September is the most gorgeous time of year at the Jersey Shore and Soldiers’ Angels shared that with a group of 14 wounded/injured/ill heroes from Walter Reed Army Medical Center and National Naval Medical Center.

The trip was from Friday to Sunday with unrestricted time for these heroes to enjoy their families without worrying about appointments and schedules. The only “scheduled time” was dinner each evening. There is no end to the appreciation from these heroes for a trip such as this. Most, if not all, of the other trips sponsored have the time scheduled to the minute. This trip gives them the unstructured time to relax, regroup and do normal, family things.

The bus arrived around noon on Friday. After check-in, some explored the beach and boardwalk; some explored the town; some simply took to their room to relax. The hotel, The White Sands Resort & Spa, makes these warriors most welcome. The Spa accommodates them with the various treatments offered and appointments, working with them at the warriors convenience.

We had some very special guests at our dinner Friday evening at the Lido Cafe. The weekend prior, I’d met some retired Marines at the Seafood Festival in town and invited them to join us. What a wonderful way to say “thank you” to them. The Marines who made the trip from NNMC had a great time talking with them, as did all our warriors. Rich Lowe, Soldiers’ Angels Board of Trustee, also coined these Marines.

Saturday was a day for kite flying, kayaking, spa treatments, and indulging in all the boardwalk goodies. A group had never had ice cream and waffles; another had never had zeppole’s. If the boardwalk was open Sunday morning, they’d have gone back for more waffles and ice cream.

Saturday’s dinner was a Clambake held at Point Pleasant Boro Fire Co #1. What a wonderful event this was. After 2 Crystal Wing Awards were presented, to Steven McGovern of Mack Boring & Parts Company and to Anthony Frascella, dinner was served. Catered by Melanie’s Clambakes, they enjoyed steamers, fresh Jersey corn, lobster or chicken. Many hadn’t had lobster before and totally enjoyed it. Before, during and after dinner, the children had a chance to sit in the fire trucks, dress in the gear and shoot off a fire hose. They had such fun!

The weather cooperated Friday and Saturday, but the rains came late Saturday evening and through Sunday morning. It didn’t stop many of these adventurous souls though. We found them coming back from a last walk on the boardwalk—soaking wet, from a “taco search” about 8 blocks from the hotel.

All said this was exactly the type of weekend they needed. They could be themselves and enjoy the time spent with family and friends. This was a special trip for 2 soldiers who will be returning down range in the next few months—so this trip meant even more than we knew to them when we invited them.

Many, many thanks to Soldiers’ Angels for this trip. They are already looking forward to next year!

Thank you to the following: The White Sands Resort & Spa, Spanos, Melanie’s Clambakes, Point Pleasant Boro Fire Company #1, Briggs Transportation, Eyre Bus Service. Of course, thank you to all the angels, in DC and Jersey, who worked hard to get this together and get them gathered onto the bus! LOL

LDR

What A Weekend!

A trip to the Jersey Shore! Soldiers' Angels and 14 wounded warriors and their families enjoyed a wonderful weekend at "The Shore". They arrived at noon on Friday and spent a wonderful weekend enjoying fun, sun and family. The weather cooperated up until late Saturday night, but that did not dampen our warriors. They walked the boardwalk, went down to the ocean and even found a "Taco stand" about 8 blocks inland!!! :)

More to come! I am waiting for pictures!

LDR

HICCUPS AND HEALING

While my blog-father and fellow bloggers were hard at “work” in Las Vegas for the Milblog Conference this past weekend, the Soldiers’ Angels DC (WRAMC) Team and Jersey Team hosted 14 wounded warriors plus some of family members, to a few days at the Jersey Shore. What a wonderful weekend it was all around.

As MD said, there were a few hiccups……mostly concerning “the bus”. Ahhhh, “the bus”. The bus arrived a bit late and then circled around WRAMC for almost an hour. After many phone calls, KM went looking for it and finally located it. All was well—for a while.

The Jersey Gals had arranged a surprise for “the bus”. LO’s sister, Debbie, contacted the American Legion Riders and had arranged for a motorcycle escort up the Jersey Turnpike. Big hiccup here--The bus driver exited off the Delaware Memorial Bridge and did NOT take the NJ Turnpike exit. Now this normally would not have been a hiccup, but the bus was supposed to meet the riders at the first Turnpike rest stop. A larger hiccup ensued when the bus driver tried to find the way back to the Turnpike and took them way out of the way. Finally, the bus was turned around and they met the motorcycles. At any given time, there were between 30-100 motorcyclists escorting the bus and vehicle trailing it. Hiccup coming--The group accepted an invitation to stop at the Legion Post that put together the riders—which turned out to be a very good thing since the bus broke down!!! Thankfully, it made it to the Post where it stayed. A member contacted the local Board of Ed and the heroes arrived at the hotel in a school bus!!

The rest of the weekend was spent relaxing, walking the boardwalk, playing arcade games—just being away from the hospital atmosphere and enjoying themselves for a bit.

Friday night’s dinner was at the hotel restaurant where we presented 3 VALOUR-IT laptops—2 of the fellows were unaware they were receiving them and were very surprised. They all enjoyed the food and fun. Saturday, Jersey Angel RO hosted dinner for us all at her house. MMMMMMMMM, roast beef, ham, roasted potatoes….our warriors were in heaven—homecooking at RO’s house!

This trip did so much for these warriors and their family members. I’ve heard from a few them. One said it was the first time away with his wife since deployed; another—he’s going into the hospital for more surgery, so it was a needed time away; another had lost a family member recently and found the peace that was looked for while at the beach. As MD mentioned, another had his first look at the ocean. It was a healing weekend for minds and bodies.

The weekend couldn’t have gone off without the assistance and support of Patti, Soldiers’ Angels founder. Thank you! I’d also like to thank the following team members for their hard work—without you guys, this weekend would not have come off!! The DC Team: MD—DC (WRAMC) Area Coordinator, thank you for being the “bus queen” and getting those fellows on the bus and then keeping the bus driver on the proper route and being a proxy text receiver; JB—thank you for providing the “trail vehicle” and transporting the wheelchairs; KM—thank you for ALL you did (I do know what you did, you know!) I also know how much you like to text message LOL . The Jersey Gals: RO—thank you for opening your home and to cooking the most wonderful dinner. RO makes “the best ham” I’ve ever eaten!; LO—thank you for all the help, especially setting up for the arrival of the bus and motorcycles. To LO’s sister, Debbie—who arranged the motorcycle escort—Thank you! To Ann—thanks for all the work “in the kitchen”.

To all who helped make this weekend happen--THANK YOU!

The laughter shared by all of us—warriors and angels--was priceless.

LDR