The "Vacation Musings: Ocean City, New Jersey!" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Downloading summer vacation photographs from both my iPhone and Nikon DSLR camera to the desktop of my MacBook Air.  Carol and I took a week-long vacation to Ocean City, New Jersey with our daughter Brynn and her family of hubby Dave and daughters Courtney and Camille.  For years we have been visiting Ocean City with our family, during the summer, but last year, with the grandkids getting older and trying to coordinate jobs and vacations, the summer passed before we had taken a vacation.  This year our son Derek and his family couldn't go to the shore until youth baseball season was over since he and grandson Caden were both involved, so daughter-in-law Barb also missed the trip.  Our son Tad had every intention of visiting a few days, but his work schedule changed and he wasn't able to visit.  Those that did make it had a great time with a vacation rental on Pennlyn Street on the north side of the town.  Happened to be located halfway between Brown's Donuts and Oves Donuts, so I loved the place.  One evening we traveled to Stone Harbor, NJ for supper at Mirabella's Italian Restaurant and a bit of shopping after supper.  We had plans for all of us to travel to Cape May, NJ for a day of shopping and lunch at the Lobster House, but ended up just being Carol, Brynn and myself.  The Ocean City beach was too enticing for the others.  As you are well aware, I cannot visit anywhere unless I take a thousand photographs or more, but this trip I managed to push the shutter release only a few hundred times.  Some of the results were used to illustrate a few stories you may have already read at the end of the summer, and the rest I have rummaged through and posted them at the end of this story.  Hope you find a few you enjoy.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

One evening we heard loud noises outside our rental.  Walked onto the street
and was serenaded to about 20 minutes of fireworks to the west of our rental.

I walked into the street where neighbors were gathering.  By the time the
fireworks were over, we all knew each other's names and where we lived.
Neat way to bring a neighborhood together, though it wasn't the idea
behind the fireworks.  Or was it!

While on the Ocean City Boardwalk I saw these two seagulls waiting for an
an unsuspecting person who had just purchased a piece of pizza or perhaps fries.

It amazes me how people just don't think the postings are for them!

One day I took my close-up lens for my iPhone with me to the beach.
The results are shown above and below.

Really neat what the simple, inexpensive snap-on lens can do.

While visiting Cape May, Brynn, Carol and I visited Cape Atlantic Book Co. which
is co-owned by our good friends Jere and Sue's son Tony and friend Patrick.  One of
the very few actual book stores on the shores of New Jersey.

Plenty of shelves and choices to make in the store.
The puzzles they have are also fantastic.

While in Cape May, Carol, Brynn and I had lunch at The Lobster House.  My wife's lunch
selection was salmon, vegetables and mashed potatoes on a wooden plank.

My favorite!  A one pound lobster-tail which was soooooo good!

Carol with granddaughters Camille (seated) and Courtney.

One day on the beach Carol and I were some of the last few visitors.
I tried to add a book to my Kindle and forgot I needed to
connect to the Internet. When I tried to connect, I found my choices were what you see
above.  Notice one was an FBI surveillance van.  I looked all over to try and see it without any success, but...

when I looked at my Kindle a minute or two later...it was gone.  Someone trying
to keep an eye on me?  Maybe its one of the Russians that constantly
log on to this site you are now reading.