Gia Nina’s is one of many pizza place/Italian restaurants in South Jersey. What sets them apart is the fact that the Italian restaurant side of the house far from the typical pizza place restaurant. As a matter of fact, I’ve never tried their pizza, stromboli or sandwiches. I have, however, sat in their warmly decorated dining room and enjoyed delicious meals with family and friends on many occasions. They have all the standards… lasagna, stuffed shells, ravioli, etc. All that I’ve tried have been fantastic, especially the lasagna. They also have a nice selection of steaks and seafood.
Speaking of seafood, I need to mention the “crab spiders.” This appetizer, with its rather unique name, is one of the highlights of their menu. It’s a combination of crab meat and angel hair pasta fried up and served with sweet lemon curd. I know, it sounds like a strange combination and it is, but it works! It was recommended by the friend I was with the first time I went to Gia Nina’s and I’ve ordered it every time since. Once the crab spiders are gone, be sure to grab your spoon and eat the leftover lemon curd. It’s so good!
One day, maybe I’ll try their pizza, but in the meantime, it’ll remain my go-to Italian spot when I have out of town company or just need a place to take family or friends. The only complaint I have is that they’re closed on Sundays, but everyone needs a day to rest. I’d just rather they did it on Mondays.
While looking for someplace to go for a day trip, we stumbled upon a balloon festival in North Jersey. Since hot air balloons always make for great photos, I couldn’t pass it up. We bought tickets and headed to Readington Airport. Unfortunately, the day was pretty overcast and there were scattered showers throughout the day. Some of the traditional balloons were able to launch but all of the larger shaped balloons either inflated and stayed tethered or just didn’t inflate at all. As it turned out, the unexpected part that made the price of admission worth it was all of the companies that were there handing out samples of their products. It was a bizarrely eclectic mix of stuff. From Advil to Minute Rice to flavored milk and on and on, we had to make the long muddy walk to the car twice just to offload all of the stuff we’d been given! It was a fun day and we managed to stay mostly dry while watching the balloons that were brave enough to take off despite the questionable weather.
Back in June there was a tall ship festival in Philadelphia and the Camden waterfront. When I was a kid my parents would sometimes take us to a park along the Delaware River to see the tall ships when they were coming to Philadelphia. We also got a see them once or twice in Baltimore. So this was a fun chance to check them out up close and bring back some good memories too.