Yesterday was an unseasonably cool day for May. But, it had me thinking that summer will be here in a month, and my long awaited annual trip to the Jersey shore will be here in less than 3 months. Soon I will be packing up the car on a Sunday morning, driving onto the highway with the Bourne Bridge in my rearview mirror. Heading down 195, waving hello to my true hometown of New Bedford, crossing into Rhode Island with the Providence skyline to my right. Traveling down 95 south past the more rural sections of South County and seeing the cows grazing. Crossing into Connecticut and passsing all 93 exits and thinking of the enjoyable times I've had there, in Mystic, Groton, the casinos, Old Tymes restaurant in Norwich, etc. As I reach the New York border the car is on cruise control until I approach the Cross Bronx Expressway and wait for waht seems like forever to get onto the George Washington Bridge. I soon reach the GWB and try to figure out whether the lower level or upper level will be faster (I'm almost always wrong.) Once over the bridge I break free of the traffic and begin descending onto the New Jersey Turnpike. I'm now just a mere hour from my destination. I travel down the wide open Jersey Turnpike then get onto the Garden State Parkway. The end is near. I breeze through the toll plazaz with my E-Z pass and about 35 minutes later I'm taking the exit towards Ocean Grove. I drive along the streets lined with houses and well manicured lawns. Then it's through the rotary where I have to remember that I have the right of way, rather than the traffic in the rotary (the opposite of Massachusetts) and soon I'm traveling through Asbury Park, a seemingly tight knit community with Mom & Pop stores and family owned restaurants. I turn onto Main St passing the trains tation and on my left is the entrance to Ocean Grove. I drive into the gated town (the gates never actually close nowadays, but the town is surrounded by a wall on all sides) and it's like taking a trip back in time. I proceed down Main Ave lined with trees and shops and restaurants and tourists and soon come to the end of the street, where I turn onto Ocean Ave. On my right is Ocean Grove beach with it's soft sand, sparkling water and waves crashing. On my left I see stately victorian homes that line the streets. i soon pass the park with green grass and flowers of every color so bright. In the background is the great auditorium which is also a place of worship, with it's large cross looking down on me as if to say, "Welcome home." I pull up to the front of The Laingdon hotel, directly across from the beach, where my ocean view room awaits. I know it's now only minutes until I have the sun on my shoulders and my toes in the sand. I step out of the air conditioned car in my flip-flops and feel the warm August sun and smell the salty air. I unload my luggage from trunk and look around at this perfect seaside paradise. It's a quiet Sunday afternoon, but there are some people out, enjoying the beach, walking their dogs, heading over to a sidewalk cafe on Main Ave to enjoy a light lunch, or to have some ice cream at Nagle's. I walk toward the hotel and realize I am at home, in this seaside paradise, even if only for a week.