We're Having a Heat Wave
I moved to the Garden State 10 years ago. And for 10 constant years, I've found myself appalled by something or other. I most often find myself appalled by the people, the politics, the traffic, the cost of the ever-rising Parkway Tolls.. the list goes on. New Jersey is ... it's just different. The bottom line, is that I love it here. I wouldn't still be here if I didn't. Aside from the things I hate, New Jersey has a lot of redeeming qualities! I am, for instance, in the epicenter of some fantastic areas. I'm an hour and a half from New York City, I'm an hour and a half from the City of Brotherly Love (Philadelphia... second in my heart- right next to the love of my life.) and I'm 45 minutes away from Atlantic City. I live in the section of New Jersey that is often referred to as The Jersey Shore (Technically, per Wikipedia, the Shore Region of the Jersey Shore.). Yes, all of the places that you see on the infamous television show on MTV are real. People who are native to New Jersey, will tell you that what you see on the show is not representative of the people of New Jersey (or Italian Americans.)... I'm here to tell you they sort of are. But that's not what this post is about... because despite the crazy people, and the cost of living here, I love living at the shore. The Jersey Shore has some of the best beaches on the east coast. But there's one thing, in my mind, that keeps New Jersey from rising above the rest of the east coast beaches- if you want to play at the beach, you have to pay.
New Jersey is the only state I've ever lived in where I've had to pay to get on to {Almost} every inch of beach I visit. There are a few exceptions to the rule (Atlantic City, Strathmere, Wildwood, North Wildwood, Wildwood Crest) where the beach is free. Otherwise, in order to gain access to the beach, you need a Beach Badge (or Beach Tag, as Wikipedia refers to it.) which can be purchased at the beach on the day of entry, or usually at the Town Hall where the beach is located. The cost of your beach badge (You can purchase daily, weekly, or seasonal badges.) varies greatly by beach. Every summer, I say I'm going to buy a seasonal badge somewhere, because it is ultimately cheaper to do so, but I never do.. because I can't bring myself to limit myself to that one beach! Let's face it, if I am going to spend $60.00 for two beach badges for Surf City ($100.00 for two at Seaside Park, $170.00 for two at Point Pleasant Jenkinson's Beach, $140.00 for two at Asbury Park Beach.. just to name a few.) then I'm ONLY going to go to that beach all summer. The beaches here are all different, and there are a lot of pros and cons to each of them that make them different. I haven't been to them all.... but I do have my favorites! It's been upwards of 100 degrees here for the past three days, so I've been spending a lot of time at the beach.. and I had a request to write about the beaches I frequent. So here it is: my list of favorites and a not-so-favorite thrown in.
Atlantic City- It's Free! It's sheilded by Casinos! It has a historic Boardwalk! It's dirty, ya'll. Probably because it's free, and the city doesn't use any of it's revenue to take care of the beach. We went here last summer on the Fourth of July. We parked ourselves on the beach for something ridiculous like 9 hours so we could have a good seat for the fireworks. Probably one of the best fireworks displays I have ever seen- and the people watching- also some of the best I've ever seen. But the beach is littered with trash, people don't pick up after themselves. There were police EVERYWHERE- I'm not sure if it was because it was the Fourth of July, or because it's Atlantic City.. but it made us feel safe. If you have never been to Atlantic City, you won't understand why feeling safe is important. If you have been to Atlantic City in the summer at night and feared for your safety.. go to the beach. There's lots of cops there. We brought a grill- we made kebabs and shared with our neighbors.. it was a great day. We didn't go in the water- we couldn't leave our things unattended for fear that it would go missing.
Surf City- $35.00 for one seasonal badge, or $6.00 for a daily badge. Parking is at a premium- you have to get there early to find parking. Parking near the 9th street entrance is slim- since that's where the only bathroom is. Surf City is part of Long Beach Island- and just happens to be our favorite area- but all of the beaches here are good.
Ocean City NJ- $25.00 for one seasonal badge, or $5.00 for a daily badge. Oh, Ocean City... probably my favorite beach by far. Ocean City boasts as one of the greatest family towns in New Jersey. I think they base this upon the fact that it's a dry town- meaning no alcoholic beverages on the beach, on the boardwalk... in any convenience store. I don't drink, so this isn't a problem for me- but if you need to have drinks on the beach to have fun, this probably isn't your town. Ocean City also has the BEST boardwalk in New Jersey (As far as I'm concerned. I'll admit I haven't been to Wildwood... and people say Wildwood is the best.) If you go here, you MUST have Pizza at Manco and Manco. You must also get caramel corn at Johnson's Popcorn... and finally, you should probably get yourself some Shrivers Salt Water Taffy. We came for the beach... we ate all the foods... and every single one of them was amazing. You should, after you eat all of the foods- also take a ride on the boardwalk Ferris Wheel... it's gigantic. This is a hike for us to get to- but I already can't wait to go this year.
Asbury Park- *Beware- this website plays music. I hate that.. it's so unnecessary.* $70.00 for a seasonal badge, $5.00 on a weekday or $6.00 on the weekend for a daily badge. Asbury Park has so so much history, amazing architecture and a fantastic boardwalk. We actually haven't spent a day on the beach here, but have spent several days on the boardwalk. If you like Korean Tacos- get some Tacos from Mogo. They're the stuff dreams are made of.
