along lol!!!

Today is also a special day for Col as today he lives out one of his childhood dreams to visit The Stone Pony in Asbury Park, where Bruce became who he is today.
So we start with a cooked bacon and egg breaky and jump in the car. As noted in my last blog I had a little surprise I had discovered, so although hubby was driving he had no idea of where the navman was taking us! lol As we got closer I started to get excited for him as I knew this would just make his day! Navman voice over states turn right into 10th Avenue....hubby breaks out in song. It is one of Bruces songs!! Still he did not realise why we were driving down 10th Ave and I played dumb when he started singing!! lol by the way 10th Ave is in Belmar, not Asbury park, which helped keep the surprise at bay! We travelled along the Ave a little and then I saw it!!!! Knowing he would have seen it at the same point of time, I say to hubby surprise this is the corner of E street and 10th Avenue and you are about to see an 8 foot replica of  Bruces guitar, that has just recently opened as a tribute to him!!! Of course this was THE very place that Bruces band got its name from. The smile on Cols face was priceless!!! He couldnt believe it! So of course we parked the car and had some pics taken! I was so happy for him as the day was even more memorable now :)

We left the guitar and headed for The Stone Pony! It is a bar where many musicians played and still do! The likes of Bon Jovi, who is also a Jersey boy has played there :) There was a group of bikies out the front when we arrived, taking pics etc. One of them had Bruce tunes belting out and again hubby broke out in song!! lol He had a grin from ear to ear and couldnt believe he was actually there! We went inside and it is a pretty amazing bar. Heaps of signed guitars line the walls, newspaper clippings and concert tickets are under the top of the bar, photos etc. There was a nice tribute to Clarence Clements who recently passed away, he was Bruces sax player. We took a heap of photos and some video. Sadly the bar was not open to drink at but the lady letting people in for a look explained that the Wonder bar down the road was open and this was Bruces local, he is often seen there. You can guess where we ended up right! But not before a stroll down Asbury park boardwalk and a bite for lunch!

The stage where it all begun!

Guitar signed (at the bottom) and donated by Bruce :)

"dreams can come true"

The boardwalk was nice, again lots of souvenir shops and the along the beach. You have to pay to use any of the beaches up there. Not sure if it is the same for Virginia. Anyhow its about $6 an adult per day and the locals or regulars to the area can buy a season pass! It is a much nicer beach then Atlantic City and about 20 mins north of where the Jersey Shore show is filmed. There was a little water park and mini golf place. We went into the Paramount theatre building and strolled around there. We found a funky record store. the guy was really nice and chatted to Col about Bruce and music etc. he showed the boys a record player and how it worked.....keeping in mind our children have grown up with cd's! lol So that was really great of him. He also told Col to pop across the road to the Wonder bar as he may see Bruce there!

So over the road we went! Sadly Bruce was not there, but hubby was able to sit and enjoy a beer and be almost as close to Bruce as he could be! We brought a couple of bowls of FRIES ( not chips lol) and chilled there for almost an hour. It was time to pull hubby away as he was not to meet his idol that day!

We went back to the boardwalk and done the other end, tried our luck with icy poles this time, but alas success was again not to be!!!! We stopped "down to the river" (another of Bruces songs and Cols fav) for a couple of quick snaps and then started to head back to the car, which included one last "Bruce Tour" item! The carousel! No longer used as a carousel but a local theatre production place. The  Asbury Park journey came to an end and we headed back for the Condo!

