#nj beaches

[journey-to-balance]

The world is increasingly designed to depress us. Happiness isn't very good for the economy. If we were happy with what we had, why would we need more?

For example, how would they sell us an anti-aging moisturizer, if they didn't make us worry about ageing? How would they get people to vote for this or that political party, if they didn't first stoke our existential fears? How would they get us to buy insurance, if they didn't make us worry about everything? How would they convince us to undergo plastic surgery, if not by highlighting our physical flaws? How would they persuade us to watch a TV show, if not by making us worry about missing out? How would they get us to upgrade our smartphone, other than by making us feel like we were being left behind?

To be calm under endless persuasion, manipulation, propaganda, commercialism and programming becomes modern day society's revolutionary act. To be happy with our own non-constantly upgraded existence, to be comfortable with our real, sometimes messy, yet authentic human selves, would not be good for business.

Friend, your authenticity alone is a powerful healing force. Just by showing up and existing, you are doing your part. People will either feel inspired, enamored, threatened, or triggered by your natural state - and none of it will have anything to do with you.

Be more interested in how your life feels to you, than in how it looks, or rather, how it's perceived by others.

I like to switch things up in order to keep myself motivated to complete my morning daily exercises, so today I opted to trade the woodland trails for New Jersey's sand dunes. While summer is the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about the beach, winter can offer many unique gifts as well.

From December until March happens to be seal migration time and Sandy Hook National Seashore offers nature enthusiasts a dramatic show. Although harbor seals are the most common, grey seals and harp seals occasionally make their appearance as well. Sea dogs, as these gentle creatures are often referred to, can be seen on sandbars, rocks, and islands along the beach.

So whether you're a dog of the canine variety or a sea dog or an adult looking to escape society's noise, the beach in winter offers its own kind of healing to nurture and soothe the soul.

From me to you, I hope these photos bring you a little bit of joy, calm and peace, too.

God bless...Your friend, sincerely, Maritza Alvarez

[lordofthemaps]

APB, CALLING ALL OFMD GIRLIES!

See this robe? Do you live in/around New Jersey, specifically south Jersey, near Manahawkin/LBI? Do you want to help a fellow OFMD fan out?

Here’s the story: I bought my grandma an EXACT replica of this robe for Christmas this past year.

My grandma never saw OFMD, but she was declining in health to the point that some days she couldnt change out of her PJs; she hated feeling “unkempt”, so I wanted to gift her something that she’d feel pretty in, even on days she didn’t have the energy to put on real clothes.

When I found the replica of this robe, I knew it had to be hers. It is GORGEOUS, lovely velvet, heavy material, was supremely comfortable.

This robe delivered in spades in making my grandma feel good about herself, all the way until her final day. She sadly passed away a few weeks ago.

After mourning her, my aunt (her caretaker) asked if I wanted a sentimental keepsake from her home. I immediately remembered the robe and asked if I could have it, as it brought my grandma so much joy, and it would be nice to wear it and think of her.

Unfortunately, all of my grandmas clothes had already been donated… including this robe.

I don’t know where for sure the robe was donated to, BUT realistically, it’s at the Good Will in Manahawkin, NJ.

I live out of state, and sadly won’t be back any time soon…but if anyone who lives in the area happens to stumble across it and return it to me, I would be FOREVER grateful!

THANK YOU!

[head-vampire]

Castle Dracula (1978) Brochure

Wildwood, NJ

Source

[shelovesplants]

The edge of the ocean 🌊🌞🩷

[firechilde]

Is it me or does Nico seem like he’s over this hiking trip?

[tenthsfreezeout]

sluttiest bruce springsteen album tournament, round 1 🎸

Only the Strong Survive (2022) vs Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. (1973)

Do I Love You (Indeed I Do): “I’ll fill your heart with ecstasy / Darling”

🎸🎤🪗🎷🥁🎵🎹🎻

Spirit in the Night: “And she kissed me just right like only a lonely angel can / She felt so nice, just as soft as a spirit in the night”

[eregyrn-falls-art]

[ID. A video of the ocean at sunrise, following the progress of a group of dolphins. End ID.]

Long Beach Island, NJ - Sunrise with dolphins 10/05/24

And finally, to cap off the week's sunrises and sunsets, a video of the dolphins on the last morning, cutting through the sunrise-lit waters and feasting on bluefish, striped bass, and others!

[histhoughtslately]

📍Soaking up the salty cool air in Lavalette, NJ…

#shorething

[mattaytchtaylor]

Rooftop sunset

[ntls-24722]

Alright! so I put a greyscale filter on my computer, i picked a bunch of rainbow palettes, i painted this. At the time of this posting i still have not taken off the filter, so let me just hope that this does not look like shit!!!!

