Best of the Jersey Shore: A Trip to the Pt. Pleasant Beach Boardwalk

For those loyal readers who have been wondering what happened to the usually prolific blogger who blogs here, there (Roxiticus Desperate Housewives), and everywhere (Roxy's Best Of...), it's not writer's block, it's a really, really good life.

Rex, London, Maddie and I have been working and vacationing at the beach for the past week, and our beach time continues this coming week. While we've been compiling lots of material for Roxy's various blogs in the form of our real-life adventures, we've just been having too much fun to blog. So, for now, I'll offer up a couple of photos from last night's trip to the Boardwalk in Pt. Pleasant Beach. The photo on the left is a spinning dragon, Jenkinson's equivalent to Disney's spinning teacups. Bleeech....I can barely even watch, but the girls really love those motion sickness rides.

Thanks for your patience...please click the photos or links to "drop in" and check out Roxy's Best Of...the Jersey Shore.

Sweet Charity Event September 18th at McLoone's in Sea Bright, New Jersey

I was over at the Anchor & Palette on Mount Street in Bay Head, New Jersey, and picked up a flyer about a fund-raiser to be hosted on Thursday, September 18th, 2008 by Sweet Charity, a new division of Toys.calm, a non-profit organization dedicated to easing the anxiety of ailing children that goes along with being in the hospital. Sweet Charity is hosting a unique live and silent auction of one-of-a-kind chairs in all media. All proceeds of the September 18th Sweet CHAIR-ity event will benefit Toys.Calm and Jason's Dreams for Kids. Both charities specialize in taking care of children and families deailng with catastrophic illness.

Toys.calm was founded by Erin Puck, who was 12 1/2 years old when she was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. While undergoing her own treatment, she started collecting toys for other children because she found that sometimes toys could calm fears better than words. Now that Erin is healthy and strong, her wish is to continue calming the fears of children suffering through difficult treatments, surgeries or medical procedures, and the loneliness that these experiences bring. By giving children toys, books, videos, crafts, and other items, or supplying the hospitals with laptop computers so kids can stay connected, Erin hopes to make the time children spend in the hospital much more bearable. To this effort, Toys.calm has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to provide toys, games, books, movies and laptop computers.

Jason's Dreams for Kids is a 501(c)(3) organization which was founded in 1992 in memory of Jason Douglas Creager, who passed away on January 18, 1992 after losing his battle with cancer. The organization is devoted to granting wishes to children diagnosed with life-threatening illnesses. Bringing a little happiness and putting a few smiles on these children's faces is our goal - and hopefully, their parents faces, too. Jason's Dreams for Kids, Inc. fulfills the wishes of children through a variety of fundraising events as well as individual and corporate donations.


Sarah Frank and the Sweet Charity division of Toys.calm will host "Sweet CHAIR-ity" to be held September 18th at McLoone's in Sea Bright, NJ. Sarah is a Sophomore at Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School who, after being ill for three years, decided that there is a lack of support for teenagers who are being treated in the hospital. The Sweet Charity division of Toys.calm was founded to help keep a connection for hospitalized teenagers with their families and friends, making sure that appropriate age movies, books and games are available in local hospitals and to make sure that a birthday or holiday is not forgotten because a teenager is hospitalized.


Sweet Charity is seeking local Jersey Shore artists who specialize in all media: painters, sculptors, photographers, welders, woodworkers, jewelers, designers, glassworkers and needleworkers. Make a difference by donating a chair of your choice and artistic expression. Or, if you own a restaurant or have theatre, sports or concert tickets you can donate dinners or events for the portion of the Sweet CHAIR-ity auction with a "Best Seats in the House" theme.

Pull up a chair and make a difference today. To donate a chair, please call 732-995-3373 or e-mail sweetcharity@gmail.com.

Shore Thing Duo will provide music for the evening, September 18th at McLoone's, and there are sure to be other surprises and fun, so mark your calendar!

Jersey Shore Artists: Wendy McCarthy... Mermoments Is More Than Just A Trilogy!

As I posted earlier in the week, our lovely Mermaid Swim Team has been on vacation, back at the Anchor & Palette Gallery on Mount Street in Bay Head, NJ, for local Wall, NJ, artist Wendy McCarthy's Mermoments show. Tonight, Rex, Maddie, London and I attended the opening reception and learned that Mermoments is much more than a trilogy....the ambitious artist painted three more in the series for this week's show, and has a total of twelve in the works for a Mermonths calendar!

I snapped a photo of the amazing Mermaid Cocktail Party (above). Wendy uses her entire family as mermodels...that's her daughter with the polka dot bikini! While we don't have a space in either of our homes that is grand enough to hang the original painting, I know that our family will have to own a giclee (print). The Mermaid Swim Team for the girls, the Mermaid Cocktail Party for the Roxiticus Desperate Housewives!

