Friday Beach, Monday Beach

Burnt both days.

Friday, my mom and I took a ladies' day to Ocean City, NJ. I was a bitch on the way there, but mostly calmed myself once at the shore. We both read pretty substantially, and I got in roughly two hours of swimming. Around 2, I walked over to Ben's shore house to catch up with lazy bum friends who hadn't come to the beach yet. It was so great seeing Jill, Steve, Matt, and Ben again, even though I'd seen Matt the week before. Ben, Steve, and I went swimming for a bit, talking music and movies and whether or not Eddie Murphy was going to be The Riddler in the newest Batman addition. He is not. We caught a wave in, and I joined Matt in sandcastle building. A young girl came to appraise our work, and Jill reported that a set of young boys had come around earlier like old art critics- solemnly and silently judging the mastery of sandcraft. We retired to talk around my mom for the remainder of my stay, talking crazy business ventures and the viability of food vending trucks as a legitimate career move. Mom said we must leave by 4, so I bid "goodbye until Canada," which was at least a pleasant thought. Just over the bridge back to the rest of Jersey, we got a flat tire. Luckily, the popo kindly stopped and helped us change tires. The rest of the ride was uneventful.

Monday! More beach! I spent the night at Katie's, running on six hours of sleep to tackle another day of ladies (+ Mr. R.). The ride down was fun, a little awkward, but went quickly. We stopped by their mom-mom's house for supplies and hellos, promising to see them later. The sand was soft, the water was cold, and the company agreeable. I read a little of Mrs. Dalloway and napped. We hit the Jersey Shore Wildwood style, and I thought of many a drumline night and whether or not the C.'s were down the beach too. It was a really great night, and the ride home almost better. Shannon and her friend, also a Katie, talked about senior pranks, so I got to share the beautiful and inspirational hopes of me and Matt. They had enviable imaginations, and it continued throughout the rest of the night.