The Wetlands Institute Wings & Water festival is this weekend! Have I ever mentioned that my dream job in high school was to work there or in Australia researching the Great Barrier Reef?
This weekend also marks the start of the Cape May Food & Wine festival.
And the Nuns' Beach Surf Contest.
Once again, the ACES train shuts down in the off season.
Wow. Just wow.
One of my favorite "wandering" shops down the shore is Mimi's and Suncatchers in Stone Harbor. I STILL get lost winding through the block-sized store. The clothes are definitely high end. Lots of Nicole Miller and the like.
If you're a bargain hunter like me, make sure you head to the Attic, which is next door. It's items that didn't quite sell in the big store next door, and everything's marked down. The level of how down depends on when you go. By Labor Day weekend, everything is usually maximum $20. I bought a Nicole Miller floor length dress that way. Saved it for the next summer.
P.S. Mimis/Suncatchers is also one of the places that built a great website between when I wrote the first book and now. Thank you thank you thank you!
If you are driving down the shore this week, PLEASE BE CAREFUL. It's egg laying time for the terrapins, and they cross the roads and causeways to get from point A to point B. If you see a turtle, please slow down or, if it's safe, help the turtle across the road. I was in Strathmere this time last year and spent a good 15 minutes just helping them along.
This is a crucial time for the terrapins, and no matter now many good citizens help, a lot will be killed. If you see a dead turtle on the side of the road, you can still help - the Wetlands Institute in Stone Harbor can harvest their eggs and hatch them at the Institute. Here's a website with more information.
Just wrap the turtle in a towel that you don't care about because they will still bleed after they RIP.
Happy Birthday, Hoy's 5&10, the best "we have everything you need" at the South Jersey Shore. Seventy-five is a good long life - with many more years to come. I hope. Please?
And does anyone remember the water ice/snow cone set up that used to be at the front of the Stone Harbor 5&10? I didn't dream that, did I?
Osprey are large raptor birds that are sometimes called the fish hawk. They hunt fish, and are beautiful to watch.
They also love the Jersey Shore.
The Wetlands Institute, which is on the causeway between Route 9 and Stone Harbor, has set up an Osprey Cam where you can watch two locals - Hali and Luke - as they nest. It's fascinating. Who knew birds could be so interesting?
Last night I wrapped up the second of two big Jersey Shore food articles I wrote for Edible Jersey magazine. In May, you can read an excerpt from my book in SJ Magazine about making salt water taffy.
Hence today's fact of the day: The Jersey Shore can make you fat.
Proof! These are some items I wrote about: hot and angry lobster cocktail, whole baked artichoke, tater tots, chocolate coconut pancakes, ludicrous wings, she crab soup, sticky buns, caramel popcorn, and a hot dog with Tabasco mayonnaise.
This is why I stress that Green Cuisine is a must-stop on your Jersey Shore trip. They make salads. Very good salads.
The Borgata is renovating its rooms.
Check out the Wetlands Institute osprey camera!
Must be Windsday.
Oooo, Pinky's ticked (side note: I have been in this tunnel, but it's been a while).
Sure sign it's almost summer: meters are coming back.
Can I file this under "I'll believe it when I see it?"
Make a note if you drive the Ocean Drive - part of it is closed for construction.
Lucy's getting a new tail!
Surprise surprise: once again, Gov. Christie skips out on the GOVERNOR'S Conference on Tourism. I already ranted once this week. Don't have another one in me.
Do it for the turtles: like this group on Facebook.
Not to knock Stone Harbor, but isn't mid-March a little late for a polar plunge?
Revel in Atlantic City is moving along.
A little out of my blog range, but it's too funny not to share: it's no longer illegal to build sand castles in Belmar. Phew. I was worried.
THE BEES! (love the cartoon, by the way).
Winners from the Sea Isle Polar Plunge.
And here's some pictures!
The Mad Batter in Cape May is having an Oscar party.
I didn't know Sea Isle had a taxpayer's association...
Bye bye beach pipes!
In my news: book edits are done. Wheee!
Yes, Strathmere is STILL trying to secede from Upper Township.
More on the state's plan to take over part of Atlantic City :::shakes head:::
Will they do something about stuff like this? The Garden Pier, which is home to the Atlantic City Arts Center and Atlantic City History Museum, has been deemed unsafe. If I were a betting woman - which I'm not - I'd be on "no."
Really interesting piece on tear downs - the practice of tearing down an old shore house to build up something that I'd call "monstrous" in its place.
Tony Luke's finally opened in Wildwood Crest (yes, the sign said that it would be coming in summer 2010. Whoops).
