Celebrating the 4th- in a wash of Atlantic and Ocean Cities...

The first leg of our journey began in Ocean City, NJ. Jason had heard that the travel channel rated Ocean City as one of the best family beaches in the country, and he preferred that over my choice of Atlantic City's Vegas-like atmosphere. So in an effort to compromise, we arrived in Ocean City early, then drove the 20 minutes to Atlantic City later that night.

It was a perfect day to enjoy the coast.

Last summer Jace and I got used to the white sand, warm water beaches of southern Florida, so now we have a hard time acclimating to colder waters. On this trip we were both more than okay with skipping a dip in the water.

I admit that I am one of those people that pay great attention to food when I'm on vacation. Shoot that's a lie- I pay attention to food all the time! But travel always makes mealtime so much better because you have a greater variety of food to choose from. The boardwalk offered overwhelming amounts of pizza shops, so Jace and I walked up and down trying to decipher which shop would offer the best pie. Funny thing is they all looked about the same, and they were all such huge slices they were served on two overlapping paper plates to hold the massive thing.

Jason was desperate to sample the chocolate covered bacon, for reasons I'll never understand. Way too make two good things a very bad thing, I figured. When I questioned why in the world he'd want to put himself through that experience, he said, "Well it doesn't sound good to me either, but I want to try it!" Whatever dude. :)

The soup and salad in the picture is from one of my favorite bakeries- Panera Bread Company. A mecca for cinnamon rolls, bagels, danishes, paninis, etc., this place is definitely on my list of favorites. We love Panera so much we have visited locations in Florida, Las Vegas, and now New Jersey.

For the longest time I've wanted a personalized street sign for my room. Sadly, however, my integrity (and Jason around to stop me) has kept me from breaking the law. On our way to Atlantic City I spied this sign and stopped for a picture. As I walked across the lawn, a man sitting on his front porch yelled, "Now you aren't here to steal that are ya?" I grinned, and assured him I was not. "Oh good," he said. "People are always stealin' that sign." As I got my picture and got back in the car I couldn't help laughing to myself. Looks to me like a couple o Johnson's been havin the same I thoughts I have! ;)

Atlantic City was a whole lot cooler than I imagined. Even Jason, who is sick of the casino scene said he wouldn't mind coming back here again. We had no trouble parking and walked a short distance to a shopping district that reminded me of Salt Lake City's Gateway. After an hour or so perusing Guess, I walked out with a rockin' bathing suit and some cute jeans for school. We were thrilled to find our favorite Longhorn Steakhouse just around the corner, but we were so full from our ginormo pizza slices that we had to pass up the pina coladas and sweet mash just this once.

From my brief stint experiencing the pageant world, I was very aware that Atlantic City is where the first "bathing beauty" contest began, later launching the Miss America organization. Although the annual scholarship program occurs at Planet Hollywood in Vegas now, Atlantic City still displays pictures and history of past queens throughout the streets.

We headed to Caesar's Palace, which is the only casino that juts out over the ocean. Among shopping and restaurants, there are little areas along the window that are roped off and covered in sand. Visitors are invited to kick off their shoes, pull up a beach chair and enjoy the beautiful ocean below. Even in the dark it was such a fun spot to watch the black ocean play below, barely making out the waves from the sky. I would really like to visit this place again, maybe next time grabbing a fruity drink (virgin of course) and taking advantage of the view in daylight.

Later we explored shops and collected sand along the beach. Eventually we got a pedicab to roll us down the boardwalk. Most tourists had retired for the evening, so the night was folded in a gentle hush. The romantic ride under the twinkle lights and warm breeze topped off our day of exploration.

Visiting Atlantic and Ocean Cities were definitely a great plan for our event-filled week. It was a relaxing day compared to our others, and Jason and I always welcome a trip to the beach.