Aug. 25th-29th Trip

(Sorry for no photos, the only pictures I took were of my son in the pool)

It has been a very stressful last couple of weeks, so this was a much needed trip. After our usual errands and lunch stop, we made it down just around 4 and pulled into the Bristol Plaza. I was surprised to be greeted with an envelope that had been delivered for me earlier in the day. As a "thank you" my parents had the Italian Kitchen Express deliver a gift certificate to the room. After getting settled in, my son and I went to the pool, where he would pretty much spend most of the day for the next few days. He absolutely lives for that pool and it's really the only chance he gets to go swimming.

I didn't want to spend every night on the boardwalk like we typically would so we split it up a little. Wednesday night I made dinner and then we went on the boards but didn't stay long because it was so hot. We stopped in Its Sugar and my son excitedly picked out a giant Oreo pillow. Before we got off we got a couple of milkshakes from Doo Wop Diner for the walk back to the room.

Thursday I was exhausted from spending all day in the sun (not to mention very burnt) so we cashed in our gift certificate and had the food delivered to the room. (My son is on the spectrum and we've found it's so much easier to get the food to go, not to mention he's happier swimming or playing with his toys than sitting in a restaurant.) We each got pasta dishes and had enough food for lunch the next day. If you haven't tried it, I throuroughly recommend Italian Kitchen Express! The food is very good, prices are not expensive, and they give you a lot for leftovers. Anyway, after eating we took a walk on the beach and then picked up some sundaes from Cool Scoops.

On Friday night, I cooked in again (I typically cook ahead a couple meals to reheat when we're down for more than a couple nights) and then we headed to the boardwalk for the fireworks. We shared a bucket of Curleys fries and my son and I each had a slice of Macks while we took our spot waiting for them to go off. As we watched them setting up, it started to lightning and thunder. I figured they'd set them off early so we stayed under the pavilion, but we were next to someone from 98.7 The Coast and she was saying they hadn't made a decision yet. At that point we decided to get off and drive around so my husband could get some shots of the storm. He's a certified storm spotter and wanted to get some content for him and his partner's company page. By the time we got back to the room, we had heard that the fireworks had officially been cancelled so we enjoyed nature's show instead.

On Saturday, I had my son in the pool early because I knew there were going to be storms in the afternoon and since it was our last full day, I wanted him to have as much swim time as possible. Sure enough, as we were going back up for lunch, the skies opened up. We hung out on the balcony for the next couple of hours waiting for the storm to pass. Afterwards we spent the next several hours back in the pool. We ordered from Dragon House for a late dinner so he could have extra pool time. We decided against going back on the boardwalk because we didn't want to deal with the crowds and instead took a ride to the Cape May Lighthouse (I love seeing it at night!). We were also going to walk around the Washington Mall, thinking that at that time it wouldn't be as crowded but it was still packed. When we got back into WIldwood, we picked up some snacks and coffees from Wawa and drove around for the next hour or so.

Sunday was bittersweet because we were checking out and this year they have an earlier check out time. Usually it's 11 so we take our time, but now it's 10 and there's no late check out option during the summer. After we left, since we weren't hungry and it was early, we decided to see how crowded the zoo would be since they open at 10. We lucked out and not only was it not packed but it was also a little cool and misty. We were able to take our time and really enjoy seeing all the animals. As we were leaving it started pouring so we went back to Wildwood, picked up lunch from Mudhen, and ate it in the car looking out at Sunset Lake. It cleared up once we finished so we spent a couple hours on the boardwalk. My son was dying to go on the rides but in the end he only wanted to go on the wave swinger. It's been a couple years so I guess he forgot it goes fast and high....the sounds that left his mouth and the look on his face....I wish I recorded it. He did say he had fun, though. Before we left, we drove from the Crest through North Wildwood, as per tradition. We were also going to stop in Ocean City but it was raining again so we just headed home.

Like I said, I have been under so much stress the last couple of weeks and as we left I did something I haven't done since I was a kid, I broke down and cried. It felt like just as I started to relax it was time to go. Not to mention, I knew what was waiting for me back at home...I was starting a new term for my classes, I had back to school things to deal with for my son, I take care of my parents, etc. Not to mention, my mom is just getting over sepsis and is having surgery this week. I just keep reminding myself that we'll be back for the car show in 3 weeks. I had such a great time and can't wait to be back down there!