🌮 Let’s talk ‘Walking Tacos’ | Down the Shore

Walk with me.

You open the door to the rental and let in the roaring summer sun, and you’re fully prepared for a relaxing day on beach: Toy Story-themed towel, Cherry Float Coke Zeros, and a thin layer of suntan spray coating everything in the canvas tote bag.

Read more A year ago, Matt Turnbull was watching BKFC from the crowd. Now, he’s ready to bring ‘controlled chaos’ into the ring.

But you could really use a snack.

There’s a lot going on this holiday weekend, and it’s a mess. So the last thing you need is another one.

What you’re looking for is a classic Jersey Shore treat, but ice cream isn’t built for travel and a slice of pizza has too many variables.

You need a “Walking Taco.”

I’m Tommy Rowan, and I’m once again subbing in for Amy S. Rosenberg. I’m a lifelong Jersey Shore-goer who was raised on visits to the Ocean City boardwalk and Wonderland Pier. I spent my teenage years on the Wildwood boardwalk, my 20s in Sea Isle City, and nowadays I have family in North Wildwood. And maybe it’s because I’m within spitting distance of 40, or because places I once loved are being torn down, I find myself wanting to cram in more of everything.

Which brings us back to the food that moves.

The “Walking Taco” is for people who want to walk and talk, and who want to fit in more and keep moving.

It’s a snack-sized bag of Fritos that’s crushed into pieces, garnished with seasoned ground beef, shredded cheddar cheese, and homemade pico de gallo, and eaten with a plastic spoon.

It encourages you to get your steps in, but it’s not quite fast food. That’s why they don’t call it a “Running Taco.”

It’s best eaten on the walk to the beach, but if you’re a “save for later” kind of person, it still works: The bag is self-contained, and yet it’s protected from splashes of sand and saltwater. And it’s an easy disposal: Just crush the bag into a ball and toss it in a trash can.

It’s salty and crunchy and cheesy, but it’s not a true overindulgence.

A cheeky hot dog stand in Sea Isle City has unfound claims to “the original,” but the product can be found up and down the Philly-favored beach towns between Atlantic City and Cape May — and many swap out Fritos for Doritos.

And, honestly, what better way to ring in the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence than with a uniquely American product: a nonrecyclable bag of ultraprocessed salty particles, topped with chemically altered cheese strings, covered in oily animal fat, and topped with what can only be described as a “modern interpretation” of pico de gallo.

It’s America in a fun-size.

📮 What’s your favorite beach snack? And how do you feel about the “Walking Taco?” What are you eating this holiday weekend? Let me know what you think by replying to this email, and your most interesting responses may end up in a future newsletter. Have ideas or news tips about the Shore or this newsletter? Send them here.

😡 We’re in for a dangerously hot holiday weekend. Remember to hydrate.

— Tommy Rowan (🐦 Tweet me at @tommyrowan. 📧 Email me here.)

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

🏖️ Pumped up. Sand-pumping operations are expected to begin next week in Ocean City, while replenishment of the Seven Mile Island Beaches will reportedly begin toward the end of the summer. Avalon’s beaches are up first, with work scheduled to start in mid-August, followed by Stone Harbor in October.

🛵 Take a number. A reminder that New Jersey is now taking appointments for e-riders to register their e-bikes, per a new state law (which doesn’t seem to affect visitors from Pennsylvania). We have a full look at the confusing law here.

🎃 Halloween in July? Spirit Halloween is getting a head start on the spooky season and listing seasonal job openings on its website, including for pop-up stores at the Shore in May’s Landing, Rio Grande, and Egg Harbor Township.

🗳️ The mayor is in. For a fifth time, Jay Gillian was sworn in as mayor of Ocean City. He won reelection in May.

🏫 Stretching out. Dominique Dawes, a former Olympian who founded a chain of gymnastics schools, is planning to open a new location in South Jersey this fall. The new school is part of the former gold medalist’s expansion into the greater Philly region.

