U.S. Travel Tales, Chapter Three - Exploring the Jersey Shore....

Hello all.... Thank you for taking some time off your busy schedule & reading my blogs...It feels great that I get around 300 visitors everyday on my page :) This is really motivating & I finally feel that me writing travelogues doesn't go in vain & there are people who actually read it too ;)

So this is the third part of the U.S Travel Tales & as usual any coastline draws my attention as I am a beach lover :) So this part of the Travelogue is dedicated to the Beautiful coastline of New Jersey... Hope you enjoy reading :)

Me and my longing for solitude ;)

The story begins ;) It was 7 in the morning my wife jumped out of the bed...Look sunlight, bright sunlight!! she said....though I was a bit pissed being disturbed at 7 in the morning on a weekend, however I could totally understand her Joy or should I say empathize with her ;)

It has been almost 2 weeks since she arrived here in Jersey and it was the first time in 2 weeks that she was witnessing sunlight ;)

As a matter of fact since the time she landed in the US she has been judiciously following the weather website more than Facebook such was her ordeal ;)

Some Deers enjoying the fine early morning weather and chilling out in the neighborhood ;)

So coming back to the trip,  It was a weekend & great weather outside.
We had a ready itinerary & we just got ready and headed off for a coastal trip :)

The Plan....

New Jersey has some nice beaches like Point Plesant beach, Island beach state park, Asbury Park Beach where you can spend a day relaxing in the white sands or taking a dip in the cold waters or partying in the pubs located close to the beach...

Based on some research we decided to visit some famous beaches & this is how our plan looked on paper...

Home --> Sea bright --> Long beach ----> Atlantic city ---> Island state park beach--> Point pleasant ---> Home

This was a very ambitious plan and it was upon the mercy of the weather god....

Day 1

As I mentioned earlier, I got woken up by dear wifey at 7 in the morning and within no time we were all decked up and ready to hit the road...It was very hot indeed.. this state has extreme weather be it summer or winter.... Our first destination for the day based on the plan was sea bright...

The drive begins

 we saw many happening pics of the beach on the internet and were very excited as it was a weekend & we expected lot of crowd & fun at the beach.However the beach was deserted and hardly there were any people at the beach..It felt like Kodi Bengre in Karnataka ;) 

Pics from Sea Bright...

We were excited for our next destination however mother nature had different plans for us.... in no time the weather changed from hot & sunny to cloudy.... Having spent almost a year in this state i sometimes wish I could sue the person who is sitting on top and wrecking our weekend fun :(

So with no other option we decided to head directly to Atlantic city...

Some Food & Fun :)

Atlantic City

Mini Vegas as it is usually referred to, Atlantic city is a perfect getaway for people residing in the east coast & who want to lose some money over the weekend through gambling ;) . Tough I lose money while gambling, I somehow seem to enjoy the ambiance the casinos have to offer & I end up

spending hours inside the casinos losing money ;) . Atlantic city is no match to Vegas but it does have some great casinos & $5 Black Jack ;)....

Atlantic city also has a nice Boardwalk, a Korean war memorial & some great eateries. Atlantic city also has the Taj Mahal not the Sahjahan one, the Trump Taj Mahal ;)

We reached the hotel at 3PM checked in freshened up and headed off to the boardwalk.... 

We sat on the shore and just spent time listening to the mesmerizing sound of the waves:) 

So we visited some nearby Casinos & spent the rest of the day losing money by playing Blackjack, Poker etc ;)

Day 2

The weather showing no signs of improvement we had to shelve the plan to visit the other beaches....

There was no plan B for the day hence we spent the morning visiting the shops on the boardwalk & taking a stroll at the beach...

We check out at 3 PM and planned to head back home....

Pics from Atlantic City....

Korean War Memorial

As we were heading back home the weather seemed to improve and we happend to accidentally spot an amazing location called the Raritan river front.... We just grabbed some Coffee & spent some time sipping hot coffee on the river front :)

Pics from the Raritan river front

Isn't this an amazing setting for some evening Coffee ? :)

So after some walking and lazing around on the lawn we headed back home...

