🦊 It’s been wild at the beach | Down the Shore

Hello out there! Since most of you left the Shore behind, a bushy-tailed red fox has found its way into the streets and beaches of Ventnor and has the rabbit population on high alert.

Whales are breaching just off the beach in Stone Harbor and Margate, and bald eagles are hanging out in Ventnor Heights.

Let’s just say it’s been a wild offseason. Wild and, as Decembers down the Shore usually are, stunning. Just this week, those torrential rains gave way to a late afternoon sky that bathed the beach towns in a pink glow.

In Ventnor, in that happy marriage of the tilting of the sun’s axis and Absecon Island’s slight angle from northeast to southwest, the sunsets are now directly in front of you as you walk toward Margate on the boardwalk. Or at least in front of me, as I do. Youse guys are mostly not here. Sun glare!

This time of year, it’s nice to labor in obscurity, but there comes a need to be marked present. The polar bear plunges on New Year’s Day at the Shore are one way for locals to holler out to the world when they’re least expecting it.

I write here about another winter tradition: placing Christmas trees on the beach. This has become very popular, a real thing, especially in Ocean City, where the trees have taken on all kinds of meaning, from pets to whales to international peace. I’m in favor of all three. Not sure how I feel about populating beaches this way, as I think I prefer the winter beach left to its own devices. But you know, I’m not going to complain about it.

Want to see for yourself? Here’s my guide to seeing all of Ocean City’s Christmas trees on the beach.

📮 Let me know what you think — do you like your offseason beaches spare and unadorned, or filled with holiday sentiment? — by replying to this email. I’ll include your most interesting responses in a future newsletter.

🌊 The waves are crashing as the winter’s familiar cycle of storms, flooding, and erosion resumes. Keep scrolling for all the news you’ve missed.

— Amy S. Rosenberg (🐦 Tweet me at @amysrosenberg. 📷 Follow me on Insta at @amysrosenberg. 📧 Email me at downtheshore@inquirer.com)

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🐳 Winds of change: Ørsted pulled the plug on its plans to build two massive wind farms off the Jersey coast.

🍷 Winery change: The so-called and controversial Ocean City Winery, stymied in Upper Township, now plans to produce the wine there but sell it in Somers Point.

👑 Atlantic City Real Estate Part 1: How about a storied penthouse palace for $10.9 million? Philanthropists Gary Hill and John Schultz have put their nine-story property at 1616 Pacific Ave., where they lived and worked in epic opulence, for sale.

🚣‍♀️ Atlantic City Real Estate Part 2: OK, is a $10 million mid-rise at Pacific and Mt. Vernon Avenues a bit much for you? How about a brand new floating house/office/Airbnb listed for $79,000?

🎰 Atlantic City Real Estate Part 3: Just listed is the iconic Joseph Milano house in the shadow of the Tropicana, one of Atlantic City’s legendary holdouts who fought off the Tropicana’s attempt to take his property. Buy a slice of history at 1 South Brighton Ave. for $950,000.

💵 Barely there. The A.C. Press’ Selena Vazquez asks, Where have all the strip clubs gone?

🌺 Aloha to the Royal Hawaiian Motel in Wildwood Crest, purchased for $13.3 million by Madison Resorts, which plans to combine it with the Oceanview Motel to build “the largest resort in Cape May County.”

🏖️ Anthony’s of Sea Isle City purchased Beachwood Restaurant at 8700 Landis Ave., the old Busch’s restaurant that had most recently been operated by Chef Lucas Manteca. Anthony’s old space at 4400 Landis will now be a second Blitz’s Market.

🚬 Lingering smoke: The New Jersey legislature continues to frustrate workers and others trying to finally rid casinos of smoking.

💰 Ocean City’s council is trying to figure out how many millions of dollars they now owe the Klause brothers.

🚌 Jitney crawl. This Saturday, Dec. 23, hop on a jitney and go from Tennessee Avenue Beer Hall to bars at Ocean, Resort, Bally’s, and Tropicana, and end at the always festive, but especially now, Irish Pub.

