Wild raspberries in Allaire State Park.
Unless they’re mulberries.
But I’m pretty sure they’re closer to raspberries.
food
Archived Posts from this Category
August 14, 2008
For those who have found this blog by Googling “Things to do in Monmouth County:” I am as clueless as you are. My main source of entertainment ’round here is wandering around with a camera, looking for interesting things to photograph.
Edit, January 2012: Check out Patch.com. There are event pages for Belmar & Manasquan, Eatontown & Tinton Falls, Freehold, Holmdel, Howell, Little Silver & Oceanport, Long Branch, Manalapan, Matawan-Aberdeen, Middletown, Point Pleasant, Red Bank & Shrewsbury, Rumson-Fair Haven, Toms River, and Wall. Even if your town doesn’t have its own Patch, check events for the nearest town; events for you could be listed there.
I use Patch.com a lot for my north Jersey excursions.
Here are some things I have done:
1. Bowling. (Often with bumpers for the second game, because I am just that spectacular.) I usually go to The Lanes at Sea Girt, but I’ve been to Memory Lanes in Shrewsbury, Shore Lanes in Neptune (which is on the Asbury Circle, which is not a fun circle to navigate), and Brunswick Bradley Beach Bowl (maybe that link will work if you have the latest version of Flash, which I don’t).
2. Bars (and/or restaurants, grills, etc. that serve liquor). Not so much fun here in suburbia ‘cos you have to drive home afterwards, so you really need to (ought to) watch yourself. Unless you have a designated driver, which no one wants to be. (The above photo was taken in the Brickwall Tavern, Asbury Park.)
3. Coffee. Only really works if there’s only a small group of you, though.
4. Movies. Hey, it’s something.
5. The Datebook. Go find your local print copy of the Asbury Park Press and leaf through it until you find the Datebook, which takes up the bottom half of a page and is usually printed in red or blue ink. A lot of the stuff is craft sales and “square dancing for ‘kids’ 55 and over,” but it’s worth a look. I have been unable to locate the Datebook online; you do need an actual physical copy of the APP.
6. Go biking. All right, maybe it’s not a ‘Saturday night with the gang’ sort of activity, but it’s healthy. Bob Lucky reviews and photographs several Monmouth County bike paths, and many of the Monmouth County Parks are set up for that sort of thing.
7. Walk around. This sounds monumentally stupid, but if you have nothing better to do, give it a shot. Red Bank, Asbury Park, local parks, and anywhere with a boardwalk can be fun places to do this.
Speaking of Red Bank and Asbury Park, here are some official lists of what’s going on in various towns:
Asbury Park
Red Bank (see also the Count Basie Theater, Two River Theater Company, Improv Comedy Jam, and Red Bank Art Cinemas)
Also see Go Kids NJ, which sounds stupid, but you’re never too old to enjoy a boardwalk or a festival or an aquarium. You can search for specific towns.
July 22, 2008
July 11, 2008
Here we see a gargantuan lemon on the Belmar boardwalk, innocently attracting absolutely no attention from passers-by.
(Clearly it’s a scout for a race of giant space fruits that intend to dominate our planet. But that’s neither here nor now.)
April 27, 2008
Apparently, this is business on Ocean Blvd. in Long Branch is technically known as “Ocean D-Lites.” But they do sell Tasti D-Lite, which, if you’re not familiar with it (since it’s only sold in a few states: New York [most of its stores are concentrated in NYC], New Jersey, Connecticut, Florida, and Texas), is a soft-serve “guilt-free” ice cream-esque dessert.
I actually just tried the stuff for the first time last weekend. Despite the multitude of flavors, after a few bites, you stop tasting anything at all and only feel the cold softness on your tongue. It’s not bad, but it’s not real ice cream.
March 25, 2008
What I really need on Tuesday mornings is coffee from a slightly waterspotted coffeepot.
I dunno about youse guys.
March 23, 2008
Ugh. I had ONE piece of candy this morning. ONE! And now I’m sick to my stomach. I guess my famed Iron Stomach ain’t what it used to be.
My egg-dying skills, on the other hand, have only improved with age.
Click here for the Wikipedia article on why we dye Easter eggs.
March 14, 2008
Happy Pi Day!
(3/14 is always Pi Day because, for those of you who aren’t math geeks, Pi ≈ 3.14159… and the digits keep on going because π [that should read as 'pi,' if your glyphs aren't working properly] is an irrational number. It’s very useful for figuring out circle measurements like circumference [i.e. how long the pie crust would be if you stretched it out] and area.)
Here’s a song we used to sing for Pi Day in my high school math classes, to the tune of “O Christmas Tree”:
“O number pi, o number pi,
Your digits are unending;
O number pi, o number pi,
No pattern are you sending;
You’re three point one four one five nine,
And even more if we had time;
O number pi, o number pi,
For circle lengths unbending.”
