My husband is brilliant. I don’t remember what we were discussing. Maybe talking about the possibility of eating out at a restaurant. Maybe just the fact that we are not going to be able to go away on a vacation this year. Whatever the topic, he said “Let’s go have dinner down the shore on Saturday.” I agreed but didn’t really think much about it – we plan lots of things that don’t come to fruition, especially if it involves moving. 🙂 Saturday was in the 90s, humid, and hot hot hot. I’d already been running the air conditioners since the previous afternoon. When he repeated the suggestion at lunchtime first I said no, it would be too hot. Then I wondered who had taken over my body and was speaking for me – I NEVER say no to going down the shore. So I said we should go. I called the restaurant and of course they don’t take reservations. She said we could call 45 minutes before we got there to get on the list. Think about that for a moment.
We left just after 4:00. We opted for the local roads instead of the Parkway. Of course we took the convertible. 🙂 With the top down, and the a/c going full blast, it was perfectly comfortable. We were on Rt 36, closing in on the Highlands, when “Thriller” came on the radio. Say what you will about the singer, that song is still so much fun and gets me dancing, even if I’m stopped at a red light. *grin* After that I did my usual push to go to another station for music, not commercials. We caught the opening notes of Leyla. I turned the volume waaaaaaay up. I turned to my husband and said “This is the life I wanted. I’m blonde, driving a convertible, with my boyfriend, great music, on my way down the shore. It doesn’t get any better than this.”
I’ll spare you the minutiae about parking the car – I was obsessing. To my son I’ll say – it was like picking a restaurant when we are out on vacation together. Not the first one, not the second one, okay, so maybe the third. Your father was amazingly patient. We did indeed have an hour wait, once we gave our names to the hostess. We went into the bar and got drinks and took them out where we could look at the water. We were at Inlet Cafe (I told you about them last year), across the Navesink from Gateway National Park. I downed my gin & tonic waaaay too fast so I got a wine spritzer for my next drink. We chatted with the couple next to us (social distanced next to us) and watched the boats on the water, and the boats coming to dock at the restaurant next door. Dinner was great, with VERY attentive service. Maybe a little too attentive – we guessed that they were trying to make up for the reduced number of tables by increasing turnover. Even so – it was a lovely dinner: delicious food, fantastic view, great fresh ocean air. It really wasn’t even all that hot by the water. There was a nice breeze. We walked back to the car and spent a few minutes sitting in the little gazebo at the small beach. I love LBI (Long Beach Island for those not from Jersey), but I think I could be convinced to live in the Highlands.
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