🕹️ Dave & Busters is open in Atlantic City, inside Jay-Z’s former 40/40 Club. Here’s a preview.

🛟 Take a dip. Take advantage of deeply discounted prices at Showboat’s $100 million Island Waterpark. It’s open every day of Christmas week. What started at an advertised $99 for a daily admission can now be had for $19.99.

🍾 Ring in a rhyming “2024 at the Shore” with all kinds of options, including all the casinos of course, with a Gatsby-themed party at the Claridge, a disco-themed party at the Waterpark, and GATTÜSO at HQ2 Nightclub at Ocean. 🫐 For the tamer crowd, there’s Ocean City’s First Night Celebration and Hammonton’s Giant Blueberry Drop.

🐻‍❄️ Do it already. Pick a Shore town (Margate’s is epic) and do a New Year’s Day polar bear plunge.

🍺 New pub alert. Get the bourbon apple glazed wings at the new King’s Pub in A.C., which has replaced the old Pic-a-Lilli Pub on Tennessee Avenue.

🏢 Live in A.C. at these brand new midtown apartments. Or these.

Justine Time To Vote 4 Mara Pie, proper noun. An oil and garlic pizza with blackened chicken, spinach, and balsamic glaze, served at Costello’s, the pizzeria throwing their weight behind the Jersey Shore’s favorite contestant on “The Voice,” Mara Justine. Alas, Mara came in third.

Less than two months after canceling two wind projects in New Jersey, Ørsted installed the the first of its wind turbines for a different wind farm. Where will these turbines be generating wind energy?

A. Rhode Island

B. Long Island

C. North Carolina

D. England

If you think you know the answer, click on this story to find out.

Earlier this fall, I took a whale-watching trip with charter boat captain Paul Eidman, founder of Menhaden Defenders and a supporter of Anglers for Offshore Wind. He spoke passionately about the whales (a couple of which we saw), the recovery of the menhaden population, which the whales feed on, and how the wind energy projects (then) planned for the ocean off New Jersey were essential.

You used to have a lot of support among fellow fishermen for wind energy. What happened?

We had five years of support, then all of a sudden this became politicized. A lot of the fishermen are conservative. I lost everybody. Everybody’s gone.

Why do the “antis,” as you call them, seem to have the momentum?

We blew it. We’re not out there screaming like they are. Those people wake up angry. They’re protesting, getting press.

You are confident that wind energy will save, not harm, the whales.

The ocean is dying in front of our eyes. Do I want to see steel in the water? Not really. But it’s the fastest way for us to get renewables enough to feed the system

Five days after our story ran, Ørsted pulled the plug on its New Jersey plans. I went back to Eidman. As usual, he wasn’t pulling any punches.

What does Ørsted pulling the plug on their Jersey wind farms mean in your estimation?

The cancellation of these two N.J. projects means dirtier air and water, less good local jobs, less energy independence, and more frequent and intense storms. Our future generations are counting on us to fight for their future!

Read our full whale story (with video!) here.

From Patricia Morris, remembering the Holiday Snack Bar in Beach Haven. Of course, the HSB still exists, but continues to with a host of head-scratching demands from the municipality.

My first and fondest memories of Beach Haven are at the HSB. My grandparents, parents, cousins, aunts, uncles, and siblings all would go to HSB for lunch on the hottest, stickiest days. … I can still hear my grandmother at the top of the dunes yelling to my sister and I to come off the beach for lunch at the HSB. I ran faster for that than I did for the ice cream man! Double cheeseburger and a black and white shake (this was before the days of fries, onion rings, grilled cheese, etc.) and a slice of Lady Lord Baltimore. Grandmommy always got the tomato aspic — not a kid fave. For the past decade, new generations sit outside, gazing at the BH water tower, devouring Jetty Burgers (not me, I am still double cheese!) and Oreo shakes. HSB is the Shore for me, part of its heartbeat — and we are on our sixth generation this summer.

I always thought I would retire to Beach Haven. After the town’s antics with HSB, I am rethinking that decision.

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