The River, one of Bruces songs :)

The carousel

Looking towards Atlantic City, so much prettier from here!!! lol

Hubby writing cute messages in the sand :)

Our night was not to be over as we had a sitter coming over to have the boys for a couple of hours so Col and I could enjoy a kidfree dinner and flutter at the Casino! I was REALLY hesitant leaving the boys with basically a stranger but it all worked out well. Miss Brandy worked at the local information centre and we had met her the day before. Working for the local county, she had been police checked etc. We had all her details and the kids thought she was awesome! She reminded me of Whoopi Goldberg lol We left the boys and went to Trumps Taj Mahal casino. Found a nice restaurant and had a great meal! It was very tasty and not over priced at all :)
Dinner overe we went into the gaming room. We found a pokie machine and put $20 in it, 3 pushes and I managed to have us pull $75 out....happy days! we printed out the ticket and then headed for the black jack tables. Hubby changed up $60 and it was $15 each play. I was getting a little bored so wandered off and put another $20 into a machine.....I was back 5 pushes later with nothing!!! Lucky for us Col had won on a few hands, so all up we cashed in about $160 and came out in front :)
It was nice to have a date night but I was happy to get back and find the boys still in the Condo!! The kids were all still up watching a movie and Miss Brandy loved them to bits! She was so funny telling us about Mitchell.......oh my that baby was gaaaaaaassy, he had so much gas......just like Whoppi in the Ghost movie....HILARIOUS!!

Amazing chandeliers in the casino!

Miss Brandy and the boys!!!

I put the kids to bed and Col dropped Miss Brandy back to her home. He came back and we again enjoyed the mild night out on the patio with a drink :)

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Road trip to New Jersey ~ Day 1 Atlantic City

We had a long weekend over here for Labour Day so started the journey on Friday night up to Jersey.
The main purpose of this trip was to tick one of the items of our "to do" list.....The Stone Pony! Hubby has been a huge Bruce Springsteen fan since a young kid and his dream has been to visit the place where Bruce became who he is today :)
Prior to leaving I had done a little research on the area and discovered a little gem that I knew Col was going to LOVE! It was also Fathers day in Oz on there Sunday and as it was celebrated earlier in the year over here, I did not want col to miss out. So we planned the day trip up to Asbury Park for fathers day (more details in my next blog!)

The drive up to Jersey was really great. The kids were excited and we managed to tick 3 more States off our visited/gone through list. Those being Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey! Baltimore looks amazing so we will travel back up and spend some proper time up there! Oh and we also travelled on the outskirts of Washington DC....another place we will go and explore :)

We knew we were getting close to our holiday condo in Brigadine, which was literally a bridge drive from Atlantic City, due to the many lights along the casino strips. It looked fantastic! There was even advertising on the sides of massive high rise hotels changing the face of it many times!

We arrived at our condo at about 10:30pm, so it was simply unpack the car and get the kids into bed! hubby and I sat out of our rear patio for a little while just relaxing, listening to the waves roll in. The beach was just behind us down a short track :)
the complex had a swimming pool and the condo itself was a great little home away from home!

Saturday morning we got up, had breaky and headed into Atlantic city for the day! We hopped in the car and started the drive across the bridge. Very quickly realising that the casinos really are what makes AC! The place is quite a dump to be honest. certainly a different picture to the flashing lights and excitement from the night before. Very poor housing and barely any nice garden/grassed areas even along the foreshore. There was huge empty blocks full of rubbish and dirt mounds. Anyhow although not expected we still continued with our adventure!

First stop was the Absecon Lighthouse. the tallest one in Jersey and 3rd tallest in the States. It is 224 stairs up to the top. The lady working at the front desk could do with some lessons on how to smile, respond when asked a questions and well just customer service skills all over! The kids loved it and again the view just verified what we had seen from the ground! This is not the beach areas you see on Jersey Shore! Oh and the name Trump is on almost everything!! There was an old fella up the top who was fantastic! Told us a bit about the history of the area and lighthouse and was great for a chat :)

After the lighthouse we headed to the Aquarium. Right by the entrance is a fantastic statue of King Neptune, so we took some quick pics and then headed in. It was a small aquarium but still a good visit. there was some funky crabs called horseshoe crabs, check out the pics! These things were unreal to see and they kind of look like a hard stringray! there was a touch pool for the kiddies and then on another level it was like a little zoo. Had some lizards, frogs, iguanas, birds etc. the viewing platform was nice and we spotted a great little cafe on the river for lunch!

