((Before this weekend comes up, I had to document last weekend, October 8-10, 2022, because it was so good! I am posting this the Thursday after to give myself grace because life gets in the way sometimes))
Woo! We are back from a long weekend and it was an exciting one. So exciting that I decided to write a whole post about it. One great thing about this past weekend was it was filled with lots of outdoor time.
SATURDAY NIGHT/// Kyle suggested we go to "Nightmare on Gravity Hill" a 45 minute walk through haunted trails. I had wanted to go to Haunt 'O Ween at Bell Works, which is a family friendly all inclusive experience that had rides, games and trick or treating. When I went to look for the tickets, to my surprise they were all sold out. That made our Kyle's choice to go to Nightmare on Gravity Hill easier. I was not excited for this and all the way there, I pouted. I am not too proud to admit that and it might not have been one of my prouder moments. I had gone 10 years ago and I am pretty sure I had the same reaction on the way.
We bought the express tickets so we didn't have to wait in the 2+ hour line. THANK GOODNESS for that one, I would have thought of some excuse to try to get out of it. Kyle and I were paired up with another couple and we waited to enter the gates and right at the moment, the bell rang to let us in, my stomach dropped and I unwillingly moved through the gate. The actors were really good and some of them made me scream then giggle. The trail we walked through had different areas you encountered and each area had a different theme- movie theater, grave yard, church etc. Theses scenes were made to keep you guessing and to keep you on your toes- you didn't know where someone was going to come out. Most of the areas /scenes we were scary but after the initial scream, I realized they couldn't touch me so to combat my fear, I would say, 'wanna join us for a drink' and some of the actors responses were HILARIOUS! The best one was "Dude, I am dying in here for thirst, I NEED some water!" There was one part where it REALLY freaked me out- We walked through a dark room with lasers and fog covering the floor and up to about waist height. As we made our way to the middle, a demon/ghoul/scary thing popped up from the fog right in front of me and I did that silly thing of running in place without moving and then I just ran out of there. I am pretty sure afterwards I needed a breather for a few minutes, it was THAT bad. After all was said and done, we walked out to the exit through a line of greenhouses. I was still on edge but I saw the light at the end of the tunnel. We had made it and Kyle was right, we did have fun.
The best part of our scary adventure, it was just about a full moon too! Spookiness!👻
Afterwards, I said I need a drink and we found ourselves at the Ivy League for a snack. We laughed about our experience over yummy nachos and drinks while watching the Saturday Night games.
SUNDAY/// Red Bank hosted "Porch Fest", a walkable/bikeable/scootable/golf cartin' music festival. Twenty two houses throughout Red Bank, hosted local musicians for the afternoon. The houses put lawn furniture out on the front law for you to sit and enjoy the music. Some houses even provided snacks (which we all know is my favorite part!) There was a map outlining each It was a come and go drop in kind of thing.
We ended up parking in the middle, near number 22 and we made our to 3,7,10,8,12,6,11,2,17 and finally 5 in that order. We loved walking through neighborhoods we normally wouldn't, getting to see some really pretty houses and the hospitality the houses provided was so sweet. Porch #3 ended up being in the backyard at their gazebo and the owner of the house came up to us, shook our hands and introduced himself; I had heart eyes immediately. We listened to the band play some Beatles music and then we moved on, since we had a lot of ground to cover.
The fourth porch (porch 10) we went to was one of my favorites. Though crossing that busy street was tricky, it was totally worth it. As we approached this house, I heard the music and I got really excited. I was hoping to hear Jazz music and porch 10 delivered. The Jazz Academy from Red Bank was featured on this porch. I was SO happy; I also associate Jazz and Red Bank because of the Count Basie Theater and the rich Jazz history throughout Red Bank.
While we are at porch 10, I need to point out the house to the left of porch 10. For one, it looks like a doll house with those bright colors and then the Halloween decor is just perfect. Those large, perfectly placed spiders crawling up the house?! Sign me up!
Right after the Jazz porch, we stumbled upon Porch 8 that had a Jack Johnson feel- a man playing the guitar. The kindness sign above the steps, the chill music AND my favorite part, the food. This porch pulled out all the stops- Chili in a crock pot, a charcuterie board, chips and salsa (my favorite) and beer. Kyle went to scope out the food and then I went for myself. What a nice snack in the middle of our walk. They were so accommodating. It was super sweet.
A couple of houses later we encountered another porch that ended up being another one of my favorites- porch 6. This rock band, KQHYT KQHYT was perfectly settled on a corner porch and we were bopping along to the music. Such a contrast from the Jazz and chill guitar, we previously saw; it made me so happy.
As you can see, bikes were the most popular way to get around Porchfest. Another fun thing I noticed was this event drew people of ALL ages. There were children, toddlers, teenagers, young adults, older adults and everything in between. They were all enjoying the sunshine and music and the ability to be outside in beautiful weather.