🎆 Happy Fourth of July weekend! Check out this handy guide to the fireworks shows and festive celebrations happening across the region.

Read more Goodwill opens new medical equipment store in South Jersey

🇺🇸 The Declaration. Two days before the country’s 250th anniversary, on July 2, Avalon is hosting a public reading of the Declaration of Independence. And then a few days after, on July 8, Cape May is planning its own public reading and reenactment. Both are worth checking out.

👻🦀 Ghost crabs! Every Thursday between 8 and 9 p.m., the Nature Center hosts a ghost crab hunt on the beaches of Cape May. So grab a flashlight and watch the translucent crustaceans scurry in the spotlight. Preregistration is required.

🌭 Hot Dog Tommy’s in Cape May. No. 1, fantastic name. No notes. And No. 2, helluva chili cheese dog.

🎥 Beach movies. Catching a flickoutdoors at the Shoreis underrated. Ocean air, salty breezes, and overpriced ice cream cones coalesce to create the most perfect conditions to take in a picture. Cape May and Margate show movies on the beach, Sea Isle utilizes the Band Shell in Excursion Park, and Wildwood hosts at Byrne Plaza.

🧢 Card show. If you’re looking for an escape from the heat this weekend, the Sports Card, Toy, Comic & Collectibles Show will be trading in childhood treasures and autographed memorabilia at the Wildwoods Convention Center on the boardwalk.

🎸 Free tunes in Atlantic City. On Wednesday, Bayou Blues guitarist-vocalist Tab Benoit is playing Mardi Gras on the Boardwalk, a New Orleans-themed concert series at Kennedy Plaza. The free show starts at 7 p.m.

🥡 Delicious takeout. Craig LaBan is a big fan of the General Tso’s at China Sea of Absecon. He went inland for his latest list of places to eat at the Shore.

After starting last year’s fundraiser with tear-away shorts and a Speedo, Jason Kelce was comparatively reserved this year for his entrance at his and wife Kylie Kelce‘s sixth annual “Shore Birds” event at the Ocean Drive in Sea Isle City. The event benefits the Eagles Autism Foundation.

Semiquincentennial (noun)

[semi-QUINN-cen-ten-knee-all]

The 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

I hope the next milestone after the Semiquincentennial is easier to pronounce and simpler to spell.

On June 27, 1958, this civil rights leader addressed a convention of Quakers in Cape May in a little remembered episode in this cultural icon’s extraordinary life.

A. Nelson Mandela

B. Thurgood Marshall

C. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

D. Gloria Steinem

If you think you know the answer, click on this story to find out.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about Wonderland Pier and the unmistakable value boardwalk rides bring to the Jersey Shore, which is what made Joseph Farley’s recent submission jump out.

The station wagon seemed to bulge like in a Willie the Worm cartoon; where endless hordes of Mickey Mouse types invade a building. Our family of ten filled the seats with the baby on mom’s lap. It was 1955, the tires were near bald and Dad kept a gallon of water handy to feed the radiator should it geyser in heavy traffic. We left Cheltenham, PA for Wildwood already singing, “On the Way to Cape May.” My pockets bulged with the contents of my piggy bank, my life’s savings. It was a six-hour trip, four of them spent in Dorothy, a town on the Tuckahoe Road, enjoying lunch while Dad made repairs to the car.

That night I choose to ride the “Salt & Pepper Shaker” on Morey’s Pier; a scary ride that took you into the stars. At the top, it flipped upside-down. All the coins in my pockets fell out, clanking off the girders to oblivion. This broke ten-year old, turned moocher, still had a glorious vacation. I returned home brown as a berry with a tale that became family lure, a “feel sorry for dad story” that still brings sympathetic sighs every time I tell it.

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.

✌️ That should do it. Amy’s back from vacation next week, so I’ll see ya at the rest stops.

— Tommy

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Read more 5 area Fourth of July events | Inquirer Greater Media