The Unofficial End of Summer

This past weekend was probably one of the best of summer. Emily flew in on Thursday night to celebrate Labor Day with Adam and I. On Friday, after working only a half day, I took Emily into NYC. She’d never been before and fitting in everything before our legs gave out and it started to rain was pretty hard. We started down in the Financial District checking out the Statue of Liberty, World Trade Center, etc. We then walked up to Canal St. where Emily bought a necklace, a watch, 6 t-shirts for $10.00 and 2 Kate Spade pocketbooks. I picked up 3 pairs of Chanel earrings for Cindy and 1 pair for myself along with a new “fidget” ring. After Canal St. we took the subway up to 57th Street and walked through Central Park all the way up to 83rd. We ate at High-Life for dinner, and then took a cab down to Times Square to hit up Rockefeller, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Empire State Building, Radio City Music Hall, etc. By 10:00pm we were spent, both financial and physically so we decided to save any of the other sites until the next time she visits.
On Saturday morning Kendra met us at our apartment and we all drove down the shore together to meet up with Adam and everyone else. Our party was scheduled for Saturday, but luckily we had a rain date of Sunday due to Tropical Storm Ernesto. When we arrived Adam, Jim and Walt wanted to go to the beach to check out the waves and crazy weather. Emily, Kendra and I quickly threw on some garbage bags as make-shift raincoats and tagged along. The wind blew the sand all over, stinging the back of our legs, face, and arms. Adam took a couple photos from on the beach, while Kendra, Emily and I took cover behind the bathrooms trying to avoid the stinging sand. Since we were already out we decided to make the short walk over to Leggett’s to catch the MSU football game. When we walked in we quickly shed our “raincoats” and ran to the bathroom to rinse our face and pick sand out of our nappy, tangled and matted hair. After our quick fresh-up we returned to the table to cold beers and pizza. I had never been to Leggett’s on a Saturday afternoon but there was Bingo and a lot more people than I expected, especially with Ernesto’s furry luring outside the door.
Later than evening Rachel and her friend Deanna came down to hang out, while we ordered Chinese food (the streets were flooded and they were the only place delivering). We didn’t make it to the bar that night, but went to bed praying for better weather the next day. With the rain still pouring down at midnight, it didn’t look too promising.
To our surprise we awoke to sunny skies on Sunday and made our way down to the beach. The sand was still damp from the downpours earlier in the day, and the waves were still massive, therefore the beach was much emptier than usual. Luckily we were still able to soak up some sun before our party. It was so nice to sit back and relax as Mike bought and picked up food while Adam and Walt got the keg. Guests started arriving for the party at 4:00pm and we had a pretty good crowd for a good portion of the night.
Our annual Labor Day party marked the un-official end of summer. We’ll be heading down the shore this weekend to eat the rest of the food left in the fridge and attempt to put 211 Third Ave. back to one piece. Just thinking about leaving makes me want to cry. I came to NJ just 1 year and a summer ago with Adam as my only friend and walked away with new friends (despite their constant efforts to tease and pick on me) and a lease for 211 Third Avenue, Manasquan for another summer. It’s hard to believe that the summer is over and I’ll have to say goodbye to a place that brought me such good memories.

I'll miss you 211 Third Ave.