Recently I have gone to the New Jersey beach in quick succession, I actually write this article from the shore. Two weeks ago I stayed a week in Ortley Beach with my family and cousins, and now we are staying at Stone Harbor Beach this week with my family and cousins. We usually go only to Ortley once a year, but this time an opportunity rose for us to go to both. The time with family is very pleasant, but I wish that we would go to other places to do the gathering.

As I have noticed in my time at both beaches, my cousins have also started to dread going to the beach. Dread may be a strong word, but it works in this situation. Usually we go to the beach at around noon or one and I only stay until three and usually my cousins come with me back to the beach house that we have rented. I find the beach tiring, too hot, sticky and boring to justify staying for more than a few hours and I personally find a hard time sympathizing with people who can stay at the beach from dawn to dusk. As a child I could stay at the beach for probably this long and I remember rushing my relatives in the morning so that we could get to the beach as early as possible. Now, I don't mind sleeping in a little longer and sitting at the breakfast table just have conversation with others. Even at the beach, the time seemed fly by until the time when we would be forced to leave. The two hours I am there for now I am struggling to find something to do. Usually I go in the water for around forty minutes then try to sunbathe only to again realize that I become uncomfortable and sweaty in around five minutes. Then I go sit by the water and while the breeze feels better, still find myself uncomfortable. Then I proceed to usually go in the water again for a little bit before deciding I have had enough. I find reading difficult on the beach, any games on the beach are usually a little too tedious and boring like paddle ball or throwing a football in the water and overall I find a hard time finding enjoyment at the beach.

Now before I sound too self-fish of a brat, there are some benefits of being at the shore. First reason, at the shore I do have to admit that being in the ocean for the hour I go in a day is a lot of fun. Stone Harbor is an extremely nice area and my grandmother gets to rent out the apartment through a work prospect that has only come up recently. The area is wonderful and there are many things to do within walking distance or short driving distance of where we are staying. We went to the boardwalk just yesterday which is only a fifteen minute drive to Wildwood. The boardwalk there has plenty of games, shops and rides that are all rather enjoyable. My personal favorite about the boardwalk would be all the disgusting fried food that can be found every twenty feet or so. Cannot find a funnel cake covered in Bavarian cream everywhere. The zoo down here is also rather nice, I always have a good time making jokes with my cousins as we walk around and simply watch animals. Near where we are staying there is a downtown type of area which has many small local businesses that hold some interest to them. Even if there is not much, there are so many that surely one will find something that holds some merit of interest. As you can see there are other things to do at the beach and have a good time other than go to the beach. This is important to realize because while I understand a lot of people like going to the beach for the beach, there are many people stuck in my situation and they should learn to appreciate the new area around them and look on the brighter side of the situation.