Surviving NJ

Archive for the ‘New Jersey’ Category

Speaking of cars…was last weekend New Jersey Car Shows weekend?

Seriously, they were all over the place last weekend. Even our little diner near us had nearly 100-200 cars on their major cruiser night last week. Then I drove down a little farther, and there was another car show.

Usually when it’s cruiser night, you’ll see 20 or so cars, but this was massive. Then I went over to pick up my son, and in Coopersburg, PA there was a massive Mustang show! I think there was one in Doylestown too. Maybe it’s not just New Jersey Car Shows weekend, maybe it’s across the states.

Is this a big yahoo weekend before summer is over? Not sure, but I kept passing them all over the place!

The last New Jersey car show we went to was a Corvette show down in Long Beach Island back in June.

We’ve been looking at used cars in New Jersey, and we’ve found a few that might fit the bill. We’ve got a Jeep rolling up to 100,000 miles soon, and we may be replacing that (luckily it’s just a weekend and errands car, as we have two others).

We keep talking about it, but we’re holding out a little longer. One plan is keeping the Jeep, and getting another car, since we won’t get much on the trade. With all the driving we do, we need to scope out those used cars. New Jersey, in the area I live in- you have to have a car to get places. The public transportation isn’t that great, since we’re in the suburbs. In the city, the New Jersey transit is better I think. We do have train stations, but if you don’t want to go into the city, they aren’t taking you to the grocery store, ya know?

The thing is, the Jeep is the dog car, so we’re looking at another station wagon or SUV for things like errands and the dogs. We found a nice deal on an Explorer, but hubby wants to hang in there just a little longer. I laughed and said, just until the Explorer is bought by someone else! SUV pricing is way down, so if we’re going to get another one, we should buy it sooner than later. Once gas prices start to drop, people won’t be so panicky, and SUV prices will go up again. We have a car for commuting, and I have my own truck, so it’s not an urgent thing. Oh well, I guess we’ll keep looking at the used cars. New Jersey gas prices are dropping, but I don’t think my honey is biting quite yet.

There’s actually some great incentive pricing right now with Employee pricing back on new cars, and some excellent rebates and low financing. We’re looking towards used, but some of those new ones are calling our name.

When it comes to resorts in Wildwood, NJ, there’s a new place going up right next to Pier 6600 Motel in the Crest. It’s called The Grand at Diamond Beach. It looks fantastic, and should be gorgeous when it’s done. They’re in the middle of construction. I can’t wait to see the final result next summer.

I probably won’t get back down to Wildwood any more in 2008, but there will be plenty of time in 2009. If you’re looking for resorts in Wildwood, NJ be sure to check this new one out.

Looking for New Jersey camping or New Jersey beach camping? While it’s hard to find camping directly on the beach, there are places you can go to that are close by.

In the Central Shore Region, here are a few places to check out:

Atlantic City North Family (campACN.com) 609-296-9776
Baker’s Acres (BakersAcres.com) 609-296-2664
Belhaven Lake Resort (Greenbank) 609-965-2827
Brookville Campground, Barnegat 609-698-3134
Cedar Creek Campground, Bayville (CedarCreekNJ.com) 732-269-1413
Laurel Pond, Cream Ridge 888-766-3123
Long Beach Island Trailer Park, Beach Haven 609-492-9151
Srubbie Pines, Manahawkin 609-698-5684 (SrubbiePines.com)
Pine Cone Campground, Freehold 732-462-2230
Sea Pirate Campground, West Creek 609-296-7400 (sea-pirate.com)
Surf and Stream Campground, Seaside Heights 732-349-5919
Turkey Swamp Park Campground, (Monmouth County Park System), Freehold, 732-462-7286
Wading Pines Camping Resort, Chatsworth 609-726-1313 (wadingpines.com)

Jackson

Butterfly Camping Resort, Jackson (ButterflyCamping.com) 732-928-2107
Indian Rock Campground, Jackson (indianrockresort.com) 732-928-0034
Maple Lake campground, Jackson 732-367-0177
Tip Tam Camping Resort, Jackson 732-363-4036 (tiptam.com)

New Gretna

Arrowhead Campground, New Gretna 609-296-8599
Chips Folly Family Campground, New Gretna 609-269-4434
Pilgrim Lake Campground, New Gretna 609-296-4725
Timberline Lake Camping Resort, New Gretna 609-296-7900
Turtle Run Campground, New Gretna 609-965-5343

For a full list of New Jersey Campgrounds, you can check out NewJerseyCampgrounds.com or

I was thinking of doing a New Jersey Yellow Pages kind of directory. I’m not sure if I’m up to the task, but I thought it might be neat to build a massive online directory.

