Observations from the Shore 7.26

One of the things I love about Stone Harbor is its total lack of a boardwalk. I suppose I enjoyed them as a child but as I got older and saw the darker side of life they just started to give me the feeling of being trapped in some kind of ocean side freak show. I do still like to ride a bike on them in the morning though I tend to ride too fast and so get dirty looks as I weave around people. But late in the evening they get too loud, too crowded, and too damn bright which taken together is the exact opposite of why I come down here.

I’ve been coming to Stone Harbor for twenty years and there are so many places that I have gone to for most of them, another reason I feel so comfortable here. I can spend hours wandering the tiny downtown area and than do it all over again the next night. Yes I said downtown, two blocks by three blocks and that is what we call it so that's what it is. Even better is to walk down the empty main street after a sunrise beach walk and smell the sticky buns baking at the bread shop. The street just fills with the scent of sticky and cinnamon buns fresh out of the oven. I’ve already stayed in Wildwood, about twenty minutes to the south, and driven up in the morning just for that.

Mimi's and the adjacent Suncatcher Surf Shop is a spot where I could spend any amount of time and money. I don’t like to pay an outrageous amount on clothes that aren’t made out of leather but something about the selection at Mimi's sets off my deeply buried feminine genes and I want it all. The Suncatcher has anything surf related and has the largest selection of surf-ts I have ever seen anywhere. I probably own more t-shirts from here than anyplace outside of State College.

Than there is Fred's, Fred's Tavern and Liquor store, a place for which I have no words. Fred's is one of those dark bars that let you forget its daylight outside until you stumble out the door into the afternoon sun. It's always my first stop when I arrive in town and this trip was no different. To my surprise Fred's had been newly renovated or what passes for renovation at Fred's. It is the same big square room with its big square bar and the liquor store through a door in the wall but with new tables, chairs, and other such decorative things that the regulars seem to abhor. What I found awesome was the new TouchTunes jukebox which will run playlists you can upload from your cell phone. Something I could cause some real damage with.

I have been drinking at Fred's longer than anybody in my family cares to remember. I think because it's easy to get served when you are tall and look like you might freak without a drink, some things never change.

The Black Eyed Peas - Pump It

A totally unrelated note, my current must have is the just released Motorola Droid3 with a dual-core 1 GHz processor, 4" hi-def screen, full html browser, and numbers on the keyboard!