🏖️ The new Shore towns ... on the mainland | Down the Shore

Is it really the Shore if your beach house is in, say, Cape May Court House? Don’t try to insist otherwise to people like Jennifer McGraw, who is quite happy in “Stone Harbor Lakes,” a new development off Route 9. I interviewed her for my story on mainland towns attracting second-home owners.

Look, everything is relative. People like McGraw are priced out of Stone Harbor and other barrier islands, and so they’re flocking to the mainlands, where an $800,000 twin near a golf course is looking like a bargain, or to Somers Point, where $400,000 will get you a rancher with room to park your boat near the bridge to Ocean City. Never mind the lack of an ocean breeze, the beach is just an e-bike ride away.

But then, as Middle Township Mayor Christopher Leusner told me, the push out from the barrier islands by summer people is leaving year-round people, regular folks like his police officers, teachers, and health-care workers, with scarce housing options. Houses that used to be year-round rentals are turning into vacation Airbnbs, further shrinking the market for locals.

In other words, the changes to the beach towns that drove prices beyond most people’s reach, including year-round families with school-age children, are now coming off-shore (which is how locals refer to the mainland.) How will these towns change?

📮 Do you consider a house on the mainland a beach house? Would you be happy to be able to afford any at all house within 10 miles of a beach? Where are people supposed to live who work in these towns, both on and off island?

Let me know what you think by replying to this email, and I’ll include your most interesting responses.

🚨 Send me tips to downtheshore@inquirer.com.

☔ ☀️ Alas, it’s raining, but the forecast is improving for the weekend. Ocean temps have been 🥶.

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

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

🏄‍♀️ This Jersey Shore nonprofit has taught thousands of people with autism to surf.

🚣‍♂️ One man’s mission to clean up Cape May County’s back bays and wetlands.

📖 Do-read: This Wildwood bookstore is a refuge for readers.

🏖️ The Sand House Kitchen has raised its building and hopes to reopen next summer, after disputes with its Ocean City neighbors.

🦈 Shark week: One was seen swimming almost to shore in Cape May Point, while five miles out, some rare basking sharks were spotted.

🌅 Linda Scott does a deep dive into Sunset Beach and the Wayward Sign, in Cape May Magazine, inspired by this story.

🌊 Higher and higher: The state introduced new rules that would increase elevations at the Shore.

🙏 RIP: A woman slain in Atlantic City aimed to spread positivity.

🍕 Cheap eats: Tommy Rowan has a guide to the cheapest pizza Down the Shore.

🚣‍♂️ The must-watch South Jersey Lifeguard championships will now be Monday, in Brigantine. Or watch the livestream here.

👑 Morris Anderson, founder of the Miss Black America Pageant, will join the African American Heritage Museum of Southern New Jersey in Atlantic City to celebrate the opening of the new exhibit “Miss Black America.”

🍅 🍸 Recommending: The very trendy tomato water martini with olive oil-washed vodka at Angeloni’s Club Madrid.

🐶 Dog days are numbered at A.C.’s Good Dog Bar, which, alas, is closing after the weekend.

🌭 Shore dogs: Jenn Ladd has the goods on where to get the best hot dogs from Philly to the Shore.

🍃 Nature walk: A new ADA-compliant trail is inspired by a child’s love of South Cape May Meadows Preserve.

This one’s from Facebook’s All Things LBI group. How much do you tip the lifeguards?

As most people on the thread responded, tipping the lifeguards is not really a thing, but totally feel free!

Or send over food, much more common and always appreciated! Back in the day, lifeguards would use showers in nearby basements or outdoors, and I’m sure some would appreciate an invitation to park in your driveway.

So why not a tip/gift like you might a teacher (which many of them are). One poster wrote: Funny, but some will tip the person at the bagel store but won’t tip the person who may save your life or the life of a loved one.

The final word from a lifeguard mom: As a mom of a guard I have to say that’s sooooo nice! These kids have so much responsibility and could make more at McDonalds! I don’t think it’s a necessity but sooo very thoughtful!!!!”

Lots of reaction to golf carts in beach towns. A sampling:

Tom Ciaverelli: I have a house in OCNJ and there are more golf carts than prior years and most likely will increase in the future. That is fine as a means to get back & forth to the beach or to go anywhere. However, I believe that the drivers should be licensed drivers, and the golf carts should be registered as vehicles within the state.

Daryl Kotch: It seems to me that if golf carts are replacing people walking on foot, or driving the 2 blocks from the house to the beach, there should be a separate parking area at a beach entrance or street JUST for golf carts. In Florida retirement communities they are basically a requirement, even with special little garages. They aren’t new, only new to the Jersey shore.

Andrew Duffy: So much fun and makes the vacation experience way more enhanced!

Mari Entwistle: I don’t mind golf carts but I do find it amusing that all the things we did way back when that never bothered us is now thought to be so much trouble. ... [G]olf carts are just one of hundreds of ways where we’ve given up exercise and family for convenience.

James Potts: It’s part of a larger cultural shift to resisting any perceived inconvenience or minor discomfort. I frequently go to Avalon, NJ, so I’ve seen this firsthand. It amazes me how many people drive both cars and golf carts on the island. Once I get there, I park my car in the driveway and mostly get around walking or biking, until I need to head back to Philly on Sunday. I love that aspect of it just like I enjoy the walkability of Center City Philly. Avalon, like most shore towns, really isn’t that big. There isn’t a good excuse to drive and clog the streets, whether in a giant Suburban or a small golf cart.

More thoughts? Send them to me here.

The folks at TBG took exception to my little story from last week about a friend, against my advice, trying to order a Caesar salad at Tony’s, waiting forever, and finally being told “they’re chopping romaine in the back,” which I was sure was a euphemism for, yea, sure, like we have Caesar salad.

Tony’s responded on Instagram saying its Caesar is in fact “wildly popular,” (since when though?) and “usually available.” So the odds are at least with you if you give it a try. I’m sticking with the fine antipasto (no meat).

As for my go-to order of the plain cheese pie, I heard from those who swear by Tony’s more elaborate pies. Jack Walker recommends the clams casino pie and Nino’s Favorite (sausage and cherry peppers). Look, if I ate sausage, I’d go for that. I just find nothing hits like the plain pie at Tony’s.

One thing everyone agreed on: the merits of a Peroni on draft (usually available).

This Just In: @the.escape.plans submitted photographic evidence of the TBG Caesar salad.

Debbie Dooling writes: My grandmother, in the 1920′s, took my young mother and her brothers to Harvey Cedars on LBI to escape a Whooping Cough Epidemic in Philadelphia. Eventually, she and my step grandfather bought property in Harvey Cedars and then Loveladies. She even wrote a book about LBI and my Uncle Dick, a bomber pilot in WWII, called Dick Smith, Bomber Pilot.

During WWII, my father, a city boy from Brooklyn was stationed on LBI where he met my mother. After the war, they built a cottage on LBI on the southern end of the island. That little cottage, with an addition done in 1985, still exists.

Our ties to LBI go back over 100 years!

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.

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.