To The Shore, Pt. Pleasant, NJ

Last night was a little scary. Tasha, our cat, was sneezing and itching her nose with her paw which got more and more intense until she kind of went into a ‘fit’ falling on her side with her mouth open and yowling as though she was in great pain. We both soothed her into relaxing and when she was calmer she jumped off the bed, and ate some food. We have a cat First Aid book and after researching anything with those symptoms, I came up with a blank. We will call her vet on Monday.

A beautiful day dawned for a day at the Jersey shore with my cousin, Joan. New Jersey is the one of the only states where people say “I’m going to the shore” instead of “I’m going to the beach”. You also have to pay a fortune for parking and pay $7 per person to get ONTO the beach. Oh, it’s $8 on Sat, Sun and Holidays. I’m not sure what that pays for, but probably helps with the maintenance of the boardwalk, lifeguards and vacuuming the beach. It is really spotless. The many colored umbrellas were at least 12 deep and the water was a gorgeous sapphire blue and relatively calm for the east coast.
The plan was to eat and walk, eat some more and walk a little bit. We arrived around 12 and started working up our appetites by heading south on the boardwalk. We reached the end, turned around and started looking for a perfect spot for lunch. The Boardwalk Bar and Grill had upstairs outdoor tables for a view of the ocean. Gary ordered the soft-shell crab sandwich and Joan and I had turkey clubs. Very good. We needed to start walking again to make room for ice cream on waffles – boardwalk fare for sure. We walked all the way to the other end of the boardwalk, sat a while watching the boats enter and exit the inlet. Two were named after our daughters: Mandy and Michelle. A dredge was working hard collecting sand and water from the bottom, then turning around and dumping it outside the inlet to keep the inlet deep.
OK. It was time to head back and find some ice cream. Joan ordered vanilla and chocolate swirl, Gary ordered a small cone and I ordered the ice cream on a waffle. Thinking it was going to be about 4 inches square, I patiently waited while they made the waffles. I saw her scoop the ice cream, and then she handed me this HUGE 8 inch double waffle dish with four scoops of ice cream in between them. Holy cow! I can’t eat all that! Well, I made a dent in it and Gary helped a little, but we just couldn’t finish it. As far as I was concerned that was definitely enough calories to replace dinner (and probably breakfast, too). It sure was yummy! Well, that will have to suffice until the next boardwalk visit in about 40 years. If I am still walking by then.
We drove our hour and half home without incident, and relaxed because tomorrow is an exciting day for Bella! Be sure to find out what happens!