Jersey shore madness
We went to the shore today, and it was AWESOME. Also, I have now learnt all about American beaches and thusly Know Stuff.
1) That Killers' lyric 'it's only water and sand' makes sense now. There are two types of American beach, those which are merely water and sand, and those which have boardwalks. Ours did not have a boardwalk and was thusly a superior beach, worth driving an hour and a half for. It did, however, have a food vendor, changing rooms and toilets. Obviously. A beach isn't civilised without, dontcha know ;)
2) There is advertising even at the beach. A beach in a state park, might I add. How, you cry? Ah. Well, boardings are not allowed, so they have a propeller plane flying backwards and forwards with banners. I was astounded. The Idahoan was astounded (he normally goes to 'river' beaches, go figure. Bet they don't have toilets). I do not know how the Frenchman felt, because he was sitting on the beach sulking.
3) There were tons and tons and tons of people. Too many people. People 10 deep on the beach. People with striped parasols and american footballs and frisbees and children. There was a lifeguard station every 25 yards (they wear the red swimming costumes! Whay!!) and people people people. People who were tanned and wearing very little clothing. I was not even slightly sufficiently naked. Men get away with so much in their swim shorts, I tell you. Also, the swim short was a bit of an eye opener to me. All the guys had swim shorts, and they were SO LIKE real shorts to the naked eye that they were able to wear them all day without a change of shorts! Clearly I have been missing something.
It was a great day. We drove up ('Flash 'em, Susannah!' from the Idahoan) this morning, frolicked on the beach all day (I swam 4 times!), ate at 'Bum Rodgers crab shack' - erm, obviously - and came back. It was great. The town looked like they do in the movies, and I'd kind of missed that feeling. The sun was white and blaring out of the sky, the atlantic was turquoise and warm, the sand was golden and soft, the people were American and corn fed, there was frisbee and all the bluegrass music you could stomach. I buried the Idahoan, pictures on facebook imminently.
1) That Killers' lyric 'it's only water and sand' makes sense now. There are two types of American beach, those which are merely water and sand, and those which have boardwalks. Ours did not have a boardwalk and was thusly a superior beach, worth driving an hour and a half for. It did, however, have a food vendor, changing rooms and toilets. Obviously. A beach isn't civilised without, dontcha know ;)
2) There is advertising even at the beach. A beach in a state park, might I add. How, you cry? Ah. Well, boardings are not allowed, so they have a propeller plane flying backwards and forwards with banners. I was astounded. The Idahoan was astounded (he normally goes to 'river' beaches, go figure. Bet they don't have toilets). I do not know how the Frenchman felt, because he was sitting on the beach sulking.
3) There were tons and tons and tons of people. Too many people. People 10 deep on the beach. People with striped parasols and american footballs and frisbees and children. There was a lifeguard station every 25 yards (they wear the red swimming costumes! Whay!!) and people people people. People who were tanned and wearing very little clothing. I was not even slightly sufficiently naked. Men get away with so much in their swim shorts, I tell you. Also, the swim short was a bit of an eye opener to me. All the guys had swim shorts, and they were SO LIKE real shorts to the naked eye that they were able to wear them all day without a change of shorts! Clearly I have been missing something.
It was a great day. We drove up ('Flash 'em, Susannah!' from the Idahoan) this morning, frolicked on the beach all day (I swam 4 times!), ate at 'Bum Rodgers crab shack' - erm, obviously - and came back. It was great. The town looked like they do in the movies, and I'd kind of missed that feeling. The sun was white and blaring out of the sky, the atlantic was turquoise and warm, the sand was golden and soft, the people were American and corn fed, there was frisbee and all the bluegrass music you could stomach. I buried the Idahoan, pictures on facebook imminently.