exit 13.

i'm a born & raised clam digger from exit 98, but there's one place on earth that will make me give up my monmouth county allegiances: exit 13. all the way down south on the garden state parkway, there's little seven-mile island, & on the north tip of it, is avalon, with it's motto: 'cooler by a mile'. the island, barely 5 blocks wide at it's thickest point, is a true summer time community, with a winter population of hundreds, on a good day. my grandparents retired there, to a little bungalow that they built & named, 'jobito' (for their three sons, john jr., bill & tom). every summer, for as long as i can remember, we spent weeks running between houses playing ghost hunt, hauling boards to the beach, just a 1/2 block away, & eating peanut butter & fluff sandwiches (which mom would never allow at home!) life at grandma's was grand (isn't it always?)when i was in college, the time came for jobito to be sold, & while it broke our hearts to say goodbye to that little bungalow, it meant a lot of freedom for my parents, from maintenance & care for the grounds, to the worry about weekly renters & the damage they would surely cause. instead of putting it on the market, we sent letters to all our dearest neighbors & friends, with whom we had shared so many wonderful evenings on the front porch, offering them the home, knowing they would care for it as my grandparents would have wanted. many of them responded, & one of the neighbors came back with (not to get all jersey on you) an offer we couldn't refuse. they hated to see us go, too, & offered to let us stay in the house for two weeks every summer & two weeks every winter!so prince charming & i have just returned from a wonderful long weekend at jobito. we spent so many lovely evenings playing scrabble on the porch, & long days down at the ocean's edge. it's so hard to come back to reality from a wonderful place like avalon...