Week 2

Most people beleive that you need to go out of the United States to go see something historical or beautiful but that is most certainly not the case. This past week I had many adventures to countless historical places and things you would never see anywhere else. This last week we went to the independent Philadelphia, the sunny Sea Isle City, the Victorian Cape May, and the exhilarating Wildwood. No reading, shows, or gaming but I will give a small update! So without further adieu, lets get to week 2!

Trips:
           Philadelphia- Our journey started at the Philadelphia International Airport. Picked up one passenger and a pup. We decided to go into the city that day. Drove by the stadiums and into downtown through Chinatown. We finally got to park across the street from Macy's (formerly and forever known as Wannamakers) and got started on our journey. We walked into my favorite building in the city, City Hall. The architecture on that building blows my mind everytime I see it. So intricate and unique!

On the other side we attempted to go to Love Park but it was no more. My mother delightfully told me the next day "Oh yea, they did take that down didn't day?" So we settled for Dilworth Circle instead. It was very urban and not much of a park but would be great for events! So adventure took us the other way down market street, past many historical buildings made into various commercial restaurants and businesses. It blows my mind that an amazing old building is being used as a Subway... when Philadelphia has some of the best hoagies in the world! We finally got to our destination the "Independence Beer Garden" which I will go into more depth in the food section.

Independence Hall is an awesome place. In the middle of this sprawling Metropolis is the birthplace of this country. The building in which the Declaration of Independence was written is still there and is crowded almost every day of the week. An amazing square surrounds it filled with history. Around it is of course Independence Hall, cobblestone streets, the Liberty Bell, Portrait Gallery, Constitution Center, President's house, and the 2nd Bank of the United States. Now throughout all of this there are cars going by and modern buildings surrounding it but it's a little slice of history in a modern city.

So we ventured on to Benjamin Franklin's gravesite. On a small side street there is a wall surrounding Christ Church Burial Ground built in 1710. There before us lay one of the most important men to Philadelphia and our country. Never a president, but always pushing this country forward through science, business, international relations, and spreading news throughout the 13 colonies. A few more blocks down from the burial ground is the Betsy Ross house. The creator of modern American flag lived in one of my favorite cities! All of this in one of the biggest cities in the United States, one of the oldest cities in the United States, and one of the best cities in the United States.

          Sea Isle City: That night we made it to Sea Isle City, New Jersey. We decided to take a walk down to the beach with the pup. As soon as we got to the end of the road I saw something standing on the top of the dune. It looked like a house cat but was too big. Then I remembered there was a fox who lived in the dunes so I thought it was him. We pushed forward up the path and the pup was not liking it. We saw it move and the tail was not a fox tail and if we walked toward the fox it would have ran away. So we picked up the pup and tried to lure it into the light but with no success. After telling the family about our sighting and some extensive smartphone research we decided that it was a bobcat. The next day we walked down to the beach and saw the usual suspects at the beach, seagulls, dolphins, a turtle, and a horseshoe crab. But nothing was as exciting as a bobcat at the jersey shore. If you see her! Her name is Bobbi the Bobcat.

        Cape May: Cape May is a beautiful town. It's an old town; and it's an interesting town. I feel like there is plenty of things to do in that town but not much to do at all. The beach is amazing but if you go to the beach at any other shore town then you've seen it. The real highlight of Cape May are the buildings. So many colorful Victorian homes and hotels. Are main destination was the Congress Hall Hotel. So much history and stories in that place that it would take years to tell them all.

We took a carriage tour to hear more about the town and history of the town. Started as a whaling town, and it used to be North Cape May (South Cape May is completely underwater now) so some of the houses have been relocated into the historic district. Our favorite house was the house Ulysses S. Grant used as a summer home where an underground tunnel connected it to another hotel. This was used as an underground railroad as well. After a long day of shopping and sightseeing we decided to be a little more adventurous for our next destination.

              Wildwood: The Wildwood boardwalk is one of the most colorful places I've ever been, and I'm not talking about the buildings. The people there are great but sometimes insane. We decided to do some rides after walking past countless tram-cars. First up was the Ferris wheels, one of the biggest in New Jersey and one of my favorite roller coasters "The Great White".

The great white has so many memories attached to it and it did not disappoint. It is a classic track under the boardwalk, over the beach and close to the ocean. Quick and smooth the Great White is a jersey shore classic! Finally done for the day we headed back so Sea Isle for a meal at Carmen's.

Food:

          Independence Beer Garden has an amazing location wrapped around the bottom of some buildings. Right across from Independence Hall, there are chairs, bars, stools, benches, and every manner of seats and games. We found a nice shady spot and ordered. We decided on herb popcorn and picked chips. The herb popcorn was interesting to say the least. The oil on it had a unique flavor but made the popcorn soggy. I would order it again but share it with a bunch of people. Fried pickles are fried pickles, not much to say there. The highlight of the meal was my Shiner Prickly Pear beer. The more I drank the more I enjoyed it! It was a very mild flavor that complemented the beer flavor. Delicious and super refreshing.

