Since Jessa texted last night and said she wouldn't be able to take us to the Shore until later, we decided to take advantage of the downtime and check out the Oaklyn Town-Wide Yard Sale. Considering it was starting to shower lightly even as we got out the door, there were quite a few sales around. Lauren found a really nice purple long-sleeved shirt. I bought tasty tart lemonade in pouches with straws for Lauren and me from an enterprising young lady.
We strolled into Collingswood for the Saturday farm market. They were surprisingly busy, even with the ongoing showers. Cherries, peas, radishes, and cucumbers debuted this week. Lauren didn't get anything, but I couldn't resist the first cherries of the season.
My original thought for lunch was Sabrina's Cafe, but they had a long line when we arrived. There was no line - or anyone else - at Paloma Restaurant, the new Mexican place across the street. She had fried potatoes and an omelette with farm-fresh veggies. I had the churro French toast with strawberries, blueberries, and bananas. It was much better than the soggy French toast I had here on Easter. They didn't overdo the syrup this time.
Since we already explored Collingswood, we headed back towards Oaklyn after lunch, cutting through Newton Lake Park. I was glad to see that the playground equipment is done there, too, even if today was hardly the right weather for using it. The rest of the park is looking pretty good, too. Vibrant emerald green leaves shaded us from the worst of the weather. The mulberry trees are bearing fruit now, too. We passed by several laden with berries as we headed down to the White Horse Pike.
I wanted to go that way because I needed to stop at Dollar General. I got a larger pack of batteries, so I don't run out again, and more of that limeade drink mix. Lauren got an energy drink. Other than a long line, we were in and out.
Jessa texted and said she'd pick us up at 1:30. We had time before we left for the Shore to relax and watch Remember WENN. Hilary is "The Diva Who Wouldn't Die" when Dusty Foxx (Rue McClanahan) drops her character from The Hands of Time in favor of Hilary doing a gossip show, From Hilary's Booth. The show is a failure when all of Hilary's gossip is about her, prompting her to do whatever she can from being killed off on her favorite soap opera!
It was closer to 2 when Jess finally arrived. We were originally going to the Cape May County Park and Zoo in Cape May Court House before heading to Cape May, but first of all, Jess missed the turn-off. Second, even if she hadn't, the zoo closes at 4:30. By the time we made it down there, we would have had a half-hour to walk around a sprawling complex. We ended up going straight to Cape May instead.
Jessa drove us briefly down to Cape May Point to see the lighthouse and World War II watch tower before returning to the Washington Street Mall. She couldn't find anywhere to park in that mess but a spot on West Perry, a block from Swain's Hardware and the big mini-golf course. Every single parking lot was full to capacity, even the ones next to Collier's Liquor Store.
I led the duo past Wilbraham Park, the sliver of greenery where the Gazebo is and the Halloween Parade starts to the Washington Street Mall. Since we were on the Mall, I thought we could eat at the Ugly Mug. This local watering hole is so named for the many, many mugs hanging over its ancient bar. It's narrow and dark in there, with heavy wood paneling and low lighting. Mom worked here as a chef in the mid-80's, and Dad hung out at the bar until we moved to North Cape May in 1994.
There's a reason the place is so popular. The food is genuinely good, and the portions are huge. Jess had a bratwurst and sauerkraut sandwich. I had a massive local fried flounder on a bun with lettuce, tomato, onion, and house-made tartar sauce. Lauren had an enormous Caesar Salad. Lauren's salad was too big to finish, but the rest of us ate all of ours.
I wasn't going to let us leave the Washington Street Mall without hitting up the Fudge Kitchen for treats. Though the people giving out free fudge samples weren't around today, there were plenty of goodies lined up inside. It's exactly the same as it was when I was a kid, rows and rows of chocolates, coconut macaroons, salt water taffy, Irish potatoes, many different types of fudge, and novelty candies lined up on shelves and a long counter in a narrow room. We even got to see a guy start to make fudge in a big copper kettle in the front window. I ended up with small containers of two favorites, mini coconut macaroons and mini fruit slices.
