New Jersey

When you live in NY the place to go on vacation is New Jersey. When I was a child my parents had a summer home in Manahawkin - by Cherryhill. This is in very south Jersey but not far from the shore. I don't really remember much about the area except our home and our neighbors. Back then there really wasn't much in Manahawkin except a WaWa...and what an amazing WaWa it was! If you haven't been to Jersey - WaWa is a convience store similar to 7 eleven but cleaner and it has so much more! I am a big fan of WaWa's.

When I got a little older my mother's best friend had a home on Long Beach Island (not to be confused with Long Island) that we used to visit every summer. To this day I only have the fondest memories of LBI and that home. The house was just down the street from the beach...at night we would open the windows and be lulled to sleep by the waves and the smell of the salty ocean air. Everyone was so friendly there and it was such a safe place. People would leave their front doors unlocked and not worry about it...neighbors would watch out for each other. It was so quiet and relaxing. There was also the most amazing little place that made the best fried mushrooms and fried zucchini that I have ever eaten! The beach itself was clean and had the most powerful waves!

Out of curiosity I looked up homes in Manahawkin and Long Beach Island to see how much they were going for...and wow I couldnt believe it...the cheapest home by far in Manahawkin was going for $300,000 and the cheapest home on LBI was $500,000 but the typical price was in the millions.

My whole family : grandparents, my aunt, uncle, cousins, my mom and I would all go to Wild Wood for a family vacation during the summer. The boardwalk there was so much fun - I loved playing all of the games! And cotton candy of course! The beach was also really nice there - it was fun building sand castles with my cousins. I dug up a few family pictures from the beach in Wild Wood.

My cousin trying to teach me how to ride the waves in.

The board walk in Wild Wood has ruined me for all other board walks - I haven't found anything like it in Florida. Whenever I hear there is a boardwalk at a beach I go expecting all the fun and games and snacking that WW had to offer and I'm always dissappointed!

I don't know if you have ever been to the beach in Jersey but there are several things to know:

a) there are jellyfish so watch out

b) the waves are killer which are great for surfing and skin boarding but will easily pull you under

c) the water is brown! not so pretty!

Compared to the beach in Florida:

a) we dont have jellyfish but we have sea lice - jellyfish eggs that can bite and cause a rash (lovely)

b) the waves suck here - the water is mostly still (well compared to NJ anyway)

c) the water is beautiful! blue and green...like a tropical paradise