My Weekend “Escape” to the Jersey Shore

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Just got back from my weekend in New Jersey, and we had a great time!  The weather was not the best, and we had some stressful calls from home about a minor health emergency with my daughter (which turned out fine), but all in all it was a very nice trip.

 New Jersey 5-090009

We stayed at a great little inn in Spring Lake (the Chateau Inn and Suites), which is at the northern end of the shore, and it proved to be the perfect home base for us. The town itself is beautiful…with big wide avenues for strolling and bike riding, a long stretch of boardwalk along the beach, and some cute little shops and restaurants.

From there, we spent hours driving south along the coast exploring Point Pleasant Beach, Long Beach Island, and all the way down to Cape May. We walked along the boardwalk, bought souvenirs, took photos of the beautiful old Victorians in Cape May, and found the beach house on LBI that my family had rented a few years ago. Unfortunately, it was too foggy to go visit “Old Barney” (the Barnegat Lighthouse).

Here are a few things we learned this weekend:

  • Never use the Cross Bronx Expressway at 5pm on a Friday afternoon (I should have known this already, since I grew up in NY!)
  • Always have LOTS of change on hand for tolls when you’re driving in NJ
  • Remember to leave a health insurance card with your kids when they stay with their grandparents (or with any babysitter, for that matter)
  • A weekend without kids is great for your marriage…and does make you miss the little ones just enough
  • Even a short getaway can feel like a real vacation if you make an effort to put the everyday world behind you and explore a new place

This trip also reminded us that traveling in the off-season (or the “shoulder season”, which is what this really was) continues to be a great way to save money and avoid crowds!

Road Trip

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My husband and I are heading off on a road trip tomorrow, and I can’t wait!

Jersey shore beach

We’re dropping the kids at my mom’s house (yay!) and spending the weekend at the Jersey Shore. Yes, it’s still the off-season there. And, no, we aren’t planning on any beach time.  But we got a great rate at a cozy inn and we’re counting on some serious relaxation.

With no kids to worry about, we’ll be able to sleep late and then spend the whole day exploring. I’ve been to LBI, and we’ve both been to Atlantic City, so we’ll probably skip both of those and just poke around the various seaside towns as we head south towards Cape May. I see some fried seafood and cold beer in my future 🙂

Stay tuned for my trip report on Monday…

What’s up with WiFi?

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It seems I’m not the only traveler wondering why the budget chain hotels can provide free wireless service, while the higher-end properties charge some pretty stiff fees for this convenience.

Days after I mentioned it in my blog post, I came across this article in the New York Times on the same topic. The explanations the hotels give seem pretty weak to me. In this day and age, I think that free WiFi is a requirement, not a luxury, and it’s more important to me than “pillow menus”, “spa-quality bath amenities”, and many of the other special services that these hotels are touting.

What do you think? What hotel services and amenities are must-haves for you?

Just back from Cleveland…

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Just returned from a five-day trip to Ohio for my daughter’s horseback riding competition, and I wanted to share a few observations we made along the way:

  • Why is it that inexpensive hotels like the Holiday Inn Express and the Comfort Inn that we stayed in can provide free WiFi and free breakfast included in the very reasonable nightly rate, and more expensive hotels/resorts charge ridiculous fees for these services?
  • Why would anyone pay to rent a GPS from the car rental company when it’s so easy (and convenient) to bring your own from home? We pre-loaded it with the addresses of the hotels where we’d be staying, the arena where she was competing, etc. and we were all set!
  • Speaking of the GPS, how did we all survive without them?
  • Having some extra time to kill in northeastern Ohio (not exactly a tourist mecca) reminded me that there are interesting sights and attractions in just about any neck of the woods — if you just look for them. In addition to more mainstream sightseeing, we visited a candy factory, went to a “cheese tasting”, and took a scenic drive through the Amish Country.
  • If you are above the age of 20, you need to visit the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. It was totally lost on my 12- and 14-year-old kids, but everyone else LOVED it. They have interactive exhibits where you can trace the musical influences of your favorite artists, an amazing collection of memorabilia (letters from Madonna when she was in college, Jim Morrison’s Cub Scout uniform), stations where you could spend hours just listening to music, and movies that delve deeper into the background and history of rock and roll (want to know where the lyrics to Blue Suede Shoes came from?).
  • Finally, if you’re a football fan, and you find yourself anywhere near Canton, Ohio, you owe it to yourself to visit the Pro Football Hall of Fame. My son and my husband (both die-hard Patriots fans) absolutely loved it. As for me, well, the best thing I can say is that it was just a few exits away from the candy factory 🙂
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