Archive for Jersey Shore

Sam’s Visit

Posted in Daily Pictures, Friends and Family, Good Times, Vacations with tags , , on August 23, 2011 by Verge

I met Sam back in 2005 or so when I was the manager of Sam Ash and one of my employees, Tom, suggested I give her a job.  She was working at Tower Music with him at the time, and was only 19 years old.  I didn’t know when she walked in for her interview that she would become one of my best friends, that I would care about her so much, that she would become such an important part of Monika’s and my life.

She and her boyfriend drove in from Ohio for a weekend of, well…

They arrived Thursday evening and the first order of business was a stop at Eulogy.

but we soon headed to Triumph across the street for some home made beers

this appears to be a flight of beers, but you'd be foolish to not assume it's actually a round of whiskey shots.

the girls express their fondness

this is Donovan who works with me at Films, and John, the friend that tagged along from Ohio, hanging out on Chestnut Street close to 2 am.

Monika hanging outside with Hurtuk

Sam and Donovan, laughing. Alcohol does that sometimes

Friday morning an immediate trip to LBI was in order. Neither Monika nor I had to work that day, so we headed off early after Cory and Erica arrived.

we went swimming, even though there was a ton of jellyfish, and the storm clouds were rolling in. Got in a decent Frisbee toss as well. The girls did some beach yoga as well.

and then we finally found Lorie, and headed to a local pub for some dinner over a live band.

the six of us had a great afternoon. I hadn't been to LBI in years.

then, that night, we headed to Yakitori Boy for some good old fashioned karaoke! This is the traditional elevevator snapshot.

Sam and Monika sing a along with some Queen

the next morning we met up with Steve and headed to Gloucester City to visit with Sam's family.

Sam made a ton of gifts for everyone. I played football in the front yard until I was covered in sweat.

Saturday night we stopped by my brother's birthday party, but we couldn't stay long because I had a show at the Indian Chief, both of which produced any memorable photos. And then, as crazy as the weekend was, Sunday morning Sam headed off to the speedline to return to Ohio

it's always sad to see her go, and I'll have photos from our Ohio trip hopefully sooner rather than later.

gone...for now

Sam brought us a bunch of hand made gifts and left us with a bunch of memories.  We hope to make more of both with her and Steve for many years to come.

Advertisement

1 Comment »

Last Night of Cape May…Britney Spears

Posted in Daily Pictures, Vacations with tags , , on August 14, 2011 by Verge

Yep, that’s right, you read that correctly.  We headed to Atlantic City to see Britney on our last night of vacation (Britney Spears Atlantic City 8-6-2011).  Now, you might think that it is completely normal for Monika to want to see Britney because, well, that’s the music she grew up on…and it is.  You also might think that my taste in music is questionable for also wanting to see Britney as much as Monika, and I guess that’s kind of valid.  But honestly, I love all kinds of music…yes, even country sometimes.  Britney is a pop superstar.  She is one of, if not the best pop star of my generation.  I’ve never seen her before, and it was a perfect opportunity to close our vacation with a concert in AC.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The concert was wonderful, even though she lip syncs a ton of it.  And even Lady Gaga was there to hang out with all of us.  Our tickets were cheap by today’s standards (62 a piece, compared to the 110 a piece for the Taylor Swift show in Philly the same night), the venue was awesome (Boardwalk Hall, which I had never been to), and we got to see Britney perform 20 or so of our favorite pop songs of the last decade (some of which you can check out here, albeit poor quality).  Well worth the money.

We had car trouble leaving the parking garage at 11 at night, and by the time we got home to Cape May, everyone was asleep.  But one last story.  When we got home, Kreg and Kat were asleep on the couches, not in their bed.  Kreg stirred and got up, clearly confused as to where he was.  As Monika and I began to make ourselves a nightcap, he wandered outside.  I chased after him, knowing that he had no idea he was outside.  I found him trying to get into the pool area, unsuccessfully because he was sleep walking.  He informed me that he was going to the bathroom, which was not in that direction whatsoever.  I laughed my ass off as he fumbled with the gate lock!

Eventually, after I had my hilarious question and answer session with Kreg, I led him back inside to the actual bathroom.  That’s what friends are for right?  Monika and I had a martini and talked about the Britney show for an hour or so while everyone else slept their last night in Cape May.  What a week, and this blog only skimmed the surface.  And we’ll do it again…stay tuned.

Leave a comment »

Cape May Continued…Cape May Winery

Posted in Daily Pictures, Good Times, Vacations with tags , , on August 10, 2011 by Verge

Kreg and Kat came to spend a night or two at the house, to play some pool, swim in the pool, and have some fun…

hmmm...what can we do that might be fun, and involve alcohol?

let's visit a Winery!!!

got us some drinks...for free!

all right, there's not much to say about this photo

this is much more adorable

at Cape May, we were allowed to hang out in the vineyards, and explore the winery

flowers among the grapes

there was a band on the back deck who was quite entertaining

and we hung out there, among the grapevines, in the wind among bamboo from the Atlantic, sipping local spirits...

