Beach Notes

Grateful for a short getaway with Dan, which he planned. Timeless messages in a bottle I was able to discern through the sometimes cloudy, sometimes clear, weathered lens of my life view:

• Hurricanes cut a fearless, take-no-prisoners path. Erin closed the beaches yesterday (no sandy part to sit on, and the tides were menacing) and flooded the main roads pretty bad. Dan's cap was about to blow off. And today at Island Beach State Park, we were told we could only wade up to our ankles. But the weather was beautiful.
• Lifeguards are golden. Saviors in red trunks or one-pieces ran along the surf, toting weights. Then two went in and rode the giant swells, one on a yellow board that said RESCUE and one in a little boat. The waves were so big, it looked like the vessels would capsize. But they did not, with skillful guards in charge.
• Beach sleep is the best sleep. I fell into a deep one in a chair down by the water but then Erin waves washed up over my bag, my books etc. Dan appeared at that instant and I woke up with a jolt. 
• New Jersey's barrier island is (kind of) like Cape Cod. Some of the same flora, from beach roses to marsh grass. Dunes, though not as towering. But little flies bit big here in the swaying grass. The old visitor center has Cape-like treasures, including finds from shipwrecks, such as heavy canvas diver's shoes and haunting deadeyes, stuffed gulls and a spry fox. I will return.
• Surfside menus are predictable and unhealthy. You'll find sushi (good), subs, seafood, some nice iced coffee if you search, ice cream, sweet cocktails with colorful sunset names, chicken fingers, burgers, deep-fried appetizers. I had a fresh Garden State house salad with crisp cucumbers and peppers by the sea. But fries abound. I didn't finish the salad but did swipe some of Dan's French fries.
• Ocean air smells good.
• Saltwater taffy is still a seaside thing.
• Sunset over the bay is a painting. Pinks, purples, oranges. You feel fortunate to see it.
• Some beach house signs have great messages. IF YOU'RE LUCKY ENOUGH TO BE AT THE BEACH, YOU'RE LUCKY ENOUGH, one said. Another had a silhouette of a mermaid and said MERMAID X-ING, which made me think of our daughters.

Good night.

Gidget Goes New Jersey

The 1961 pineapple/surfboard classic, "Gidget Goes Hawaiian."*

Who knew I would see a surf lesson on the beach today? 

Co-star James Darren (Moondoggie to 

Deborah Walley's Gidget) just died this week.

 Image from HERE. 

My iPhone camera lens is cloudy/fuzzy so I couldn't take photos of the beautiful Spring Lake beach today. I went to meditate, ponder, pray, rest, recharge and fill my soul. Dan had an article deadline. I arrived at 4, stayed two hours and was home by 7:30 to make salad with a Jersey tomato from a farmstand down that way and homemade croutons, plus quick pork chops with rosy applesauce from a jar. (Finicky Spice actually ate the whole dinner, yay. I got the jar of Red Jacket Orchards applesauce, from the Finger Lakes, at Dry Goods Refillery, a plastic-free grocery shop in town.) 

The waves were calm. I counted 13 Sunday surfers in all, though they weren't getting much action. Then I saw a petite woman giving a lesson to another woman in the sand, the student on her stomach on the board, practicing the paddling motion. Soon, they were in the water. A happy sight. Empowering.

I studied the sea and went in up to my shins. The water was mild and I probably should have worn my swimsuit, but the air was cold up here. I folded up my wool sweater into a nice cozy pillow and rested, first on my right side, then on my left. I took in the lapping white foam, the rhythm. I prayed a little. How lucky I am to live on the East Coast, not far from the Atlantic Ocean. (It took 1 hour and 7 minutes to get there.) But as I looked at the endless glassy blue surface, considered its depth, I thought, It looks so pretty but underneath, it holds some unknown, unpleasant or scary things. Nothing is perfect. The sea is a wonder but I wouldn't want to explore on my own down there. I would sink quickly, spiral down, and possibly face sharks or jutting rocks that could make me bleed.

