🏖️ Overstuffed Sea Isle | Down the Shore

Is Sea Isle City becoming Avalon (which already became Stone Harbor, which is basically the Hamptons)?

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I wrote about Delco’s favorite Shore destination, about how changes in visitor routines, upscaling, development, and new construction have transformed Sea Isle block by block.

Some like it (like the Kelces, apparently, who are patiently on the wait list for the Sea Isle Yacht Club, at No. 78 of 251).

Some don’t, like many Sea Isle loyalists who have been priced out and have watched the town change around and without them.

Is that so different from what’s happening in other Shore towns?

If you haven’t already, read my story here.

Here’s a sampling of reaction to the piece:

Jack Fleming, who splits his time between Sea Isle and L.A., says he loves living in a place people come to vacation and be happy in, with family-owned businesses like Dalrymple’s, Braca Cafe, and Basilicos.

Bernadette Mastrogiovanni wrote that her in-laws purchased a large house in Sea Isle in 1946, and sold in 1997 after her husband’s 100-year-old grandmother passed away.

Brian Smith thinks the city should focus on using its land for a parking garage.

Another reader, who said he waited two years on the Yacht Club wait list, said he felt the story didn’t ring true.

📮 Are changes in Shore towns like Sea Isle a good thing? Does the Shore feel like the Shore of your childhood? Should that matter? Can’t Shore towns be allowed grow up?

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

⬇️ Keep scrolling for news, what to do, your thoughts on dress codes, a Shore memory, trivia, and my thoughts about a $5 doughnut.

🧐 Have ideas or news tips about the Shore or this newsletter? Send them to me here.

🌞 After some wild weather last weekend and again on Tuesday, this weekend’s forecast looks lovely. The ocean has warmed up quite a bit from the low 60s to around 75.

— Amy S. Rosenberg (Find me at @amysrosenberg, or on Instagram at @amysrosenberg. 📧 Email me here.)

If someone forwarded you this email, sign up for free here. Join our text group, the Shore Line, here.

🌪️ Tornado warnings were issued in Cape May and Atlantic County on Tuesday, and there was a waterspout sighting in Cape May Point that the National Weather Service has confirmed came on shore briefly as a tornado.

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🏢 The Brigantine Citizens Alliance wants to know why commercial land continues to be rezoned residential.

📸 Rosie O’Donnell and family were posting photos from Long Beach Island.

💰 Strathmere, one of the last free beaches in South Jersey, is considering beach tags.

🛻 Jeeps took over the Wildwood beaches, and Bob Kelly was there.

🇺🇸 U.S. Sen. Andy Kim said he’d secured $1 million in funding for Cape May’s Harriet Tubman museum.

🤍 Two children died after a family boat hit a buoy in Barnegat Bay.

🌊 Watch the newly-renamed Chief Rod Aluise Atlantic City Lifeguard Classic at 6:30 p.m. Friday at the Albany Avenue beach.

🏝️ Tour New Jersey’s islands along the Delaware River.

🍋 Check out Nuso Cucina, the pretty new Italian restaurant in A.C.’s Orange Loop.

🍝 A.C.’s extremely popular Cafe 2825 completed its expansion, but it’s still near-impossible to get through to make a reservation.

🥂 The least dry day in this dry town’s summer, Ocean City’s Night in Venice, is upon us!

🚴 Bike from the Ben Franklin Bridge to the Shore.

🥙 Attend this weekend’s annual Lebanese Festival at Our lady Star of the Sea in Pleasantville.

🚌 Take a $5 ride from Philly to the Shore courtesy of Pacifico.

🍩 Sample a $5 donut from Sonny’s House of Donuts in Margate. I did. I’ve seen some grumbling about the price and if you’re getting a dozen or more, paying $4 or $5 each does add up. I tried a $5 Bavarian cream, and what I’ll say is, they’re big and can be shared. I still lean toward the $1.50 still-warm plain or cider donut found at Brown’s in Ocean City. The winner of the $5 sugar bomb category, for my money, is the Sesame Semolina Sugar Cookie from Ventnor’s Florida Cuts.

Last week we raised the question of how to dress at the Shore, how casual, how intentional, how repetitive?

Discreet reader “R from Cape May” has this advice:

Wear what you want at the actual beach, but step it up if you are going for drinks or dinner at a nice establishment. Rule of thumb: If they have cloth napkins, dress to impress. In Cape May, many restaurants are a little more upscale; no flip-flops or hoodies. Guys — invest in a few nice outfits — shirts with collars and a pair of nice loafers. Ladies — summer dresses and cute sandals. Don’t forget a pedicure (both of you). If you are spending $20+ on a cocktail and $40+ on an entree, dress like you can afford it. No one wants to be publicly shamed by the (cringe- inducing) self-appointed shore social secretary Lady Whistledown.

OK then!

Maureen Farrow was first with the correct answer to last week’s question about which two Shore towns never rebuilt their boardwalks after the 1944 hurricane: Beach Haven and Stone Harbor.

This week’s question:

This sweaty bar in Avalon closed 39 years ago this summer and featured the Greaseband on Sunday nights.

Was it:

A. The Bongo Room

B. Maloney’s

C. Jack’s Place

D. Fred’s Tavern

If you think you know the answer, email us here. First one with the right answer gets a shout-out.

Any and all memories of this establishment encouraged!

Joe Farley titled this memory “Breathtaking.”

The first time my grandson, Iggy, really saw the ocean, he was absolutely stunned. About twenty of us were staying at a large condo in Bethany Beach. We were a force in our caravan of pickup trucks packed to the hilt. We followed the highway to the parking lot where you have to deflate your tires so you wouldn’t get stuck in the sand; then a bumpy ride over dunes.

I kept my eye on Iggy, who was about four. He was handed a raft which he hugged to his chest, then stumbled in the sand looking for where to set it. He dropped it next to my beach chair, turned toward the roaring ocean and froze. He looked out at the relentless waves splashing onto the shore and uttered his famous often-repeated line:

“Wait a minute — does this go on all day?”

📬 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.

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