Skip to main content

South Jersey: Part one.

Before I start this post on our trip,  let me provide you with a little fun fact about New Jersey and Oregon. This was one of many things I learned this summer. NJ and OR are the only two states in the country where it is illegal to pump your own gas. The law became effective because Legislative members thought it was too dangerous for those who were not properly trained to be handling such flammable liquids. In NJ its has been this way for 57 years. My Grandmother Hall died in her late 80s and story has it she never pumped her own gas. But I can assure you it is not because she thought it was too flammable. Being from the South she told us many times, there were just certain things ladies did not do. I assume pumping her own gas was one of them. She also (story has it) never drove. So if she was not going to be the one driving, she surely was not going to be the one pumping the gas. And why should she? She did, indeed have my Granddaddy Hall to do it for her.

Ok, now... who knew South Jersey was: "cool", beautiful and nothing like any Jersey Reality TV show? Not I. There are unreal sunsets, old cottages, local bars, hot lifeguards, Reggae Sunday nights, the largest liquor store I've ever been in, Wawa's on every corner, cool waters, warm sun and of course salty air.

We came up  to go to this great little music festival.http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1666430/dave-matthews-band-caravan.jhtml It is here we found our new favorite band of the summer: Fitz and the Tantrums-http://fitzandthetantrums.com/.

That weekend we also met great new friends, swam in the Bay, had late night dance parties, rode bikes, went to late night shows at the House of Blues, walked the famous Atlantic City Boardwalk, saw two hookers get yelled at by their pimp, witnessed hundreds of Asian sleeping in lobbies at 3:30 am waiting for a bus to take them back to the city, watched the end of Sunday night show from a beautiful sailboat, missed flights home but drank worries away at Baia for Reggae night.

Here are some photos to help re-cap the weekend:
Driving into Ocean City


This is Oscar, he is the Gleason's pet Seagull. He loves catfood


Music Festival



Bay House Dock


Fitz and the Tantrums

Fitz and the Tantrums

Fitz and the Tantrums



Grace Potter


Michael Franti ( he loves to let people on stage )

View from Hartley




Emily on Hartley

Emily and Brooke at the Bay House

Emily and Cecilia #2

Dance Party in the Bay House

hanging out in Cecilia #2

Brooke and Emily making the best of Reggae night after Em missed her flight

Heading to the House of Blues for the late night show of G. Love 

Brooke riding shotgun in Cecilia #2

There are many treasures to be found at the Bay House


-Emily Ballard

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

rawlee

We might as well tell you some cool stuff about where we live (well, I live here, and its basically Brooke's second home). Little background of Raleigh, NC: 1771- Wake Co was created 1788- Raleigh was named the State Capital .... previously it was New Bern, NC (my home town). The Capitol was moved to Raleigh to centralize it. 1792- Raleigh was officially "established" The City's location ( g'ment stuff) was chosen because of a local tavern called Issac Hunters. Members of the commission were fond of a little pub called Isaac Hunter’s Tavern (located in the vicinity of where Old Wake Forest Road is today), and tasked with resolving this controversial issue, the commissioners gathered at Isaac Hunter's in March of 1792 to work. Ten days later after enjoying the hospitality of the tavern and the nearby home of State Senator Joel Lane, they reported back to the legislature their decision that the new capital should definitely be with

Wild Wild West

Last September I had the pleasure, a rare pleasure, to stay at Bar TT Ranch outside Dillon, Montana. Before arriving at the ranch, we made stops in Jackson and Yellowstone! Ten of us stayed on the ranch, women from all walks of life in Raleigh. However, since it was my birthday, 4 of us flew out a few days early to explore Jackson and Yellowstone! I could not have asked for a better way to turn 35. Sally , Alice and Sharon are all living & working in Raleigh to create, build and give back to our community. All three of them have inspired me to not only be better but to do better! We flew into Jackson with the Grand Tetons greeting us with their jagged points. We popped in Liberty Burger for beers and burgers before walking the town to shop. I purchased an ornament and the best sunscreen, Trilipiderm . It's fresh smelling, not sticking and very light! To get a better view of the range, we went to Teton Village for a gondola ride. Gondola rides to the top were official

RVA

Richmond hasn't ever really been on my mind as a place to visit, but this past weekend I met two of my best girls there and we had the best time!  We stayed at the Quirk hotel and it was colorful, spunky, chill vibes and good customer service. We loved the high ceilings throughout, all the artwork in the rooms and murals in the elevator. There was grand lobby, with the most adorable courtyard with string lights and vines of jasmine with lots of potted flowers... it smelled devine!  Quick also has an onsite art gallery + pretty snazzy gift shop. There faux floral designs throughout the lobby were like works of art!  Brie's cousin and his husband live in RVA, so we have our own private tour guides! Friday afternoon we wandered around VA Museum of Fine Art and saw work from Beauford Delaney, Julie Mehretu, Helen Frankenthaler, Jackson Pollock, Andy Warhol, Sari, Dienes, Dorothy Gillespie, Roy Lichtenstein, Henrique Oliveira, Dale Chihuly and so many others!  Much to our delight,