We visited Island state park beach & Asbury park beach in the subsequent weekends....

Island State Park Beach

I have a dedicated blog on this beach.... This is one of the cleanest beach I have seen in the U.S....

since this is inside a national park there is not much commercial activity near the beach & it is very peaceful....

Pictures from my original Blog... Isn't this beach Spectacular?

Asbury Beach & Point Plesant Beach

The reason I have clubbed these beaches together is that they offer the same kind of experience....

Both these beaches are very crowded, bustling with commercial activities, Some great bars located at the beach & some great food....

We had to pay entry fees to enter the Asbury Park Beach... So just a heads up....

Pics from Asbury Beach..

So this concludes the Beach log of east coast.... I am drafting the next blog on New York City!!! stay tuned :) Thanks for reading :)

U.S. Travel Tales, Chapter Two - Road Trip to Vegas Baby!!!!

How often has it happened that when you tell your friends you are visiting the states there is always a person who would tell you "Bhai Las Vegas zaroor ghoom lena" ;) Translation - Bro, Don't forget to visit Las Vegas :) and he will add to it "Mujhe bhi bula lena, saath me party karenge" (Invite me too).

Doesn't matter if you are thousands of miles away, visiting the US & not visiting Vegas is like visiting Thailand & not getting a Thai massage :D

(admit it guys!! I know what you did last summer) 

So getting to the point quickly this is the second part of the series "US Travel Tales" and it is about one of the must visit awesome place in your lifetime if you get an opportunity to visit the U.S. no points for guessing it is Vegas Baby!!!!!

When I was initially planning a trip to the west coast I was in a dilemma to visit Vegas or not as it was very pricey during the holidays & another reason being that it was going to be a trip with wifey & not with your bachelor friends ;)

so I was not keen on Vegas and was trying to push it to a future date wherein i could go for a bachelor trip to Vegas ;).

However Vegas was the top priority in wifey's list and if you remember what I had written in my earlier blogs there is a famous quote next to a famous personality in a morphed internet picture which says "Always agree to your woman else every discussion will be an argument" ;) So there was no avoiding it.. But I must say it was one of the best decisions I had ever made... Vegas is just wow!! 

The Plan

Since this was a road trip & we had to drive almost 300 miles to reach Vegas from CA, I wanted to book a kick ass car for the long drive.

I always wanted to emulate Zindagi Na Milegi Doobara(ZNMD) cast where in I could rent a open top car and drive through the deserts of Nevada.

However due to the holiday season the only open top car available for rent was the Corvette :O I had to literally sell my kidneys if I have to afford this beauty ;)

So the plan to emulate ZNMD went out of the window :'(

The holiday season rush had another twist in store for us. The car we had booked was not available & we were upgraded to the mighty & powerful Dodge :D

I couldn't have asked for more... Thank you Enterprise :)

The mighty Dodge

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I always thought that Vegas was only about gambling & partying, boy was I proven wrong.

Nevada is such an amazing state, there is so much to do in this place other than gambling & partying.

Red rock canyon, Hoover Dam, lake mead and the list goes on.... So if you are visiting Vegas don't restrict yourself to clubbing, gambling & partying, do explore the nearby wonders this beautiful state has to offer.

So keeping in mind the places we were going to visit we planned for a 3 days road trip

Vegas Baby!!!

Here I am on the road again

Look at the huge moon!!!

I picked up the rental car the previous day, tanked up & test drove the car to experience its sheer power & mettle, boy it was a beauty of a car :) This is going to be an awesome drive the internal me said ;)

Day 1

We had planned to start early to beat the holiday traffic but alas everybody had the same plan creating chocked roads & we ended up driving almost

8 hours to reach Vegas.. It was one hell of a nightmarish traffic that I have never seen before in the U.S

We got a great deal at the Stratosphere hotel which was away from the main strip in Vegas 

We arrived at the hotel at 8PM and were almost dead due to the nightmarish traffic....

