day trippin: lucy the elephant

a while ago jared and i decided we should do some day trips to really enjoy the weekends. since he hadn't lived in nj since 1990-ish, there were a lot of things to see -- even for myself, living in nj for a better part of my life, there were definitely things i haven't seen and places to go just within my home state. in the interest of saving some money to pay for the wedding, saving for a house and to just get by, we thought day trips would be fun and economical. a while ago we went to ringwood manor and then to paterson falls, which is now in the spotlight since it may be deemed a national park. i'll post some blogs about them later. (to the left, the view from lucy's haddock)

this weekend, while down visiting my family in little egg harbor we got to see one of the nj sights that i've been itching to go to for a while. i actually first heard about lucy the elephant on that weird and slightly disturbing show called life after people. it highlighted how we spend a lot of time maintaining things so they don't fall apart. funny enough the story of this gigantic elephant structure on the shore of margate, nj definitely needs a lot of maintaining. and this girl gets around. she's been moved a few times as you'll learn from her history. can you imagine moving something that is so big??

above is a weird nj video of lucy.

the price of admission was a bit steep ($6 for adults, $3 for children) but the experience was pretty cool -- plus you know the money is going to maintain the lovely lucy. first off you get to climb up into a freaking elephant... look out it's eyes and see the ocean... and did i mention that the elephant has windows on it's butt?? the best part is that you get to go out on the top of the elephant to its hassock and see the jersey shore in all it's glory. there is a tour guide who brings you up as well as a gift shop with lots of elephant themed items.

all in all i think it was a great little day trip. while we were there it was a hurricane warning so we steered clear of the beach. but our tour guide mentioned that you can get a pass for the beach. check the margate website for more info. the town itself was pretty cute. lots of old homes that were well kept. beach bars and restaurants -- very family friendly. we took my 9 year old cousin and he really had a great time. he loved the elephant butt windows (who doesn't?)!!

note, you do have to pay a $1.50 toll coming and going on the bridge.