🌞 Ramping up for summer | Down the Shore

Hello! Welcome to the spring edition of Down the Shore. Though technically another “off-season” edition of the newsletter, it’s feeling a lot like the real deal down here lately, I have to say.

Last week, I went out to the beach with my dog and thought, whoa, there’s a lot of people here! Were there, really? Maybe not a crowd, exactly — a few folks here, a few there, a Passover-week trickle at the water’s edge, Easter strollers on the Boardwalk, and the rest of us beckoned by sun and easing of winds.

This week, temps were rising! The breeze was (briefly) hot! No need to hide inside your house. Going for a beach walk is no longer (just) an exercise in solitary self-reckoning — there are people to talk to!

Other than chatting to my newly-emerged neighbors, I was interested in talking to the people from Playland’s Castaway Cove, the only amusement park left on the Ocean City boardwalk. With the hoopla last summer over the abrupt closure of Gillian’s Wonderland Pier and what that meant for Ocean City, it was easy to assume there was no other place to go. But there they were all along.

Meanwhile, new businesses are scrambling to open, others to rebrand, and Shore police departments are strategizing again on how to control the kids.

There’s been action particularly on the espresso front, with Remedee Coffee last seen being evicted by the state from their Atlantic City garage, reemerging in a Ventnor storefront, and Vanessa Wong, who brought a taste of Fishtown to Ventnor Heights, leaning into caffeine to rebrand Fish & Whistle Market as Bay Buzz, with another location on the Margate Bayfront.

Beat the Daily Grind in Atlantic City’s Chelsea neighborhood, meanwhile, hit its stride under new ownership with chef Dom Barksdale in the kitchen.

⬇️ Keep scrolling for news and recs, including Wong’s best day at the Shore and her answers to our Slam Book questions.

📮 What is the one thing that would make the Jersey Shore a better place in 2025? Let me know what you think by replying here. and I’ll include the most interesting responses.

🛎️ Have Shore ideas or tips or thoughts about this newsletter? Have you bought recently in Wildwood? Contact me.

— Amy S. Rosenberg (Find me on X at @amysrosenberg. 📷 Follow me on Insta at @amysrosenberg. 📧 Email me here.)

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🇨🇦 Jersey Shore, eh? Will Canadians be Down the Shore? Here’s what they told The Inquirer.

🏖️ Going, going ... Avalon closed four beach paths on the North End due to erosion.

🎥 Dishing ‘The Dish’: Upper Township made money from Steven Spielberg’s filming.

🐘 Lucy gets Doge’d: A $500K federal grant via Sen. Cory Booker to the famous roadside elephant was rescinded. Local conservative commentator Seth Grossman says taking the ax to the Margate elephant was justified.

🚔. Your mom and dad. Wildwood doubles down on curfews and says parents could get arrested.

🌲 John McPhee’s masterpiece, The Pine Barrens, will continue to help New Jersey’s most unique landscape. This week, you could smell smoke under a hazy sky along parts of the Shore from a massive Pinelands fire in Ocean County.

🐾 Aw c’mon. Ocean City residents try to thwart a doggy hotel.

🥖 Wawa smear: Someone smeared Wawa hoagies on the window of Ventnor’s Sack O’Subs. “Bad choice to bring off-brand energy to a real sub shop,” the iconic shop clapped back.

🧀 Shark madness: Mike Hauke of Tony Boloney’s Mad Mutz factory went on Shark Tank with his frozen mozzarella sticks. Did he get a deal?

🌊 Will cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association affect the Shore’s hurricane preparedness?

🩷 Wake up in your own pink world: For $16K, you can check into Ocean City’s Port-O-Call for a month.

🟧 Live in the Orange Loop: Atlantic City’s hip entertainment district along New York and Tennessee Avenues now has residential options.

🐢 Groman the Loggerhead is receiving visitors again at the Atlantic City Aquarium.

🍅 Back bay news: Tideline, a restaurant from the people behind Tomatoes, arrives on the Margate bay front.

👁️ Go birds! White and glossy ibises and white egrets are hanging out right now in the trees of the island bird sanctuary, viewable at eye level from the Welcome Center on the Ninth Street bridge into Ocean City.