I'm trying to say, beauty can bring pain hidden under its surface. Life, like the sea, is a gift but with tricky parts. It comforted me to realize that, to put things in perspective.

I'm going to doze. Good night.

*I rewatched this movie on Tubi TV Friday night, while Dan was out working at a party. I love the cast, including Carl Reiner as Gidget's Dad. But as we fell asleep, I said, "Please remind me never to watch a 'Gidget' movie again. Everything always works out so well, all tied up with a ribbon and a bow." Parenting teens in 1961 looks much different than it is 63 years later. Some basics are the same, since teens then and now pushed parental boundaries. But sugar-coated endings are not real in many cases.

41 Minutes by the Blue

Life can be scary. Nature is healing.

Today I drove Sis’s car, with Sirius XM radio and good A.C., to Sherwood Island State Park, exit 18 off Route 95 North. It’s a little beyond Westport, Connecticut (the town where Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward raised their family).

I had to get the car back in time so Sis could go to spin class. Traffic was bad. I had 41 minutes at the beach, 4:19 p.m. until 5. 

It was enough. Nature in my heart, my soul, my pocket. I took off my Peds and Nikes, minced my steps over a dense carpet of whole and jagged seashells, and walked into the Long Island Sound--ankle-deep. 

Many gifts if eyes open to see them:

• A sailboat, crisp white wing against June sky.
• Seaweed. 
• Shells in hand, an oyster shell for Sis.
• The promise of summer in my heart. Joy, sand, sunscreen, water, waves. Always and forever.
• Walking the path, which climaxes by the quiet "living" 911 Memorial, designed to change naturally with the seasons. It’s a beautiful pocket by a rocky coast. 
• A few Wednesday sun umbrellas and small beach tents.
• Beach roses, pink and promising white. Just like Cape Cod! (Dan even planted a hot candy-pink one in our backyard.) We can’t pick flowers in public places, so I plucked a single pink petal and held it to my nose.
• White clover in green grass. I remember that in the lawns and parks of my girlhood. Wildflowers. How pretty. Flowers that grow wild, whether we want them or not. Determined blooms. Rugged.
• Quick prayer.
• Lungs filled.

I asked the nice guy at the snack bar if they had iced coffee. Not today, but they will, come summer.

I was back in time for Sis to get to spin class. #grateful

Good night.

Eye on Atlantic City

Vintage image from truejersey.com.

In the 1970s, Sis went to Atlantic City on an overnight trip--she was a member of the Junior Women's Club and the girls attended the Women's Club convention at the resort destination.

She is my big sister, seven years older. This exciting venture must have loomed large in our sometimes dull Dumont lives. Sis brought back a toenail clipper for Dad, with a white enamel inset that read ATLANTIC CITY. Dad had it til his death; we don't know what became of it.

I first went during college or over the summer. My long-time boyfriend, Jeff, lived with his family a few exits from A.C. His brother worked at the Golden Nugget Casino.

I remember us being with Jeff's brother in his car, the casinos lit up on our left on the Atlantic City Expressway, cutting a swath through swaying sea grass. The towers looked glittery and glamorous, bright night lights.

Also: Back in the early 1980s, casino buses ran from North Jersey. I caught one in the next town, Bergenfield, and was dropped off about 2 1/2 hours later. Each of us then went inside to the cashier, past the slot machines and tables, and received a roll of quarters, theoretically to feed the slots. I can't remember if that meant I broke even on my ticket price or made a profit. But I took the roll and met Jeff for a ride the rest of the way to his house.

