How to fix the Shore?
As we alluded to last week, we at Down the Shore are moving from complaints and pet peeves to soliciting solutions, including from our text group, The Shore Line.
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We received many ideas, mostly grouped around a few big problems: parking and cars, costs, public access, plus some thoughts on restaurants.
Several proposed off-island parking and shuttles to reduce the number of cars on barrier islands. One suggested congestion pricing for cars on the islands, or beach tags for cars (oof). Another idea: beach tags that could be used in any town, like a museum pass.
Keep scrolling for a roundup of more ways to fix the Shore, and please keep sending us your own ideas.
We’ll be consulting with experts and wracking our own brains for a future story (my ideas will involve dogs and bicycles). Email us here.
Meanwhile, a local paleontologist is debunking aspects of a widely reported story about a boy and his dad finding a prehistoric shark tooth dating back millions of years in the rocks near Townsend’s Inlet.
Kenneth Lacovara, founding executive director of Rowan University’s Edelman Fossil Park & Museum, said in an interview that, while not questioning that the father-son team found the Megalodon tooth as they said, there is no chance the tooth originated in Sea Isle.
“I don’t see how a Megalodon tooth could naturally occur on the coast of Sea Isle City.”
Deposits from the Megalodon’s Miocene epoch would be 500 to 600 feet under the sea along this part of the coast, Lacovara said, as the cakelike geographic layers get deeper and deeper as you head from, say, Philadelphia, down to Sea Isle.
Even with ocean dredging for beach replenishment, Megalodon shark teeth fossils from that depth would not surface.
“That fossil didn’t come from Sea Isle City,” Lacovara said.
Michael Bowers, 42, said he discovered the fossil while visiting Sea Isle City with Bo, 11, a dirt bike rider, who documented the find on his YouTube channel, Fastkid71. They sought out experts from the Cape May Whale Watch & Research Center and from the New Jersey State Museum, who validated the tooth’s authenticity.
“I’m not suggesting they are faking it,” Lacovara said. “That Megalodon tooth is not there naturally. It was maybe dropped by somebody, or lost by somebody. It’s more like finding a treasure than a paleontological discovery.
Mystery unlocked? Or deepened? I’m just the messenger!
📮 Have ideas or news tips about the Shore or this newsletter? Thoughts about the Megalodon? More suggestions for improving the Shore experience? Send them to me here.
🌧️ A little rain in the forecast but not a washout.
— Amy S. Rosenberg (Find me at @amysrosenberg. 📷 Follow me on Instagram at @amysrosenberg. 📧 Email me here.)
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Shore talk
🐟 Police in Bay Head are warning about drone fishing.
🛟 Atlantic City’s Beach Patrol brings the South Jersey championship back to Absecon Island with a dramatic win in Avalon.
☕ The Landmark Cafe in Ocean City is getting a lot of attention on TikTok for its church ownership.
🎸 Gully’s and Avalon reached an agreement to give the popular bar an extra hour of outdoor music, until 9 p.m.
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🚓 Cape May implemented curfews after incidents of juveniles drinking and fighting in public places.
🏖️ Wildwood is reducing the number of guarded beaches for the remaining season.
🤍 A Barnegat man whose two grandchildren were killed after the boat he was piloting struck a channel marker in Barnegat Bay was charged with operating a boat while intoxicated and two counts of death by vessel.
What to eat/What to do
💪 Downtown Wildwood is hosting Pilates on the plaza.
🌳 Atlantic City has a new midtown park.
💵 A.C.’s Black business expo returns Aug. 25.
🧀 Inky food insider Michael Klein is recommending the Oui Oui Wee Wee (basically a cheesesteak topped with French onion soup, Gruyère, and crouton dust) at Tony Boloney’s. We also love the Tuscan mozzarella and those flatbreads sold at Shore Farmers markets.
🎤 Diana Ross and Keith Urban are both performing Friday in Atlantic City, Ross at Ocean Casino and Urban at Hard Rock.
⛴️ Glass Onion will perform at sea on the Thursday Rock the Boat cruise at the Cape May Lewes Ferry.
🥎 Brigantine is holding its fourth annual Wiffle Ball Home Run Derby.
🔥 Long Beach Township continues its Firepit Friday concert series at the 68th Street beach with Karly C and the Rebel Y’all Band.
Shore snapshot
Your thoughts on: Shore fixes
Jenifer Baldwin says towns should focus on sustainability and public access:
Make townships responsible for providing public parking and public restrooms with outdoor showers and changing rooms. Start working toward zoning that requires new development to include affordable public accommodations (motels, campgrounds, public beach facilities). Get creative about linking our barrier islands with alternative modes of transportation. Go car free in designated areas.
Kara Cumiskey says the problem is “cars, cars, cars.”
I think that there should be a “beach tag” for cars. Or some type of “congestion pricing” for bringing your car onto the Island. I have a rental property that has 4 bedrooms. The tenants this week brought 7 cars.
One texter thinks Shore towns need to add a golf cart lane.
Maybe either a lane or certain streets to use golf carts. It is horrifying the way people pack kids in them and drive in traffic. Many do not drive safely either. Toddlers sitting on someone’s lap or just on a seat!
Several texters, like this one, urged everyone to just … be nicer.
It really comes down to respecting one another and that starts at home. I know I sound like an old head (I’m only 45) but it’s what is wrong with the world today.
🧠 Trivia time
Kevin Pellegrini was first with the answer to Avalon’s old white underaged drinker roundup bus, the Magic Bus.
This week’s question:
This beach town established its beach patrol in 1855, making it the oldest operational beach patrol in the country and the future home of an International Lifeguard Museum.
Which town is it?
A. Wildwood, N.J.
B. Rehoboth Beach, Del.
C. Atlantic City, N.J.
D. Huntington Beach, Ca.
If you think you know the answer, email us. First one gets a shout-out.
Your Shore memory
Not to shock everyone with a winter memory, but it’s almost Labor Day! This is from Lisa Guercio.
The best off season Shore memory was a weekend special at the Bolero Hotel in Wildwood. It was a snowy weekend with my first walk on the beach with snow over the sand. We also got to swim in the indoor pool on the roof while the snow was falling, which was a thrill. There were also ice chunks in the ocean that were a wonderful sight. The shore in off season is better than summer, as far as I’m concerned. Especially now that it so unaffordable during the summer season anyway.
Still time to send us your Shore memory! 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.
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