🌊 Dog days, wind turbines, & Stone Harbor’s view | Down the Shore

I went to the edge of the continent yesterday in Stone Harbor and gazed at the view, trying to imagine wind turbines. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management had released a 1,400-page draft report talking about the impact of the wind farms planned by the Denmark-based Ørsted company for off the Jersey Shore and had included a picture of what they would look like from the beach in Stone Harbor.

Meanwhile, the New York Times was invoking Salvador Dalí in a story about turbines being planned for off the coast of Spain. And PBS featured a woman in Rhode Island whose view had already been altered by the turbines. She wasn’t crazy about it. Also, her energy bills had increased.

I spend a lot of time looking out over the ocean, enough to know the view is rarely as unaltered as people insist. First of all, there are bathers, and surfers, and boogie boarders in the frame, often boats and jet skis, helicopters and banner planes. Sometimes the ocean is like a lake, shimmering, other times like a washing machine, all roiled up. It’s dynamic, not always a Dali canvas.

Would turbines way out in the horizon spoil something? I’m not sure. The thought of it doesn’t immediately bother me, it seems far off and maybe even kind of cool, a reassuring bit of wind technology that might ultimately help stave off the climate change and sea rise that could truly spoil the Shore as we know it.

What does worry me are other concerns contained in this report and other research, like a Rutgers University study that assessed the impact on surf clam fisheries and projected revenue losses. And the impact on neighborhoods that will be the site of maintenance facilities and other infrastructure, like Bungalow Park in Atlantic City, and parts of Ocean City, where Ørsted is seeking permission to run underground cables on shore.

The report cites historic structures where “the seascape” is “an important consideration in the building’s design,” and where “ocean views are character-defining features,” including the Ocean City Music Pier. It concluded that the project has “potential for adverse effect.” (One of those historic structures, a Mediterranean-style house on Princeton Avenue in Ventnor, recently was demolished for new construction.)

What do you think? The bureau has one final public hearing this Tuesday, July 26, and will accept public comments until Aug. 8. Register here if you’d like to listen in or participate in the hearing.

📮 Let me know what you think by replying to this email.

🆒 During these dog days of summer, it is, typically, cooler at the Shore.

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

🐘 An elephant never … Lucy the Elephant was embroiled in controversy over the “Never forget, never again,” wording of a fund-raising mailing.

⚾ Phillies star Bryce Harper, out of the All-Star game after a thumb injury, was spotted all over Stone Harbor this week, posing for photographs.

🦀 Possible future Phillies are also at the Shore. Inquirer Phillies writer Alex Coffey writes about the Phillies prospects rooting for each other while on the Jersey Shore Blue Claws, in Lakewood.

😃 All of Wildwood is obsessed with the seagull plush toy with a french fry in its mouth that everyone seems to be winning. Senior games manager Mike Weimar at Morey’s Piers, for whom Sunny the Seagull is a mascot, tells me that 4,800 of them have been won this summer.

📰 The 22-year-old Ocean City pilot who was killed last weekend in a single-engine plane crash was attempting to pick up a banner ad on his first pass when he crashed.

🚴‍♀️ Stop your bike ride for a cold brew just off the Boardwalk in Lower Chelsea in Atlantic City. You’ll find Remedee Coffee set up in the garage at 118 South Bartram Ave., a home coffee roasting business run by Amanda and Colie Escobar. It’s fantastic! Try the coffee shandy with blood orange syrup in a beach-friendly pouch. See below for a Q & A with the sisters.

😋 Get vegan meals delivered. This week, I got the weekly delivery from Nina Cucina Plant-based Meal Delivery in Brigantine. It was plant-based heaven: Burmese tofu summer rolls, niçoise salad with mung bean frittata, Indian butter chickpeas with turmeric ginger rice.

🎭 Broadway on the Boardwalk continues Mondays in front of Boardwalk Hall in A.C. with cast members of Six and Chicago performing July 25, Moulin Rouge Aug. 1, Wicked Aug. 8, and more.

🏄‍♀️ Catch some O.C. vibes at Peace of Wood shop at 345 West Ave. in Ocean City, with live music jams Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4 to 6 p.m.

🎤 Cardi B + Offset are coming to Bader Field July 23.

R.W. Snyder was first with the two-parter: Avalon was the town that Angelo Cataldi famously tangled with over beach tags, and Murray Wolf was the beach patrol captain that didn’t take back talk.

This week’s question: This Stone Harbor retreat house dates to 1937 and is owned by the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. It is being turned into a smaller house with the property subdivided. The beach in front is a famous surfing beach. What do surfers call this beach?

A. The Sisterly Surf

B. 111th Street Beach

C. Surfing Paradise

D. Nuns Beach

📮 If you think you know the answer, email us here for a shout out.

Bike rides on the Atlantic City Boardwalk are way better now that you can make a quick stop off Bartram Avenue for cold brew at Remedee Coffee, a micro-batch craft roastery, run by the Escobar sisters, Amanda, 31, and Colie 28, out of the family’s beach block home. Each month, a portion of sales is donated to a local A.C. organization. The sisters source direct-trade, single-origin, high-altitude, quality coffee beans from Colombia and roast them at home.

Here’s a lightly edited Q & A, conducted over Instagram message.

Hi, I’m the one on the bike with the coconut cup holder these last couple of weeks, haha. Of course I remember the coconut cup holder — we love a safe drink n’ ride.

Is the new cottage food law in Jersey what lets you sell right out of the garage? You nailed it, we are a result of the new cottage food law. We’re also a result of a pandemic coffee roasting hobby — once we realized baking was really bad for our waistlines, we pivoted.

Can you tell me a bit about yourself and the business? The Escobar sisters have had roots in Atlantic City since 1994 when their Colombian immigrant father took on the restoration of an abandoned original Victorian home on Bartram Ave.’s beach block. Since before Colie could walk, Bartram residents have gathered in the morning on their porches for coffee & conversation (and cocktails most nights). On these porches, coffee has been the remedy to sleepy starts and the fuel behind the ideation of remedies for the underserved Atlantic City community.

Remedee is an ode to A&C’s parents, Diego & Emma Escobar, and to their former neighbor, the legendary Dolores “Dee” Salicandro-Palusci. For decades, they’ve been steadfast in preserving the historic charm of Lower Chelsea and believing in the beauty & potential of A.C., while pouring each other countless cups of coffee.

Linda Rohs sends this amazing memory involving Mr. Peanut:

The first time I went to AC was in 1965 with my parents and sister. I was 16 and she was 21. The first day was damp and chilly with fog. We were sitting on the second floor porch of the hotel when 4 guys were walking down the street and stopped to talk to us. We immediately made friends with them, walking up and down the Boardwalk in the evening, sharing our blankets on the beach.. My parents also sat with us the first time but were slowly evicted. One evening all of us were walking on the boardwalk near the Planters Peanut Store and Mr. Peanut was also walking along with us, stringing along and telling silly peanut jokes. One of the guys we were with decided to try to knock Mr. Peanut’s top hat off. He couldn’t because it was attached to the costume. They started to fight and wrestle on the boards. But after a couple of minutes realized it was a futile attempt and shook hands . No one was hurt and we all were laughing.

One of the guys developed a crush on me — and it was instant connection for us. We spent as much time together as we could for that week. It got so far as to holding my hand. Wow, was I in love. It was a wonderful brief moment in our lives and I thank God for Atlantic City.

📮 Send me your Shore memory for a chance to be featured here or tweet me @amysrosenberg.

Stay cool and hope for ocean breezes. See you next week.