Tag Archives: BEACH

16 Miles Before Work + Weekend in Margate

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I cheated this weekend. Ladies and gentlemen, meet Kira. She is an English Pointer, and she is gorgeous. Don’t tell Bailey.

I got out of the city for one more beach weekend in Margate with my friends. This is my second time there; we went last summer, too.

I knew that the last thing I”d want to do this weekend was run 16 miles when I could either be sleeping in or laying on the beach, so I ran 16 miles on Friday morning before work.

Ashley’s done that a few times before, and I always thought she was crazy, but when I thought about my options, the choice was easy. I woke up at 4:45, left around 5:20 and met up with Fiona at Chelsea Piers. We ran about 12 miles together–up nearly to the George Washington Bridge and back. It wasn’t easy waking up before 5, but by the time I was 5 or 6 miles in, I finally woke up. We haven’t run much together, so it was nice to chat and get to know each other for more than two hours.

We split up when I had about 3 miles left, and I had nothing left. We’d run around 8:45-9:00 pace for the first half of the run, and my legs were just shot by then. When I got home, I wanted to eat a bagel and sit on the couch, but I had to get dressed for work. I worked until 4 (yay summer Fridays) and my friends and I peaced out to drive down to Margate.

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I had a huge blister on my foot and woke up with awful allergies, so I canned yesterday’s run, and I don’t regret it even a little bit.

This morning, Shannon and i ran 5 miles up and down the Atlantic City boardwalk. I was still really congested, it was hot and I was ready to pull out my ovaries, so it was a sucky run. Oh, and we ran into the wind. And uphill both ways in the snow.

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Afterwards, we went to the beach. Yesterday, it was rainy, so we just walked around Cape May. (Where apparently Anne was and we missed each other!) It was fun, but it was not as fun as sitting on the beach is. Sitting on the beach is my Xanax.

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Before getting in the car to head back to the city, we went to Lamberti’s for dinner and sat out overlooking the water. While I’m sort of over the really hot running and high electricity bills, I’m really not ready for summer to end.

Team Summer or Team Fall? How are you spending the last few days of summer?

Boardwalks, Lighthouses and Lobsters

Tomorrow morning, we’re waking up early to drive back up north, so our mini-vacay is pretty much over, except for one more breakfast.

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This morning, I woke up and changed into running clothes before I could make the excuse that it was too hot. I ran from our hotel, the Port Royal (LOVE!) to almost the end of the boardwalk and back. It was only about 8:15 by the time I made it back, but I was a sweaty beast after those 3.75 miles. The times I tried running in the Outer Banks over Memorial Day were awful and included a ton of walking, so I was happy for a decent run this morning.

We laid out all day–first by the ocean and then by the pool. You know that little heat wave? Yeah, definitely hit here, too, so we spent at least half of the time in the pool or ocean. Towards the end of the day, we started talking about maybe doing something else, but decided we wanted to soak up every last bit of water and sunshine.

Before dinner, we decided to do a bit more sightseeing and just drove around Cape May for awhile.

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We ended up at the lighthouse, so we basically made it to the end of New Jersey.

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And no, it didn’t smell, thanks for asking.

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I climbed the 199 stairs and tried not to lose my flip flops. My mom chose not to join me, and even from the top of the lighthouse, I could hear her talking to the lighthouse staffer at the bottom. Lessons learned: lighthouses are really echo-y and my mom will talk to anyone.

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I’ve definitely been in lighthouses with better views, but it’s still fun to climb a lighthouse. And I liked this look out the porthole.

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Don’t worry, I wasn’t going to jump.

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Random birdfeeder in the lighthouse park.

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For dinner, we ended up going to the Lobster House. A few people had suggested the Washington Inn, but after a long day in the sun, neither of us were down for such a fancypants dinner.

There was an hour-long wait, but there was also a deck by the water where we could bring our wine, so it wasn’t so bad. The restaurant has a fish market and a takeout area in addition to the regular restaurant, so it’s more like a lobster compound. So I might just move in there.

This bread? TASTED LIKE AN EVERYTHING BAGEL. I usually exercise at least a little moderation around bread at a restaurant, but not this bread.

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And the Fisherman’s Wharf Platter! OMG! This was: half a pound of lobster stuffed with crabmeat; filet of flounder (which, among all the other shellfish was a little underwhelming); scallops,; clam casino; and a stuffed shrimp. It also came with some veggies and red potatoes, but they were honestly a little too underwhelming to show pics of. The fish totally made up for it, though.

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The decor in the restaurant was pretty awesome; it reminded me of an old, old wooden ship.

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Also, they had a giant stuffed lobster on the wall. Apparently this guy was 37.5 pounds, which means a TON of claw meat.

What’s your favorite seafood? My favorites are scallops and lobster. I obviously eat lobster pretty infrequently, so when I do, it’s doubly awesome.

Coolest lighthouse you’ve ever seen/climbed? I’d have to say Bermuda takes the cake for that one for me; you can see the whole island from the top, and it’s so gorgeous.