Planning Your Vacation -- Gastronomically Speaking
Every vacation needs planning. Especially if you want to enjoy all the culinary specialties of an area. Before you visit the Jersey Shore, map out your food intake or you could end up making a meal of fudge with funnel cake for desert and a salt-water taffy chaser. Don't leave all the good tastes until the last day. Hit the ground running and with a gastronomic plan in place.
With apologies to others' personal favorites and a caution that all the foods listed would not appear on a list of America's healthiest snacks, I provide a list to assist you in our planning. These are the foods that I never miss during a shore vacation and in several cases never touch unless I am on a shore vacation. Instead of dinner with a client or a 10AM meeting with marketing, mark your calendar with the following:
Great Seafood Go ahead and fill in every dinner. There will be plenty of opportunities for great treats from the sea whether you dine in, carry out or catch your own.
Fudge My personal favorite. I've learned that I can't eat it all. My advice? Pick a favorite flavor and stick with it. I'm a classic vanilla fan myself although I occasionally run amuck and get the vanilla marshmallow. Can't decide? The store will be happy to mix up a pound box for you.
French Fries No, not as a side order. Just fries. Hot, crispy fries to be relished and enjoyed slowly. One advantage of fries? They are easily eaten while strolling the boardwalk.
Funnel Cake I wear black too often to eat funnel cake during the year. Attired in lighter resort clothing, however, I feel free to let powdered sugar fall where it might or more precisely where it will.
Pizza Pizza on the Boardwalk is different. I don't know why. It just is. Take a chance and try it.
Custard I eat ice cream all year but the shore dictates a custard cone. Probably vanilla. Probably dipped.
Cheesesteak and/or Hoagie The sandwich selections are myriad. Far be it from me to dictate the specifics of a meal on a bun. You'll just have to pick up on your own.
Caramel Popcorn I discovered Caramel Popcorn late in life and have been working on making up time ever since. All popcorn requires some dental care but when it comes to caramel coated kernels I think the taste is well worth the effort.
Fresh squeezed fruit juice I know such a healthy item seems like an anomaly in the midst of my list and I guess it is. Nonetheless, I must point out that the variety of juice drinks available at stands up and down the state's Boardwalks is impressive and delicious.
Salt Water Taffy The quintessential seashore treat. What could I possibly add?
There are many other treats available at different locations throughout the state: butterfly fries, zeppole, water ice, soft pretzels, hot dogs. Some are classics; some are rare finds. I wouldn't exactly call any of them diet foods but you can diet when you get home.
As you plan your trip to the shore, focus on the food experiences that the Jersey Shore and its Boardwalks have to offer. And don't eat before you leave the house. Stop at one of the great diners that Jersey is famous for. I would have the hot turkey platter but you'll have to make your own decision. Chances are the proprietor will have prepared an eight-page menu to help you choose. I am sure you'll find something you like.
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