Surf City, Here We Come: Ten Years Ago

[Pink Pig Time Machine by Wilfrid:  August 27, 2012]

With a toddler almost two years old, a summer vacation abroad was too much to contemplate.  We decided to make a trip to the Jersey shore.

I found a nice rental, a few yards from the beach, and off we went.

I didn't really know what to expect.  The weather was precarious, the sea was rough some mornings, and while there was a good butcher (Okie's -- home of the Okie burger) and a grocery store in walking distance of the rental, dining options were limited.   And so we spent several meals at nearby Clam Boulevard, one especially memorable for the toddler climbing onto a chair and unleashing a devastating stream of memorized profanities.

Clam Boulevard's fare was what you'd expect.  Over the course of a week, we ate clams on the half shell, PEI and bluepoint oysters, fried flounder, clam bellies, clam strips,  shrimp, fish tacos, grilled halibut, and key lime pie.  Beers came from the local Flying Fish Brewing Company.

I don't know if you'd call it downtown, but in the part of the Surf City with the amusements and restaurants, we ate at a shore place called Montalban's.  At least, that's what it's called in my journal, although I can find no trace of it online.  Clam chowder, crab sandwiches.

A pub called E.J. Carroll's was where I watched Yankees games.  There was some home cooking too: the Okie burgers, of course; arroz con pollo; strip steak flamed in brandy. Finally the rains came (just like this week in NYC), and we scampered home a day early.