Seaside Heights On Jersey Shore Not The One I Remember

With the premiere of a new episode tonight of MTV'S Jersey Shore it got me to thinking about my good times in Seaside Heights. The physical place is much the same as when I used to visit more than 20 years ago. Boardwalk lined with game stands, arcades, treat shops, rides and bars. The same clubs, for the most part, are still there they just might have a new name or different paint job.
  The way I experienced Seaside, however, was much different than what you see on MTV. Cars were a much bigger part of it than now. In fact unless you had a cool car to go there with most times you stayed home or made sure you found a place to park away from the boardwalk. Back then, not only were you allowed to cruise the strip it was expected. Where "The Situation" spends all day working out, tanning, and getting his hair cut. I would spend most of my day washing and polishing my car, then making sure it's tank was full.
  Luckily, I had a cool car. A 1969 Orange Camaro that was respected by the other guys cruising and noticed by the girls my friends and I were trying to meet. My buddies and I would pile into the car and make the half hour to 45 minute ride, depending on if we saw any cops, to Seaside. Once there we would drive to the farthest end of town, pull onto the strip which ran next to the boardwalk, and drive slowly to the other end. The strip would be lined with cars and trucks, most filled with young guys yelling out the windows to just about any girl within shouting distance. There were only two reasons to stop, either a group of girls actually responded to your craziness, or you happened to be lucky enough to get a parking spot on the strip.
  Your plans for the night were mostly determined by a good parking spot or some girls agreeing to meet you on the boardwalk. If it was a meeting then the parking spot did not matter. If you were lucky enough to get a spot on the strip, that is where you would spend most of your night. We would park the car, crank up the music and lean on it, all the while eyeing up any female that would walk by. Only if the action seemed slow would we actually venture up on to the boardwalk to resume our mission to meet some young women.
  We never went in the clubs or fist pumped. If we drank it was usually done under the boardwalk with a case of beer we brought with us, not a mixed drink in a club. When we met a girl who liked us we took her onto the beach, not back to our beach house and the night would not be complete without a stop at the diner on the way home.
  The diner served two purposes, not just the classic Cheeseburger Deluxe to sober us up, but also as a place to meet more girls. Ah, the simple times when the only things that mattered were girls, cars, and beer. Once the last frie was eaten, everyone would throw some money on the table, we would pay our bill and head home. Many times to be greeted by the rising sun along the way.
  Perhaps the only thing we had in common with the cast of the Jersey Shore was sleeping in the next day, that is unless the next day was Saturday when we would repeat the whole process again.
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