Mermoments opened with tonight's reception at the Anchor & Palette and runs through August 4th on Mount Street in Bay Head, NJ.

Jersey Shore Bars (It's Been A Long Time)

We lived in a time and a world of our own
Making up the rules as we went along
Just one coat between us and we never felt cold
We were never gonna get old

Playing cards 'till the sun came up, rollin' dice
Down to the club and listen to the blues all night
Girls out on the corner get lonely now and then
We'd never be that free again

It's been a long time since we laughed together
It's been a long time since we cried
Raise your glass for the comrades we've lost
My friend it's been a long, long time

Workin' just enough to pay the rent
Money got made, baby, money got spent
Sleeping when we had nothin' left to do
Under the boardwalk and up on the roof

We never quite fit, baby, we never played the game
Came out explodin' like a runaway train
Up all night talkin' about dreams of better days
Ain't it funny how some things don't change?

It's been a long time since we laughed together
It's been a long time since we cried
Raise your glass for the comrades we've lost
My friend it's been a long, long time

We lived in a time and a world of our own
Making up the rules as we went along
Just one coat between us and we never felt cold
We were never gonna get old

It's been a long time since we laughed together
It's been a long time since we cried
Raise your glass for the comrades we've lost
My friend it's been a long, long time


-- Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes: "It's Been A Long Time"

I've raised many a glass in Jersey Shore bars, and over the next few weeks of summer I'm going to profile them here on the Bay Head Blog, including:

• Cheers in Long Branch
• Donovan's Reef in Sea Bright
• Martell's Tiki Bar in Pt. Pleasant Beach
• The Stone Pony in Asbury Park

In the meantime, please comment here...remind me which ones I've missed, your favorite(s), and why (start with "Once upon a time...")

Fourth of July Weekend 2008: Another Great Dinner at Dennis Foy’s Bay Point Prime Restaurant on the Jersey Shore

We had quite a crowd on Saturday night after the Fourth of July at our beach house in Bay Head, New Jersey and all sorts of reasons to celebrate, including Rex's birthday. PostBoy and MathGirl came for the fireworks on the beach and stayed for the weekend, and TallBoy showed up in time for dinner after a round of golf with a friend from college. I had booked a table of seven at 7pm, so as soon as the crazy downpour ended we headed over to Dennis Foy's Bay Point Prime for another spectacular meal. We had the same waitress as last time, Lindsay, who made sure everyone got what they wanted…with one not-so-minor exception that she really had no control over.

Over Father's Day weekend, London had ordered the Cherry Hill Farms Roasted Rack of Lamb with Ratatouille ($42). It was so beautiful I wish I had taken a picture, and Rex stole one bite and declared it the single best bite of lamb he'd had in his life. So I was ready for Rack of Lamb on Saturday night, and brought my appetite. Uh oh…it wasn't on the menu…but no problem, Lindsay announces that one of the entrée specials is a Rack of Lamb. Lindsay also recommends the Sautéed Wild Atlantic Salmon, with Grilled Fennel and Spring Pea Ginger Emulsion ($31) for Rex, but warns that Dennis is running out of salmon, so Rex puts in his order ahead of the rest of us. But when Lindsay returns to our table to take our order, she's got some bad, bad news: while eyeing a blonde beach couple making out on a nearby banquette, oblivious to the appetizers on their table, Lindsay says she just gave away the last two orders of Rack of Lamb. "Can't you tell them that you only have one order left, and let them share? He's really only interested in another kind of rack…" But it's too late…my Rack of Lamb is being served to someone else. So I start with the appetizer special, a Jersey Tomato Salad (which turns out to be tasty, even though it's really too early in the season for real Jersey tomatoes), and order the appetizer size of six Classic Shrimp in a Basket ($15), new to the Bay Point Prime menu this year, as my main course. The girls each start with an order of French Fries ($6), then share the Prime Aged Sirloin with more Steak Frites ($34).

TallBoy wisely chooses Dennis Foy's signature Sautéed Tian of Crab ($19) -- the word crabcake doesn't even begin to do it justice -- and also orders the steak. Rex starts with the Warm Confit Tomato and Goat Cheese Tart with Chive Oil ($15) and, as always, is surprised when it is warm, not cold. PostBoy starts with the shrimp appetizer and has the Veal Bolognese with HomeMade Fettucine ($26), so hearty I frequently get my leftovers wrapped to go and then tragically forget them on the roof of our SUV. MathGirl enjoys the Ten Spice Cajun Chicken with French Fries and Salad Verte ($25). Everyone at our table thought that their meal was the most delicious, with very little sharing allowed.