Cole has had his umbra for over 50 years and supervillains only came around at the very beginning of this year. I imagine he was just chilling near or on NJ beaches n boardwalks as Bigfoot for decades bc he gets to goof off and collect little critters in a dress and have no one recognize him as Cole

[sapphicsea-witch]

Misty morning beach yoga bliss 🧘‍♀️

[chocolatecakecas]

everybody shut up it's bruce springsteen season. roll down your windows and drive really fast down some road in new jersey

[newjerseyisthebest]

View of the beach from the Sky Ride at Seaside Heights, New Jersey.

[head-vampire]

Castle Dracula (1988)

Wildwood, NJ

Photography by Alan Shoesmith

Source

[alex51324]

Beach Report! Part 1

OK, so this was a trip to Wildwood & Cape May, New Jersey, in late October of 2024.

We drove down on Friday, arriving at the shore about two-ish. We stopped at a place called Hereford Inlet for our first look at the ocean!

Here it is!

We walked over to the Hereford Lighthouse where they have these old lifeboats for kids to climb on:

And confirmed that, as I suspected, Sophie would not be participating in any boat-based excursions:

This was as far as she would come into the boat that was sitting on completely dry land and had the side cut down to be easy to get into.

The little lighthouse/museum was closed, but we walked around a bit:

The we walked on the beach! I found this mysterious object:

Which it turns out is a whelk egg casing.

It was low tide so the beach was very broad and had huge tidepools; here we are standing with our back to the ocean looking at a big tidepool:

This is where Sophie made the discovery that sometimes water here is salty.

Onward!

Here's where I walked out onto a jetty and got splashed with water:

Then the motel! It's a very old-school boardwalk-adjacent motel, which the proprietors were trying to make look fancier than it is.

The ramp there leads up to the boardwalk, and you can walk under it to get to the beach.

We were in the cheapest rooms they have, which are in a little building in the back:

They originally gave us one on the top floor, but Sophie thought the stairs were scary, so I asked to switch to a ground-floor one.

The room was pretty nice--very clean, some nice details--but tiny. We're standing in the doorway here; that's what the blue vertical lines on either side are.

You get a microwave and minifridge there in the unit under the TV, though.

But the bathroom...

I guess they picked that sink thinking it would be an updated, modern look, but it does not fit in this space--I am not a large person, and I had to turn sideways to fit through this gap. A normal pedestal sink would work a lot better.

Anyway, I see why people who are paying high-season prices for this place are a little less-than-completely satisfied. But for an off-season bargain at one of the few boardwalk hotels that takes dogs, I thought it was pretty good.

Anyway, let's go under the boardwalk and to the beach!

The ocean is very big:

Other boardwalk hotels, most of them shut for the season:

To one side of the hotel there is a roller coaster and go-kart track--also shut:

To the other side is a place called Seaport Pier, which is a restaurant and nightclub with live music, and under the motel is a video arcade--fortunately, all shut. I don't think I'd have much fancied this location in the season, but it was peaceful in October--not to mention unseasonably warm--and I kind of liked getting the retro-kitsch vibe without the noise. (I took a bunch of vaguely arty shots of the roller coaster; you'll be seeing it again.)

We left the beach through a different boardwalk underpass and went back to the motel on the surface streets; here we saw some giraffes at a (shut) mini-golf place:

Most of the neighborhood around the motel was these townhouse/duplex things, that were all almost identical, and weirdly massive. I guess they probably had four units in each, I don't know. That's one of them behind the little yellow hut there. For several blocks, everything that wasn't a tourist-oriented business was one of those.

We left the motel to go to a place called Sunset Beach, where you can watch the sunset over the Delaware Bay. It's not everywhere that you can see the sunset over the waters of the Atlantic Ocean on the US side, so that's neat!

The object out there is the concrete ship Atlantus, which has been gradually falling apart out there for almost a hundred years.

This was one of my favorite activities of the weekend; the weather was absolutely gorgeous, and there were just enough people--a few dozen, spread out over the whole beach--to make it feel like a communal experience.

Sophie liked the beach and meeting people, but she was a little wary of the ocean itself. Here is photo evidence of her being very brave:

The sun continues to set:

There it goes!

The colors were even better than this in person; my phone camera is not great for this sort of thing.

After the sunset I poked around a couple of little gift shops near there, and then took advantage of certain ways in which the laws of New Jersey differ from those of my home state:

Luckily, I had the motel's rooftop deck to myself:

Coming back down from the deck, I spent a while trying to decide if this splotch of paint is intentionally supposed to look like a jellyfish-or-something:

Never quite came to a conclusion. There was another splotch that looked like it was maybe supposed to be a seashell but had mostly worn away, and then two others that were clearly just splotches. It's a mystery!

So that wrapped up the first night of Beach Vacation 2024.

[icantalk710]

Happy place at the beach today 😌 (before getting bold enough to get the buns out, but hey when in clothing-optional Rome with friends for the first time 🙈😅)