Here we are, Fourth of July in the rearview mirror. Hang on, make those beach plans because it’ll be Labor Day before you know it.
It was a long holiday weekend that had towns and beaches bursting at the seams (also my house, with guests). But the heat that descended on Philly — and the towns just over the bridge from the Shore — never made it to the beach.
Nights cooled off for fireworks, and the daytime breezes stayed blissfully cool off the ocean. Sorry if you missed it, but the Shore was mostly just lovely.
Which I guess made those ridiculous lines you all waited in — for coffee, for doughnuts, for subs, for ice cream — a bit more bearable?
What is it about being on vacation that makes it tolerable to wait an hour for coffee in Ventnor, for doughnuts in Margate, for ice cream in Stone Harbor?
We asked our ever-ready group of Shore Line texters (sign up here) about these wild waits, and while some swore they’d never partake, or only go on off-hours, or find a way to circumvent, others made the case that those lines have actually become a sentimental, even enjoyable, part of their Shore journey. Here’s a sampling:
I’ll wait in a longer line down the shore. It’s tradition and fun to meet people in line.
It is akin to vacation time. No schedule; fun time. You just want go enjoy and socialize. Standing in line is a part of that experience and considered acceptable for that reason.
Only for Springer’s Ice Cream or The Lobster House. Hanging out on the wharf waiting for The Lobster House is as much fun as eating at The Lobster House!
Welcome to summers at the shore. The one thing you can count on is lines at the ice cream establishments. I often kid that, at a certain time on the weekends, an imaginary bell goes off and people rush out to get ice cream. No way around it.
Standing in line for ice cream is a social event as well as eating the ice cream. Also, the ice cream is usually special.
There’s just certain things we have to have for tradition’s sake and willing to wait 1-2 times a year.
OK, if you all say so! Glad you’re enjoying the lines, and so no need for me to share my avoid-the-line secrets!
📮 What are some essential Shore traditions you have to do no matter how long the wait? What memories or moments stick with you over the years of coming down the Shore? Keep scrolling for one of my essential Shore memories below, recreated this weekend for a new generation. Plus, send me yours here for a chance to be featured in this newsletter!
Have ideas or news tips about the Shore or this newsletter? Send them to me here.
⛅ After a couple of rainy days, some beautiful weather appears to be on the way.
— Amy S. Rosenberg (Follow me at @amysrosenberg, 📷 on Instagram at @amysrosenberg. 📧 Email me here.)
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Shore talk
🧓 Atlantic County has joined Cape May County in having more people over 65 than under 18, new census figures show.
🔉Somers Point Council tabled a proposed ordinance that would have allowed outdoor music past 11 p.m.
🏄 The coolest people went surfing under the fireworks.
📱 His dream Shore house popped up on his phone while eating at a Wildwood tavern.
🏀 Knicks coach Rick Brunson brought the Larry O’Brien championship trophy around to some Margate hot spots, including Tideline and Betty’s.
🎡 Eustace Mita tells the Cape May County Herald’s Bill Barlow he will be flexible with his hotel plans for Ocean City’s Wonderland Pier site.
What to eat/What to do
🐷 North Wildwood is hosting the annual New Jersey State Barbecue Championship & Angelsea Blues Festival.
😌 Longport’s new Beach Terrace park with a zen garden is open.
🎙️ The Stylistics will perform in Cape May on Sunday.
🍴 Craig LaBan has food recs from LBI to Margate. He seemed especially fond of the deep-fried green tomato tots at Ellis’ Chicken & Crab Cakes in Beach Haven and the spicy Oaxacan chorizo meatballs from the newly reopened Iron Room in A.C.
🧘🏽♀️Try free yoga in Atlantic City’s O’Donnell Park.
🎹 Angeloni’s Club Madrid is hosting Sunday piano bar karaoke with Joe McGinty, former keyboardist for the Psychedelic Furs and Atlantic City native.
🛟 South Jersey lifeguard races have begun! Here’s a schedule.
🤫 Travel and Leisure thinks Stone Harbor is a secret and has some recs.
Shore snapshot
🧠 Trivia time
In 2001, this city’s fireworks over the ocean led to a real show: The barge caught fire and burned out of control for hours, forcing the rescue of seven workers and a cascade of exploding shells.
Was this city:
A. Ocean City
B. Atlantic City
C. Avalon
D. Seaside Heights
If you think you know the answer, click on my pal Brendan Shur’s story from the wee hours of July 5 that year to find out (I went home to put my daughter to bed, what can I say).
Your thoughts on: Wonderland Pier
Ocean City’s City Council finally made it official: The old Wonderland Pier site was designated as being in need of rehabilitation. Let the negotiations over the hotel begin!
Here are your thoughts:
Bruce Sauerwine: It’s time to move on and build a hotel at the site. Mita proposed a nice looking hotel but some people want to live in the past and pretend that an amusement arcade was still a viable option at this time.
Kerri McGinley Kistler: There is absolutely no need or justification for Mita’s hotel plan. … “Hey kids, let’s go see the hotel”- said nobody ever!
Jeremy Maziarz: It is time for the Wonderland Pier to be re-developed. An amusement park use for this property is no longer a viable option. A mixed-use plan including a luxury hotel may actually be the best use for the site. If the height restrictions are an issue, then start the negotiation process with the developer. If he wants zoning relief, then he should offer up significant concessions to Ocean City to make it a win-win scenario.
Debbie Federico: We love Playland’s Castaway Cove, but it is now too small to accommodate all of the young children, strollers and families that use it. It would be very beneficial to reopen Wonderland.
Your Shore memory
This week’s Shore memory is my own.
For years, I had a toddler bike seat on an old green bike we’d bought for the boardwalk, and loved riding with one of my daughters on the back. I kept that bike seat on for much longer than they used it, sometimes sticking groceries into it. The rides were so special, so much fun, our way to wave to people we knew, pass the years, that I couldn’t bear to remove it, but finally took it off and stashed it in the basement.
I kept riding that bike though, a Specialized hybrid which was already used in 1995, and extremely used now, decades of sea air rust swirling through it. But let me tell you, that bike has good bones (better not to try to switch gears).
This past week, we dusted off the old bike seat, replaced the brake cables on the beloved bike, figured out how to replace the missing straps on the seat, and clipped it right there onto the back of the same green bike. And who wriggled happily into it under his new green toddler helmet, ready to do the obligatory “touch the end” at both the Margate and Atlantic City sides of the Boardwalk but my 2-year-old grandson.
Send us your Shore memory! In 200 words, tell me how the Shore taps into something deep for you, and we will publish them in this space during the summer.
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