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Pizza The Size Of A Jeep Wrangler
My grandma and Mike now have leftovers for 2 weeks, courtesy of 3 Brothers Pizza. The skies are still not opening up here in New Jersey, except to let a few pockets of sunlight through or to sprinkle down some rain. I don't really care though. I came here to see family, regardless of what the temperature is. Last night my cousin Mike, Grandma and I went out to dinner at this Italian restaurant and bar called Pete and Elda's. Great place. We sat at the bar because the place was packed, which was surprising because the "season" for the Jersey Shore really doesn't start till the end of June. A lot of the people in there were college kids who just got out of school, saw some University of Delaware hoodies and such. Food was amazing. I ordered manicotti, Grandma had beer, and Mike had a mushroom pizza. He let me try a slice and although it was extremely thin, which I am not too keen on, it was still pretty damn good. After dinner, Mike and I went up to Freehold to visit with my Uncle Bob and Aunt Laurie. It was great because my other cousin Anne was down from Hoboken, so I was glad to see her. We all just sat
Bradley Beach Country Club
Miniature golf on the boardwalk. I was the Chi Chi Rodriguez of this course back in the day. in their house and talked for awhile, which isn't too exciting, but when you only see these people once a year maybe, then you don't really care what you are doing, just as long as you are with them. Mike and I left, he dropped me off back at Grandma's and I went to bed.
Today was Yard Sale Day in Bradley Beach. People in town just set up shop in their front yards and sell whatever junk they want to get rid of. I thought this whole spectacle sounded like a cool idea, I am a sucker for small towns like I said, but I opted to sleep in and eat breakfast. Mike came over and Grandma, Aunt Marilyn, and me went to one of my top 5 favorite restaurants, Ollie Klein's in Belmar. Its located on an river that goes into the ocean, so you can sit on an outdoor patio and watch the bridges raise and the boats travel beneath them. Unfortunately, the weather was windy and rainy, so we had to sit inside. I had the flounder and it was delicious. How could it not be? They probably caught that flounder an hour before I
Surfers Turn Lemons Into Lemonade
Even though there was a storm, surfers took advantage of it. There was a guy surfing in this photo, but he was a jerk and had to wipe-out as I took it. ate it right off some boat a couple miles away.
After lunch, Mike and I went to Target so I could buy a bike lock to wrap around my backpack in the hostels so no creepy, conniving hostel-thief steals it. I also bought an European adapter and converter at the neighboring Radio Shack. I told Mike I wanted to buy a little box of powdered laundry detergent just in case I did laundry over in Europe, but Target and a nearby grocery store only had big boxes. My genius cousin pointed to a laundromat and we walked in and they had a coin operated dispenser that gave out single load boxes of powdered detergent. They were perfect, both in size and convenience. I put in 4 quarters and got 2 boxes.
When we got back to Grandma's, Aunt Laurie had driven down and Aunt Marilyn had walked over, so we all sat around and talked some more. My grandma's friend Maryann made a special appearance. I hadn't seen her in years so it was great to see her. She had heard about my trip and was excited that I was going. She has done quite a bit of traveling in recent years to Europe and Turkey, so I listened to some of her stories. She left and later on so did Aunt Laurie and Aunt Marilyn. It was just Grandma and her two grandsons. It was around dinner time so we decided to order pizza. I am in New Jersey, where some of the best pizza in the country is made so I had to take advantage and eat as much of it as I can. It was from a place in Belmar called 3 Brothers and I had their pizza before and it is the best on the Shore. Mike and I walked down to the boardwalk to watch the surfers for a little bit, then walked back to the house, hopped in his car and drove to pick up the pizza. Belmar is a party town, but only during the season. Still, there were quite a few college kids out. The pizza was huge, it barely fit in Mike's jeep. Drove back to Bradley Beach, Mike and I dived right into the pizza, even Grandma had half a slice. There are no Domino's or Pizza Huts in this area. If you make crappy pizza, you will not stay in business. Thats why the pizza here is so much better than in Arizona and other places.
After dinner, I went with Mike to the grocery store and then to his apartment. We drank a couple beers and played some good ol' Grand Theft Auto Vice City. I enjoyed it. I am the oldest of my two brothers, so Mike has always been like the older brother I never had. He is like 6 years older than me and when I was younger and visiting New Jersey, he would let me tag along with his friends and go boogie boarding with me in the ocean. He dropped me off back at the house at 11 and now I am about to get some sleep. Tomorrow I go up to Newark to rendezvous with Richard. He and his girlfriend Sarah got in safely this morning, braved the rain, and went into Manhattan.
I can't believe I will be in London in like 35 hours. Its going to be so weird stepping off that train from Heathrow to West Kensington, looking around at the buildings, and knowing "well, I am in a completely different country and continent right now." But it will also be exciting.
Have fun,
Matt
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