If my family isn’t traveling to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, like we have for the past few summers, we’re spending the month of August down the shore, specifically in Margate, New Jersey. This summer, August was a month filled with 6am sunrises on the sandy beach and biking along the Atlantic City boardwalk from end-to-end (12 miles round trip, usually riding against the wind). My daily routine was quite simple and quite effective; I would wake up at a reasonable hour, have breakfast that included by favorite Two-Biter cinnamon rolls from the Castel’s grocery store, try to participate in some physical exercise, and work on a school assignment or college applications, all before hitting the beach after lunch. This routine would ensure that I reach my goals for the day, which includes being Sporty Sim, Studious Sim and Social Sim (I would be social by finding friends on the beach). So, welcome to my life in Margate, New Jersey. With beautiful weather every day, being walking distance from cute boutiques, classic Jewish delis, and the famous Hannah G’s for brunch, I only experienced the best of vibes for the duration of my month “down the shore”. Oh, and almost every night my family would go out for ice cream… we would rotate between the Margate Diary Bar, Green and Grains, and Sun Daze (our new fave)! Life was good!
Let’s start with breakfast. My dad and I have this thing for raisins… especially on our favorite sticky buns from Castel’s. Do you want a picture? Of course you do! Here’s a snap of the CENTER CUT (only the best for us!) gooey cinnamon breakfast treat…
We get our sticky buns in the morning so we can ~indulge~ in the FRESH goodness.
Okay… so the next three pictures are from my favorite brunch place IN THE WORLD (and that’s saying A LOT because I’ve had a lot of brunches around the globe). Hannah G’s, in Ventnor, New Jersey, which is walking distance from my beach house, serves the greatest brunch, whether you’re craving an organic omelet or a sugary meal to begin your day. During my first of 3 visits to Hannah G’s, I got this UNBELIEVABLE wholegrain waffle with blueberries and nectarine slices. With their sweet syrup, this waffle was the most amazing breakfast I would have all day (haha). Here’s a (quite beautiful, if I do say so myself) photo of my breakfast:
Because I love Hannah G’s SO MUCH, I felt the need to go another two times. When I brought my sister the second time, we both wanted to get an organic vegetable omelet and this QUINOA FRENCH TOAST, so being the #sistergoals that we are, we got both and split them. Here’s a snap of the well-done spinach, tomato and broccoli omelet:
The following picture is THE quinoa french toast… What is quinoa french toast? A hunk of quinoa prepared like french toast, with super fresh strawberries on top! Here’s a snap…
This french toast paired with the omelet was SO good that my sister and I got the two same meals when we went to Hannah G’s together a second time!
Now that I’ve covered my favorite breakfasts from August, let’s move on to lunch. Right around the corner from my house is this awesome healthy/organic shop, Greens and Grains. (Yes, I mentioned before that we can get ice cream here, because they serve amazing soft serve!) Greens and Grains has great açai bowls, so I would get a bowl for lunch after a run on the boardwalk. Here’s a photo:
With blueberries, granola, banana slices and maple drizzle, the açai custard underneath was nicely complemented.
After lunch everyday, we would make it out onto the beach. After staying there for a few hours, we would walk back to our beach house around 5 because “it’s 5 o’clock somewhere”… it’s time for cocktails! I would opt for a non-alcoholic drink, and we would always serve some combination of bite-sized snacks, from cheese and crackers to hummus and pretzels…
It’s now time for dinner!!! My new favorite place to have dinner is called Tomatoes. Considering that Tomatoes isn’t an Italian restaurant and doesn’t serve anything with tomatoes confuses me, but I’m not complaining because of the amazing sushi and fish meals that are offered. For my first time there, my dad and I shared this lobster/clam/crab bisque that was quite literally one of the best liquids I have ever put into my body.
Ahhh yes, corn, crab, shrimp and everything else all in one bowl. Mmmmm so good.
ANOTHER appetizer my family had were these mussels that came in a tangy curry sauce. The sauce was so good, we even dunked our bread into it!
Ugh, so yummy.
The first time I was at Tomatoes, I got the Alex roll, which was fresh crabmeat wrapped in thin slices of tuna, salmon and avocado. The second time I was there, I got seared tuna with this AMAZING succotash. (It was so good that my sister, who also got the tuna, and I raved about our meal all night long!)
To end the night, during BOTH of my family’s visits to Tomatoes, we split the Killer Chocolate Cake, which is a fudgey hunk of heaven, with ice cream on the side, of course. During my first meal there, while we were ordering our dessert, we felt the need to celebrate our incredible meal, so we pretended it was my birthday (HAHA). So here’s the Killer Chocolate Cake on my “birthday”:
The second grouping of dinners is featuring my love for Margate pizza! From Uncle Gino’s Pizza to Zorro’s, they both have a “pizza” my heart. 🙂 From Uncle Gino’s, we got FREE(!!!) garlic knots, an AMAZING pizza and baked ziti. Ugh. Yum.
From Zorro’s, my dad and I got “Grandma’s Pizza”, which has a garlic bread crust and a super good sauce to go with it. Here’s a snap…
My other favorite restaurant in Margate, aside from Tomatoes, is Sophia’s, a fantastic Greek restaurant. As much as I would like to share pictures from my two dinners at Sophia’s, the lighting was terrible. However, I got an amazing Greek salad, a tuna poké bowl and baklava for dessert. Super good.
Let’s move on to my Margate dessert adventures. Remember when I mentioned ice cream? HERE IT IS! Allow me to introduce you to the famous Margate Diary Bar! Though they have hard ice cream, smoothies and burgers(!!), I opt for their vanilla soft serve with sprinkles. The following pictures are of 1) a vanilla cone with chocolate sprinkles (“jimmies”) and 2) ME enjoying my ice cream!!! 🙂 YAY FOR ICE CREAM!
And that’s the end of a day of meals in the life of beach-bum Sim! I’d like to shoutout the beautiful Margate City beach for truly being one of my favorite spots on Earth… to prove that it’s so amazing down the shore, here’s a quick sunrise shot taken at 6:32am on my last morning at the beach:
As the sun sets upon another relaxing and enjoyable summer, I would like to update you on the beginning of school; I’ve started my senior year of high school and I am in the midst of applying to college! There are lots of things going on here, but I’d like to say one last quick thank you to Margate for completing my summer! xoxo
Update: my dad and sister, who are fluent in Spanish, just reminded me that “mar” means “ocean” in Spanish, so it makes the title of this post even better… it’s funny because I didn’t even realize that, even though I’ve been taking Spanish for 4 years HAHA!
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