we thought we were just thinking about john linnell >squeak< >squeak< >squeak< but it turns out it was 82 f with 76 % humidity >eek< >eek< >eek<
Zeke and Elizabeth on the loose in Asbury Park, New Jersey. What to do? “Historic carousel at the seafront!” promised Google Maps. “OooOOooh!” we replied, hopping a bus to the transportation centre and feeling proud of ourselves for only spending $1.50 to do it. From there, we faced a 19 minute walk or a 19 minute wait for another bus. Heck!, I thought, we’ll just walk. What a choice to pick. By the time we reached the promised spot, we were half dead from swelter. And there was no carousel! just the empty, graffiti’d shell of an one-time fancy building. Turns out it was all dismantled years ago. How rude! We were so let down that I refused to take any pictures.
To deal with our sweaty dismay, we indulged ourselves in a restaurant along the beachfront that looked expensive but also capacious and empty. “We will order,” I informed the greeter, “but first, we need to pee.” (A constant theme of solo travel …) Once we were settled, I ordered a beet stack salad as counterbalance to pizza, and Zeke asked for the largest bottle of sparkling water available. It was lovely. The wait staff were enchanted with Zeke.
We spent the rest of the afternoon at the Silverball Retro Arcade. I’d wanted to noodle around on the beach, dip my feet in this side of the Atlantic, and so on, but a $6 beach access charge plus ambient weather made that a hard nope. I’m sorry for it now, but my gods, the humidity, coupled with my tendency to catch fire in direct sunlight.
But hey, I can play pinball all afternoon. No problem. It was fun! All decades and styles of pinball plus a few arcade games. Tetris. Frogger. Pong! Pac-Man!! (Pac-Man was my game in the 80s. Nintendo lost me completely.) Turns out Zeke and I are both terrible at pinball, but I’m still highly respectable at Pac-Man. Zeke laughed at my Etch-a-Sketch attempt to play Pong by myself. We even got to see one of the staff opening up a pinball machine for repairs. It was so nerdy that I forgot to ask the guy if he’d pose for a snap with Zeke. (Damn it.)
Asbury Lanes, tonight’s concert venue, advertized doors at 6.30pm. Zeke and I made our way around 6pm and found a line already forming. Aaaaaaaaaahhh!! the excitement! I’ll pick up that story in the next post. Meanwhile, please indulge yourself in some retro arcade photography.
o/~ Now I’m telling the truth
I’m finished with lies
Lies …
Finished With Lies, Mink Car, TMBG
