It's not too hard to get my mom into the car for a ride. Getting her back out of the car is another story. She doesn't want to go in anywhere -- restaurants, stores, etc. So I drive her around a lot. Today, I took her down the shore. For those not from New Jersey, that translates to "I took her for a ride to the beach." She's 90, has lived in NJ all her life, but had never been to Long Beach Island (LBI). I was making new memories with my mom, even if she won't remember them.
We stopped to see my son at work (he came out to the car to see her), stopped again to get some lunch for me and a milkshake for her (I went in and got both), and then headed across the state to the coast. Most of the ride is down a state highway that's one lane in each direction and there's nothing but trees on both sides for most of the ride. For those familiar with NJ, I'm talking about the Pinelands National Reserve, a.k.a. the Pine Barrens. We talked about the vast forest that takes up a good portion of the southern half of the most densely populated state in the U.S. The undeveloped acres (about 1 million of them) that are the Pinelands. What it must be like to be one of the relatively few residents in the area. How one might've come about owning a house within a state forest and national reserve area. We decided most of the homes have probably been there for generations and the current owners were grandfathered into land ownership.
After we crossed over Barnegat Bay and arrived on LBI, I took a left and headed north. We drove through the tiny towns of Surf City, Harvey Cedars, and Loveladies on our way to Barnegat Light. We noted the differences in houses and businesses (or lack thereof) in each little town and the changes in the width of the island along the way. We pulled into the nearly full parking lot at Barnegat Lighthouse State Park. I asked if she wanted to get out and see the lighthouse up close. Surprisingly, she agreed. I knew from being there before that there was a paved walkway, so she got behind her walker and slowly made her way up the path. We got to see the lighthouse up close, walked a short distance on the walkway toward the Atlantic Ocean to see the southern tip of Island Beach State Park, then went in the other direction to see the Lighthouse Keepers statue and the plaques with the names of all the former keepers of the light. She was delighted to see something new.
We got back in the car and drove the 18 miles through the towns of Ship Bottom, Brant Beach, and Beach Haven to the southern end of the island at Holgate. The parking lot was packed, so we didn't get out, but we were able to clearly see the towering casinos of Atlantic City from across the bay. Along the way, I drove through Bay Village and past Fantasy Island Amusement Park -- the closest things LBI has to a boardwalk. After nearly 91 years, my mom had finally been to LBI and seen it from end to end.
I headed back north. The only way on and off the island by car is the way we came in near the middle of the island. I took a 15 mph road closer to the ocean than the main road. We saw some older homes along with lots of people walking, jogging, or biking on this quiet road. I parked at the Brant Beach municipal building because I knew there was a ramp to the beach across the street. I asked Mom if she wanted to see the ocean. She pushed her walker up a long, long, long ramp to the top of the walkway and then sat on the walker (it has a seat, she wasn't riding the handlebars) while I pushed her the rest of the way over the dunes to the gazebo overlooking the beach. To the best of my memory, it was the first time she'd seen the ocean since our last vacation with her in 2017, before my son's preseason soccer practices in high school took that vacation away from us. It'll likely be the last time she ever sees the ocean, but I didn't mention that to her.
She quickly got chilly sitting there with the slight ocean breeze, despite it being about 80 degrees outside, so I pushed her back to the ramp and she walked the rest of the way down. We got back in the car for the hour-long ride back. On the mainland, I stopped at Wawa (a South Jersey staple -- convenience store and often gas station combo) and I got us frozen fruity drinks for the ride home. We were both in good moods from the nice day and the sea air.
It was a good day.
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