Not just pork rolls and potholes

New Jersey:

It's not just about potholes and pork roll sandwiches. 

 It's so much more than oil refineries and oily mobsters.

Jim took me for my routine mammography, fifteen minutes away.  When we went in 2020, it was my first outing--the first time I left the house in over three months.  I got squashed, and then had a Mexican lunch on a cracked sidewalk. 

 It was also the beginning of the unflattering  Karen memes, so the day--and the memory of it--weren't exactly ideal.

I wanted more after this year's squashing.  So we drove another fifteen minutes, seeing the most breath-taking mansions we've ever seen.  And lush golf courses.  

Homes high on hills.  Winding roads dotted with fragrant flowers and a hint of ocean breeze.  It was intoxicating.

 We were in Mr. Bon Jovi's neighborhood--probably whizzed right by his house.  (As in:  drove by--not, stopping to take a leak in his bushes, although both of us probably had to.  Of course, at our ages, we always have to)

We had lunch on an open deck high  above the water.  The sunshine was perfect.  The views of all the boats and mini-yachts were so serene.

We split a bowl of a scrumptious peppery cream of chicken soup, and then Jim ate the flounder and I ordered crab cakes.  Readers of my vacation blog(ah..remember those??  Blogs?? Vacations??) know I have a stupid prejudice against seafood and fish that I can't explain, but when in Rome you order pasta, when in Atlantic Highlands you order the crab cakes, which I did,  and they were insanely good.

I so needed a day like this...a yearly routine examination turned into a little slice of paradise.

Looking forward now  to some pool time, some Abba music, and best of all, more of  the new Carl Hiassen book, "Squeeze Me."

It is a wild and hilarious ride so far--the shadier the character, the worse their fate.

I can't wait to see what happens  with this fictional president, who you one hundred percent will recognize by Hiassen's ruthless description.

Trump fans beware:  You're probably not going to like this book...

New Jersey and Me:  Perfect together!