Of course, we all had our eye on the couple with the rack, and before we even finished our appetizers, they packed up to go, leaving one full rack and most of the other chops completely untouched. I guess I've got my excuse for an imminent return to Dennis Foy's Bay Point Prime. The menu changes daily, so I'll plan to call ahead (732-295-5400) to reserve my table and my Rack of Lamb! I see that the Bay Point Prime team (and menu) is also available for off premise catering, and my attentive readers may remember that we've got a Bay Head Family Reunion coming up in August!

Dennis Foy's Bay Point Prime; Phone (732) 295-5400

Also available for off premise catering; please contact Estella Quinones at (732) 295-5400. You can visit their Manhattan restaurant Dennis Foy in Tribeca (Phone 212-625-1007 for reservations). Web site: http://www.dennisfoynyc.com/ (the web site is only for Dennis Foy's Manhattan restaurant, menus and wine....everything looks yummy but we haven't been there yet)

Celebrating Rex's Birthday at one of the Best Restaurants of the Jersey Shore: Mahogany Grille in Manasquan, NJ

As noted in my earlier post, Theresa's South in Bay Head, New Jersey, let us down on the night of Rex's birthday celebration here at the Jersey Shore by turning out their lights and locking their doors with nary a note of explanation. Tonight, Theresa's South has re-opened for dinner to further raves from the neighbors... but for us, they've missed their chance, at least until we're down here for the month of August. There are just too many spectacular restaurants at the Jersey Shore which, combined with Rex's great cooking with fresh seafood from the Crab Shack, will prevent us from giving Theresa's South a second chance over the next month or so.

Meanwhile, we turned a potential birthday dinner disaster into a super-celebration by driving to the Mahogany Grille in Manasquan. While we can't walk there, the Mahogany Grille is worth the drive for a special occasion like Rex's birthday or, as Zagat's expresses it "when cost doesn't matter."

We started off the festivities with cranberry & seltzer for the girls, and adorable little bottles of "Pommery Pop Champagne" for Rex and me. The girls both had skinny little "pommes frite" french fries for appetizers...Rex chose a salad and I started with the soup du jour, Manhattan Clam Chowder, as well as the Yuzu-Soy Injected, Cucumber Wrapped Tuna Sashimi, Tobiko ($13)...Tobiko is Japanese for flying fish roe, aka fish eggs, so I flicked them off onto Rex's bread plate. Rex enjoyed the Rocket Salad: Baby Arugula, Peppered Salami, Roasted Red Peppers, Point Reyes Blue Cheese, Fried (yes, fried!) Onions, Pignoli Nuts, Balsamic Vinaigrette ($10).

For our main course, I chose an absolutely huge and absolutely delicious appetizer size portion of the Seasonal Risotto ($15): Bay Scallops, Asparagus, and Pecorino Romano, sans the listed Roasted Red Peppers. Leaving off the roasted red peppers left the dish a bit bland, but a dash of salt brought out the flavor of the bay scallops and fresh ground pepper livened it up a bit. To emphasize the generous size of the appetizer portion, I ended up taking about half of it home to enjoy for lunch during our week at the beach. Rex chose scallops as his entree as well, though his were Seared Dayboat Scallops, with Snow Peas, Parmesan Mashed Potatoes, and Pistachio Brown Butter ($29)...and naturally, he gobbled up everything on his plate. London and Maddie shared a beautiful Rack of Lamb, with not even a bite left over for the birthday boy, other than the Red Bliss Mashed Potatoes, Haricot Verts, and Whole Grain Mustard Demi-Glace ($34 plus a $7 sharing charge).

Ordinarily, I'd be happy to regale you with the Mahogany Grille dessert menu, but Rex was in the mood for Hoffman's Ice Cream in Pt. Pleasant Beach, so off we went.

The Mahogany Grille is located at 142 Main Street (at Parker Avenue) in Manasquan, NJ. Call (732) 292-1300 for reservations.

Best of Bay Head, NJ: Point Beach Painting

Time for a shout out to our painter: Steve of Point Beach Painting!

Rex and the girls and I are spending the next couple of weekends up north in the Roxiticus Valley, New Jersey, while Steve of Point Beach Painting freshens up the blue and white paint on the porch of our Bay Head NJ Beach House. Over Memorial Day Weekend, we received estimates from several local painters, and Point Beach Painting is the one we chose...Steve's family has been in the business forever, his prices are fair, and he was able to get started right away, so that when we return to the beach for Father's Day Weekend, our porch will be ready for us to settle in for the summer. I will be sure to post a picture of the completed project, so check back in mid-June.

If you live in the Bay Head - Pt. Pleasant Beach area and your beach house needs a refreshing paint job, call Steve at Point Beach Painting: (732) 899-8020.

Best of the Jersey Shore: Cold Stone Creamery (and a Contest, Too!)

