The mission: get down the shore with the least amount of hassle possible. The Field Trip: Absecon Island. If you’re scratching your head, that’s the proper name of the barrier encompassing Atlantic City and its three “Downbeach” towns: Ventnor, Margate and Longport. Since AC is its own animal, this itinerary sticks to the latter — each with its own personality (and personalities within personalities; Greenhouse Margate might as well be a different planet from Marven Gardens).

Connected end-to-end by Atlantic Avenue, the contiguous resorts are a cinch to get around by foot or bike, offer beautiful beaches (and in Ventnor, a popular pedestrian boardwalk) and way overdeliver in food and beverage. Best of all: a straight shot down the Expressway drops you right onto the island in 45 minutes without traffic. That’s an admittedly large asterisk in the summer, which is why you should consider a pre-Memorial Day trip. Start the car.

The island has no shortage of excellent cafes and breakfast joints (see: Hannah G’s, 7311, Hot Bagels) but if you want to skirt the scone-crazed crowds, drop by Remedee Coffee Roasters in Ventnor’s North Beach section, close to AC. Colombian sisters Amanda and Nicole Escobar started their roastery out of a residential garage and moved their operation to a sunny Atlantic Avenue storefront a few summers ago. The beans hail from Colombia, roasted to various levels of boldness. Drinks range from house-syrup lattes (vanilla, blueberry) to a citrusy coffee-lemonade shandy and cold brew cut with coconut water.

📍 5207 Atlantic Ave., Ventnor City, N.J. 08406

Long and flat as a boogie board, Absecon Island is ideal for a long, leisurely bike ride. Pick up a cruiser at AAAA Bike Shop and head south: start on the Ventnor boardwalk, then continue onto Atlantic Avenue once the boards end in Margate. It’s about five miles to the Point in Longport, the island’s tip where the bay empties into the ocean, or you can stretch out the ride by making detours along the way: the Ventnor Fishing Pier, Lucy the Elephant, or for a lethal dose of real-estate envy, the waterfront manors of Bayshore Road or Spanish bungalows of Marven Gardens.

📍 AAAA Bike Shop, 5300 Ventnor Ave., Ventnor City, N.J. 08406

Fresh, vivid, tangy, herbal — the Vietnamese cooking at Two Sisters in Ventnor is exactly what the warm weather ordered. As the name implies and like Remedee, the breezy Ventnor Avenue storefront is run by two sisters (apparently an Absecon theme), serving banh mi, salt-and-pepper shrimp vermicelli bowls, and the most refreshing, flavorful salad of poached chicken, shredded cabbage, basil, and citrusy Vietnamese vinaigrette. The snug whitewashed dining room has seating at blonde wood tables and woven-jute chairs, but the move is takeout for a beach picnic.

📍 7317 Ventnor Ave., Ventnor City, N.J. 08406

For a castaway vibe, head to the beach in Longport, below 27th Avenue. From there to the Point, beautiful clear water rolls up to the sand, and the crowds are light, even in the summer. Before Memorial Day, access is free; after that, you’ll need a beach tag (and yes, the checkers will find you).

📍 27th to 11th Aves., Longport, N.J. 08403

When weather down the shore doesn’t cooperate, Absecon Islanders have a sumptuous refuge in Ventnor Square Theater. The historic film house dates to the 1920s, and after sitting vacant for nearly two decades, reopened in 2021 with three screens, extra-comfortable seats, a bilevel restaurant and bar and Art Deco details a-go-go.

📍 5211 Ventnor Ave., Ventnor City, N.J. 08406

Even people who don’t go to Margate have heard of Steve & Cookie’s — but locals know to slip into the Oyster Bar in the back. Enter through the parking lot into a vaulted, wood-clad tavern where the vibe is lower-key, the oysters are fresh, and the bartenders somehow remember your order. Off-season happy hour here feels like a secret.

📍 9700 Amherst Ave., Margate City, N.J. 08402

You can walk from the Oyster Bar over to Betty’s Seafood Shack, an indoor-outdoor operation where the best seats offer sunset views along a counter semi-hidden around the back. Baskets of cheese fries come studded with lump crab, cubes of raw yellowfin glisten in poke bowls, and the lobster roll comes in Maine (mayo) and Connecticut (butter) styles, with an option to “Sasquatch” size it with double the meat. For dessert, skip the ice cream crawl and go straight for the frozen, chocolate-dipped key lime pie.

📍 9315 Amherst Ave., Margate City, N.J. 08402