Jen vs. Beach Tag Checkers

I know I'm supposed to be on a quick vacation this week. But NBC10 called and wants to do a segment next week, so back at work I am (tentative air date is 2-3pm on Wednesday, July 9).

But I'm glad to say I made it onto the beach yesterday even if it wasn't exactly as I hoped.

My friend was moving from Atlantic City to Margate, so my plan was to sit on the beach for an hour before the moving van arrived. To make things easier, I chose to sit on the beach in Margate. It's a nice beach. I enjoyed my time there last week. So I parked my car, slung on my backpack, grabbed my beach chair and was ready to hit the beach until some 12 year old at the beach entrance told me that a day pass would be $10.

Um, what? $10 for the day? THE DAY?!

If you're not familiar with the Jersey Shore (you read this blog because you think I'm funny, right?), some beaches require a pass during peak times. I'm actually a fan of this because it helps keep the beaches clean. My family always had Avalon season passes. This year, an Avalon season pass runs $24, and a day pass is $6. That doesn't sound too unreasonable to me. But $10 for an hour of beach time?

So I turned on my flip flop heel and headed a town down to Longport. There was a sign posted about tags, but no checker. I kept an eye open for roving checkers and was ready to jump into the water should one come my way. It's not that I don't want to support the beaches (I mean, I did write a book about the area), but I couldn't stomach the idea of paying $10 for an hour of beach time.

I didn't get run over by a wandering beach tag checker, but I did go into the water. I don't know how Polar Plunge people do it. Yesterday was cold enough, though it did wake me right up.

Speaking of Margate, I had dinner last night at Tomatoes, a wonderful restaurant with amazing sushi. Dinner was followed by drinks at Maynard's, which is your typical shore bar. Too bad my group got there late to sign up for a Quizzo team -- I had a leg up on shore trivia ;-)