Flash forward to the late 1980s, when Dan and I were dating. He was often booked with a popular party planning company named Le Clique, which provided a busload of colorful entertainment--including Dan, the 60-Second Novelist--at New Year's Eve parties for high rollers. One year, he took the party bus down early to work the event and I drove the Garden State Parkway from my apartment in Ocean Grove in time for midnight.....at which point I saw the Le Clique troupe dancing in a conga line. Dan was the one in the gorilla suit. 🦍

Now...my overnight stay with Punch this week at her Mimi's condo unit...formerly a hotel.

Notes:

• Saltwater taffy still a big attraction--those pretty, beachy colors and flavors like orange, mint and vanilla. But now you can also get it dipped in dark chocolate and wrapped in colored foil instead of traditional waxed paper. I didn't try; wanted just one, not a pack. The counterperson at Steel's Fudge explained that the other location had some by the piece but the boardwalk location didn't. It's really hard to make, she said. It must be, dunking sticky taffy in melted chocolate. 
• Red Atlantic City lifeguard hoodies. Mimi got one of the sweatshirts for Punch at a boardwalk shop for about $15. She has been living in it.
• Cornhole. 🌽 I'm not sure I ever played this before. But it was a throwback to simpler times and I liked tossing the bean bags in the hole on the boardwalk at Biergarten, team me/Mimi against Poppy/Punch. We creamed them. Then two men in their early 30s--plastic beer cups in hand and visiting from Westchester, NY--played Mimi and Punch.
• Seagulls. Punch liked seeing them when we walked on the beach, and so did I. I also liked hearing them at night before drifting into restful sleep.
• Restaurants. Big draw here. A lot of sushi, upscale Asian....plus raw oysters, shellfish towers and famous restaurants like Carmine's.
• Entertainment. Names up in lights. Diana Ross will be in A.C. June 29 for Diamond Diana Tour.

That's it for now. Punchy home sick from school today, as if a 10-day spring break [counting weekends] wasn't enough. She threw up once and was up for hours in the middle of the night, so I kept her home. Now, of course, she seems fine.

I have to fit in a source interview and write article today.....

Punchy and I made this Two-Cheese Pasta with Cauliflower. P. grated the aged Provolone and the Pecorino Romano and cut the garlic clove [it was supposed to stay whole, but that's ok]. We made some vegan, too, with mock smoked Provolone cheese. Figgy just said Ummmmm!

Enjoy your day.

TOTAL DAILY SPEND: ZERO. TRAPPED IN HOUSE WITH PUNCH.

MONTHLY SPEND AS OF APRIL 29: $3,526.72.
AVERAGE DAILY SPEND SO FAR THIS MONTH: $121.61.

Big-ticket April spends so far [numbers rounded off], 29 days into the month:

Lamp, $79; luxe hand cream, $55; Giotto dinner to go + jar of imported Italian artichokes, $46; dog groomer/beauty salon, $75; vet for hamster, $157; necklace extension/repair/new clasp, $128; blowout, $55; Over the Moon, bday gifts for Punch friend + book for me, $60; Kings groceries, $132; liquor store, $32; bra/underwear/tights, $126; Joyist, $39 one day while working on assignments there; second blowout w service tips, $52; Punchy, Lululemon, $28; Justice, bday gifts and gift bag/pink tissue for Punch friend + shorts for Punch + $2 donation at register, $58; Kings groceries, $63; Joyist, $25 one day while working on deadlines; bike delivery, $35; Whole Foods, $69; CVS & Kings, Easter gifts/basket treats [counting lemon curd for tarts], $97; zoo day and lunch, spring break, $42; A.C. apps + drinks, treat Mimi & Poppy, $85; A.C. pretty lilac drape-neck top, $49; A.C. breakfast, treat Mimi + Poppy, $55; A.C. Skechers flip-flops, $35; A.C. sushi dinner, split bill, $52; Sis bday cards + gift, $35; Joyist, counting body oil, $71; Williams-Sonoma, gifts plus, $55; Kings, Sis bday lunch of caviar/blini/lox/small layer cake etc., $113; and Whole Foods, a lot of groceries, including scallops and lox, $201. Steep subtotal of $2,204.