🧊 Wooder ice war: John’s Water Ice of South Philly is coming to Wildwood.

🍷 Attend an Argentinian wine-themed dinner at the Knife and Fork in Atlantic City.

🎟️ Get tickets. Shows in Atlantic City this summer include my faves the Avett Brothers at Hard Rock.

⚾ Phanatic’s future? Original Phillies mascots Phil and Phillis are at Storybook Land.

🍗 Betty’s empire: Betty’s BBQ and Fried Chicken joins Betty’s Seafood Shack in Margate on May 2. Betty’s Seafood will sell some of shuttered Waterdog’s menu, including cult favorite salmon candy.

👢Heel of the boot: Pulia, the Ventnor spot honoring the southern Italian region, is now Martina’s Trattoria.

🛡️Eat at the Union League’s upcoming Avalon outpost, but only if you’re a member.

Which Shore hotel once sported three outdoor saltwater pools open to the public, including an Olympic-size pool?

A. Claridge

B. Flanders

C. Port-O-Call

D. Lucy the Elephant

If you know the answer, click on this to find out or email us with the answer.

Vanessa Wong turned Ventnor’s conventional wisdom on its head when she and her husband, Ryan Slaven, opened Fish & Whistle Market and Wahine Wine at the base of the Dorset Avenue Bridge in 2022.

Was Ventnor becoming .. bougie now?

The city has been trending upscale like much of the Shore, but the jury’s out on full-bougie mode for the Heights. Wong tackles her fourth summer with two locations of what she’s calling Bay Buzz Coffee and Snacks.

In honor of the espresso rebranding, Wong answered our Q&A.

Favorite beach/beach town: Vieques, Puerto Rico, but if we’re staying local: Cambridge Avenue, Ventnor (the pier is great for surfing, fishing, a bit of shade, plus there are snacks!); Jefferson Avenue, Margate (my kids attend Margate schools so this is naturally where all the action happens); and the Longport dog beach.

Best summer breakfast: I rarely eat breakfast, but 5 a.m. kettlebells at Doc’s Fitness inside the Dr. John Holland Boathouse is the best (locals’) way to start the day. It’s just a few blocks to walk over to my shop for a refreshing sparkling cardamom cold brew. .

Perfect beach day: A slower Monday afternoon: warm, clear, and calm so I can paddle out and/or swim; a good book; and a Yeti tumbler filled with Champagne!

Perfect night: A quick Monday evening bike ride with my husband over to Steve & Cookies arriving just before 5 p.m. when they open the doors to the Oyster Bar. Minimal line so we get two seats at the bar and have some tequila, wine, oysters, ugly tomato salad, and whatever fish is on the menu.

Best Shore sandwich: It’s off island but the Gladiator from Rose’s Garden Grill in Northfield.

When Memorial Day approaches I feel: ready for school to end and excited to open my shops!

It wouldn’t be the Jersey Shore without: an evening trip to the boardwalk and Kohr Bros orange and vanilla twist.

Best thing for kids: Ride bikes and fish.

Surfing or fishing: Fishing — I’m terrible at both but at least I won’t get injured fishing.

Sunrise or sunset: I have four kids and several businesses. The early morning hours and sunrise give me quiet time to reflect and plan.

Shore pet peeves: If I had to choose, I’d say cars u-turning in the middle of the road. It’s a grid here, so just go around the block.

The Shore could be improved if we all just: took a deep breath of salt air and learned to relax and take in the beauty around.

Dawn Burke Sena is working to restore Ventnor’s historic fountain. She responded to the Beach house in winter newsletter with this memory.

Some of our favorite moments in Ventnor are to have a family winter weekend after the holidays with the fireplace roaring, plenty of board games in motion and our favorite tunes filling the house with background sounds of summers past. At some point we rally, bundle up and head for a family walk on the beach where the kids run wild without a care in the world.

We continue in the spirit of summer with an early Sunday family dinner to allow travel time home as our grandchildren are still school age and need to get on their way. These winter escapes seem to build the anticipation for the summer season ahead.

Send us your Shore memory, recent or distant! In 200 words, tell us how the Shore taps into something deep, and we will publish them during the summer. Send them here.

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