😰 The night the lights went out in Wildwood | Down the Shore

Ah those sweaty Wildwood days. That whole wacky island was thrust into weirder-than-normal reality over the weekend, after a fire in a substation cut out power to all the Wildwoods, as you may have heard.

Setting aside our empathy for those with health or mobility issues, and anyone or business for whom a massive power outage created true hardship, I found myself amazed at how discombobulated people seemed to be when confronted with a Jersey Shore visit that begins with no air-conditioning. People were giving suggestions on what to do with their kids, even during the day. Um, go to the beach?

Open your windows, sit on the stoop, hang on the porch, by the motel pool, stay late on the beach, take a cold shower before bedtime, drive off-Shore for food and pack a lunch, take a walk. Order pizza from the places with gas ovens. Kudos to the glow stick dance contest family!

My colleagues Felicia Gans Sobey and Aubrey Whelan were reporting from the Wildwoods on what they both agreed was a “deeply surreal” event.

They found people reconnecting, not with power sources, but with the simple pleasures of things like a walk down a dark and not-even-stormy boardwalk.

Says Felicia: “Kids were outside playing on scooters and whatever other nonelectronic games they had. It was almost like a nostalgic throwback to a Shore time of yore. Aubrey and I talked to these teens that were walking down the boardwalk just to see what it was like — just to enjoy the vibes of a power-less boardwalk.”

Aubrey summed it up as less New York City blackout of 1977 and “more a pleasant if unusual summer night.”

It helps of course that you can just drive off-Shore for food or to another island for rides or even, if things are truly unacceptable, back home. Or around the block for air-conditioning and charging.

But in the big picture, power outages are nothing to sneeze at, as my colleague Lynette Hazelton wrote in this important piece about the toll, especially on poorer communities, of more-frequent outages.

Speaking of retro vibes, I tackled the semi-controversial subject of the new arches on Cape May’s promenade. Not everybody loves the arches.

📮 Let me know what you think — about the power outages, the arches, or any other topic on your mind — and I’ll include your most interesting responses by replying to this email.

☀️ Weather’s been hot, water’s been warm. Of course that could change.

— Amy S. Rosenberg (🐦 Tweet me at @amysrosenberg. 📷 Follow me on Insta at @amysrosenberg. 📧 Email me at downtheshore@inquirer.com)

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💡 Overarching debate What’s not to love about the Cape May promenade arches?

🏠 For rent? Have rental owners and real estate agents gone too far with rising prices? Many owners are stressing out over unusual availability this summer.

🥊 Sandstorm North Wildwood and the state of New Jersey are escalating their fight over dunes.

⚖️ Blowing in the courthouse Wayne Parry reports that a tangle of lawsuits may delay the start of N.J.’s first offshore wind project.

🎰 FLOTUS in A.C. The National Governor’s Association, chaired by N.J. Gov. Phil Murphy, is meeting in Atlantic City this week, including a visit by first lady Jill Biden. Given what happened in Red Bank with his rendition of “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You,” Murphy probably won’t be singing.

✈️ American Airlines unveiled service that will allow travelers to check in at Atlantic City airport, go through security there, and go by bus to catch their PHL flights, without going through TSA lines again. Locals know that it usually takes at most seven minutes to get through security at ACY, so this could be good.

😌 Department of weird police calls “Impersonation* | Cape May Beach in area of the bunker | Beach Patrol reporting a Life Guard impersonator wearing a Lifeguard shirt and medical kit, asking if people want to buy weed; PD investigating.”

🍑 Drink peach green tea sangria from the Veranda Bar in a rocking chair on the lawn at Congress Hall in Cape May. Lovely!

🦞 Lobsters la la My colleague Rita Giordano says get your Shore lobster fix from La La Lobster.

🌺 Ventnor’s Garden Tour is back this Saturday.

🎙️ Listen to me! You’ve read the newsletter, now listen to me talk. For an hour. On the great, always worth a listen Due for a Win Atlantic City podcast.

