After having an incredibly difficult rough patch near the end of last semester, I decided that I would try and make the most of this summer, seizing every day I possibly could. I took a summer class to regain my footing, embarked on mini-adventures, drank as much local iced coffee as humanly possible (an entirely different checklist), read lots of books I have been waiting on reading, etc.

Some of these tasks for this summer, however, were much, much closer I proximity than others. This was the case with The Bagel Nook in Freehold, NJ, which took me no more than 15 minutes to get to. I visited it last week, after seeing it pretty much everywhere on the internet for the past few weeks. I have seen it all over Instagram and Twitter, and BuzzFeed even wrote an article about the shop's famous Oreo bagel back in May.

After finding out exactly how close it was, and realizing that I could not put it off any longer, I got in my car with my sister and we headed over there. When I reached the mini-mall complex that the establishment was located in, I could not wait to get inside and see for myself what all of the fuss was about.

However, once I entered the bagel place, I realized that I had romanticized the idea of it in my mind. Social media had made me believe that for some reason this would be a gourmet bagel shop, and have more of a restaurant-feel to it, given the kinds of bagels they served. But, I walked in and it was like every other bagel shop in New Jersey — small, cramped and way, way too hot. Which is not a bad thing. It was just that the only difference was its intense menu and the unique varieties of bagels and cream cheese on display for everyone to see.

My sister and I each ordered our bagels, my sister ordering the Oreo Overload Bagel, while I ordered the Cocoa Puff Overload Bagel, and while waiting we got to see all of the other bagels that people had ordered before us. They looked incredible. It made me so much more excited to get my bagel, and more importantly, excited to be able to post the perfect picture on my Instagram account.

Then, the moment finally came, and my sister and I received our bagels. They looked better than I could have imagined. It made the trip worth it.

To be quite honest, though, although the bagels were aesthetically pleasing, — and I was excited to be able to say that I went to The Bagel Nook and ate one of their signature bagels — where the aesthetics overcompensated, the flavor had lacked. I am not saying that the bagels were terrible, but just not what I had expected. The trip there was worth it, and the bagels looked great and it was a one-of-a-kind experience being there, but overall social media had planted this image in my mind. And in the end, it was nothing more than a simple bagel shop with an extravagant menu.

So, do I recommend going there for the experience? Absolutely.

But, am I disappointed in myself for letting Instagram set my expectations way too high? Absolutely.