A Traditional New Years in Avalon...

Once again our annual trip to Avalon NJ over New Year's has come and gone in the blink of an eye. We started going to Avalon around 2002 (I think) and though 1 or 2 New Year's Eves have been spent elsewhere, its our "official" place to ring in the New Year. Though the people involved change from year to year, there has been a constant attendance with both us and the Adams'...

This year was a little bit different. To start off with, the guy we have rented 65 E 28th St from called to say there was a renting issue and he was going to put us in a new place. It was bigger, he said, still oceanfront and he would be charging the same price. I was initially nervous despite his claims...I mean, we've been going to the same house all these years and, well, I like that house! Its part of the tradition. But...our new home--92 E 23rd Street--proved to be a crowd pleaser. It was eerily similar to the old place in layout and decor...in fact, the coffee table proved to be the same one we danced on top of about 4 years ago. But it was bigger and better for sure, and we were all quite happy with it.

This year our guests included my college roommate Crystal, her husband Eric, and their 2 kids (Tyler-7, and Aedan-8mo.) In past years we've been joined by the Riefers, random friends of Ray and Nancy, and my sister and Shawn. Every year the dynamic is different depending on who is with us, but there are certain things that are always the same...the beach walks, salad bowl game, Gabe sleeping in til all hours, road trips, zoo trips, and Cape May seafood. So, without further ado, here are the highlights of Avalon 2008-2009...

* Beachwalks. There were fewer of these for multiple reasons this year. One, it was freaking cold. Yeah, I know--New Jersey in January, duh. But we've always seemed to get unseasonably warm weather--not so this year. Still, with the exception of Friday, we had sunshine and moderate wind (as opposed to rip-your-head-off wind.) The second reason was due to our kids. Certain days it was too cold for the babies, and of course there had to be working around the naps and meals. Nancy and I did get one child-free beach walk in..

* Games. Games of the New Year included Partini (the new favorite, despite the cheating guys team), Scrabble, Scattergories, the old stand-by Salad Bowl Game (insert lewd salad tossing jokes here) and surprise hit "Sequence".

* Cape May County Zoo. We had a beautiful (but cold) day for the zoo this year, and sadly most of the animals were inside. Nonetheless we enjoyed ourselves, and G3 wildly called each and every animal "Horsey"...everything from camels to buffalo.

* Ship Abandoners. For reasons that are too long to go into here, Ray had to work on Saturday, which meant he had to leave at the crack of dawn on Saturday a.m. At the last minute his loyal wife decided to trek home with him vs trying to hitch a ride with the Walker family. There was much ado about this on Friday night as we tried in vain to convice the Adams to stay in any way possible. Bribes were offered, guilt-tripping was tried, consequences--such as losing out on a day's worth of rent--were laid out. It is believed that Ray had much fun pretending to consider Gabe's many arguments and offers, but when it was all said and done, the Adams packed up and left Saturday before the sun was up. I for one was very sad about this--it definitly felt strange without them there and hopefully this unfortunate event will not occur again!!!!

* Boys Day/Girls Day. Gabe and I had a gift card to the Borgata (casino in Atlantic City) and so a much talked about trip to AC for the boys occured. They left around 2pm and returned around 8...some of them drunk, none of them rich. Us girls, in turn, had a great afternoon of game playing, wine drinking, and a beachwalk after the snow stopped (yes, snow!! First time ever at Avalon!!) It should be noted that our beautiful beach house came with a white carpet (really, who puts WHITE carpet in a rental property?) and the things spilled on it included strawberry yogurt (G3...several times), puke (baby Aedan), and a full glass of red wine (Pance.) Fortunately through the magic of Resolve and Crystal's cleaning skills, we managed to leave no trace of these mishaps.

* Sunset Beach. On our last day, we left the house around 4pm to drive about 20 minutes to Sunset Beach in Cape May to watch the sun dip below the horizon. I believe this is supposed to be the easternmost point of the country (??) or something like that. As we've done in the past, we went the wrong way and ended up at a different beach...one with a wonderful view and lots of people, but not the "real" Sunset Beach. We made it in the nick of time and spent about 7.3 minutes there because, once again, it was COLD!!

The real Sunset Beach...as viewed from the random beach we were on...

The beach we were on...nothing to cry about.

* Food. Yep, a whole paragraph about food. We had some standout meals--though with an average of 5 meals a day it was bound to happen. Notable cusine included: Gabe's salmon, Nancy's twice baked potatos, bean dip, deviled eggs, and stuffed mushrooms, and Eric's PSU appetizer of tomatoes, mozzerella, onion and some type of meat drizzled with balsamic and served with some "moist and delectable" bread with olive oil for dipping. (Can you tell which was my favorite?) Our final meal of Omaha steaks and veggies was also great. We had an insane amount of food this year--as well as an insane amount of alcohol; I do believe this is the first year we didn't have to make 1 or more liquor/beer store runs...and that wasn't for lack of drinking either!!

* G3. My little man did awesome. I'd be lying if I said I didn't fret about things before we got there such as "will he sleep?" and "will he nap?" and "will he get up in the middle of the night?" (notice a theme?) But--he did awesome!! NO issues with bedtime or napping, and for the most part he was really well behaved, which of course makes me feel like I must be doing something right. He was totally enamored with his buddy Tyler, and spent a lot of time laughing and "wrestling" with him. He was much less interested in poor baby Aedan, going as far as to rip a few toys from him and tell him "NO!!" (time-outs were received for this behavior.) He didn't eat that well, and his relentless obsession with turning the television on and off was obnoxious at best. But overall he was a trooper and (I hope) the kind of kid other people don't mind having around:) I will probably write more about his reactions to the beach, etc when I do his monthly letter in a few days...

* Other interesting points to note...I met my match in Red Bull consumption through Eric...we all agreed the plumbing at the house was less than desirable...Tyler has more energy than any other human being on the planet!...Nancy can apparently pick locks, adding to her multitude of talents which also includes hair-cutting and culinary skills...Ray stayed awake til AFTER midnight on New Years Eve this year...and had to go back to bed after rising the next morning, something that has never happened before!...Gabe's dream of flying a kite on the beach was not meant to be...

Overall--a wonderful trip. And for as long in coming as our arrival seemed to be, it was over before I knew it, and we were pulling out of the driveway and embarking on the 3 hour trip home. We will definitely look forward to another year in Avalon...but until then, a few pictures...