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  • Day 83

    Day 83 - Jersey Shore

    July 13, 2019 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    This is going to be short & boring!

    Got up, dressed & drove to the local supermarket to pick up some breakfast provisions,

    We came back & used our kitchenette to make freshly brewed coffee, English muffins & bagels. I also discovered that I can get Channel 4 on the iPad, so I downloaded & watched the superb Eng v Aus cricket semifinal.

    We then went to the beach with our Walmart camping chairs & beach towels. For the next 6 to 7 hours we observed American beach life on the Jersey Shore.

    There isn’t a great deal to say, the beach was big & wide, like a lot of the beachgoers. The beach was spotlessly clean & smoking was banned. Instead of sun beds, Americans favour the low reclining chair & even at the beach, they still like to talk loudly.

    There were manned Life Guard towers every 50 yards & they over enthusiastically peeped their whistles every time anyone went out in to the sea further than about 20 yards.

    It is the Atlantic Ocean, so the water was cold, but actually refreshing & there reasonable sized waves, particularly when the tide was coming in.

    I walked south down the beach, but after about half a mile, the hotels ended & were replaced by sand dunes. The beach was then roped off & I could go no further. It was closed to migratory birds only, giving them an undisturbed place to rest before continuing their journey. It was pretty much what we needed!

    At 5.30pm, the Life Guards started peeping their whistles & waving their arms for everyone to get out of the water. My initial thoughts were “Oh good, a shark had been spotted”. Outrageously, it turned out that they were going home & they wanted everyone out. Why? Nanny State springs to mind!

    As it happens, no longer than 10 minutes after they had gone, people started drifting back into the sea. We called it a day shortly after a woman told Jackie she was burnt or red & I was dark. Jackie will say it was the other way round!

    That evening we returned to the Crest Tavern, where shared a cheeseburger & a chicken salad, followed by an early night.

    I didn’t even take a photo all day!

    Song of the Day - Beach by Something Happens.
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