The boys love the beach. I’ve had this little fact tucked away in my head since we brought them to their first beach in San Francisco last year, but it’s tricky in northern California. Even during the summer, it can be quite cool on the California coast, and the water is not good for swimming.
But this year we are spending the summer in Philadelphia, what about the New Jersey shore?
I didn’t grow up in Philadelphia, so while I’ve visited Atlantic City boardwalk once or twice, I’d never actually spent the night or done a real beach visit there. We also had an additional challenge: the boys had never stayed in a hotel while they were mobile (Adam stayed in one a handful when he was a baby). Our kids are a little chaotic, and we had a whole list of concerns. Will they stay in the room? Will they push all the buttons on the phone? Will they flood the bathroom in the middle of the night in an attempt to create a pool? We wanted to do a trial run in a hotel that’s not too far from home before doing a bigger trip. At about 90 minutes from home, a trip to Atlantic City ticked all the boxes.
We made the drive out on Friday afternoon, hitting expected traffic along with others from the region going to the shore for the weekend, but overall it wasn’t too bad. We got ourselves loosely settled into our hotel rooms at Caesar’s, enjoyed the statues decorating Caesar’s, and then went out to the boardwalk.
It was the first time the boys had been on a boardwalk, so that was pretty fun. We also picked out a restaurant that had the required cheeseburgers for them, and managed to arrive right before a downpour.
The duration of our meal almost perfectly synced up with the storm, and by the time we were ready to leave and visit the pier where the rides are, they all had opened back up. It was pretty late though, so we stuck to just doing the giant ferris wheel. And jumping in a bunch of puddles.
Saturday was beach day! The morning was spent at the beach, and we took a break for lunch and some enjoying of fudge and saltwater taffy.
Later in the afternoon Adam decided he was done with the beach, so while MJ took Aaron back to the beach, Adam and I explored the hotel, rode on elevators and escalators, threw coins in fountains, and then took a tram down the boardwalk to do a little tourist shopping. Perfect.
Dinner was at the nearby Rainforest Cafe, which would have been better if either of the boys ate. Hah! It was an unusual weekend for them though, so I’m not surprised their appetites were off.
Sunday we checked out of our hotel and then got to enjoying Father’s Day by going somewhere MJ remembered from childhood: Lucy the Elephant right next to the beach in Margate, NJ. Lucy is a building, complete with a roof deck, that’s shaped like a big elephant, and originally built in 1881. To someone who hadn’t grown up there, Lucy is quite the unusual sight, but I love kitschy things, so honestly it was right my my alley. We got tickets for the tour so we could go up inside, and it was a lot of fun, even if the boys each had their moments of being a little scared by heights and steep staircases.
We had lunch next door to Lucy and then made our 90 minute journey home.
As for the experiment? We didn’t have any catastrophic failures logistically, though it was a bit tiring for me because I was sharing a bed with little Aaron and he’s a bit of a wild sleeper. I imagine staying in a hotel is never easy with young kids, so I think we are where we need to be. We will do another trip soon!