Where Have You Gone, Joe DiMaggio?: A New Jersey Shore Vacation to Remember

Our short, 3-day trip to Long Beach Island (LBI) was an eventful and joyous occasion. In addition to hanging out with my yougest sister Cindy's family, we spent lots of time on the beaches of Beach Haven--the southern-most part of LBI. I brought along Cousin Megan, so there were 6 cousins in all who were in attendance.

We stayed at a beach house only 4 blocks from the ocean. The house had all the comforts of home, including a DVD player, cable TV, foosball table, Nintendo and air condtioning. We cooked all of our meals during our stay, and aside from the usual meltdowns from the kids, we enjoyed hanging out at the house. Playing foosball and creating things with Play Doh were especially popular activities. One night, all of us gathered in the living room to watch the movie "Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warror" on the Disney Channel.

Our mini-vacation to LBI also marked the first time that Russell had ever seen the Atlantic Ocean or even stepped foot into a body of water outside of a bathtub. And he loved every minute of it, given the squeals of delight he expressed whenever the waves rolled in. Punky and Jenny were less anamored by the ocean, and they either left early or didn't come to the beach at all.

Based on the success of this trip, I decided that we should plan on returning to LBI next year with more family members present, including my parents and my niece Emily. I can't think of a more relaxing, family-friendly vacation spot than the New Jersey shore and LBI.