Shesh, I'm not finding much nice stuff today: more flat screen TV burglaries from shore homes, this time in Ocean City.
Don't worry, folks. It's still Hoy's, no matter what the sign says.
And a dolphin died in Stone Harbor?! I give up.
A church in Stone Harbor blesses...solar panels.
Convention stats are looking good for AC (which again makes me wonder about an article in a major daily newspaper recently that questioned whether or not AC had enough conventions...um, hello?)
This study says that new legislation regarding Atlantic City casinos and the so called "tourism district" will not stop slumping gambling revenues. Well, duh. This does nothing about the fact that there's increased competition in the area. And this statement that they need to make AC more than just a gambling destination? OLD NEWS. They've been saying this FOR YEARS. But I guess someone had to do something to save face. Harumph.
Not a huge shocker to those of us who cover casinos: Harrah's re-brands as Caesar's.
As soon as I saw this headline, I *knew* the story was about Ann Delaney :-) Fun fact: Ann's given my book to visitors of her house. Apparently, it was very popular with a few German tourists.
Brian Donohue of the Star Ledger is doing a project on which NJ towns should merge. If you don't play along with NJ politics, the sheer number of separate teeny tiny towns that refuse to share services with other towns is a big reason NJ property taxes are so high. I've said to him a few times that absolutely, without a doubt, all four towns that make up the Wildwoods should become one. They are four small towns on one piece of land. West Wildwood is .25 square miles - and has its own fire department! I haven't heard a good argument yet that would make me even consider a reason for them staying apart. If you have one, hit up the comments.
On a non-shore note, my latest piece for AOL Travel is about former banks that have become something else. This topic fascinates me, and that B.A.N.K. restaurant in Minneapolis is one of the coolest buildings I've ever seen. So enjoy.
The Jersey Shore doesn't roll up the welcome matt and lock the front door at the end of summer. The holidays are a busy season. I know a lot of people who continue to go down the shore right through the fall and always have Thanksgiving dinner at their shore homes.
Even if you don't have a shore home (c'mon dad...you keep sending me real estate listing...), there's plenty to do. I'm going on a Cape May weekend getaway in December myself. More on that later. But for now, here's a sampling of what's going on.
Black Friday alert! The Atlantic City Outlets-The Walk is....Every Tuesday and Wednesday through December 22, they'll do free wrapping on up to three gifts at the Holiday Headquarters.
The Quarter at the Tropicana goes out all for the month of December for their Sixth Annual Holiday Spectacular. The highlight - for very silly reasons - is the Running of the Santas on December 11. Yes, it involves the Hooters girls, but the writer in the jeans and tshirt MIGHT be the one asked if she needs a pimp.
The Wetlands Institute in Stone Harbor is having a Holidays Hoopla on Saturday, November 27 from 9:30am-4pm. They'll have live animal demonstrations, crafts, and offer discounts at the Tidepool Shop.
There is SO MUCH going on in Cape May that my brain can't process all the activities. Do yourself (and myself) a favor and check out everything that the Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts & Humanities has going on, including Christmas Candlelight House Tours, the Mad Batter Beer School and Christmas themed trolly tours.
I just finished writing an article about how to learn from holidays displays at hotels and public spaces to spruce up your space. One hotel I name checked was Congress Hall. Their holiday spectacular kicks off on Friday with their annual tree lighting except this year the tree has moved out of the lobby and onto the grand lawn. It's over 40 feet tall and has a train (yes, big enough for kids to ride) ringing it. The "Winter Wonderland" opens at 10am on Friday with tree lighting at 5pm. Then on Saturdays starting this Saturday through December 18, you can have breakfast with Santa. That'll be $14.95 for adults and $9.95 for kids. Also on those Saturdays - and free - is storytime with Mrs. Clause at 11:30am, 1:30pm and 3:30pm. You can do holiday ceramics on those Saturdays, too, from noon to four (I don't have a price on those so call to ask if you'd like to know).
This obviously isn't everything that's going on. I'll be tweeting and re-tweeting shore events over at twitter.com/jerseyshorejen through the holiday weekend.
"Stone Harbor police charge two men with hiding cocaine in pizza boxes." Yes, but But whose pizza boxes did they use?! The travel guide writer needs to know!
Police find a guy in Sea Isle with an air rifle in his car. Jeez, what's going on down there?
It's fall, which means it's time to check in with our birding friends.
A Cape May team won the people's choice award at Saturday's Red Bull Flugtag. I was there. It was awesome - except for the event being billed as a Philadelphia event when it took place in New Jersey. Idiots.
