So, we never really did see any sand at the beach; "the beach" in Jersey terminology can also refer to just the general area of Long Beach Island, or Beach Haven.

But we did get to drink like crazy. We played pool against the locals, and some guy with one eye was telling me his sob story about a girl he left behind in South Korea. Somewhere along the 4th vodka+diet coke (NO CARBS, PEOPLE, NO CARBS), I got the silly notion that I was ante in the poolgame. Damn, he better win, or I'm going to end up going home with someone else tonight!

No this wouldn't have happened--and this is a good thing, because all 6 drinks came up later that evening. The Chexmix I ate right before gave the vomit a nice, spicy aftertaste and enhanced the texture a bit, too. So, whoever I went home with would've had to watch me oversalivate for half an hour. It took me that long to convince my stomach to let go.

"Just let go, stomach... No use trying to keep all that down, now."

Anthony was an absolute angel, and I'm not being facetious.

"This weekend is on me, since I really didn't give you anything for your birthday."

He bought me 2 t-shirts, all dinners, breakfasts, and all those drinks I tossed back... and then up. Interestingly, while we were starting to get randy on the couch, his exgf Rachel called. I started feeling a tad hurt and slightly suspicious...

...and then like a total hypocrite. So don't worry, readers--I didn't ride his ass about her call at all. I have no right to do so, do I.

Probably the best thing that happened down at the beach was a baloney and cheese sandwich he made. During the ride down, I talked about lunchmeats (?).

"Yeah, my dad was REAL big on buying cold cuts for sandwiches when we were down here. Hoagie rolls, Miracle Whip, lettuce, tomato... Just go to the beach, and come back and mage huge, giant sandwiches for lunch."

And after hearing that, Anthony stopped at a local deli and bought us all the good ingredients to make a sandwich. One that oozed mayo from the edges, making the stack of baloney slide out from between the sesame-seeded bread, and took me back to 17 years ago to some of my favorite memories.