Day 1

After we checked in to the room Aerin called dibs on the shower, so the rest of us napped. At this point it was 5:45am We slept til the breakfast opened at 6:30. After we all refueled and showered it was back on the road.

Shane took over as our chauffer while in NJ. At around 7:30 am we were loaded and moving. The nap had put us little behind, but definitely worth it.

Our next stop would be in Bordentown, NJ at Beanwood Coffee.

This would be where we used...wait for it...Groupon #1!

So, we stopped to get coffee. They are said to have amazing Latin food, but since we were so early getting there, espresso it was! 3 mochas, a hot chocolate and 4 cookies later, we had used our first Groupon of the trip! HUZZAH!

Onward to Ocean Grove. I love Ocean Grove. It's a beautiful seaside town that is practically untouched by modern society. I don't know why I'm so drawn to it, but I am. Shane thought I was crazy for wanting to go there since they had gotten so much snow, but I insisted. If you've never seen snow on the beach, I highly recommend it. What a sight!

We spent an hour walking and taking photos. Then we began driving toward our next destination, Red Bank, NJ, home of Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash.

What should have taken 15-20 minutes at most, turned into 2 hours. The snow was not completely cleared and that caused major backups. It also caused major schedule changes. As we were riding at a snail's pace, I'm was reviewing tripit plans and figuring out what could be moved. After changing 2 plans, we were looking good.

Once  we arrived in Red Bank, we had to conquer another great feat. Finding parking. Wow. There was so much snow that most of the parking spaces were being used as places to pile the HUGE piles of snow. We finally did find a spot and headed into the Stash. Aerin wandered around taking pictures while Shane and I shopped. I decided to purchased an signed BluRay copy of Zack and Miri by Kevin Smith.

We then ventured aroudn the corner to Mr. Pizza Slice. We ordered a pizza and a couple of sodas. And then got back in the car to drive to Leonardo, NJ. The roads were a bit cleaner, so it didn't take as long to get there.

We were goign to the Quik Stop where the first Clerks movie was filmed. This is where the horrible 2 hour delay worked out nicely for us. While we're standing there, out walks one of the people who appeared in the movie.

We left Leonardo and drove to our hotel. After checking in, I ran across to the mall to pick up a last minute gift and I found out there is NO sales tax on clothing in NJ. AWESOME!

I returned to the hotel and we all prepared to leave for dinner. After being rerouted due to ice on the road, we made it to the restaurant. We were having dinner at Mama Mexico in Englewood Cliffs. I had purchased a deal from Living Social for this meal.

The food was great and they prepare the guacamole fresh beside your table! WOW! Yum-o! After we ate, we returned to the hotel and crashed. I don't think any of us could have done any more that first day.