Best of New Jersey Down the Shore

As I mentioned on Wednesday, Dixie Picnic's Upcakes were honored by New Jersey Monthly in its annual Best of Jersey feature, along with a few other South Jersey Shore spots.

You can read the entire "best of" here, and in the April issue of the magazine. I'm happy to say that all of these fine establishments are in my book, even if I didn't write about them for this specific article.

Here's the South Jersey Shore honorees:

Best Topless Upcake: Dixie Picnic in Ocean City, of course
Best Indoors as Outdoors: Harrah's in Atlantic City
Best Boardwalk Vehicle: Wildwood tram cars
Best Fried Flounder: Smith's Marina and Clam Bar in Somers Point
Best Health and Beauty Spas: Cape May Day Spa and Holistic Center

These lists always spark controversy as to who was and was not picked. It's never an easy feature to compile -- I've been involved in six different "best ofs," organizing two (SJ Magazine's "Best of" 2004 and "Best of the Shore" 2007) and writing for all six, and it can border on nightmarish because of all the logistics involved, from what categories to include, to who makes the cut, to how to organize the list, to what gets photographed. But I think they're fun to write and read, and worth the effort.

I wrote a few entries for the feature, and while we're not really supposed to say which "best ofs" we penned, I will say this: Mullica Hill won "Best One-Stop Antiquing" and somehow the entry still mentioned the South Jersey Running and Triathlon Company. Hmm...wonder how that happened ;-)

If you're thinking that the Best of Jersey includes too few South Jersey shore winners, never fear: the New Jersey Monthly annual shore issue is coming in June. I did a lot of work on last year's shore issue, and you can bet I'm playing a big part this year.

So if you were to write for New Jersey Monthly's Best of Jersey or shore issue, what would you include?