Snow

Snow Day from Justin Gaynor on Vimeo.

Justin Gaynor, who often photographs the Jersey Shore, put together this video about the weekend snowstorm. I know snow is not always lovely, especially to the thousands of shore residents who lost power. But I need what I can to brace myself for round two, which is coming on Tuesday. Instead of thinking about the shoveling and the cold and the misery - and the possibility that my Thursday morning flight will be canceled - I'm diverting my attention by watching a soothing and beautiful snow video.

Ann Delaney has been using her twitter feed to update who has power when in Avalon and Stone Harbor. Follow along if you're concerned about your shore home.

News from Around the South Jersey Shore

So...there was a lot of snow this weekend. Lots of shore folks lost power, too.

In the least shocking news of the year, Pinnacle says it's ditching its Atlantic City project. Way to blow up the Sands for nothing, guys. Please take down your billboards.

I've GOT to read this book. I'll buy it someday. Promise.

Whoops.

Interesting bit of history from Atlantic City Weekly.

Welcome, eh? The Jersey Shore's relationship with French Canadians continues.

St. Pete & Me: The rest of the way

I had three stellar days, weather wise, while in Florida. But on Saturday, things turned. I woke up to a gray, hazy humid morning. I got in my run - 7 miles to Treasure Island and back - and felt wiped. I hate running in humidity, and my body's not used to it now given most of my training is done in 30 degree weather.

But I got it done early so I could explore. First up: driving over the Sunshine Skyway, an amazing -- and somewhat frightening -- cable bridge. It has emergency call boxes linked to crisis centers at the top. Yes, it's that high.

That bridge lead me to Sarasota and the John & Mable Ringling Museum of Art. The Ringling Bros. Circus used to have its winter quarters in Sarasota, hence the location of the estate, right up against the Gulf of Mexico.

I say estate because it's not just one art museum. You pay the hefty fee of $25 for entrance to a circus museum, the art museum, and the Ringling home.

Yes, $25 was a lot, but I think it was worth it.

So who would like to be shot out of a canon?



Or play dress up?

I spent most of my time wandering the grounds, which include tree and rose gardens.

As much as I hate humidity, there was something restorative in walking around the estate in that soft, pre-storm air. The rain started right as I pulled out of the parking lot. Perfect timing.

For dinner, I headed to the Don CeSar back in St. Pete Beach. Most people know it as the big pink building, and it's amazing. The only problem, though, was that the pain that has started as a pinprick spiderwebbed around my head, so I took my food to go and ate dinner in my room.

The next morning wasn't much better. I kept up with my marathon training even though I was on vacation, which meant a 14 mile run. I went back to Fort DeSoto for it, which was a mistake. Mid-way through the run, the winds kicked up and I finished the last eight miles into probably 30mph head winds. I was so frustrated at the end that I threw my water bottle into the mangrove trees. Not smart, I know. But after I drank some Gatorade and calmed down, I picked it up and watched a few kite surfers face plant into the water. I don't know if that felt worse than my run, but it was something.

To reward myself for that horrible run, I read through book number three while enjoying the hotel's Bloody Mary bar. I thought it was two for one. That really meant each drink had double the vodka. Um, I went to bed early that night.

I did see what little sun and sunset there was that night amid the haze.

The next morning, it rained, so I flew home standby on an earlier flight. It was a great trip, but maybe I should have stayed longer given the snow we're supposed to get this weekend?

I kid. I had someone waiting at home for me.

My mom watched Emily while I was flitting around Florida. Emily loves my mom, and vice versa, but Emily doesn't quite eat or sleep right while I'm gone. Poor pup.

And that concludes my Florida adventure. Back to the beach soon!

St. Pete & Me: Day 3, Tampa edition

I make this trek every year in line with the University of Tampa National Alumni Association Board meeting. I usually call into the board meetings over the phone, but the first meeting of the year is a great excuse to get away.

I am probably the LAST person my classmates would have ever expected to be on the alumni board - I explain why here.

But I wouldn't have become a writer without the newspaper experience (there was really no one who wanted to run the paper, so I got a chance to do so even though I had no experience), so I can't knock it completely hence my involvement on the board.

This is where I decided to become a writer. I was so homesick that first year that I'd sit on the dock by my dorm and write. Go figure.

ANYWAY, I headed into Tampa early to meet with a fellow freelancer at Indigo Coffee, which is a local coffee chain (much like Avalon Coffee is a local shore chain). She tipped me off to Sherry's YesterDaze Vintage, which is an awesome consignment shop that focuses on vintage wear. I picked up a backless Studio-54esque dress that, oddly enough, has long sleeves. Why not, right? Too bad the white mini dress with flower appliques didn't work. If I took off the Brady Bunch puff sleeves, it'd had been a perfect sheath dress for the summer.

Then I had lunch, per usual, with Andy Solomon, who was my newspaper advisor, at Cafe European (MY GOD THE MOUSSE!)

After the alumni meeting, we headed to a school get together at Four Green Fields, which is an excellent *authentic* Irish pub with a real thatch roof. It's the first bar where I maybe had a drink underage (at a bar that is not known campus wide as not carding, that is), and where I first tasted goat cheese.

Now, don't get yourself in a tizzy about this. When I was 19, I was a section editor on a newspaper staff of juniors and seniors. They were all over 21, so I tagged along and had a beer. Four Green Fields is also where I first tasted goat cheese. It opened up a culinary world.

Post-dinner, I went back to St. Pete Beach to my hotel's beach bar. It felt like a Jersey Shore night - I was wearing jeans, flip flop and hoodie to drink lite beer and watch a so/so cover band. The crowd was older than what I find at the shore, and all locals (meaning they live there now, not that they're born and bred Florida locals. Those are hard to find).