...among friends

Leave a comment »

Cape May Continued…Cape May Lighthouse

Posted in Daily Pictures, Vacations with tags , , on August 9, 2011 by Verge

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Leave a comment »

Cape May Continued…Turdo Vineyards

Posted in Daily Pictures, Good Times, Vacations with tags , , , on August 8, 2011 by Verge

After visiting the Cape May Lighthouse, we found one of the two local wineries in Cape May, Turdo Vineyards.

Much like Valenzano, the tasting room is around the back of the owners beatiful home.

the tasting room, which came with a rather attractive wine server and a delicious assortment of red wines, and an amazing dessert white.

looking into the vineyards and a sunny, beatiful day...

and looking down the driveway. the tasting room also sold wine by the glass, and had this very quant European-like outdoor cafe.

Leave a comment »

Cape May Continued…Dogfish Head Brewery and Brewpub

Posted in Daily Pictures, Good Times with tags , , , on August 6, 2011 by Verge

Marla and Rob got to leave the kids behind and go for an adult only adventure on Thursday to Delaware

Cape May - Lewes ferry takes your car to Delaware, and has bars on board...and takes credit cards

this is the outside of dogfish head brewery in Milton. It's such a tiny town to have such an awesome place in it. We still hope one day we will get an invite into the treehouse, but I think we'll have to move to Delaware and get a job at the factory, which isn't such a bad idea.

we arrived with no reservation for a tour, but got on the wait list, and had no problem getting in on one of the tours, which is what I kinda expected.

unbeknownst to us, it was International IPA Day. IPA is short for India Pale Ale, my absolute favorite style of beer. It is very hoppy, very bitter, and beautifully delicious.

on tap was 60, 90, and 120 minute IPA, the last of which is extremely rare this year, extremely expensive, and exceptionally tasty. Find some, if you can. Also, they served Burton Baton, poured through Randall the Enamel Animal, which is fresh grown hops, and was also delicious. All for free, too!

the tour of the brewery was just about the same as last time Monika and I visited, but was still pretty interesting. Our tour guide was very animate, and entertaining. This is a shot of the beginning gear of Dogfish Head, and as a home brewer, I really appreciate that this stuff has been saved and turned into a kind of museum at the brewery.

rocked the brewpub in Rehobeth Beach. They have an awesome menu with more vegetarian options that your average brewpub, which we obviously appreciate immensly. And, they have tons of Dogfish Head Beer, which I drank it all!! And we also filled a growler (which I brought from home), and scored a bottle of their Jin and their completey amazing peanut butter Vodka. dropped some cash!

waiting in line for the ride home to Cape May

scored some more beverages on the way home. We went to Delaware on a vassel named the New Jersey, which was relatively ghetto compared to the posh Twin Capes ferry we returned upon.

the top deck was windy and windy, but we got a pretty good view of everything and everyone, including Rob and Marla.

we joined the inside at the bar. An hour and fifteen minutes is a lot of time to party.

which Marla made good use of

but the day came to a close, on our way to Cape May.

Leave a comment »

Cape May Continued…

Posted in Daily Pictures, Good Times with tags , , , on August 3, 2011 by Verge

storm Monday night. I didn't really have a tripod, but I took some bulb exposures anyway, and tried not to let my drunk swagger ruin it too much

this is looking across Delaware Bay (or, essentially, Delaware River) towards Delaware.

the light show was pretty amazing, I just had a hard time holding the camera completely still for 60 second exposures

went to dinner not far from the house, rocked some frozen drinks

with the fam...

and this guy, Sal, who was awesome

we chatted with him after his second set, and ran into him in Cape May the next day while he was driving. hilarious

appetizers

dinner

a rare picture of the author!

Tuesday night we had a bonfire, probably against the wishes of the home owner, but who cares

Monika makin' some smores, but for other people, cause smores aren't vegetarian 😦

went to Cabana's to check out some Cape May Brewery beer. This is all I got, the last half pint in the whole place. But at least I got it for free.

only place in the world to try their inagural beer, but I hope to be able to find it closer to home soon. Not too bad...tasted like my home brew, to tell you the truth.

and we spent the afternoon in downtown Cape May, and managed to not spend too much money, avoided the impending rain, and had a great time.

Leave a comment »

Last Weekend, and the start of Cape May vacation

Posted in Daily Pictures, Good Times with tags , on August 2, 2011 by Verge

Friday Monika and I both got out of work at 2, and headed to Ollie gators to use a gift certificate we had and to start our vacation

at night, we played a show in Philly. It was a great show, due in part to the fact that we actually rehearsed before hand.

before vacation really started, I had one last shift at the Berlin Mart, where only the classiest people shop.

in preparation, I bottled our famous cherry liquor, which is a slight bit bitter this year, but still, no extra sugar needed.

the cape may house...

...

the smoke house

pool and pool and sunset

and some glamour shots

more to come...

Leave a comment »

%d bloggers like this: