Where you can read the relatively rational ramblings of a silly half-monkey, half-boy. This freak of nature is named Joel. He also responds to the name 'Bart Wang'.

 
I never did tell you about my trip with Melanie to Wildwood, New Jersey, did I? Well, since the Calgary-Tampa Bay game is in overtime, I'll use this opportunity to fill you in. It was a great trip. We drove down over two days, stopping the first night in Scranton, Pennsylvania. We went out to a restaurant called Smokey Bones. It was SO good. Great taste, excellent portions, all delicious! Oh, so possibly the funniest/biggest bonehead move of the trip occurred on that first day. I had packed a bunch of food/condiments so we wouldn't have to buy them in NJ. I put the bag in the fridge at work (I worked half a day before leaving for the drive). When we got to the hotel in Scranton, I went to empty the bag into the fridge - only to find out that I had taken SOMEONE ELSE'S LUNCH BAG. It was a really nice lunch too. Fancy as heck. I felt like such a tool. Which was a perfect match for who I was/am.
Next day, we drove down a few hours to Wildwood. The town was jumping with all the old muscle cars. Lots on the beach and rolling around time. Our motel was decent. It was a good price and had all the things we needed. We were the only ones there for a couple of the days. Much of the town (particularly the two blocks closest to the ocean, stretching down Ocean Avenue for a few kilometres) were only motels. It's a huge tourist place. It would be really neat to visit during peak season, though I'm sure I'd be frustrated by all the people. The beach is literally a kilometre (or more) deep. And it's freaking long. You could walk all day and not reach the end, I'm sure. The weather turned excellent after the first day. Lots of sun during the day and the evenings were nice.
So, highlights of our time in Wildwood... Just spending time with Melanie was awesome. She's such a wonderful person. And I'm one helluva lucky boy. We took a couple walks on the beach (straight from the stereotypical dating ad). Spent a day with Bill Power and his girlfriend, Ronee Cozza. That was a lot of fun. Bill is in charge of security at Morey's Piers so he got us passes to go on all the rides. There were some really good ones. It was great to spend time with them. They were very gracious, showing us around town, including driving down to Cape May, a nice Victorian town. Spent much of the day with them. Got to hang at Bill's house for a bit one afternoon before going out for a late lunch/early dinner. Melanie and I went up to Atlantic City one afternoon. They have a nice boardwalk but it was hot out and they were doing construction on it so it wasn't that nice of a walk. Besides, Wildwood has a nice, long (two mile) boardwalk of its own. We checked out a couple casinos. It's not my thing. We had fun though. I ate a one pound hamburger. That thing was crazy big. I really enjoyed the town. We biked on some old style bikes along the boardwalk one morning. That was a lot of fun. I bought a pile of Bush's Baked Beans for me and Belly (unavailable in Canada) as well as a lot of Cherry Coke (I can't find it around my house anymore).
Disappointments... Much of what we wanted to see was closed or gone. I had high hopes for all the doo wop stuff (old architecture, historical sites) but the museum was closed. The tea house Melanie would have loved didn't exist any more. Groceries were, overall, stupidly expensive. I don't know how any Americans making $15/hour or less aren't in the poorhouse. My poor impression of the general American public was reinforced. On the boardwalk, they had a "game" called 'Wack The Iraq'. I kid you not. Kids and adults get paintball guns and shoot some guy dressed up, presumably as an Iraqi citizen (but really just covered with padding). We also saw some disturbing t-shirts, like 'Welcome To America. Now Speak English.' Racism is alive and well in America, kids!
Melanie took some excellent pictures that I can show you if I see you. I have a little bit of video footage. Ok, well, that brings you up to date, I think. I'll end this post and do another one. Come on, Calgary! I want to go to bed!
posted by HCJoel at 8:12 PM