Hellobee

My husband and I grew up at the south Jersey shore just outside of Atlantic City. We still visit our families there frequently, especially in the summer months, and I’m just now beginning to appreciate our hometown as a tourist destination. Every weekend the joy that fills our toddler on these trips makes it harder and harder to leave. We’ve come to fully recognize our family visits as summer vacation weekends.

When we visit the “shore” we stay in Brigantine NJ. Brigantine is probably most popular for its close proximity to Atlantic City’s Borgata Hotel and Casino, by far the nicest casino the town has to offer (if you’re looking to sneak away from the kids for a date night. I recommend Izakaya for dinner followed by The Gypsy Bar for drinks and live music! They also have a new outdoor concert venue.)

As of this month Brigantine now boasts one of the most awesome playgrounds in the country!!! (That is entirely my opinion.) But seriously, it is my new favorite playground, and we have seen a lot of playgrounds. Brigantine’s Shark Park was recently revitalized post Hurricane Sandy entirely by local volunteer labor. It is fairly huge and completely adorable, with lots of creative touches and so much to climb on, slide on and swing on for kids of all ages.

Roman’s absolute favorite playground activity at the moment is hanging on the monkey bars. With the widest grin on his face he holds on so tight, so full of pride and uncontainable excitement. Climbing up slides comes in second.

My husband and his family are surfers, so now our two year old is too. They own a surf shop called Primal Surf where you can rent boards of all kinds and take lessons, either private adult Stand Up Paddle Board lessons or group surf lessons at their surf school.

At one point on our last visit Roman began chanting “going to the beach, going to the beach” every time we put him in his car seat. (This broke my heart when we were strapping him in his car seat to go back home to Virginia.) Each time we’d drive up to the beach he would point out the window exclaiming, “see the beach! see the beach!” And as soon as he got his feet on the ground he’d run to the water. If there’s a surfboard in sight he pushes it down and tries to hop on.

My husband and his parents strap a life vest on him and take him out on their surfboards to catch waves. He rides them seated or kneeling on the board and rode a wave all by himself for the first time on our last day at the beach, standing up on his own for a couple seconds as the board slowed down approaching the sand.  It was the sweetest thing.

Iris has just started sitting up on her own and finally had a chance to sit at the water’s edge and play in the mud with her brother on this last visit. A weekend of many firsts. It’s amazing to me the way the beach and its breeze seems to calm them.

A four hour drive isn’t a terribly far distance to be separated from the kids’ grandparents, usually I feel guilty for not being closer, but it is also wonderful to pack in lots of quality time on these weekends. I can see already that they’re something extra special for Roman, and I’m happy that we have somewhere to take them for a regular change of pace and scenery.

Things to Do:

If you’re ever in the area, besides water sports and the playground  you can dine casually on the beach at the Laguna Grill, or enjoy burgers and ice cream at the family friendly Richman’s.

On the other side of Atlantic City Ventnor is home to my favorite local lunch spot The Malelani Cafe, and in Margate Steve and Cookies is one of my all time favorite restaurants.

Nearby Ocean City has a boardwalk with carnival rides and Cape May has a zoo (and very adorable beach town of its own worth exploring). There’s really so much to do even in our little southern slice of the Jersey Shore!

Do you ever vacation at the Jersey Shore? What are your favorite spots for weekend get-a-ways? Does your hometown make a great place to visit?