Sorry !!!

Ocean City, NJ boardwalk

Okay, I'll admit it and, hopefully, accept it as fact. Scheduled pre-posting simply DOES NOT WORK !!!!

I keep living in hope. I plan ahead and create posts that are, through the magic of computer technology, supposed to post themselves at a pre-appointed time. Each time, I return to find they simply sat there in their unpublished draft form, waiting for my return or for some other human intervention.

I'm a baseball fan so I believe in the three strikes you're out maxim. I guess in the future, I'll have to drag Dawn back in to physically publish the pre-planned posts here.
Yes, I was off breathing in some sea breezes and enjoying the sunshine and a few other vices. (Ocean smells and sunshine do give me such pleasure, they MUST be vices!!) We skipped off to Ocean City, NJ on Tuesday where we walked the boardwalk, enjoyed a frozen custard and simply sat and people watched. Since we were only there for the day, it just wasn't practical to purchase a beach pass to allow us access to the sand. I understand the water temp was still only in the 60s so I wouldn't have even dipped a toe!

This is normally just a day trip for us but we splurged this week and spent the night in Atlantic City. (Once beach season starts, the best mid-week hotel deals along the coast tend to be at the casinos themselves.) We stayed at the Tropicana this time.

The sunset over the bay as seen from our window.

This was the first time we'd ever stayed there and found the room to be very large, bright and sophisticated in its decor. The bathroom was HUGE. We could have rented it out to additional guests! If you go there, beware. It's a very, very LONG walk to the West Tower from the casino. At the end of the day, a shuttle to take you down the hall to your room would be a fantastic option. (Don't laugh. Circus Circus in Vegas does have a shuttle from the registration desk to some of the rooms! I speak from experience.) We got plenty of exercise in a our short stay!

Inside The Quarter at the Trop.
Designed to look like Havana.

Since I don't spend near as much time in the casino as The Big Guy, I found the great selection of stores in The Quarter (Tropicana's upscale shopping mall) an attraction. It just so happened, strolling the mall was a much more relaxing walk from our room to the casino floor than that boring old hallway.

I needed to be home for an appointment Wednesday afternoon, so we checked out by 9 a.m. and began the wait for the valet to bring our car. And we waited...and waited...and waited. Finally, they came and told us they couldn't get the car started. The Big Guy went with them to check it out himself and was eventually towed from the valet lot. The tow truck driver stopped so we could load the luggage into the vehicle and then The Big Guy went with him to a service station. I occupied myself by returning to a penny slot machine for the duration!

Kudos to the Tropicana's valet crew. They did get us quick service and referred us to a station that did good, fast service for, get this, a very reasonable price!!! ( We expected to be gouged as we appeared desperate and it IS a resort town! I've lied in a resort town. Believe me, it happens.) Although, it didn't take long, it did prevent me from keeping my appointment which, ultimately, gave us more time to play around on our way home.

Yeah, that IS a Delaware horse track!

Sunshine!!!

While I was unable to get online due to internet problems, I spent time working on creating new merchandise, doing things around the house, talking on the phone (with email, it has almost become a lost art), entertaining house guests and, most of all, enjoying some of the great Spring (almost Summer-like weather that we've had).When the temps climbed into the mid-70s under fantastic bright sunshine, we headed for the boardwalk in Ocean City, N.J. Yep, us and everyone else within 100 miles!!! It was mobbed. The bridge was backed up and the even the beach was crowded. It may have been March in New Jersey, but there were bikinis on the beach anyway!!
All in all, it was a great weekend!!! I even got a little sunburn. (No I wasn't one of those wearing a bikini!! The Big Guy did wear shorts, though.)

Hope y'all had a great weekend, too!!!

Sunday's post on EARLY Monday morning!

Wow, did we have a full weekend!!

For several weeks we've been trying to accomplish one of our annual rituals of Spring - visiting the ocean for a day trip and walking the boardwalk before the season officially kicks in on Memorial Day. (We live about 2 1/2 hours from the beach.) We usually try to do this in April but hadn't been able to get there so we decided Saturday was THE day to do it. It was really hazy and foggy when we left home early in the morning. We were headed for Ocean City, New Jersey, a resort town located about a half hour south of Atlantic City.

On our way, we stopped at Cowtown in Woodstown, New Jersey, to shop at the market there. Cowtown is a twice weekly market with stalls featuring everything from underwear to Amish meats to cell phone equipment and garden supplies. Just about all of the merchandise is new, mostly closeouts or knock-off look-a-likes, edible or home grown. There are some bargains to be had if you know what you're getting. We bought some edibles, socks for me, an extra auto plug for my cell, and a few other stray items.

There are always a few things to make you smile when you're wandering through the stalls. Many of the sellers are not fluent in English which often results in some amusing signs. One lingerie stand quoted prices for bras in terms of $$ per "pair". You can imagine some of the comments we discussed with regard to that. We still aren't sure whether one bra constitutes "a pair" or if that was another way of doing a 2 for 1 deal.

I had hoped to have some bright beautiful pictures of the beach for you but the closer we got to the beach the foggier it got. At one point, you could only see about 4 blocks down the boardwalk. I took pics they're just not real bright. Even with the heavy fog and SPF 30, I managed to get a little too much sunburn.

Ocean City is a quaint little town with beautiful residential areas lots of historic buildings and a bustling Main Street type shopping area as well as the traditional boardwalk shops. We arrived in the middle of a Heart Walk on the boards so we took some time to simply sit on a bench and watch the folks go by and enjoy the ocean air. Once the walk was over, there was a band playing and some healthy cooking demonstrations. We enjoyed the band while having a customary frozen custard (probably not real heart healthy), bought a tub of caramel popcorn (again of questionable health value)

and walked through some of my favorite shops. While the boards feature plenty of fast food, junk shops and such, they also have a number of truly interesting , high quality gift shops that actually feature some excellent handcrafted gifts. We also spent a lot of time simply sitting on the benches and watching the waves roll in and inhaling that wonderful combination of sea salt and sand while the sea gulls squawked all around us. It was a fantastic day!!

Today, we didn't risk any more sunburn. We attended a Blues for the Cure concert at a club in Middletown, Delaware. It was held inside and in fairly dim light. I'm sure my skin thanks me for this! There were 6 or 7 bands scheduled but we only stayed for the first three as we were expecting guests at our house this evening. As it turned out, our plans changed and we headed over to the casino for a few hours where we ran into other folks we knew and had a bite to eat with them.

So, that, folks, is why Sunday's post didn't get here until early Monday morning!! I've been really busy!