I put a book together called a Fun Finder, and that was pretty time consuming.

What do you think of an “All Things Jersey” kind of directory? I’ve got a couple of NJ sites I’m all ready working with; one for Wildwood, another for Long Beach Island.

Do you think the full state would be too big of a project? We’ll see if I’m up to it once school starts. I picked a domain, and pointed it elsewhere for now, but the idea is floating around in my head.

Nah, not the New Jersey Devils hockey team, I’m talking about the famous spooky tail of the "New Jersey Devil”….or the "Jersey Devil".

I remember hearing the story, and when I’d drive through the pine barrens at night, sometimes I’d be thinking… “What if it is true?” Of course, I’m only thinking that because it’s pitch black, and it feels like the pine barrens go on forever. I know it’s silly, but my mind starts playing tricks on me. I have way too visual of a mind!

What do you think of the Jersey Devil? I know, I know…..superstition, but was there ever a time when you went “maybe”. I just don’t do spooky stuff well. I’m a big ole chicken.

The New Jersey Devils are a hot team; Jersey folks just love them. I’m not a huge hockey fan, but did have the chance to see the New Jersey Devils take on the Philadelphia Flyers about a year ago. It was a lot of fun, since there were plenty of Philadelphia fans there, as well as a loud Devils crowd.

Growing up in Bucks County, we cheered on all the Philadelphia teams. I still cheer on the Eagles, but my hubby has us rooting for the Yankees when it comes to b-ball. I won’t even mention his Jets team. (Boo!)

We don’t do basketball or hockey at my house.

With pro football back in action, make sure your tv is ready to go. If you need any cable stuff such as Cat5e Keystone jack equipment, or other stuff like HDMI switches, speakers, or even USB products or wall mounts, check out FireFold.com for good prices, fast shipping, and a 30 day money back guarantee.

Here was my view from my balcony. I pulled the picture off my camera, so I could get it up here. I love looking out at the ocean! The guy who played music was almost under my balcony, so we just opened the sliding glass door and listened to music as we chilled after a day in the sun.

This is one place I’d happily return to. (Pier 6600 Motel, Wildwood Crest) 

This is what we got to see as we sat on the deck this week; beautiful sunsets over the bay and intercoastal waterways. What was really neat, is the man in the condo above us, when it’s a perfect sunset, he plays a military song that plays while the sun sets. In those last 3-4 minutes, it matches the sun as it recedes back down below the landscape, until we can’t see it. The timing was perfect, and it was a magical experience to hear that.

After a day of sun, a cool drink in hand, laughter in the air…watching an incredible sunset was icing on the cake.

You can read more about the Drifting Sands motel in Long Beach Island here.

We stayed at the Drifting Sands Motel this past week in Long Beach Island. This was my first time staying at this particular hotel/motel. I generally stay in one or two others, but they were fully booked. We liked that the room was large and clean, but were a bit disappointed with what they called a “partial ocean view”. I’ll be honest, I had to get on my toes, and lean to the left, and I saw about 1-2 inches of ocean. Maybe some of the closer rooms had a better view. I had a great view of the sand dune. It’s okay though, I enjoyed sitting on the balcony regardless and enjoying a light breeze. They supplied the deck area with two chairs.

What I liked a lot was the parking was assigned, which means you can actually find a spot, and it’s not in the most inconvenient possible. I liked their outdoor shower so you could clean off extra sand before going up to your room. I also liked the location of sort. While it’s on the busy circle, it is half way to both ends, which makes driving to either side of the island easy.

What we missed? We missed that there wasn’t a pool. We love a pool at the beach. While we swim in the ocean, we also like to swim in the pool. If you have small children, and the waves are rough, the pool is a nice option to have. Usually every time we go down, we swim in both the ocean and the pool each day.

Would I stay at this motel again? Yes, I liked it well enough, but we’re partial to another because we’ve been going to it for so long.