Jersey Shore: Living Up To The Hype

Jaime — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 03:12:34 +0000

The ladies are burned to a bronzed crisp. The men’s hairdos are greased into stiff perfection. The sun is shining and tanned skin is as abundant as bad taste.

This is the Jersey Shore, a surreal strip of boardwalk that has been featured in a number of popular reality television shows recently. We were in the area and decided to stop by for an afternoon to see what the hype was about.

The boardwalk itself surprised me. It has a classic old fashioned vibe. Pastel colors abound, as do fun games and the usual bad souvenir shops. The beachfront has calm water (it’s the Atlantic ocean, after all) and white sand. It’s paradise – in theory.

The reality is this: the Jersey Shore isn’t about the waves or the sand (you have to pay to access the beach anyway). It’s all about the people watching. Yes, you could make the argument that all boardwalks are about people watching and I’d have to agree with you. But this one takes the cake. It’s, well, it’s just plain ridiculous.

Most striking, in my opinion, are the extreme measures the kids (most of the people strolling the boardwalk were high school age) took their bodies to. The boys were heaving around overworked upper bodies on little chicken legs. The ladies looked like they had just rolled out of a tanning bed because, you know, you have to tan before you go to the beach to tan.

The food was terrible, as Martin describes here, but the people were unlike any we’ve ever seen. And coming from two people that just spent 14 months traveling the world, that’s saying something. If you’re in the New York area and have a half day to kill, head on over to the Shore. Pack a lunch, plenty of sunscreen and at least $7 to get to the beach. Otherwise you might have to spend your day in the shade of the carnival games, vying for one of these fabulous prizes.

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Cheers to CKO Kickboxing!

Martin — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 00:43:31 +0000

One thing we’ve been missing throughout most of our trip is regular work-outs. The muscle groups used in long-term backpacking are surprisingly few: mostly a bit of shoulder work (for carrying those 80 lb backpacks) and some stamina-enhancing rushes between connecting buses. Throw in the odd 8 oz arm curl (aka beer drinking) and you pretty much get the picture.

So the other day, our friends at CKO Kickboxing in Whippany, NJ, treated us to a good old-fashioned kickboxing session. Kickboxing as an exercise form is completely new for me but not to my wife (she’s the Muscles in this relationship). The verdict? This is a great way to work out. The first 10 minutes are awful, I felt like I was about to throw my lungs up through my nostrils. After that, endorphins kicked in and I slowly began to feel better. A tough 45 minutes later and I couldn’t help but feel rejuvenated and happy.

This was a great way to start working out again. I wouldn’t mind if the soreness in my upper body was a little less intense, but then again I only have myself to blame.

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Seat of Our Pants » New Jersey

Jersey Shore: Living Up To The Hype

Cheers to CKO Kickboxing!