Island Beach State Park-This website doesn't show a seasonal badge for this park. $6.00 per CAR M-F, or $10.00 per CAR on Saturday, Sunday or Holidays. If you're not a NJ state resident, those fees go up to $12.00 and $20.00. Not bad- price wise. And here's the bad thing... once summer really hits, you can't get close to this place. Once they've reached Capacity (I don't know what the magic number is, but the website says it's whenever all the parking spaces are full.) they don't let anyone else in. Island Beach is ten miles long- because it's a state park, I think they're unwilling to add more parking.. there's a lot of wildlife in the area, and it's best not to uproot them. We stopped our car yesterday to help a big, scary, dinosaur looking turtle cross the road. DINOSAUR LOOKING. It was big. It made it safely to the other side... rather quickly, actually. There are lots of bathrooms and lots and lots of gorgeous sand.
This doesn't even begin to touch upon the beaches here... there are so so many. Maybe as I visit them this summer, I'll write about more. That could be fun.
New Jersey is the only state I've ever lived in where I've had to pay to get on to {Almost} every inch of beach I visit. There are a few exceptions to the rule (Atlantic City, Strathmere, Wildwood, North Wildwood, Wildwood Crest) where the beach is free. Otherwise, in order to gain access to the beach, you need a Beach Badge (or Beach Tag, as Wikipedia refers to it.) which can be purchased at the beach on the day of entry, or usually at the Town Hall where the beach is located. The cost of your beach badge (You can purchase daily, weekly, or seasonal badges.) varies greatly by beach. Every summer, I say I'm going to buy a seasonal badge somewhere, because it is ultimately cheaper to do so, but I never do.. because I can't bring myself to limit myself to that one beach! Let's face it, if I am going to spend $60.00 for two beach badges for Surf City ($100.00 for two at Seaside Park, $170.00 for two at Point Pleasant Jenkinson's Beach, $140.00 for two at Asbury Park Beach.. just to name a few.) then I'm ONLY going to go to that beach all summer. The beaches here are all different, and there are a lot of pros and cons to each of them that make them different. I haven't been to them all.... but I do have my favorites! It's been upwards of 100 degrees here for the past three days, so I've been spending a lot of time at the beach.. and I had a request to write about the beaches I frequent. So here it is: my list of favorites and a not-so-favorite thrown in.
Atlantic City- It's Free! It's sheilded by Casinos! It has a historic Boardwalk! It's dirty, ya'll. Probably because it's free, and the city doesn't use any of it's revenue to take care of the beach. We went here last summer on the Fourth of July. We parked ourselves on the beach for something ridiculous like 9 hours so we could have a good seat for the fireworks. Probably one of the best fireworks displays I have ever seen- and the people watching- also some of the best I've ever seen. But the beach is littered with trash, people don't pick up after themselves. There were police EVERYWHERE- I'm not sure if it was because it was the Fourth of July, or because it's Atlantic City.. but it made us feel safe. If you have never been to Atlantic City, you won't understand why feeling safe is important. If you have been to Atlantic City in the summer at night and feared for your safety.. go to the beach. There's lots of cops there. We brought a grill- we made kebabs and shared with our neighbors.. it was a great day. We didn't go in the water- we couldn't leave our things unattended for fear that it would go missing.
Surf City- $35.00 for one seasonal badge, or $6.00 for a daily badge. Parking is at a premium- you have to get there early to find parking. Parking near the 9th street entrance is slim- since that's where the only bathroom is. Surf City is part of Long Beach Island- and just happens to be our favorite area- but all of the beaches here are good.
Ocean City NJ- $25.00 for one seasonal badge, or $5.00 for a daily badge. Oh, Ocean City... probably my favorite beach by far. Ocean City boasts as one of the greatest family towns in New Jersey. I think they base this upon the fact that it's a dry town- meaning no alcoholic beverages on the beach, on the boardwalk... in any convenience store. I don't drink, so this isn't a problem for me- but if you need to have drinks on the beach to have fun, this probably isn't your town. Ocean City also has the BEST boardwalk in New Jersey (As far as I'm concerned. I'll admit I haven't been to Wildwood... and people say Wildwood is the best.) If you go here, you MUST have Pizza at Manco and Manco. You must also get caramel corn at Johnson's Popcorn... and finally, you should probably get yourself some Shrivers Salt Water Taffy. We came for the beach... we ate all the foods... and every single one of them was amazing. You should, after you eat all of the foods- also take a ride on the boardwalk Ferris Wheel... it's gigantic. This is a hike for us to get to- but I already can't wait to go this year.
Asbury Park- *Beware- this website plays music. I hate that.. it's so unnecessary.* $70.00 for a seasonal badge, $5.00 on a weekday or $6.00 on the weekend for a daily badge. Asbury Park has so so much history, amazing architecture and a fantastic boardwalk. We actually haven't spent a day on the beach here, but have spent several days on the boardwalk. If you like Korean Tacos- get some Tacos from Mogo. They're the stuff dreams are made of.
Island Beach State Park-This website doesn't show a seasonal badge for this park. $6.00 per CAR M-F, or $10.00 per CAR on Saturday, Sunday or Holidays. If you're not a NJ state resident, those fees go up to $12.00 and $20.00. Not bad- price wise. And here's the bad thing... once summer really hits, you can't get close to this place. Once they've reached Capacity (I don't know what the magic number is, but the website says it's whenever all the parking spaces are full.) they don't let anyone else in. Island Beach is ten miles long- because it's a state park, I think they're unwilling to add more parking.. there's a lot of wildlife in the area, and it's best not to uproot them. We stopped our car yesterday to help a big, scary, dinosaur looking turtle cross the road. DINOSAUR LOOKING. It was big. It made it safely to the other side... rather quickly, actually. There are lots of bathrooms and lots and lots of gorgeous sand.
This doesn't even begin to touch upon the beaches here... there are so so many. Maybe as I visit them this summer, I'll write about more. That could be fun.
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