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To take the above a bit further, I'll take a little jab at the NJ coast (all in good fun)..
In my time both growing up and living in MA in adulthood, I'm not sure I've ever (quite literally) met anyone who vacations in NJ.
However, in that time spent in MA, and in vacationing frequently in MA now, I meet and see a ton of people from NJ. Cape Cod and the Islands probably see a good % of those travelers, though there is a lot who simply cut through MA to get to Maine/NH/VT to be fair.
People from NJ, am I wrong here? Others who live or vacation in MA, has this been your experience?
Not vacationing but I had an aunt & uncle/a couple of cousins in Red Bank so I was at Sandy Hook every summer for ~ a week as a little kid. A former North Jersey girlfriend has a condo on the beach in Brigantine just north of Atlantic City. I was there a number of times though the purpose wasn’t to sit on the beach. We hit Cape May several times since it’s so close. A total reasonable summer beach town. I have a lot of Killington ski friends scattered along the Jersey shore so I’ve spent some time there for weddings & parties. I had 20 years where I was in Philly on business a lot with a rental car working in the Jersey burbs so I’d visit people.
Down the Shore is a NYC vacation spot. Access is way too difficult from the populous part of Massachusetts around Boston. I certainly wouldn’t have been there if I didn’t have other reasons. The drive is beastly.
Not vacationing but I had an aunt & uncle/a couple of cousins in Red Bank so I was at Sandy Hook every summer for ~ a week as a little kid. A former North Jersey girlfriend has a condo on the beach in Brigantine just north of Atlantic City. I was there a number of times though the purpose wasn’t to sit on the beach. We hit Cape May several times since it’s so close. A total reasonable summer beach town. I have a lot of Killington ski friends scattered along the Jersey shore so I’ve spent some time there for weddings & parties. I had 20 years where I was in Philly on business a lot with a rental car working in the Jersey burbs so I’d visit people.
Down the Shore is a NYC vacation spot. Access is way too difficult from the populous part of Massachusetts around Boston. I certainly wouldn’t have been there if I didn’t have other reasons. The drive is beastly.
My experience is similar. Have a few college buddies from the Philadelphia area.. One group grew up spending their summers on/in Dewey, the other in South Jersey (Stone Harbor ish). I’ve only visited Dewey once, but have spent weeks in both North and South Jersey. And I’ve spent a lot of time in the field in New Jersey, where I always find myself exploring in off hours.
I have a friend in that same group who grew up in Rumson, which to me is about as close to a Cape Anne (MA) town as I’ve seen. It’s like Manchester by the Sea, but without the cliffs. Though I’d rather spend a beach vacation in a Cape May or a Manasaquan, i’m much more attracted to a town like Rumson. But I digress.
Not vacationing but I had an aunt & uncle/a couple of cousins in Red Bank so I was at Sandy Hook every summer for ~ a week as a little kid. A former North Jersey girlfriend has a condo on the beach in Brigantine just north of Atlantic City. I was there a number of times though the purpose wasn’t to sit on the beach. We hit Cape May several times since it’s so close. A total reasonable summer beach town. I have a lot of Killington ski friends scattered along the Jersey shore so I’ve spent some time there for weddings & parties. I had 20 years where I was in Philly on business a lot with a rental car working in the Jersey burbs so I’d visit people.
Down the Shore is a NYC(*) vacation spot. Access is way too difficult from the populous part of Massachusetts around Boston. I certainly wouldn’t have been there if I didn’t have other reasons. The drive is beastly.
*and Philadelphia — and like the rest of New Jersey, the Shore is also divided into New York-dominated and Philadelphia-dominated sections.
('Twas ever thus: the colony was originally divided into two halves, East Jersey (today's North Jersey) and West Jersey (today's South Jersey). The Burlington-Ocean county line was the border between the two; extending this line across the state divides Mercer County neatly in two and passes through Princeton.)
Long Beach Island is the overlap zone. The barrier islands from there south are in the Philadelphia part of the shore, and the islands from there north are in the New York part.
However, unlike in the rest of New Jersey, there is significant bleed between the two halves. The four of us (my ex, me, and a couple we knew) went to the (clothing-optional) beach at Sandy Hook fairly often, and I know North Jerseyans other than your girlfriend with the house in Brigantine who would venture all the way to Cape May.
*and Philadelphia — and like the rest of New Jersey, the Shore is also divided into New York-dominated and Philadelphia-dominated sections.
('Twas ever thus: the colony was originally divided into two halves, East Jersey (today's North Jersey) and West Jersey (today's South Jersey). The Burlington-Ocean county line was the border between the two; extending this line across the state divides Mercer County neatly in two and passes through Princeton.)