MONEY THOUGHTS: I could have bought stuff online today! Chocolate, makeup, clothing. I'm glad I didn't. This accountability helps.

keeping my eye on

SO FAR: TOTAL APRIL SPEND OUT OF POCKET: $3,526.72.

MY TOTAL MARCH SPEND OUT OF POCKET: $4,128.41.

TOTAL FEBRUARY SPEND OUT OF POCKET: $3,159.25.

Palm Beach Playland

Sis & me on Worth Avenue today at 1:30 p.m.

Note the beautiful bougainvillea.

Ta-boo Restaurant has been a star-studded favorite since 1941. [JFK ate here.]
Pretty wicker chairs and glam ceiling lights! The Bloody Mary was said to be invented here.

The public beach, a glorious gift,
all wrapped up in clouds and rolling blue waves.

Please forgive my formatting on this hotel biz center computer!
Oh, Palm Beach. Quite the opposite of my beloved, rustic Cape Cod, with its
 scrubby pines,
towering dunes and lighthouses that dot the shifting, hook-shaped coast.

No, Palm Beach is privileged, polished and very, very pretty. Birthplace
of fresh-squeezed
 Lilly Pulitzer colors, still visible on the women passing on the sidewalks
and on the mannequins in the shop windows.
The melons, lime greens, true sailor blues.

My Sis--who was in the Peace Corps for two years in Western Samoa and
does not tend toward the frivolous--agreed to spend our Sunday there.
I had been there only once, on an afternoon with Dan a few years ago,
and never forgot the beauty, the tall,
sculpted privacy hedges, the stunning beach, the hot pink bougainvillea.

I drove our little silver Thrifty rental car 1 hour and 15 minutes from the
Miami Airport area....and felt like I was on a raceway. These Miami drivers
don't fool around. But as I learned on long drives with Dad, these
 times in the car
are important, golden hours to talk and reminisce.

First stop [after nabbing free street parking up to 2 hours on Worth Avenue]
was a
 luxe restaurant I will be writing about for the
ASPIRE DESIGN AND HOME website.
We sat and sipped and sampled and talked. It was lovely.

Then we walked around...most stores were closed, it being Sunday
 afternoon and off-season, but not Stubbs and Wootton. We admired
embroidered slippers that started at about $500 a pair for women, $525
 for men.
We did not buy them.

We liked the vias, the quiet courtyards, the window shopping.

Then we headed for the public beach. Siri helped us find it. It was
 so lovely.
We are so lucky to have ocean water in our veins, along with blood.
Our parents took their 1951 honeymoon road trip to Cape Cod,
New Hampshire
 and Maine, and then took their four kids in the white Ford Falcon
to summer
 weeks on the Cape or days in the Rockaways. They loved the water.
 So do we.

You can't help but be moved when your eyes settle on that sea, that rolling,
 moving beauty.

Well, I've been down in this hotel business center for a while.
The most time-consuming part was downloading the photos from my
 iPhone--and now this disastrous formatting and ragged line breaks!
That's not Palm Beach perfect!
Sis is upstairs in the room, and I will go up now.

Signing off thankful for the beauty we saw today and for my
 generous sister,
 who treated me to this four-day, three-night trip!!!! She leaves from
 Miami
Wednesday for a weeklong tour of Cuba.

Good night to you.

Just a Jot and Then off to Chatham to See Bob

Framed painting over the mantel in Capt. James Cook room in the old Mansion at Ocean Edge.

Maritime tile detail in the fireplace surround. Oh, the lucky person who had this as his private bedroom in olden days!

This has to be far fewer keystrokes than I would like, because our dear family friend, Bob Bremner [I've blogged often about Rite and Bob] is in assisted living in Chatham and I want to dash and see him before we leave this Cape Cod resort by 1 for our journey home.

