So you want to know what else there is to do at the Jersey Shore besides visiting Point Pleasant Beach? Well, this vacation, we had some overcast weather, creating a perfect reason to seek out other locales along the shore for entertainment.
Our first stop was Atlantic City. Only an hour from Point Pleasant, we decided that a day of gambling and boardwalk fun would be nice. Besides, it was sunny down there and cloudy in Point Pleasant and if it got too hot, the hotel casinos had plenty of air conditioning. This made Atlantic City the perfect choice for our first journey. We walked the boardwalk for a bit and then headed over to Bally’s Wild West casino to play the slots. I had a whole lot of fun playing the new Alien penny slot machine. It’s a video slot with tons of fun bonuses to win. I made the $20.00 I put in that machine last me an hour. I also played some of the nickel and quarter slots – nothing higher if I wanted to keep my shirt. I made out nicely, winning back any money I had lost on a Wild Cherries quarter slot. So much fun!
After playing the slots, we were hungry. I admit, this probably wasn’t the best idea, but our first stop was the candy shop where we purchased peanut butter cups, chocolate covered cherries, licorice, almond chocolate bark with raisins and received a free bag of salt water taffy. Then it was on to real food. We stopped off at the Hard Rock Café. Now, this is an interesting restaurant to eat in. The walls are covered with rock and roll music memorabilia. There are numerous screens showing videos of rock and roll greats. The food is amazing – they have the best burgers – with tons of variety to choose from. After walking off the food on the boardwalk, we headed home, full and financially stable.
Our next adventure took us to Seaside Heights, an interesting shore community. While the Jenkinson’s Boardwalk at Point Pleasant Beach is mostly family oriented, Seaside Heights’ boardwalk is a mix of fun and games and bar life. There are all of the usual boardwalk games – wheels of fortune, water games, etc. – and an amusement park filled with rides such as ferris wheels, roller coasters, and more, including some truly scary rides I would never set foot on. There’s even a water park filled with water slides, dancing fountains, hot springs and more. The nightlife must be fun since most of the bars on the boardwalk boasted of $1 beers during happy hour. Twenty dollars would buy me enough beers to get ha-ha-happy and still leave me enough money to eat. And eat you will, because the Seaside Heights boardwalk is chock-full of eateries. Seaside Heights is the first place I had ever eaten a fried Oreo and you had better believe that we stopped and picked one up after a couple of burgers and some slamming lemonade from an eatery located in the center of the boardwalk.
But before you think our trip to Point Pleasant Beach was about traveling to other points on the New Jersey Shore, get that idea right out of your head. Most of our time was spent in Point Pleasant, enjoying the boardwalk, laying out on the beach, enjoying the pool and just simply relaxing. We did have quite a good deal of exercise as we decided that all points visited in Point Pleasant would be done without the use of a car. Why waste gas when you can walk, right?
One of our dinner journey’s led us about a mile and a half from the Windswept Motel to a little shack-like restaurant on Broadway called Spike’s Fish Market. From the outside, the place doesn’t look like much, but man, what a find this place was! The menu is filled with fresh seafood. There is no seafood you won’t find on the menu – crab, lobster, scallops, shrimp, oysters, mussels, flounder, you name it! I was even able to get my favorite – broiled swordfish. The swordfish had just a hint of sauce and a ton of great flavor. I was disappointed when I finished the large portion of swordfish – it was so good, I wanted more. And get this – Spike’s will cook your fish however you like it – broiled, baked, sautéed, etc. Their clam chowder is phenomenal – one of the best I’ve ever eaten. And their desserts! I had a cappuccino mousse pie that was simply delectable. We loved our first visit so much that we went back for more. On my second visit, I just had to try the crab cakes. These, too, were extremely tasty – huge chunks of real crab mixed in with spices and breading. Delicious! On the way home, we stopped in and picked up some crab cakes and clam chowder to go. By the way, they don’t call it a fish market for nothing. You can pick up fresh fish every day at Spike’s Fish Market.
So, there are a few of my favorite places visited this year at the Jersey Shore. Stop by and have some fun. Fill up on some seafood and boardwalk fare. Just keep walking/swimming to work off the pounds the scrumptious food will pack on. Enjoy!
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