Island Beach State Park

Another beachy day, but with a twist; see later.
El and I picked up Aline at 10:00 and we three had a convivial and leisurely breakfast at Dockside.  Dropped A. off at the corner bus stop, as she was working until 6:00.
Home, I sliced zucchini and onions and put them in the slow cooker with seasonings. Leslie stopped in to give back the book brother Larry had sent about his (and daughter's and grandson's) trip to South Africa.  (Leslie and Dennis had done missionary work there.) My friend arrived, we chatted for a bit, Les left, then we took off for Toms River and Island Beach State Park.  We took separate cars and left mine in a shopping center parking lot; friend drove to the park, another twenty minutes away.
This is a large and semi-wild park, miles long, owned by the state of New Jersey.  We were pleased to discover that I could get a senior citizen pass free which admits the whole car.  Did so, and we drove the six miles or so to a major beach.
The girls and I settled my chair and blanket, and their shoes and tops on a likely spot, then they left for a walk down the beach.  It was somewhat cloudy at times, but mostly sunny and warm.  A mist, eerie and beautiful, hung over the ocean and flocks of sea gulls sailed and soared over the sand...
A lot of sea gulls.  A whole lot.  So many sea gulls that they put me in mind of Hitchcock's The Birds. The resemblance was even more pronounced when one swooped down to land on the beach chair of the people next to me. Then, another yanked some kind of food--I'm not sure what it was, maybe bread--out of my neighbors' belongings.
Good grief, almost immediately, the air overhead was filled with gulls!  There were surely a hundred of them, making an unholy din squawking and fighting for the spoils.  I jumped up in alarm, but not before taking several pictures.  The man with the bread grabbed it, pushing away the damn birds already tearing into it; he ran to the upper part of the beach and flung it there.  Birds followed, they converged and devoured it all, and finally few away to look for the next victim.
Wow, that was exciting, but now I settled down to watch the ocean and wait for the girls--right?  Wrong. A beach patrol truck came rolling up to announce that everyone had to vacate the beach because thunder had been heard.  The girls were long gone and I couldn't carry all the items we had with us, but I rolled all the shoes and tops up in the blanket and a nice lifeguard carried it while I took the chair and my packed beach bag.
I've heard of vacating the water if a thunderstorm threatened, but never having to leave the sand.  However, I was told that this was the second time that day people were ordered off and that the "alert," if a storm didn't materialize, would be over in 45 minutes. After about 30, while I cooled my heels on a convenient bench, El and friend strolled up, having been told of the situation--I guess, that a summer storm threatened and could fry everybody on the beach.
By that time, it was after 4:30 and the beach was closed, anyway, so we packed up and left.  Said goodbye at the shopping center, got my car, and we drove home.
We were delighted when precious little K.--and his parents--Skyped us and we were able to see him have breakfast and busily crawl around.  I was surprised to see that he was a bit cranky--first time I've seen him anything but smiling and laughing--but poor little guy, he had a cold and didn't feel well.
So sad that this is Ellen's last day here.  We leave for the airport in a few hours and I'll miss her so much.  Can't wait to move near her and I'm determined to work hard to make that happen.