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...for one great trip to the o-o-cean
Sep. 28th, 2005 07:54 pmEver since the SWIL beach vacation in June I've been thinking I should take a day trip to the New Jersey shore, where my family used to go every summer, and whose waves I have lots of good memories of riding. A few days ago I discovered that the ocean water there was around 76F, higher than I thought it ever got. I took that as incentive, and yesterday (one day after my first attempt was failed by a last minute realization that my bathing suit had gone missing) I did it.
I took a New Jersey Transit train from 30th St to Atlantic City (actually, it was a bus for the first 20 minutes due to bridge work), and a casino jitney to Chelsea St. beach, where I changed in a bathroom and headed out into the nice warm Atlantic. The beach was practically deserted, the water totally so -- yet there was still a lifeguard on duty at this particular beach. I chalk the emptiness up to my choice of city; nobody comes to A.C. for the outdoors. But the ocean didn't seem any worse for neglect. The waves were if anything a little too good -- maybe 5 feet high, big enough to make about a quarter of my rides turn into tumbling crashes, and I have a bit of a scalp scar to prove it... but overall it was thrilling and joyous and just what I wanted. I was only in for about an hour and a quarter before my eyes got so salty that I had to stop; they outvoted the rest of me.
I also flew a kite for a bit, and walked around the minimal boardwalk in that area of town. It wasn't the quickest vacation (thanks to the return train getting held an hour for a bridge opening, the round-trip ratio turned out to be five long hours of transit for one great hour in the ocean), but I'm happy with it, and planning on how to make my next one longer (the train is only $7.25 one way, a lot less than I figured).
If I go next week, the water will still be warm. Want to join me?
I took a New Jersey Transit train from 30th St to Atlantic City (actually, it was a bus for the first 20 minutes due to bridge work), and a casino jitney to Chelsea St. beach, where I changed in a bathroom and headed out into the nice warm Atlantic. The beach was practically deserted, the water totally so -- yet there was still a lifeguard on duty at this particular beach. I chalk the emptiness up to my choice of city; nobody comes to A.C. for the outdoors. But the ocean didn't seem any worse for neglect. The waves were if anything a little too good -- maybe 5 feet high, big enough to make about a quarter of my rides turn into tumbling crashes, and I have a bit of a scalp scar to prove it... but overall it was thrilling and joyous and just what I wanted. I was only in for about an hour and a quarter before my eyes got so salty that I had to stop; they outvoted the rest of me.
I also flew a kite for a bit, and walked around the minimal boardwalk in that area of town. It wasn't the quickest vacation (thanks to the return train getting held an hour for a bridge opening, the round-trip ratio turned out to be five long hours of transit for one great hour in the ocean), but I'm happy with it, and planning on how to make my next one longer (the train is only $7.25 one way, a lot less than I figured).
If I go next week, the water will still be warm. Want to join me?
