Back to work for me…but another beautiful “beach day” in April.  People are out taking advantage of the warm weather- should be a great weekend.
Â
Â
Â
In response to my “1st Beach Day” post, my daughter in law sent me a picture of their “beach day” in Colorado- several feet of snow!
Well…sort of.  The beach chair was there, along with a good book. Wearing jeans and a fleece jacket though. But the sun felt great. April is so fickle…
One “pet peeve”- literally: dogs with poorly trained owners. Saw two incidents just today: a dog chasing and running in front of the police vehicle patrolling the beach -while the owner unsuccessfully used a clicker to get the dog’s attention; and then another dog that barked, growled, and jumped on a woman walking along the water’s edge- and headed toward me with the same aggression. The owner was insulted when I complained and asked him to leash the dog- hey, it’s the law either way.  Â
Otherwise, a perfect day at the beach…for April 🙂
 The sun is finally back out after several days of rain.
In February, we long for April. But the reality of our east coast spring looks more like this picture taken yesterday.
The gusts of wind on Stone Harbor Blvd had to be close to 60 mph!Â
Always wondered how the year round residents along the boulevard cope with the non-stop wind.  Our house shakes and roars during a wind storm, and we have some protection from neighborhing houses.  Their homes are completely exposed- I can’t imagine how loud it must be.
Thankfully, only 2 weeks until May!
Worth the effort to walk or bike ride to the bay side public area located on the Avalon/ Stone Harbor border (between 80th and 82nd Streets) – at least to watch a sunset, or two.
There is a boat launch adjacent to the (free) parking lot, plus plenty of room to fish along the bulkhead. Â
Â
Or, just sit in the gazebo and enjoy the view.
 Not your traditional Easter activities…but the shore is a unique environment.
This kite surfer appreciated today’s high winds and rough ocean; jumping waves and flying through the air. Fun to watch.
Also saw a couple hiding colorful plastic eggs near the bird watching platform at the point in Stone Harbor (for a family Easter Egg hunt tomorrow, they said). Wonder if the wildlife will find the treats inside the eggs before the kids arrive??Â
Happy Easter!
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/181/story/452497.html
I know many owners post their rental properties on Craig’s List for the added exposure- and I guess fraud follows what’s popular (see attached article from The Press).
When traveling and looking to rent a house,  I like to search on line, but prefer to talk with a live person about the property- ideally an established agent located in the community who will be there to assist with any issues. Â
Likewise, I take my responsiblity seriously when I help a family book a seashore rental. It’s a large sum of money, and I want it to be the best fit for their needs. After 25+ years of handling rentals, I have knowledge of not only the properties, but the neighborhoods as well.Â
If you are looking to vacation in the Avalon/ Stone Harbor area, I appreciate the opportunity to help.     ann@anndelaney.com
Easter, Mother’s Day, and Memorial Day- all target dates for the return of activity at the shore.
 Owners are starting to arrive for the holiday weekend- good to see more houses with lights!
Beautiful here today. The official full moon is tonight- a great excuse for a walk along the beach at sunset.Â
For a beach experience on Easter Sunday, the island churches participate in a community sunrise service- held at the 88th Street pavilion at 6:15am.
 A bright fireball for the sunset tonight- blinding to view, and coloring the neighborhood with a soft orange glow.Â
In the summer, this type of sunset precedes a hot day…if only that were true in April! Today’s 48 degree temperatures felt soooo much colder with the strong north west winds.
Save the date: bulk trash pick up is scheduled in Avalon and Stone Harbor for Monday, May 11th. Homeowners are permitted to put items to the curb the weekend prior.
Two ways to enjoy this event- 1) sitting in your house watching others make their selections (fun to guess what they will take); or 2) going out and searching for treasures yourself (best at dark so your neighbors can’t see you!).  This is an earth friendly event- fewer items for the landfill by the time the trucks drive around for the final collection.
I will clean out our storage space…to make room for the “new to us” bicycles that are bound to find their way to our home  🙂
Earth Day 2009
Unfortunately, it didn’t take me long to mentally draft this post after spotting the deflated balloon stuck on the snow fence.Â
In my quick walk, I picked up 5 or 6 balloons, a beer can, a plastic cup and jug, and a potato chip bag. That was all I could carry- so I stopped there.
If Earth Day is an opportunity to remind all of us about the environment- then it has value. If it inspires me to pick up trash along the beach- then it has value. Hope you are equally inspired today!