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Our new summer series: Shoobies, locals, and moments #downaShore

Whether you're a shoobie, a lifelong local, an expat longing for the boardwalk of your childhood, or an entrenched stoop-sitter, we hope you will enjoy reading about the people, memories, and scenes that encapsulate summers on the Jersey Shore. We'll catalog your responses on our new series, "SHORE: Shoobies, Locals & Moments #downaShore."

TOMMY ROWAN

The Stoop kids are leaving their Stoops and are heading #downaShore.

Last year, we experienced a summer lounging in the city. We hung out with the urbanites, and told stories about how and why Philadelphians gather on those platforms that sit just outside their front doors. (Whatever you choose to call them.)

This year, we're catching a ride with the shoobies.

Reporters Amy S. Rosenberg and Tommy Rowan are setting out to tell stories about day-trippers and natives, and what it's like to spend a summer at the Jersey Shore. Whether you're a shoobie yourself, a lifelong local, an expat longing for the boardwalk of your childhood, or even a firmly entrenched stoop-sitter, we hope you will enjoy reading about the people, memories, and scenes that encapsulate summers on the Jersey Shore.

And we want to hear from you.

For the shoobies, some questions:

  1. Who are you? What keeps you coming back?

  2. Do you visit the same town every trip?  Or do you like to explore up and down the Shore?

  3. Are you eking out the last summer before you have to sell the family beach house? Are you slumming it on friends' couches … again?

  4. Do you camp out on the hot sand? Do you set up your family encampment strategically to take up as much real estate as possible? Are you out there digging holes with your kids, or hiding under a book?

And for the locals:

  1. What is it about a working-class resort town that makes you want to stay year-round?

  2. How annoying are the shoobies? What is it about their day trips and fly-throughs that drives you nuts? Or do you embrace them?

  3. When it comes to Shore winters, what do you hate or treasure the most?

For the rest of the summer, we're expecting to hear your vitriol opinions. As always, we look forward to the discussions. Send us your memories and moments, and your sensitivities about being called a #shoobie. We'll catalog your responses in our new series, "SHORE: Shoobies, Locals & Moments #downaShore."

We also encourage you to join our summer tour on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat using the hashtag #downaShore.

And, of course, follow along as we tell stories from across the Shore points. The first installment — Chapter 1: The Schmoozer — will land online July 6 and appear in the Sunday Inquirer on July 9.

The remaining installments will publish online every Thursday morning – every Sunday in print – up to Labor Day weekend.

And here's a pro tip: If you go down, please leave the shoebox at home.