The next post will wrap up my posts about vacation. Saturday and Sunday weren't as packed as those first three days, mostly because of my running schedule and bad weather. So stay tuned!

St. Pete & Me: Day 2

Vacation day two: Got up whenever I got up (ahahahaha!) had breakfast (free at the hotel) and drove to Fort de Soto Park. For the grand entry fee of 35 cents, I was welcomed into what Trip Advisor call's America's Best Beach.

It is very nice - I admit that. It's not what you and I think of a beach, though. It's on the gulf, so no real waves. It's made up of five small, connected islands and is awash in running trails (both paved and not). I got in a quick four miler, starting here:

And ending here, on top of the actual fort (I didn't take my camera with me - I took the pictures after the run when I was stink and sweaty. No wonder all those German tourists in sweaters and long pants looked at me funny).

Then I showered and headed over to St. Pete proper for the Dali Museum. As you can guess, it was incredibly odd. It's housed in a bunker type building along the water. In 2011, it'll be moving to new, big digs.

Next, was another trip highlight:

Oh, I do love Village Inn (free pie on Wednesdays!) I'm craving those hash browns right now, too.

Post-lunch, I bought a few summer items off the sale rack at Surf Shack, then it was back to the pool for more reading, another beer, and more sun.

In case you're wondering, I read 3.5 books on vacation. That is a record for me.

On Thursday, I wasn't running during sunset, so sat on a beach chair and watched the sun sink over the gulf. It's a highlight of every visit.

For dinner, I headed to Pass-a-Grille, which I first thought was a restaurant. Turns out it's a town just north south of St. Pete Beach - very small, very quiet. I thought I'd try one restaurant, but I didn't like the look of the menu, so headed up the street to a place called Brass Monkey. No, this is not named after the Beastie Boy song (at least I don't think it is). I was the youngest person in there by at least 20 years, except for the bartender. I enjoyed watching the seniors dance to the cheesy cover band.

I try local beers wherever I go, and I couldn't get much more local than Evander Beer. Evander is an artist who lives in town. He is a bit scary looking but makes a nice beer.

I had a salad before the artery clogging meal above, FYI. That's Evander's beer (and face) in the background.

Then it was back to the hotel to rest up for Day 3, which was all about Tampa...

St. Pete & Me: Day 1

I crammed so much into my six-day trip that I decided it'll be easier to do the write up per day. I won't take long to put these online, so if you don't care about beaches not in NJ, sit tight!

Also - this was NOT a sponsored trip (i.e. a tourism board calls me up and offers a free vacation in exchange for press coverage). I wanted to put that out there in case you were wondering given the hullabaloo about new FTC rules on bloggers. I paid for every penny.

I landed in Tampa on Wednesday afternoon. I picked St. Pete Beach again for vacation because I'm on the board of my the University of Tampa National Alumni Association, and our big meeting is in the winter. Why not take a few extra days to lie on the beach? Before headed to that beach, though, I made two stops:

1. Inkwood Books. A fabulous independent bookstore in Tampa. Instead of buying a guide book before I left, I went here - they should have the best stock, right? I picked up Moon Florida Gulf Coast by Laura Reiley for a guide, and Hot Damn!: Alligators in the Casino, Nude Women in the Grass, How Seashells Changed the Course of History, and Other Dispatches from Paradiseby James W. Hall for pleasure. Hall is a mystery writer but for a time had a newspaper essay column. The book is a collection of those columns. Perfect reading to go along with a Florida vacation.

2. Publix GreenWise. To cut down on restaurant costs, I hit up this Wholefoods-esque supermarket. I kept up with my marathon training while on vacation, so I needed to have a lot of food handy or I'd go Hulk due to low blood sugar. The Publix is also across the street from Inkwood, so that was a two-birds-with-one-stone deal.

Then it was over to St. Pete Beach, cruising over the causeway with all the windows down on a 70 degree day. I stayed at the Postcard Inn, which I read about last fall in a magazine. It wasn't expensive (especially with my AAA discount), and they didn't charge a resort fee - something I was whacked with where I stayed last year.

Here's the courtyard:

And the lobby:



The Postcard Inn reminded me a lot of a Wildwood motel - and not only because the hotel restaurant is called Wildwood. I'll get to that in a minute. It reminded me of the shore because it was an old, beach-side motel that was renovated with the younger/hipper/greener traveler in mind.

I liked it. It was cool without being too fancy, and the price was right. I did take a photo of my room but it doesn't do justice like the photos on the website do.

My first order of business was to hit the pool. I knew I wasn't going to have a string of sunny days, so I wanted to get in as much sun as I could.

Then I ate, changed, and did a six mile barefoot beach run. The sand is different along the Gulf of Mexico. It doesn't stick like NJ beach sand, but the beach was covered with a lot of little tiny shells, which made the run interesting. I ran at sunset, too, which made it one of the prettiest runs I've ever done.

That night, I ate at the hotel's restaurant: Wildwood Burger and BBQ. The bartender said it was not named after Wildwood, NJ, but I tweeted the hotel, and whoever runs the twitter feed says that it's named after the Wildwood BBQ festival (I'm hoping to do an interview with the owner to figure out where that connection comes in?) I cannot get away from the shore, can I? Here's the hotel at night:

For a first day with travel starting at the 6:29am PATCO train to Philadelphia (to catch the R1 Septa train to the airport), it was a nice one. Stay tuned for Day 2.

While You Were Waiting...

I'm working on a long post about my trip to St. Pete Beach. Until then, enjoy this video of Miss'd America, which happened - fabulously - in Atlantic City on Sunday.



(For those who asked after I tweeted pics from vacation: I stayed at the Postcard Inn - I didn't want to say while I was actually there. It's a very cool place).