The fastest way to the Shore | Morning Newsletter
The fastest way to the Shore
The Morning Newsletter
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It looks like we could be in for another day of intermittent thunderstorms with a high of 87.
Our lead story might be the most delightful read you’ll have today. The first goal of any Shore trip is how to get there ahead of fellow beachgoers. Everyone has their own tips and tricks, but which route is the most efficient?
Clearly, a race is the only way to be sure.
Follow along as five of our staffers dashed from The Inquirer’s newsroom at 100 Independence Mall West on a Friday afternoon to Manco & Manco Pizza on the Ocean City Boardwalk.
What’s your tried and true methods of getting to the Shore in record time from Philly? And what’s a plan you tried that you’ll never do again? I want to know the full story. 📮 Email me your routes and/or advice for a chance to be featured here.
— Taylor Allen (@TayImanAllen, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
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At 4 p.m. on a Friday, five staffers tackled the age-old question: What is the best way to get to the Jersey Shore?
Meet the contestants and their routes:
🚗 Digital Producer Tommy Rowan took the back roads. He took the Commodore Barry Bridge, followed Route 322 to Route 55, then Route 40 to Mays Landing, and local roads to Ocean City.
🚗 Reporter Aubrey Whelan, along with her husband, used a variation of her family’s back route: Across the Ben Franklin Bridge, then routes 55, 49, then 50.
🚗 Reporter Jason Nark took the Atlantic City Expressway with his teenage son.
🚆 Digital Editor Felicia Gans Sobey went car-less and did a mix of trains and rideshares: SEPTA to 30th Street Station, NJ Transit to Atlantic City, and then a rideshare to Ocean City.
...And our bonus contender was our Interactive Newsroom Developer Jasen Lo. He took PATCO to Lindenwold, N.J and then biked the rest of the way. 🚲
The winner was the first one to have a slice from Manco & Manco Pizza.
Take your bets and find out who won!
Daryll Jones, 50, is a self-proclaimed elder goth. He isn’t just embracing the scene, he’s investing in it.
Jones was deeply entrenched in the goth scene for nearly a decade in the ‘90s before he turned his attention in 2001 to focus on his marriage, his son, and his business, Atomic City Comics on South Street.
That changed in 2019 when Jess Cyphers, a friend he met through a weekly Dungeons & Dragons game, suggested he go to goth show. He fell right back into the scene.
In May, he opened The DreamEerie, a shop that specializes in furniture and home goods with a dark aesthetic. He brought on Cyphers as a manager. Inside, there’s a coffin coffee table and coffin bookshelves; blankets with themes like “Witches Going to Their Sabbath”; and taxidermy bugs and animals.
In their own words: “We’re kind of like your weird goth grandmother’s house,” Cyphers said.
Continue reading to learn what Jones hopes for the future of the store.
What you should know today
The loved ones of the Bucks County flood victims mourned and shared fond memories as the search for the missing children continues. Upper Makefield Fire Chief Tim Brewer said the search will shift to a dive-based operation.
A Philly tenant was shot during an eviction for the second time in months.
A group of House Republicans voted to slash federal funding for LGBTQ organizations, including Philly’s William Way Center and the LGBT Center of Greater Reading.
Federal investigators identified two gas leaks in the fatal West Reading chocolate factory in March.
Bart Blatstein is planning a 245-unit building on North Broad Street, right behind the AMC movie theater.
Investigators have found about $250 million in cash, jet skis, paintings, mansions and other assets to use to repay investors who pumped money into Par Funding before the Philadelphia-based high-risk loan company’s owners were hit with federal civil and criminal fraud charges.
The Mütter Museum unveiled $3.2 million in renovations to its collections and research facilities.
🧠 Trivia time 🧠
What is the name of the camel that was hanging out in Northern Liberties eating baguettes on Monday?
A) Carter
B) Max
C) Jade
D) Pearl
Think you know? Check your answer.
What we’re...
🎵Anticipating: A concert-filled Thursday in Philly with Jenny Lewis at the Met and Amos Lee with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Mann Center.
🌳 Reading: The second installment of My Summer Job, a weekly series that puts a spotlight on the jobs of Philadelphia’s seasonal workers. This week, follow a day in the life of a South Philly educator who opted to be a camp counselor for the summer months.
🧩 Unscramble the anagram 🧩
Hint: South Philly
POET ZEBRINE
Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here. Cheers to Marcia Ruberg, who correctly guessed Tuesday’s answer: Thomas Paine Plaza.
Photo of the day
And that’s been your Wednesday morning news. Enjoy your hump day and make the day count. 👋🏽