The five Jersey-est Shore stories of 2024

MARGATE, N.J. — The Shore felt especially Jersey this year, maybe more so than most years. Despite rising prices tempting comparisons to upscale destinations like the Hamptons or even Europe — and efforts to redefine more affordable mainland towns as part of the Shore — the southern part of the Jersey Shore held on to its most precious asset: It will never be confused with anywhere else.

Here are the five Jersey-est Jersey Shore stories of 2024:

It’s just so very Jersey, and Philly, for the Eagles players to head down the Shore every year to meet their fans and pour them shots. But that doesn’t even begin to get at the way the Kelces have remade the Shore in their image.

What could be more Jersey than a memorable — let’s charitably call it “direct” — exchange with an annoying person in the parking lot of a crowded Shore restaurant, particularly one in Margate? Enter Kylie Kelce to show us how it’s done. Eye to eye. Without hesitation. With a vaguely embarrassed but supportive husband looking on. With nothing but vindication after the fact. All hail the Queen.

Wonderland Pier itself, of course, was a very Jersey attraction: stubbornly retro, losing money, arguably more in people’s memories than their current itineraries, and then, after its demise was announced, heralded as the most beloved thing at the Shore, how dare it close. But things close.

And now, even with plans for a luxury hotel resort that would preserve the carousel, Ferris wheel, and beloved kiddie boat ride, and incorporate a nostalgic seashore aesthetic, opposition remains strong. Don’t fret though, in the most Jersey thing of all, every last relic of Wonderland, all its lovingly oddball coal miner and fairy tale figurines that were hand crafted by staff artist Wayne Seddon, were carted off in trucks to be sold from a place on Route 130 in Burlington known as Obnoxious Antiques. Say less.

There’s nothing more Jersey than the state having rules that stop a thing that nobody objects to. And so our Atlantic City beach-block heroes, Amanda and Colie Escobar, of Remedee Coffee, had their lovely small-batch coffee-roasting business on Bartram Avenue shut down because they dared to sell some iced coffee in the summer. With a local blueberry shot to flavor it (nonalcoholic). And, like the still-missed food truck Fish Heads before it, also shut down by the state, there was nothing anybody could do about it.

I do, however, believe Remedee will rise again in a different place in different form, so stay tuned.

Decades of feel-good stories about the woman behind the “Watch the tram car, please,” announcement devolved into a feel-kinda-bad-for-her story after Floss Stingel came to the boardwalk with, who else, her Philly lawyer, and announced she’d never really been compensated for doing her boyfriend a favor and recording the voice that has become synonymous with the Jersey Shore — Wildwood in particular.

Hate to be a downer, but indictments of Atlantic City mayors could be the most Jersey thing of all about the Jersey Shore. But oh for a good-old-fashioned petty corruption sting, or misuse of funds meant for a nonprofit. No, this year’s edition was more personal: Mayor Marty Small Sr. and his wife, Superintendent of Schools La’Quetta Small, are both charged in connection with the alleged abuse of their teenage daughter, an allegation they say is politically motivated and stemmed from nothing more than the challenges commonly associated with raising teenagers. Small joins Jim Usry, Michael Matthews, Frank Gilliam, and Bob Levy in the A.C. mayoral hall of (alleged) indictment infamy.

The looming indictments haven’t stopped either Small from dismissing suggestions they step down from their powerful posts or from Mayor Small declaring every day a “great day” in Atlantic City. Another court appearance is scheduled for January.

Honorable mentions: The Alitos using their home on Long Beach Island to fly their insurrection-adjacent flag during a summer when political flags marked territory all along the Shore; Shirley MacLaine, 90, finding a lot to love on one block of Arctic Avenue in A.C.’s Ducktown neighborhood, and a proposal at Tony’s Baltimore Grill turning sour after bartenders said they couldn’t access surveillance footage as a keepsake to the happy couple (the internet sided with the bartenders). Keep it moving, lovebirds!

On the upside, 2024 was a year that brought numerous sightings of bald eagles, monarch butterflies, and breaching whales and dolphin close to Shore. And, of course, there were/are those drones, hovering over the coast and elsewhere, sure to make 2025’s list of ... yet to be determined.