New Jersey is Cool

Need a break from New York (and New York taxes)? Check out this website for spectacular deals on a Jersey Shore beach vacation. It’s the renowned Morey’s Piers. They are probably the best organized, most family-friendly, and funnest place to visit on the New Jersey shore. I visited Wildwood years ago– what a blast I had! I just love visiting the shores on the Atlantic Ocean, it’s so exciting. Morey’s Piers has everything– water parks, amusement rides, group events (like Radio Disney concerts, birthday parties, events for Boy Scouts and Brownies), accommodations, and loads more. Plus, there’s the lovely beach shore to enjoy with the family.

Right now is actually a terrific time to enjoy the beach shore- the summer crowds are gone and holiday package deals are exceptional. Morey’s Piers has a discount special on season passes for 2009, and a holidya deal going on now, too. The sale on the Season Pass deal runs through January 9– save nearly 40% to both waterparks. This is THE time to get tickets and find deals for northeastern travel excursions. Morey’s Piers is well-known for its quality amusements and family-friendly attractions. Plus, they are the online hub for finding good and reliable hotels and motels for the New Jersey area. If a beach vacation is in your future, now or in 2009, check out the Morey’s Piers website and grab your deals now.

When NY Isn’t Enough

New York State has some very lovely lake-side beaches, but the only “real” beach (ocean front) is on Long Island. Long Island is so heavily populated and so difficult to navigate that New Yorkers often go elsewhere for an Atlantic Ocean experience. Some folks go all the way down south, but there are some lovely beaches not too far from us: in neighboring New Jersey.

And the nice thing about New Jersey is that the state has made good use of the coastline, and has developed some of the most beautiful beaches ever. New Jersey beaches are perfect places for the perfect vacation. I’ve enjoyed Cape May and Wildwood areas, and I loved the boardwalks and resorts in Wildwood NJ. Morey’s Piers is a really fun place. I visited it when I was living in Philadelphia (a short drive from the city). It’s a family-friendly place with something for everyone! If you’d like more information, check out their website, and look for discounts, specials, and events. It’s also a great site to look for hotels, resorts, ticket prices, food, group events (including educational programs) and more. Or, check out the beautiful beaches that are open and all the things you can do there. I just loved walking the beach line, scavenging for seashells and finding little turtles and jellyfish. There is so much you can do and a family beach vacation is a wonderful way to enjoy it!

Verona Beach State Park, Verona, NY

Last summer, we took a trip to Verona Beach State Park. Verona Beach was named one of the Top 100 campgrounds in the nation, and we understand why. We had a great time!

Verona Beach is on the eastern edge of Oneida Lake, New York State’s largest inland lake. This lake is known for its tempestuous behavior. I grew up in a small town on the western rim, and we learned at an early age to respect the water.

Our travel started off a little shaky: heavy rain and claps of thunder. We arrived at the park just as the rain was dissipating– 9am. Admission was $7 for our van, but it was an all-day pass, so we could leave the park to forage for lunch and return later. I liked that.

I do love Oneida Lake. Always have. It just seems so personable and likable, and so full of surprises. When we arrived early on the empty beach, the water was sloshing back and forth gently toward our feet. The sand squished between our toes, and over our heads the swooping seagulls screeched. Big blue clouds rose up from the lake and bunched together like wads of cotton balls. It was idyllic. We walked up and down the shore (well, I walked, the kids ran) and picked our way over chunks of slate blue stones and foamy pools of seaweed and water. A few small speedboats whizzed out across the lake, and we even saw a sailboat scoot by.

But in a moments notice, a strong west wind picked up. The locust trees were the first to notice, because their poor little branches immediately started to quiver. Then the seagulls were affected. They would be in mid-flight, but then they suddenly stopped, mid-air, against some invisible force holding them back and up. It still makes me chuckle to remember how silly they looked, frozen in the sky in mid-swoop. They frantically flapped to no avail against stronger invisible forces. In the photo below, you can see the waves starting to pick up.

Then it hit us. The wind roared in our ears and did not stop for the rest of the day. I watched as the speedboat– stuffed with six people and fishing poles– suddenly lost its speed. It still tried to zip by, but it was no match for the roiling lake. The waves were suddenly huge– two and three feet high– and the boat was undulating like a cork in a swirling tub. I was actually in the verge of calling 911, because the boat driver spun his craft around and the waves hit it broadside, causing the boat to tip back and forth sideways. It looked like they were going to capsize. Thankfully, the boater gained control again, and lost no time in getting to the dock. We did not see any boats again for the rest of the day.

I found out later that a boat did capsize in that very same area, a week later during bad weather. A sailboat with two boaters was tossed over by the strong waves. The boaters waited in the water for half an hour before they were rescued. Thank God they were OK.

Above is a photo of a tide pool. Look beyond, to the lake, to see the churning crests from the waves

Swimming and wading were forbidden until 11am when the lifeguards arrived. The water activities at the lake are monitored closely, which I appreciated. We puttered around. The kids found a sand mountain, piled up by a bulldozer parked nearby. Hoh boy, what fun they had!

I walked up and down the shoreline, taking in the beauty of the lake and the freshness of the air.

We explored the area for about an hour and a half. There are many fun little playgrounds. The camping sites looked clean (but busy) and there were innumerable picnic tables and pavilions. As noon approached, tummies started to grumble. We decided to leave the park and look for a local McDonald’s. We don’t go to McDonald’s that often at all, so this was a real treat for the kids.

I drove north up to Sylvan Beach. Didn’t find a McD’s. I didn’t look terribly hard, staying on the main drag, but I was surprised to find nothing but “seaside” restaurants. I just kept driving. Good heavens, we drove to the other side of the lake– through Cleveland, Bernhard’s Bay, Constantia, West Monroe, and finally, Brewerton! Oh well, we mused– we knew there was a McD’s there (I lived in Brewerton as a kid), and maybe we could check out the Fort and the Barge Canal.