Long Beach Island is the overlap zone. The barrier islands from there south are in the Philadelphia part of the shore, and the islands from there north are in the New York part.
However, unlike in the rest of New Jersey, there is significant bleed between the two halves. The four of us (my ex, me, and a couple we knew) went to the (clothing-optional) beach at Sandy Hook fairly often, and I know North Jerseyans other than your girlfriend with the house in Brigantine who would venture all the way to Cape May.
MarketStEl, which towns in particular would you recommend exploring on the Shore? (Aside from the obvious, like Cape May/Wildwood).
I like older towns with a main street.. Some nice restaurants, coffee shops, and a few watering holes to grab a cocktail or a local beer.
We have a pretty open summer/early fall, so I may breakout of my shell and leave New England during our next trip out East.
Florida wins simply because of the shear length of its coastline. However South Carolina has beautiful beaches and some of them are very close to cultural gems like Charleston and Savannah. Hilton head is a great place, and it’s so easy to go into Savannah for the day from there.
South Carolina also has myrtle beach, no place offers the best bang for your buck on a beach vacation as the resorts in myrtle beach do.
MarketStEl, which towns in particular would you recommend exploring on the Shore? (Aside from the obvious, like Cape May/Wildwood).
I like older towns with a main street.. Some nice restaurants, coffee shops, and a few watering holes to grab a cocktail or a local beer.
We have a pretty open summer/early fall, so I may breakout of my shell and leave New England during our next trip out East.
I'd second massachoicetts' recommendation of Asbury Park, which is very much on the mend after a period of neglect. It's now what Atlantic City was before the casinos opened.
I'd also recommend both of the communities on Seven Mile Island — Stone Harbor as well as Avalon. Truth to tell, the southerly of the island's two boroughs is actually a little tonier than Avalon is, and its business district along 96th Street has more choices for shopping and dining. (There are some equally tony towns in the New York part of the shore, but from what I can tell, neither Deal nor Bay Head have any shopping or dining to speak of.)
Avalon, however, does have a local craft brewery: the Avalon Brew Pub, attached to the Icona Hotel near the Avalon-Stone Harbor line. It produces several decent beers, but it doesn't distribute its brews beyond the premises the way Cape May Brewing Co. does.
Next to Asbury Park is a historic relic of the early Jersey Shore: Ocean Grove, the only Methodist camp meeting at the Jersey Shore that remains one. The entire town is a National Historic Landmark, and in season, people still pitch tents on the lots adjacent to its 1880s auditorium.
But both Asbury Park and Ocean City were also established by Methodists who wanted to hold religious revivals at the Shore. Asbury Park has pretty much shed all vestiges of this, while Ocean City retains one sign of that Methodist influence: a ban on alcohol sales in the city, which bills itself as "America's Greatest Family Resort." (Edited to add: OCNJ residents and vacationers who wish to imbibe while there keep a liquor store at the mainland end of the main causeway into the city very busy.)
(Francis Asbury was sent by John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement, to America to spread the sect on this side of the Atlantic. Ocean City has streets named for both.)
There is one other Shore community I'd suggest you visit briefly: Margate, the second of the three towns to Atlantic City's south on Absecon Island. It does have several decent restaurants in its business district, but the main attraction here is Lucy the Elephant, a large wooden pachyderm erected in 1884. It is actually possible to go inside her; there is an apartment inside Lucy that is open for tours. Right before the pandemic hit, Airbnb offered three lucky guests the chance to actually spend the night inside Lucy. They may not have actually been able to take advantage of their bookings, though, for I think the stay-at-home orders took effect just before the three mid-March nights that were available.
Last edited by MarketStEl; 07-01-2021 at 09:23 PM..
What is your favorite part/beach n New England? Which ones do you not like? Do you have kids?
Id really recommend Beach Haven followed by Avalon. Asbury Park is a must see.
My favorite beaches have almost no people. In my town, Barney’s Joy is now owned by Massachusetts Audubon and membership has been closed for 20 years. You can throw a frisbee on the 4th of July and not worry about hitting anyone. My family sadly gave up their membership years ago but I know enough people with memberships that we’re on the beach a few times per summer or anchor my boat off the beach and swim in to meet friends who are members. There are lots of beaches like that on the western end of Martha’s Vineyard and on Nantucket that are like that. Someone looking for the bar scene and honky tonk with muscle bound dudes and silicon-enhanced bikinis wouldn’t care for it.
Wells, Maine has some of the nicest sandy beaches anywhere in the North for those of us that hate heat and humidity with a passion.
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