We were in and out of stores for the next hour. None of us bought anything at the humor-related store. I mostly just wanted to show the girls the Toy Company and the Zoo Company, where many of my childhood toys came from. I looked over the Cape Atlantic Book Store at the mini-mall, but didn't get anything. I don't know if the girls got anything at Dellas 5 & 10, but I picked up a Cape May t-shirt. We jumped into the bathrooms behind the lingerie shop before heading back.
At least the weather had suddenly started to cooperate. It showered off and on during the ride down to the Shore. By the time we hit Court House, the sun had started to come out. It fully emerged when we hit Cape May, and stayed out for the rest of the evening.
It was past 7 when we returned to Jess' car. Wildwood is best at night, anyway. We took the Garden State Parkway up to the turn-off to Wildwood, passing the Snow clams cannery and the marshes where many local families (including mine) go crabbing, before heading over the George Washington Bridge to Rio Grande Avenue. I got to point out the massive pink and turquoise WaWa where I used to meet visitors when I lived in Wildwood. My apartment was behind a building on a one-way street, and it was just easier to meet people who were unfamiliar with the area at a giant pink and turquoise 50's-themed convenience store.
Jess had an even harder time finding a place to park in Wildwood. She drove up and down Atlantic Avenue (allowing me to briefly point out where I used to live on Montgomery in the early 2000's) before finally settling on the lot behind the Gateway 26 Arcade in North Wildwood. I even gave her the money for it.
There are tons of arcades on the Wildwood Boardwalk, but Gateway 26 is the cheapest, and one of the largest. They're the only arcade left on the boardwalk - and maybe in New Jersey - that still have 25 cent cranes. In addition to the usual array of stuffed animals representing Stitch, Spongebob, Squishmallows, and whatever else is cool this summer, there were a lot of cranes with stuffed seagulls holding fries in their beaks. Someone who makes the stuffies around here has a sense of humor. I kept trying for one, and didn't get a keychain version until I did the five dollar "play until you win" crane. (And eventually gave the keychain seagull to Lauren, who came away with nothing.) I naturally had to play ski ball, too, and they still have the old wooden machines in the back where you roll the blue rubber ball into holes and light up card suites.
Jessa wanted Kohr's Ice Cream back at Cape May, but I pointed out that there's a Kohr's on every block in Wildwood. Lauren didn't want any, but Jess had a vanilla cone with sprinkles, and I ended up with a chocolate-peanut butter swirl with chocolate peanut butter. I thought it would be less messy to have it in a cup...but they gave me so much, it still overflowed and ended up on my hands. Good thing I always bring wet wipes with me.
Though it was past 9 and we really didn't have the time for rides, we did explore a couple of stores. I found a really nice yellow "Endless Summer" Wildwood t-shirt on the clearance rack at one store for $4. I kept trying to talk the girls into playing water gun games, but they get expensive at night, and I don't think anyone wanted to compete with one another.
I finally won a larger stuffed seagull at Mariner's Arcade near the entrance to Mariner's Landing. This was a really unique one, a pizza-delivery seagull with a box representing real-life boardwalk pizza parlor Sam's Pizza who was eating his own wares. I did get him, but the box got stuck on the claw! Jess had to go get one of the guys to retrieve him.
We left shortly after that. Jess meant well, but to tell the truth, it was past 10 when we left, and neither Lauren nor I were up to singing Brittany Spears and Christmas carols when the signal for her cell phone (and her music) gave out as we passed through the Pine Barrens. I wasn't really up to arguing over why I don't drive with her, either. (I can't focus well enough to drive. I don't trust myself on the road behind an enormous vehicle that could potentially hurt someone if misused.)
Took a shower when we got in, then finished the night with the last hour or so of tonight's Match Game marathon. The theme tonight was episodes that were either filmed right before or right after the end of a season or a hiatus. I did get to see two nighttime shows that were done as season finales, one of the last with Richard before he left in 1978, and the one with Pat Moriata in 1976. (The latter is apparently set to premiere on Buzzr soon.)
Find out how Match Game went on its own vacation in this hilarious marathon!
Oh, and here's tonight's Musical Dreams Movie Reviews review!
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