We ended up passing this porch 6 again and this time we saw it from the other street and what we didn't notice the first time was the tree was decorated with disco balls and demon baby heads. It was funny when Kyle and I saw this- I immediately saw the sparkly disco balls, he saw the demon baby heads- we giggled at the contrast of what we saw first.
We only encountered one porch that was in between sets. I thought we were pretty lucky considering how many we have seen thus far and we moved on to the area that looked like there was food. We were surprised to see that next to porch 2, was a Shop Rite truck that was giving out free snacks and samples. SIGN ME UP!
The Shop rite truck had full size samples of different drinks- Bubly, Mountain Due and Ollipop I believe and also snacks- Boom Chicka Pop, Bellvita and some trail mix. I snaged a bag of Kettle Corn Boom Chicka Pop and to be honest, I do not even like kettle corn BUT this tasted DELICIOUS. I think all the people at porch 2 had the same idea I did, snacks and music. This band was upbeat and fun!
After the snacks, we ventured into downtown Red Bank for a short rest. Some shade and a few minutes of sitting down made both of us happy.
After our rest, we made our way to the last two porches. On the way to the second to last porch, we passed a house that had SO.MANY.WINDOWS. The was no rhyme or reason when they were picking out the window/ placing the windows/ sizes and shapes of the windows and it being under construction, it looked like this was a recent decision. Its the house on the right, if you couldn't tell. ALSO if you own this house, I have a lot of questions, please contact me.
The very last house we ventured to had another large group and the band had a really unique sound. I couldn't place what was making it unique then I realized what it was. It was a violin! Between the keyboard and the guitars, this violin made for a really cool sound and surprise.
This was a really neat event. I loved how the porches put out their outdoor furniture on the lawns and everything was perfect mismatched but well loved. It added to the charm of this event. It was Red Bank's first year doing this and I really hope it continues to grow because it was a really fun event!
After Porchfest, Kyle took me to a place I've never been. Trader Joe's. YUP, we went on an adventure to get something for dinner and the only thing I had in my mind from Trader Joe's was the gnocchi. I was in amazement walking around TJ's looking at all the neat stuff. (Think Ariel in the Little Mermaid- "Look at this stuff, Isn't it neat?") I grabbed the gnocchi, and some Naan garlic crackers (could have been more garlicky) and some salsa. Kyle grabbed Carne Asada (SO yummy!), his spicy salsa, and some veggies. TJ's I will be back, because you were so much fun! :)
MONDAY/// This ended up being kind of a relaxing day. I had an early morning doctors appointment and afterwards, a quick stop at my favorite bagel place in Freehold made for a great morning. The bagel place, Bagel Nook, has been my favorite for years. When I lived in Freehold, way back when, it was very hard to resist these bagels, because the shop was SUPER close to my house. I picked up breakfast for myself, a fun pumpkin shaped bagel and a dozen for my parents. I was so happy for my bagel, I basically inhaled it.
Kyle and I relaxed for a bit in the late morning and then we headed out to Spirit Halloween to see our options for Halloween costumes. We had very different opinions on what we should do and he said earlier in the day, should I buy a Sully onesie and my response was "eh. We should go to Spirit to get some ideas" After what felt like an hour in Spirit, we decided on costumes. I won't spill be beans on what we chose but I will share our runner up choice.
So appropriate for us since we LOVE snacking on chips and salsa. I cannot wait to share our halloween costumes!
After making our purchases, we took a road trip up to Chatham to visit the Gravity Vault there. Kyle and I both have memberships that allow us to go to any Gravity Vault location. We normally just stick to Brick and Middletown; there are a bunch in North Jersey and this is the first of many adventures to see what the other gyms are like.
Before we arrived in Chatham, we took a short detour to Roselle Park to surprise my Aunt. I haven't seen her since before the pandemic and I wanted to give her a big hug! She was so happy to see me and meet Kyle. Good deed done!
We arrived at the Chatham Gravity Vault and we first encountered the retail store/front desk. This was completely separate from the climbing area. As we entered into the climbing area is looked slightly smaller but more updated than Middletown. We got our shoes on and our chalk out and climbed the walls.
We bouldered for about an hour and we both thought the routes were challenging and different. Usually when we start I am super nervous and shaky on my first few climbs. This time, I wasn't as shaky and nervous, I felt comfortable weirdly enough.
We chatted with some of the other climbers and watched what they were doing. Seeing the kids climb always amazes me. They are fearless and they go for it! We had a lot of fun climbing here. I think we are both excited to see what the other Gravity Vaults are like.
On our way home, we stopped to get some frozen pizzas for dinner (Dollar Tree has Red Baron Pizzas for $4!! ) and settled in for the night. What a great weekend! We were super active and we enjoyed every minute of it. Clearly, we have become the adventure couple and I wouldn't change that for anything.
Did you do anything good for the holiday weekend?
[[Oh darling, lets be adventurers]]