AGAIN with the parking meters. Cape May, I love you. But sometimes you're tedious.
I'm not a meteorologist. I've written about one and dated another, but that doesn't make me a weather predictor, so I can't tell you where Hurricane Earl is going to go.
This picture is a good reference for me right now, enough to say "hey, let's all be careful out there, OK?"
Ann Delaney, who lives very close to the ocean in Stone Harbor, has tips on how to get ready. If you're down the shore today (as I will be - whee!), you must be careful of riptides. Here's a good primer on what to do if you're caught in one.
Cape May's in this post - promise.
Home prices in Cumberland, Cape May and Atlantic Counties are up.
YAH FOR BUSCH'S!!!!!!!!!!
Hockey's coming to Atlantic City.
Get good deals in Stone Harbor while you can. Ann Delaney gave it a write up too (P.S. to Ann - nice new blog design!)
Say cheese!
Take THAT, Cape May bike thieves!
I think the headline of this one says it all: "Coast Guard rescues kayaker near Cape May after she falls asleep and drifts into marshes."
Cape May's getting a Renaissance Festival.
This isn't about the Jersey Shore, but I think it highlights a huge sector of shore real estate market: vacation homes that are a self-run business.
Last summer, I walked by what remained of the Sea Isle lighthouse every weekend at least twice. It's hard to believe it was actually a lighthouse, and it's in terrible shape. So I don't know how I feel about this. It seems slightly ridiculous, but probably because we'd kind of make fun of the fact that the ramshackle place used to be a lighthouse.
The Travel Channel's Man Vs. Food is at the Jersey Shore in the episode airing on Wednesday night. They visit three spots at the North Jersey Shore. While I don't mean to bash our northern brothers, I'm annoyed.
This pizza segment is so flat. Yes, those beaches are closer to New York, but they couldn't consider coming to Mac & Mancos to watch pizzas flying around the store and being sauced by the sauce hose? Or down to Wildwood for a Mack's vs. Sam's smack down?
I'm sure the pizza place they visited is great, but it just didn't seem as special or even visually interesting as what we've got down here.
Small quibble. There's some nice stuff in here - the Chicken or the Egg segment is great, and I learned that the kind of pizza we eat down the shore is called Trenton style pizza. I should be happy that they did a nice spot about our beaches. We'll be getting plenty of coverage on next season's Diners, Drive Ins and Dives as Guy Fieri was just filming at George's in Cape May and Quahogs in Stone Harbor.
But, hey, they asked my opinion. Let me know what you think when it airs on Wednesday. Here's a preview.
HBO's Boardwalk Empire (series about prohibition times in Atlantic City) will premiere on September 19.
Gambling revenues are down again in Atlantic City.
I'm late to this one, but it's still nutty: P. Diddy's event essentially shut down the Pool at Harrah's over July 4th weekend.
This one's for the birders.
A few Flyers prospects hung out in Stone Harbor.
Who wants to name a snow leopard at the Cape May County Zoo????
Big bus crash on the Atlantic City Expressway. These busses scare the crud out of me - be careful if you see one.
New show coming to Cape May Stage.
Birders will be happy about this osprey project.
Out of typical blog coverage range but I'll share it anyway: I wrote a short piece about a house up for auction in Monmouth Beach on Sunday. Got about $3 million in cash to spend? Might be for you.
Sounds like an obvious thing to say: DON'T CAR SURF.
MARBLES!
WINE!
Film series coming to Atlantic City.
Interesting bit here - the headline is "3 portfolio managers drop anchor at Stone Harbor." The Stone Harbor referenced is Stone Harbor Investment Properties, based in Manhattan. Methinks the headline writer is a Jersey Shore fan!
I could make a joke about this, but I'm tired - write your own.
Tired because my brother has been in the hospital since Sunday - he had his appendix removed and is having complications. Any good thoughts/karma/juju you could send his way would be much appreciated.
I'm almost ALMOST done the first draft of the book. Whipee! The process has been to take the manuscript from the first edition, tear it apart, put it back together again, then hit the ground for research to make sure the book is as up to date as possible.
This research has lead me to think of adding a "Frugal Finds" section. In each shore town, there's a few out of the way outlet shops that might not look like much from the outside but can be bargain centers on the inside. Some are obvious, like the Walk Outlets in Atlantic City, but some are a little bit tucked away, like the Cape May Linen Outlet in Cape May, and the Attic in Stone Harbor.
Would you find this kind of information, in its own separate part of each chapter of the book, helpful?
