🏖️ Summer 2025 predictions | Down the Shore

Greetings! The coastline was encased in a thick fog last week as we barreled toward another summer season — and the fourth year of Down the Shore! Welcome and welcome back! From the top of the Longport-Ocean City bridge, there was almost no visibility (also, no cash accepted).

It’s a bit on the early side for Memorial Day, calendar-wise, and temps are dropping. Still, summer is coming into focus.

The signs of an imminent deluge of people are here. Wildwood police say they stopped a plan for a big teen beach meetup. The 7311 coffee shop on the Ventnor/Margate border, where lines can stretch for an hour, is warning people to call ahead, adding that it’s already too late to order a cake for Memorial Day.

Ventnor police were ticketing dog walkers on the boardwalk. Avalon was losing more of its identity as a laid-back beach town as the Union League launched its privatization era of the Whitebrier. And the conversation has turned to the price of real estate.

Even in Wildwood, Jersey Shore real estate is now for millionaires. North Wildwood prices have soared past $2 million. Read my story here and test your knowledge of the latest real estate values.

🔮 Prediction time! I tried my hand at predicting what would come again this summer, which begins with some uncertainty. Will the Canadians stay away? Will Americans return from their European sojourns? How much will tariffs hurt? Read more here.

📮 What are your predictions for this summer? Let me know by replying to this email, and I’ll include your most interesting responses.

🤔 Have ideas or news tips about the Shore or this newsletter? Etiquette questions? Complaints about your visitors or hosts? Ask me anything and I will freely dispense my advice. Write to me here.

📱 Keep scrolling for news, tips, recs, memories, and a slam book Q&A with chef Leslie Daniel, a.k.a. Chef Too Hype, executive chef at Kuro at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino and a competitor on the Food Network’s 24 in 24: Last Chef Standing.

🥶 Eh, best not to pay too much attention to weather reports this weekend. Bring a sweatshirt to the beach. It’ll be fine!

— Amy S. Rosenberg (Find me on X at @amysrosenberg, on Instagram at @amysrosenberg. 📧 Email me here.)

If someone forwarded you this email, sign up for free here.

🏆 Eagles Super Bowl hero Saquon Barkley was in Atlantic City being wooed by the developers of Bader Field.

🏨 Ocean City hotels hit the market.

🤑 This North Jersey Shore town wants $200 for a beach tag.

👾 A pizzeria and an arcade will open at the front of the former Gillian’s Wonderland Pier in Ocean City, but no rides.

⛱️ Atlantic City moves Caribbean music festival to placate residents.

😠 The historic midcentury Chateau Bleu Motel in North Wildwood was razed.

🍻 Twisties in Strathmere is for sale, and the owners want its cult legacy to continue.

🗳️ Full-time New Jersey residents will vote in the June 10 gubernatorial primary. The nation is watching.

🚓 Shore police are on the teen case.

🏖️ Beach towns are selling themselves.

🪦 Honor fallen veterans on Memorial Day.

👗 Shop at these Jersey Shore boutiques.

🎛️ Dance to DJ Herbert Holler at Tavern on the Bay in Somers Point on Sunday from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. No cover.

🥩 Eat cheesesteaks here (also: Cuzzies in Atlantic City).

🫐 Stop in Hammonton for more than just blueberries (but get those, too).

🐘 Go inside an elephant by touring Lucy.

🐶 Bring your dog to these beaches, and along for dinner.

🌮 Visit Craig LaBan’s favorite food destinations.

🍜 Eat at Borgata‘s new Noodles of the World (N.O.W) and see the “contemporary and elevated” new gaming space.

🌿 Get marijuana delivered.

🎸 Go hear a summer’s worth of live music.

🍕 Picnic on the beach with the Shore’s best pizza.

Our question about the outdoor saltwater pools at the Flanders brought a lot of responses and memories. Someone (Eustice Mita?) should bring them back!

For this edition: Doris Bradway was New Jersey’s first female mayor, voted out of office in a recall election. Was that town:

A. Wildwood

B. Atlantic City

C. Asbury Park

D. Stone Harbor

If you think you know the answer, email us here for a chance at a shout-out.

Beth Gallagher: “Cheaper housing to reopen and expand access to more socio-economic diversity, (which would also mean more ethnic and racial diversity)."

Marlene Smolen: “Not enough dining options … so crowded and noisy everywhere …. would be nice if there were more types of restaurants besides Italian."

Bill Morgan: “I rent in Avalon for a week … everything is SO EXPENSIVE. So many of the businesses have been replaced by condos. Now you have to go to Sea Isle to eat and drink.”

Chef Leslie Daniel is the executive chef of Kuro, the acclaimed modern Japanese restaurant at Hard Rock. At just 31, Daniel is also a Food Network star, winning “Guy’s Grocery Games” and competing on “Last Chef Standing,” which he calls “a life-changing experience.”

A native of Henry County, Georgia, Daniel has acquired a Jersey local’s know-how. Daniel took time to answer our rapid-fire questions.

Favorite beach/beach town: I am loyal to the Atlantic City beach scene. The Boardwalk really elevates the beach experience.

Favorite summer breakfast: My go-to breakfast when I find time to eat would have to be Gilchrist’s restaurant in Atlantic City’s back bay area. Sitting outside on the porch while eating a Hungryman #3 is the best way to kick-start my morning after a night out: blueberry hotcakes, scrapple, and three eggs sunny side up!

Perfect beach day: It’s simple — I bring a cooler full of my favorite refreshments, an Italian hoagie and chips, along with fresh fruit, a fully charged speaker, and of course, invite my closest friends! Midafternoon is the best time to visit, when the ocean temp has warmed up a bit.

Perfect night: See a concert at Hard Rock Live, then hit the Boardwalk and pop into one of the outside venues to enjoy the summer weather.

Best Shore sandwich: An Italian hoagie from the White House or local bodega.

When summer approaches, I feel .....excited! Atlantic City is in its prime during the summer months.

It wouldn’t be the Jersey Shore without: Its locals who help to continue the great traditions that Atlantic City is known for.

Best thing for kids to do at the Shore: The Steel Pier offers family fun, rides, and games. At Hard Rock, families can enjoy the Sugar Factory and Hard Rock Café, which offer kid-friendly dining.

Surfing or fishing: I’d have to say fishing for me! Just a half a mile away from the casinos on the Boardwalk, there are some great fishing piers. Atlantic City also offers boat tours with options to go fishing, which is an all-time favorite hobby, especially for the locals.

Sunrise or sunset: I am definitely a sunrise kind of person; however, I generally sleep later because of my work schedule. So I appreciate it when I do get to see it — nothing can match a sunrise on our beaches.

Shore pet peeve? Personally, I’d like to see more beach events drawing water sports crowds, like the Powerboat Races taking place next month at North Beach.

The Shore/A.C. could be improved if we all just … continue to reinvest in our city and its local community.

Many people wrote in with memories of the outdoor pools at the Flanders, with lifeguard fathers, lessons, and water shows.

John Shiffert wrote: The three saltwater pools were where Playland’s Castaway Cove is now. I learned to swim there in 1960, when I was eight years old. I had to show my kids some pictures of the pools that were in the Ocean City Museum, because they didn’t believe there had been three swimming pools there at one time... lol.

Send us your Shore memory! In 200 words, tell us how the Shore taps into something deep for you, and we will publish them in this space during the summer. Send them here.

By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirer’s Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.