🍅 Savor all of Craig LaBan’s restaurant recommendations in his annual Jersey Shore dining guide.

And while you’re at it, subscribe to Craig’s new six-chapter guide to the history and culture behind Philly’s global flavors. Week 1, which hit inboxes last Friday, was a deep dive into the Shanghainese soup dumpling known as xiao long bao. Sign up here and get them all.

Board games (noun) What you find and pull out when you’re stuck in a days-long power outage while on vacation and you can’t watch television or run down your phone and don’t have Wi-Fi. Fun!

At the Island Breeze Motel in North Wildwood, owner Mark Jones brought out the solar-powered flashlights, kept the pool open later, and had board games on hand to make up for the lack of Wi-Fi.

Great question last week from my colleague Tommy Rowan. Which movie star once peddled gag gifts at a tiny magic-and-novelty store called the Fun Shop on the Wildwood boardwalk?

Brian B was first with the correct answer: Bruce Willis. Congrats Brian! Read more about the Fun Shop, described by Inquirer sports columnist Frank Fitzpatrick as “perhaps the wackiest and tackiest store in Wildwood boardwalk history.”

❓ This week’s question: Which NHL player (an ex-Flyer at the time) brought the Stanley Cup Down the Shore in 2012 for a day (and even taking it on a pontoon boat ride?)

A. Justin Williams

B. Jack Johnson

B. Mike Richards

D. Martin Brodeur

📮 First correct answer gets a shout out. Email here.

An Inquirer editor had this question for me recently: What’s a good beach to take your kids to where they won’t be tempted to spend all your money on the Boardwalk?

My answer: Either end of Atlantic City, where beaches are free and the Boardwalk doesn’t have a bunch of shops and arcades. (Bonus: On the lower end, along the beach block of Bartram Avenue on the weekend, mom can get her iced coffee fix at the garage shop that sells everyone’s favorite iced coffee, Remedee. Bonus for the upper end: proximity to Gardner’s Basin for breakfast at Gilchrist’s or apres-beach at Back Bay Ale House).

Have a Shore question for us? Please reply to this email.

Jessica Rittler Sanchez writes: “Taking advantage of nature’s power sources simply makes sense. What may be seen from shore will add interest to an otherwise empty horizon (like a freighter passing — and might add additional interest during lightning storms, too.) IMO, extracting, processing & transporting fossil fuels has done more damage than windfarm development possibly could.”

Carolyn Logan writes: I am SO against this project because of the destruction it will cause to the ocean and the projected noise that the running turbines will generate. I am highly concerned about quality of life 10 miles from these turbines. I follow a FB blog, Diary of a Windfarm Neighbor, who repeatedly describes her symptoms and “not feeling well” while the turbines run. I am also highly annoyed that government officials ignored our democratic process with the stroke of a pen. One project will change our coastline forever and yet it is rushed through.

David Schechter sends this vivid memory:

It was 1983, the era of off the shoulder sweat shirts, Guess jeans with zippers at the ankle, music groups like Wham and Duran Duran played on the radio, and I was 15, spending the summer down the shore.

I grew up going to the Jersey Shore in Avalon. It was a little sleepier of a town back then. My friends and I would spend the day at the beach. At lunchtime, we would walk barefoot to Donnell’s Deli for hoagies, the old screen door creaked as each customer entered. Then at night, it was either Ocean City Boardwalk for Kohr Brothers Ice Cream or The Bongo Room which was a blast! They had two teen nights with live bands.

Kids came from all over to meet, listen to the band and dance. The band always ended the night with Springsteen’s song, “Rosalita.” The song to this day brings me right back to 15 year old me and friends, dancing barefoot on the disgusting, sticky, mucky floor. Then to Circle Pizza for a midnight snack.

📮 Send us your Shore memory, for a chance to be featured, here.

🙏 Thanks to Tommy Rowan for filling in last week (and more to come on the whole bomb-pop fashion debate). Summer’s flying by!