               Ugly Mug: In the middle of the shopping center in Cape May is a little bar and grille called the Ugly Mug. Inside there are mugs on the wall commemorating the Cape May fisherman's club and the best beer foam blowers. If the mug was facing inland, the sailor was alive; if it was facing the ocean the sailor was deceased. In this great atmosphere; I ordered a fried oyster sandwich. Fried Oyster, lettuce, tomato, and onion on a Kaiser roll with a side of pickles and cole slaw. A great meal for mid day at the jersey shore. Simple and delicious.

As of now I am reading "The Brothers Karamazov" by Fyodor Dostoevsky. I am on my way to the 8th gym in Pokémon Heart Gold. and I am halfway through season 1 of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Reviews of them will be up as I finish.

Well that's the extent of the week! Hope you enjoyed hearing about various places and things I've went and saw this week. Please follow us on twitter and Instagram and like our Facebook page. There will be more pictures and information up on these pages during the week and in between posts. Please contact us or ask any questions or suggestions for future trips! Thanks again for the support and reading every week!

                                               All the best, Ross

 

Week #1- In the Beginning!

Hello my fellow adventurers! This is week #1 of All About the Journey! With this being our first week; I have a little bit of everyting so you get an idea of what kind of journeys I go on. However every week will not have something from every category. I don't have THAT much time on my hands. With that being said, let's get rocking!

Trips:
     Corson's Inlet- I was at my house in Sea Isle City, NJ. I was all by myself and had no work that day so I was free to do whatever I wished to do. Well, I wished to take a little bike ride. I'm on the Townsend's Inlet side of the island, but there are some walking trails in the marsh at Corson's inlet which is at the other end on the island and across the bridge in Ocean City, NJ. So I packed my bag with sunscreen, a towel, shoes, water, and my wallet; turned on my favorite podcast (Weekly Planet) and hopped on my bike for my journey!
      The ride was simple through the beach town and was through relatively empty streets and a boardwalk. I had to go through some construction on the one lane road into Strathmere. So I made it down to the inlet and parked my bike and walked onto the beach. It was low tide so I had a little ways to walk through the sand. On the jersey shore you can see all up and down the coast. So on that beach I was looking all the way from Ocean City to the casinos of Atlantic City in the distance. Here's the view I had...

      So I decided to not go over the bridge to the actual trails. The beach was enough for me. So I relaxed for a bit and stood in the cool bay water and then headed back. The ride back was pretty much the same only more wind so needless to say I was tired by the time I returned home. The whole trip took 1 hour and 35 minutes and was just over 13 miles. 

     Later that evening I decided to go to the other end of the island which is Townsend's Inlet. I grabbed my cruiser board and headed off! The skate took about 15 minutes and I was into the greenery of the dunes. A new wooden path led me through the dunes and to the beach with another glorious view of the bay (this time with a perfect South Jersey sunset). Thus ending my end to end island journey.

Books: Due to the boring nature of my summer job, I have been reading a bunch! I have read 3 books this summer so far and I want to do a little review as each poses a new adventure. I will also start a rating system for books, shows, movies, and music reviews and my favorite show is Dragon Ball Z; so the scores will be from 1 to 7 dragon balls. Hope you enjoy week 1 of book reviews!

       Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace was an interesting book to say the least. It had my attention for me to read it all the way through but I would not say I enjoyed it. There were to quirks on how the novel was assembled. The main one being the end notes. I understand he wanted it to simulate a tennis match and make the reader be an active one. But a whole chapter as an end note and then that chapter having it's own end notes was a little much. I really want to meet someone who thoroughly enjoyed this book so they can tell me what I missed; but I could not understand the importance of this book in contemporary literature. Infinite Jest receives 2 out of 7 dragon balls.

       The Blood of the Fold by Terry Goodkind is book three out of the Sword of Truth series. I enjoyed this book a lot, it picked up the slack I felt occurred in the second book (Stone of Tears) and brought it back to form with a great change in tone. This was more of a political book even though there was plenty of action. I enjoyed it though, I felt that even though politics usually are boring it changed the perspective you had on the main character and put the whole world in a new light. The Blood of the Fold receives 5 out 7 dragon balls.

       A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson is a novel about the author and his own journey down (or up) the Appalachian Trail. It had an interesting cast of characters, lots of good facts about the history, wildlife, foliage, and geography of the trail but also kept the story going. The novel is split into two parts and I liked part one much more than I did part 2. Sometimes while reading I would get inspired to hike all of the trail and other times it made me never want to set foot on it. To show both sides of the coin like that takes a lot of talent as writer and so... A Walk in the Woods receives 4 out of 7 dragon balls.