After 65 years of marriage, Rite [Marguerite] died at age 93 in October, leaving her Bob behind. They were sharing a room in assisted living in Chatham when I saw them last year. They introduced me and my family to so much of the Cape, from quahogging to nature walks and church chowder suppers. In fact, the first cottage I ever stayed in here, when I was 4, belonged to Rite and Bob. My parents had rented it for a week.

Have to resort to bullets. So much on my mind:

• As I wrote, our Ocean Edge villa was an upgrade. The one I could afford was on the other side of the highway, not near the ocean. If I'm not mistaken, the Presidential Bay Collection villa we are in would cost $1688 for two nights next weekend. [I did a rate search.] It is lovely and very large. I wanted to clarify that, bc the $215 per night one was not like this. I don't have that kind of money to spend for two nights but if you do, I'm not exactly sure what your standards are. I wouldn't be qualified to judge that. But Andrew, the very nice young concierge, told me that the one I had booked is a favorite with families because they can sleep 4 [two on the pullout sofa] and have kitchenettes to save money on eating out. Our pricier beachside one would also sleep at least 6; two spacious private bedrooms plus pullout sofa; so a few couples could share the price.
• Loved: Bulgari toiletries, sleek cooktop, Cuisinart wine chiller, remote for villa temp control, screened windows all over to let breeze in, impeccable bed linens, lovely furniture, flat-screen TVs, proximity to private beach path!
• She Sells is the store, across the road from Mansion. Bought really pretty coral halter tankini top to wear with black bottom I have. Also: Little sea salt candle jars, one each for me, Figgy and Boaty, to remember our trip.
• The time with Figgy has been good. We have lost our way as mother and daughter. We have found the start of a new path again.
• We drove by Wonderstrand Way. H. had suggested that we stop there so Fig could hug "Her tree" that she has loved since she was little. And so we did. Have to write all about our day yesterday.

Hate to say it but have to sign off. Plan to write more as soon as I can.

I feel a bit like Jessica Fletcher ["Murder, She Wrote"] here in this old mansion, snooping around with my notebook and pen to see treasures like those pictured above.

With love and thanks for reading my posts from the Cape,

Alice

Good Night to You

It's nearly midnight and I still have to fill out some paperwork due to Punchy's school tomorrow. I was fairly productive today, but that still remains....

Tomorrow, I CHOOSE TO WORK ON ANTHONY'S LIFE STORY. I have been grappling with writer's block.

Very grateful that our sitter was here today from 4 to 7 p.m., as she is most Tuesdays. It gives me time and space.

TCOY

1. Not-too-sweet granola with fresh raspberries and a splash of cream for breakfast.
2. Kept my doctor appt.
3. Veggies at lunch.
4. Iced coffee.
5. Homemade meatballs at dinner. I like to create, and if it's not chocolate layer cake, it might as well be good meatballs, right?
6. Smart dental care.
7. I am going to Cape Cod for a few days next week over Punchy's spring break--with Anne, her daughter, Sugar and Punch. I miss my Cape so much. Can't wait to breathe that air and stand high above the sea on the lookout. 

Pull out the Vacuum, Head for the Sand

Just the promise of two childfree nights by the ocean with H. has me bustling around to vacuum, clean the kitchen floor, etc. I have renewed energy, I guess because I see restorative time on the horizon....isn't it funny the way that works....I'm a much more cheerful worker bee, cutting and gluing a sparkly pink valentine with Punch for her to give Mimi and Poppy [along with a small package of milk and dark Pistachio Brittle with Sea Salt chocolates from Cocoa Bee* that I happily snapped up from Susan of The Chocolate Path when she set up shop at Java Love yesterday]....

Time away glistens like a pearl....am about to take a bubble bath and finish packing. May even apply mascara and bronzer.

*Never tried this brand. Want to. Looks good. I hope Mimi and Poppy like chocolate--they do work out and run races....but I trust they nibble a chocolate now and then.....