My Jersey Shore

Thanks to MTV, the Jersey Shore has become a water cooler joke, but to me, Jersey Shore means something else, something much more.

It's where I vacationed every summer with my mother and father, cousins and aunts and uncles. It's where I learned to jump waves, where my father taught me how to dive, and where I spent way too much of my parents money on rides, salt water taffy and arcade games. It's also where you can get the best zeppolis and sausage and peppers outside of Little Italy. In fact, I've spent every summer of my life visiting, except for the last four years that I've lived in L.A... until now. Since Raphael's business partner is getting married in New Jersey and we're invited, I took the opportunity to also spend a day and a half in the Jersey shore sun with my family and finally introduce my husband to all my childhood exploits there.

My father, especially looked forward to our summers and taking me over to Point Pleasant for a weekend or longer. His favorite song was Under the Boardwalk, so when he passed away, his sister dedicated a bench on his favorite boardwalk in his memory, so that he'll always be sitting on the dock of the bay in some respect. He was definitely with me in my heart this weekend, that's for sure.
Here are some photos of my Jersey Shore:

My mother and I went on this ride called Skyscraper in Seaside Heights boardwalk that spun us upside down and around at 170 feet in the air, we were laughing, screaming and crying. It was the best ride I've ever been on!

Now, here's a photo that fosters the stereotype though. When I was growing up it used to be called Shoot the Geek or Shoot the Red Sox, but now it's "Shoot the Guido" and has The Situation mask over some poor guy getting pummeled with paint balls.

8 comments

  1. OMG. I think this made me tear up! Not only because of how old we are, but those were some of the best memories of my life were spent ther with my family including you.. no problems, just living.. so glad you posted this.. this is amazing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Glad to see your Mom has not changed and become a Florida snowbrid senior.

    ReplyDelete
  3. That's awesome that your father, and mother, used to take you. I'm sure they were so proud to see you having a blast as a kid there and to get away from New York for a while. Honored to see your dad's bench - AMAZING!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I am glad you got a chance to relive some of your fond memories

    ReplyDelete
  5. What a lovely story, and nice that you have those memories to remember your dad and hold in your heart!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Do you remember the "Shoot the Freak" at Coney Island? I wonder if that's still there...

    I love Benny's bench. That made me smile.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Very nice to read that you got a chance to relive some of your fond memories...!!!

    nice post ^^

    ReplyDelete