We did not have the energy to venture out so we spent the rest of the night at the hotel....

Traffic Traffic all the way!!!

Stratosphere 

Day 2

We had planned to visit the nearby attractions on day 2 i.e., Red rock canyon, Lake Mead & hoover Dam during the day & party in the main strip during the night :)

So we woke up early as usual and headed off to our first destination

Red Rock Canyon

Red rock canyon was around 20 miles from where we were put up in Vegas.

The place has huge stone formations & the drive inside the red rock canyon park is very scenic.

There is a one-way loop road inside the park which covers the entire park and gives some spectacular views of the landscape around.

So after a drive through the canyon we headed to our next destination for the day which is Lake Mead & Hoover dam.

Hoover Dam

This place needs no introduction....I am pretty sure most of you have already seen the Hoover dam in many Hollywood movies after all it is a spectacular sight:)

I too got an opportunity to personally visit this place... must say it is one heck of a place...

The place is too touristy & has very narrow approach road causing traffic delays....

There was so much delay in visiting Hoover dam that we couldn't visit lake mead... all we could manage is the pics of the lake from the car ;)

So we were back to the hotel by dusk & we were ready to party :)

it's time to Partayyyy!!!

We headed off to the main strip in Vegas and visited some great casinos & clubs.

we rode the monorail and checked-out the fountain show at the Bellagio

After a terrible debut at gambling in Atlantic city I did not let any stone unturned...

I made a come back at black jack this time ;) all in all it was a real fun night and below are few pics....

Day 3

We were at the stratosphere hotel & this hotel offers some scary rides... due to our packed schedule we did not get a chance to experience these rides.

Hence we planned to finish the rides in the morning and head to the Grand Canyon after that....

the rides were one of the scariest rides I had ever experienced. Imagine being suspened in the air at the 108th floor :O

and there is nothing below your feet.... you can literally stare at your death ;)

There were 3 rides and we did all 3 of them and below are the pics from the ride and a video too... How I wish I had a go pro to capture the true feeling :)

After the rides we headed off to Grand canyon.

Grand canyon west rim

Grand Canyon is one of the natural wonders in the world. The closest part of the grand canyon to Las vegas is the west rim.

The drive to the west rim was one of a kind... it was very unique for me.. there were strong winds which literally was making my car slide sideways...

I had to hold the steering hard and maintain balance in the strong winds... it was one hell of an experience....

Drive to the Grand Canyon

Strong winds causing problems on the road

Scenic drive

But once you reach this place the drive is really worth it....This place is truly a natural wonder & it is really hard to believe that the formations are natural...

The stones look like they have been cut using machines such symmetry they posses.... this place will blow your mind!!!

If west rim is so beautiful I cannot imagine how beautiful the main park would be..... I hope one day I get an opportunity to visit the main park :)

So after visiting grand canyon we were back to the hotel & we continued exploring the casinos & clubs in the main strip....

Stratosphere hosts a beautiful rotating restaurant at the top floor, I guess 108th floor of the building....

The ambiance is spectacular and this is a perfect place to get some drinks & gaze at the bustling city underneath...

The view is amazing & the experience is one of a kind.... We decided to have our dinner here which would complete our stay at Vegas :)

So we dined at the roof top restaurant & had a short walk at the tower top under the moonlight.... A romantic setting I would say.. A walk to remember :)

Day 4

After having some great breakfast & doing the final bit of gambling in the morning ;) we headed off to L.A & that completed our trip to Vegas

It was one of the most memorable trip for me in my life & all credits to my wife for planning & executing this wonderful trip to Vegas...

Now I know why there is always a person in your group who says "Vegas Zaroor Jaana" (Do Visit Vegas) probably I too will be that one person to recommend Vegas to people ....

So until next time, Cya & stay Blessed :)