When we're at our beach house in Bay Head, New Jersey, and the girls can't talk me or Rex into driving them to Hoffman's in Point Pleasant Beach NJ for a thick shake float, we all have the good fortune of having a fridge full of Grab-N-Go flava from Cold Stone Creamery on Cedar Bridge Avenue in Brick, NJ. Just like our Roxiticus Desperate Refrigerator, our Bay Head Beach House fridge is stocked with at least ten different seasonal micro-brews and the freezer always has at least two quarts of Cold Stone....while we stock Rocky Off Road and Founder's Favorite in our freezer up north, at the beach we favor Shock-A-Cone and Cake Batter Batter Batter. Over Memorial Day Weekend, when Rex cooked steaks and we brought them across the street to Jango's house to serve dinner for eleven grown-ups and four kids, our two girls ran back across the street with Jango's 10-year-old daughter and her friend to bring three Grab-N-Go quarts back for the convivial crowd of 15 to share for dessert.

Starting right now through the end of the year, there's an Awesome Cold Stone Contest going on. If you have or know some kids between the ages of 13 and 19 and think you've got what it takes to create your own Cold Stone Signature Creation and get your friends to buy it, this is your chance to put your skills to the test in Cold Stone Creamery's iMix America contest. The rules are pretty straightforward, but check the web site for fine print. Come up with your own Ice Cream Creation using ingredients you can find at any Cold Stone Creamery location. Give it a cool and clever name, say Bay Head Bananaloha! Then get your family, friends, and fellow bloggers to try it and vote for it online. Creations with the most votes move on to the next round(s), where voting continues until December 31, 2008. The winner will be announced in January 2009 and gets a cool, sweet thirty grand ($30,000).

So I'll make you a deal...give me your kids and I'll give you my secret concoction....post a comment here on the Bay Head Blog if you have a teenager between ages 13 and 19, and Roxy will be in touch. We'll enter the contest, promote our Creation right here and over on my Roxiticus Desperate Housewives blog, and when we win, we'll split the cash. But hurry...as soon as I get back down to our beach house in Bay Head, I'm going straight next door to Edie Britt's house -- her son is 14 and her daughter will turn 13 over the summer -- to sign them up for the Awesome Cold Stone Contest before Jango across the street gets to them.

Bay Head NJ Kid Stuff: Borough of Bay Head Summer Camp 2008

Bay Head Mayor Bill Curtis (who is also the owner of Curtis' Central Market) informs me that the Borough of Bay Head will be running its summer camp again for the summer of 2008. The camp is a half-day (9-noon) program for residents age 5 and up and will run for six weeks starting July 7 (through August 15th). Information and registration forms are available from the Borough municipal office. The web site doesn't look like it gets updated very often, so you're probably better off checking in by phone: 732 892-0636.

Best of the Jersey Shore: Dennis Foy's Bay Point Prime -- Point Pleasant Beach, NJ

Even though we've been down to our beach house a couple of times already this season, I couldn't tell from the road if Dennis Foy's Bay Point Prime would be open for dinner this summer. The good news is, I called their phone number and got the message that Bay Point Prime IS open, starting with Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays in the month of May. Hooray!

I'm going to make reservations for Rex's birthday dinner at the end of June.

Bay Point Prime is located right down the street from Bay Head at 1805 Ocean Avenue (aka Route 35), Pt. Pleasant Beach, New Jersey. Phone (732) 295-5400 for reservations.

Best of the Jersey Shore: The Crab Shack on Mantoloking Road in Brick, NJ

When we're at our beach house in Bay Head, New Jersey, Rex cooks a lot of seafood: clams, salmon, scallops, lobster...you name it and we get it from the Crab Shack.

I may have mentioned before that my girls are Jedi Clam Eaters, and we'll buy 100 littlenecks and topnecks. Over the long Memorial Day Weekend, we had clams on Friday night and lobsters on Sunday night. I meant to take a picture of the Crab Shack for you, but for now we'll stick with a happy crab.

If Rex is cooking seafood at home in Bay Head, the Crab Shack is the only place we'll go for fresh seafood. Open all year round, the Crab Shack has a large variety of fresh seafood daily, including live and steamed crabs, homemade specialties and prepared seafood dishes. If you don't feel like cooking, you can eat there, inside in the fish market or outside in the sunshine.


Visit the Crab Shack!
74 Mantoloking Road
Brick, NJ 08723
732-477-1115

Best Restaurants of the Jersey Shore: Mahogany Grille in Manasquan, NJ

Several of our neighbors at the beach in Bay Head, New Jersey, turned us on to the Mahogany Grille in Manasquan. While we can't walk there, the Mahogany Grille is worth the drive for a special occasion or, as Zagat's expresses it "when cost doesn't matter."

The Mahogany Grille is located at 142 Main Street (at Parker Avenue) in Manasquan, NJ. Call (732) 292-1300 for reservations.