Fort Brewerton was closed. Padlocked. I called the telephone number on the sign, and got a recording that they were now only open two days a week, four hours those days. Aw! I so enjoyed the fort that I’d wanted the kids to see it, too.

Well, we ventured toward the Barge Canal. It is a favorite spot for fishermen (and fisherwomen and fisherkids) and folks on lunch break. It was busy. We explored the banks, and I snapped photos of the Rt. 11 bridge and the railroad bridge. I told my kids of how every year or so, we schoolkids were notified of another tragic death of a teenager who had foolishly jumped off the bridge in a daring swimming dive.

Our stay was short. We got our hamburgers and started our drive back to Verona Beach. It is truly a beautiful drive. We read state historical markers along the way (sped-read– it is hard to read them fully while zipping past them). We saw the areas of Samuel de Champlain’s “shoot out” with the local Iroquois natives, the landing spot of St. Leger’s army to beseige Fort Stanwix that fateful August day 230 years ago, and an interesting marker about Frenchman’s Island that we missed. We stopped at an ice cream stand to see if we could see the famous island, but we were too far. Oh well, it’s on Google Earth anyway.

When we arrived at the beach again, it had filled considerably with more campers and swimmers. It was quite a festive site, with people, colorful towels, chairs, and bikes everywhere. There were people of all ages streaming across the beach. The sand was just starting to warm up now, too. The seagulls were resting on sandbars in the lake. At first I thought they were floating on water!

All the while, the wind still roared like no tomorrow, and the waves were tremendous. My kids ventured in the lake, and didn’t come back out for two hours! They loved the waves! The shore slopes very, very slowly toward the lake. You could wade out 200 feet and be in water only 2 feet deep. It was warmer then the air temperature, too, and every wave seemed warmer. My son also found dozens of the notorious zebra mussles on the seaweed in the lake.

We really enjoyed Verona Beach! We decided we would try to return every year. The price was right for a full day’s swimming and fun on the sand, and the beach is so clean and comfortable.

Lake Chalet Campground, Bridgewater

August 12, 2006

Our biggest excursion of the summer of 2006 was to Lake Chalet Campground in Bridgewater, NY. It is one of the most beautiful and enjoyable campgrounds in the area, perhaps in the state. This site has a nice description with great photos.

Joe and Mary Pcola own the Lake. They moved to New York from Slovakia in the 1980′s.

The Utica Observer-Dispatch did a review of the Lake in 2005. “We stopped here one day because we saw how pretty it looks,” Mary Pcola said. “I said, ‘Oh my God, this is so beautiful. I want to live here.’ Joe said, ‘Surprise, you can – it’s for sale.’ So we bought it.”

The Pcolas have taken excellent care of the place. Joe zips along all day in his golf cart (which I almost destroyed–keep reading), delivering wood, collecting trash from the cans, weeding, and pruning. Mary and her little granddaughter were seen weeding and watering the gorgeous flowers. The bright pink phlox was in full bloom, and its heady scent filled the campground.

The prices are a bit steep. My dad says this is good, because it keeps the riffraff out. The other campers were very friendly. Most were seasonal campers, who parked their RVs here from April to October. They didn’t even mind us jamming on our guitars until 10pm.

There were very sweet and rustic cabins, too, but I didn’t see any but one that was occupied.

My family and my dad and his wife rented an RV/tent site for 4 nights. It was the kids’ first time in a tent, and camping, for that matter. They LOVED it.

The first night it thundered and poured rain, so we didn’t get much sleep. The kids crawled into the RV with us adults when lightning started to strike nearby (at 2 am). After the shaky start, it was nothing but UP from there.

We hiked around the beautiful lake, which is dyed emerald green. After dinnertime, dozens of swallows swooped down across the lake to nab tasty waterbugs. The birds left great ripples in the water whenever they hit the lake surface. It was like watching a ballet. Bullfrogs were very noisy, probably protesting the birds’ intrusion into their bug supply.

The scenery was so beautiful.

We fished, the kids for the first time. There were lots of small sunfish and bass.

We swam in the lake every day, played in the sand at the small beach, played at the kids’ playground, and played arcade games in the laundry area.

The boys learned how to split wood and keep the fire going.

The best part was sitting by the fire, with hot coffee in the morning and good conversation in the evening.

We feasted on grilled food every night. My adopted mom, Sharon, makes killer “shish kabobs without the kabobs.”

Too bad we couldn’t have stayed longer, as we didn’t even scratch the surface of all the things we could do here (canoe, go on paddleboats, etc).

We hated to leave, but the check-out day came, and we packed up all our goods for the ride out and back home. Unfortunately, my van doors had been left open overnight, and my battery was drained. I had to find Mary or Joe to get some jumper cables (my husband had taken them in his van to work with him, earlier that morning). Joe drove up in his trusty golf cart and offered to jump the van for me. When we had rigged up the cables and I started my van, the golf cart surged forward (scaring the willies out of me) and the cables tore off. Thank God no one was electrocuted! However, the battery surge shorted Joe’s cart, and he couldn’t get it started! I was sweating bullets, believe me, because I didn’t want to leave Joe without a working golf cart; I figured I’d have to have it repaired for him, or buy him a new one. Sharon, the wise wife of a car guy, suggested we check the fuse box. Joe popped open the hood and changed the blown fuse. IT WORKED!! Boy, relief was my middle name…. we shook hands, said our goodbyes, and all hopped back into our vehicles for the drives home. Never a dull moment, I tell you.