So off we went to Scales Grill and Deck bar! I really felt like a good feed of fish and chips, so was happy to see it on the menu!! The boys had burgers and chips and Col ordered a seafood platter with chips. Ok note the word chips........next time one MUST ensure they say FRIES! We literally got our food with chips....as in crisps!!! LOL The boys thought it great, I on the other hand was not so impressed with my battered fish and plate of oil dripped potato chips. At least the boys were packet ones, they 'tried' to make mine and Cols!

With 'food' in our belly's we decided to go and check out the Atlantic City Boardwalk. It is in every brochure in town! It was a nice walk, heaps of touristy knick knack shops and along the nicer part of the beach. The water was really brown, not sure if that was due to the recent hurricane or not, but lots of people were still swimming in it! One store, that I purchased a shot glass from, was even selling iguanas! no license needed and they looked really funky! Only $24.99 for the babies and up to $120 for the larger ones. Oh and the biggest hermit crabs I have ever seen! lol
I collect shot glasses so like to buy one at most visited places. I have quite a collection now, but most of them are in storage back in Oz!
Col had taken Mitchell to the toilet (who is 5 weeks in jocks now, woohoo!!!) and the boys and I were just watching the iguanas when this tall black guy tapped my shoulder. I turned around and he pulled his arm out a jacket he was wearing, which had a heap of 'gold' chains hanging of it. He says to me "Ma'am, you wanna buy a necklace'!!! Ummm NO!!! It took me a few seconds to realise what was even going on, kind of freaked me out!! lol
We enjoyed the stroll along the boardwalk, brought an ice cream each, which was melting faster than we could eat!!! Oh and we also saw a t shirt "I survived the earthquake and Hurricane Irene"!! lol We will buy one and were going to go back but ran out of time. I'm sure they will be in most tourist t shirt shops now! lol

It was time for the kiddies to have a bit of fun and Steel Pier is the place for this! It is a mini theme park built on a pier!! We brought a pack of 35 tickets and split it between the 3 boys. They went on a plane ride first, Mitchells request! Then Mitchell went on a roller coaster with Col, I swear this child runs on adrenaline!!! The boys then wanted to drive the formula carts but Korey wasnt tall enough. So Rhyce did that and Korey went on the dodgems. The also went on this ride that you lay on and it spins around. Check out the pics! There was also a slingshot ride and hubby managed to convince me to go on ity with him. Not that I dont mind scary, upside down and high rides. It just wouldnt have bothered me not to go on it!!
Anyhow off we went, shot up in the air like a cannon! It was a lot of fun and had a great view (of the nice part of Jersey beach!!) and Korey got some great pics of us on it. Rhyce took some video on the camcorder, so we will have to check it out!!!

The last item on the agenda today was a visit to Lucy the elephant! It is basically a big elephant, the tallest in the world they claim, that you can take a tour of the guts of!! lol The inside is actually really nice. it has been fully restored and people have got married in it!! lol You can lookout through its eyes, which are like portholes and also the 2 windows in it backside!! lol It is also in all the tourist brochures!

We headed back home and I cracked open a bottle of wine. Although it was Saturday night in the States it was Sunday morning back 'home' in Oz. I had a glass in memory of my Dad for Fathers Day :) He passed away 2 and a bit years ago and this time of the year is always hard for myself and my family. So BIG hugs to you all xxx
On a happier note we got to call my Fil and wish him a Happy Fathers Day. It was also my sister Belindas birthday. Although I tried many times to call her using Viber she did hear me say Happy Birthday before it cut out again!
A great day out all round and we certainly experienced lots of things around Atlantic City. Tomorrow was going to be a big day also, so I will end this blog now and do another for our fathers day trip to Asbury park :)

Happy Fathers Day Dad xxxxxxx

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