A quieter, cooler Wildwood weekend before the summer crowds | Field Trip

Oh, those Wildwood days.

Maybe you head to the Shore staple every summer. Maybe you haven’t been since you were a teenager. Either way, Five Mile Island — home to North Wildwood, West Wildwood, Wildwood, Wildwood Crest, and Diamond Beach (a gorgeous holdout that’s somehow, illogically, part of Lower Township) — has changed a lot in the last decade.

If you’ve been recently, you’ve seen it: multimillion-dollar homes, kayakers and dog walkers circling Sunset Lake, a spiffed-up Boardwalk, and a restaurant scene that quietly rivals the best down the Shore.

The week before Memorial Day is the ideal time to sneak down. Everything is open, but the summer crowds haven’t yet descended. Also, zero traffic, which means the 90-mile ride can be done in an hour, 15 minutes flat.

Start the car.

Founded by the team behind Mud Hen Brewing Company, the wildly popular brewpub that somehow stays packed even on winter Wednesdays, the Hen Houses collection is no coop. Behind gates and tall arborvitae, the single homes (including a historic Victorian), gather around a heated saltwater pool. Inside, maximalist wallpaper meets nautical beadboard, and fridges come stocked with Mud Hen cans, courtesy of the property’s beer-run service.

📍 156 E. Taylor Ave., Wildwood, N.J. 08260

Pick up a rental from the charming Zippy’s Bikes, head to the Boardwalk, and turn south, passing the iconic Wildwood sign. After a few final blocks of boards, the route connects to a paved bike path through Wildwood Crest. At Rambler Road, hop onto Seaview Avenue and keep going — about two miles — until the road funnels into a path leading into the Cape May Wildlife Refuge. Here, dense marine wetlands and shaggy dunes flank either side of the curving road, and even in the summer, it’s peaceful. You can park the bike and walk through a few different trails and lookouts, admiring the stilt-walking herons while ospreys hunt overhead.

📍 Zippy’s Bikes, 3900 Pacific Ave., Wildwood, N.J. 08260; Cape May Wildlife Area, Seaview & Madison Aves., Lower Township, N.J. 08260

A few summers ago, Wildwood getting a Starbucks was the big coffee news on the island. People who care about coffee were already at Turtle Gut in the Crest. This cheerful, city-level cafe features rotating roasters from Lancaster to Denmark and lattes sweetened with house-made Jersey-berry syrups. The breakfast sandwich layered with blueberry-sage sauce is the best at the shore. Order one and a cream-stuffed maritozzo, and enjoy them across the street, on the lawn facing Sunset Lake.

📍 7609 New Jersey Ave., Wildwood Crest, N.J. 08260

Who knew the coziest hoodies and sweatpants you’ll own are made from recycled water bottles? Guppi, a surfwear boutique on Pacific Avenue, stocks its shelves with its own line of down-the-shore merch — mermaid and shark-emblazed tees, and stickers with important words of wisdom: “Keep our beaches clean. Don’t be a shoobie.”

📍 3417 Pacific Ave., Wildwood, N.J. 08260

The Great White opened on the Wildwood Boardwalk 29 years ago and remains one of the most thrilling wooden roller coasters in the country. New trains (added last season) thunder down the 105-foot drop, the perfect blend of smooth technology and the old wooden rattle that shakes your bones. Added bonus: fleeting, slightly blurry ocean views as you rip along the Boardwalk. Try to time it for sunset.

📍 4001 Boardwalk, Wildwood, N.J. 08260

Did Wildwood invent the Orange Crush? Hard to prove. Did it perfect it? At Westside Saloon, dollar bills paper the ceiling, and the tall towers of fried-tomato Capreses crowd the bar, and everyone seems to be drinking from the tavern’s collection of fresh-pressed crushes: lime, watermelon, pineapple and of course, the classic orange.

📍 770 W. Glenwood Ave., West Wildwood, N.J. 08260

On the causeway into town, the red-and-blue bunker of Hooked Up Seafood, run by the Bright family, is now in its 17th season. They cook what they, and their network of local fishermen, catch: mahi, tilefish, swordfish, yellowtail and (if you’re lucky) buttery big-eye tuna or John Dory, a white-fleshed bycatch of their primary commercial crop, Atlantic squid. You order at the counter — don’t miss the chowder fries — and eat on the picnic tables with sunset views, marveling at how Wildwood is nothing like you remember.

📍 1044 W. Rio Grande Ave., Wildwood, N.J. 08260