I’m a Jersey girl. I grew up in a small town in central New Jersey called Roosevelt not far from the Jersey shore and I will always have a special place in my heart for the beach. Last week, for my birthday, my husband Andy and I went to the Jersey Shore for a quick overnight visit. The beach was all that I remember. I love the smell of the sea, the sound of the waves and the feeling of squishing my toes in the sand. I LOVE the Jersey Shore!
Our usual spot is Manasquan but there aren’t as many choices for short-term lodging so we went to the next-south town of Point Pleasant. What’s nice about Point Pleasant is they have a mid-size boardwalk with lots of rides and lots of great junk food. Jersey pizza, frozen custard, hand-cut French fries and fresh-squeezed lemonade are my favs—try as I might I didn’t get to eat all of them in such a short trip. But I did enjoy seafood at a restaurant by the docks and I had pizza and the creamsicle version of frozen custard—swirled orange and vanilla—on the boardwalk. Indeed all my senses were happy at the Jersey Shore. It was a magical trip.
4th Of July, Asbury Park (Sandy) by Bruce Springsteen
Sandy, the fireworks are hailin’ over Little Eden tonight
Forcin’ a light into all those stony faces left stranded on this warm July
Down in the town, the Circuit’s full of switchblade lovers, so fast, so shiny, so sharp
As the wizards play down on Pinball Way on the boardwalk way past dark
And the boys from the casino dance with their shirts open like Latin lovers on the shore
Chasin’ all them silly New York virgins by the score
And Sandy, the aurora is rising behind us
This pier lights our carnival life forever
Oh, love me tonight, for I may never see you again
Hey, Sandy girl
My, my, baby
Now, the greasers, ah, they tramp the streets or get busted for sleeping on the beach all night
Them boys in their high heels, ah, Sandy, their skins are so white
And me, I just got tired of hangin’ in them dusty arcades, bangin’ them pleasure machines
Chasin’ the factory girls underneath the boardwalk where they all promise to unsnap their jeans
And you know that tilt-a-whirl down on the south beach drag
I got on it last night and my shirt got caught
And they kept me spinning, babe, didn’t think I’d ever get off
Oh, Sandy, the aurora is rising behind us
This pier lights our carnival life on the water
Runnin’, laughin’ ‘neath the boardwalk, ah, with the boss’s daughter
I remember, Sandy, girl
Na, na, na, na, na, baby
Sandy, that waitress I was seeing lost her desire for me
I spoke with her last night, she said she won’t set herself on fire for me anymore
She worked that joint under the boardwalk, she was always the girl you saw boppin’ down the beach with the radio
The kids say last night she was dressed like a star in one of them cheap little seaside bars, and I saw her parked with lover boy out on the Kokomo
Did you hear the cops finally busted Madame Marie for tellin’ fortunes better than they do
For me this boardwalk life is through, babe
You ought to quit this scene too
Sandy, the aurora is rising behind us
This pier lights our carnival life forever
Oh, love me tonight and I promise I’ll love you forever
Oh, I mean it, Sandy, girl
My, my, my, my, my baby
Yeah, I promise, Sandy, girl
Sha, la, la, la, la, baby
XOXO Rachel
Wondrance 