TV Shows: I've been watching one show since the beginning of March and finally finished it earlier this week. It's been a show I've hear lots about (good and bad) from both its American and British counterparts. The Office (U.S.) was phenomenal! I started the first season and hated it, but because it was so short of a season, I kept at it. The show only got better from there with characters become more fleshed out, the show figuring out it's style of humor, and an ever changing cast of characters revolving around 2 central characters. My favorite is Creed for his complete incoherence to the outside world and the humor he would bring with it. Jim and Pam's relationship was such a huge journey from the beginning with Pam and Roy to the end with Athlead (or leap?) But all in all a solid show with a beautiful and perfect ending giving The Office (U.S.) 6 out of 7 dragon balls

Albums: 

The Red Hot Chili Pepper's 11th studio album titled "The Getaway" was a great journey for me. While in the car one day driving to meet some friends Radio 104.5 had on the Red Hot Chili Pepper's album release show. It was a great idea! They played a few songs (some off the new album) and then answered some questions. This process went on for an hour and then BAM! the new album released. I listened to it the next day and on my first listen was a little disappointed. The first song on the album "The Getaway" was over produced. I thought that because of their new producer Danger Mouse but the rest of the album was not that way at all. Although I did have a problem with it... I had one full listen through and there wasn't a heavy rock song in the album. The closest thing to it was "This Ticonderoga" but it still didn't feel the same. But then I remembered... it was their 11th studio album. They've been recording music for over 30 years. They were growing as musicians; they were maturing. The more I listened to it songs like "Sick Love" and "Go Robot" really jumped out to me as a more mature take on their signature sound. They were growing as artists in their writing style, sound, and studio production. Their music is a journey that is still evolving and growing with every performance and album and is continuing with The Getaway; which will be receiving 5 out 7 dragon balls!

Culinary:  Alright last section of Week #1,  I know it's a long one! This week my sister's boyfriend brought in some sea bass from Long Beach Island and my dad found a recipe for scallops that we could sub out for the sea bass. The dish had the sea bass over a bed of spinach, chick peas, onions, corn, and roasted red peppers. It was delicious and diffidently sent my taste buds on a journey! Hoping next time for scallops which are my favorite but the sea bass will do for now!

Well I hope you enjoyed all of the adventures of week #1 it was a big one for reading with a tiny adventure thrown in there for good measure. I feel like the tables will turn for next week! Lots of traveling in store! So please stay in touch with us and follow us on the twitter and share us with a friend!

 https://twitter.com/A_A_t_Journey?lang=en 

There will be more adventures to come!

                                                 All the best, Ross

New Writer and Twitter Account

Hello felow adventurers! I would like to announce a second writer for All About the Journey. Benjamin is doing lots of traveling for work and has many stories (varying from G to R rating). Benjamin loves trying new things and will bring a lot of beer reviews to the table. He will be posting soon and will be an awesome addition to the Journey. We will be collaborating soon after we get the ball rolling.

Tomorrow I have my first formal post. Week 1 will have a little bit of everything this week including small trips, an album review, a book review, a show review, and a delicious meal. Hopefully you enjoy my journeys just as much as I do!

We also have a twitter account! Follow us on Twitter and show us to anyone you think would be interested!

https://twitter.com/ThrakAAtJ1?lang=en

                                    All the best, Ross

It's Journey...not Adventure

Just so you're aware of the change, this blog in now called "All About the Journey". Which poses the question... what is the difference between an adventure and a journey?

An adventure (as defined by merriam-webster) is an exciting or dangerous experience. Not all of these will be dangerous. I shall promise you excitement! But not always danger!

A journey on the other hand is defined as an act of traveling from one place to another. With that in mind, all of my journeys will lead us somewhere. Whether it's a physical place or destination, from the front of the book to the back, or to a different mindset altogether; all of my journeys will lead us from one place to another. We will just have to wait and see what kind of places they will take us.

Week 1 will start this week so I will see you all on Tuesday!

                                                 All the best, Ross

Hello Fellow Adventurers!

     When someone says adventure, what does you think of? Do you think of a vacation to exotic places? A long journey with an end destination in mind? Or a genre of movie? In my mind adventures can be a lot of different things.
       It can mean a trip or journey to some exotic or important destination. Or a trip with no endpoint in sight or mind. It can be found in a book where the main character goes through a fictional world and becomes the hero he was destined to become. It could be a sonic journey while listening to an album by your favorite band or artist. A TV show where the guy finally gets the girl through thick or thin. It could be in the latest comic book movie where the hero defeats the villain in an epic action sequence. It can be experienced through a character in your favorite video game, or a culinary experience where your taste buds explode with flavor.
      Adventure is within all of these activities and all have a story to tell. Whether you're listening to another person's adventure, reading about a fictional characters adventure, or creating your own adventure; they all have a story to tell.
      Every week I go on an adventure. I travel from time to time, whether it be a big or small trip. I read a lot and play video games. I'm a musician so listening to other people's art is an adventure. And I love trying new food or drinks which is always adventures. Some adventures are amazing and fascinating; others are boring and annoying but there is always a story to tell.
     I have taken pictures and shown my friends and family; but I never get to sit and write about the experiences I have or the opinions. Sometimes they are favorable like my trip from New Jersey to Arizona last year. Others are unfavorable such as my read through of Infinite Jest.
       So every Tuesday from now until forever or the world floods. I will write about my adventures, big and small, and let you experience what I experience every week. Just to be clear this is not a travel journal; this is a week to week explanation of the adventures I go on every week.
        I hope you enjoy my posts about various adventures I go on and hopefully reading these will take you on an adventure and inspire you to create your own.

                                                                  All the best, Ross