As a weekend trip enthusiast, I am traveling more often than not and typically insanely busy. I am super lucky that Ian likes to adventure as much as me, if not more! He is always down for spontaneous trips and finding the best things to do while we’re there. FYI – I highly recommend finding a best friend and travel buddy in your partner.
We always try to make the most of our weekend trips and turn them into little date nights. As a chronic over-worker with 3 jobs (me) and a successful business owner (Ian), we always put work first and sometimes spend a bit too much time focusing on making money. But whenever we can spend some time without work we make sure it is 100% used for us time. It makes every date night and trip so much more fun because we are 100% committed to it being for us and nothing else! Even when we travel, we try to leave work out of it. That’s exactly what we did in Point Pleasant!
A few weeks ago we found ourselves heading down to the Jersey Shore to visit my Sister, Brother-in-law, and niece & nephew. This was a bit of an unplanned trip but we had a fun-filled weekend of exploring, trying new food, and hanging with family.
First stop when we made the trip to New Jersey, was naturally Last Wave Brewing Co. With my brother-in-law being the head brewer, it’s pretty much the go-to spot when we visit. They had some incredible season brews, all pie themed, as well as Ian’s favorite from the trip, Cranito, a cranberry sour. We played some Chutes and Ladders (dinosaur edition) with the kiddos at Last Wave, naturally letting them win since my nephew is a bit of a sore loser.


While the kids went to bed, Ian and I took advantage of the free time to grab some dinner, just us. From my sister’s recommendation, we ended up at Dona Julia Mexican Kitchen. One word – amazing. The food was beyond incredible and fresh, it was also a family owned restaurant with the sweetest staff!
I got the chicken and beef tacos and Ian got a vegetarian dish, while we both shared the nachos. We both decided that Dona Julia Mexican Kitchen is 100% worth a repeat meal and we will be going back there when we come back to New Jersey.

We ended the night we some outdoor fire beers with my sister and brother-in-law and enjoyed some of the last bearable fall nights.

The next day we had a family breakfast with my sister and her family at the cutest breakfast spot, John & Elaine’s. It feels like a time wrap going back to a classic Americana spot with great food, good people, and good vibes. It was exactly how an old school diner should be. I would be gatekeeping if I didn’t share that you need to get the fresh squeezed orange juice. Pancakes were top notch. Eggs were cooked perfectly. Bacon was perfect. I don’t think I have had that great of a breakfast in a long time! …Ian and my nephew had to do some exploring for cars on Facebook Marketplace before the meal arrived.

It was overall a great weekend and an awesome change of pace for the typical busy work week. If you want to check out any of the places we went, you can find them here!
Last Wave Brewing Co.
601 Bay Ave, Point Pleasant Beach, NJ 08742
Dona Julia Mexican Kitchen
1308 Richmond Ave, Point Pleasant Beach, NJ 08742
John & Elaine’s
1103 Richmond Ave, Point Pleasant, NJ 08742