I grew up in the Philadelphia area and for us there was only one place for summer vacation and that was “down the Jersey Shore.” And it had to be said like that too, “down the shore” because that is where everyone went at least for a week every summer. Families chose different shore towns depending on their preferences or family beach house location, but we were always Ocean City people. I remember those trips well; my mother and her best friend would take me and a friend or my aunt and cousin would join us “down the shore” and it was the best week of the year! Twenty years later, an MTV reality TV show captured a very different side to the Jersey Shore than I ever remembered. Seaside Heights, Wildwood and Atlantic City are the towns where all the action is located, where you want to party in your twenties. As I had to convince my husband, Ocean City is so family oriented it is a dry town, so remember to stop at the liquor store before crossing the bridge!
There are over 30 different shore towns located on the Atlantic coast. The luxurious areas of Asbury Park & Point Pleasant Beach are located in Northern Jersey, closer to New York City. Don’t ever get the Jersey Shore mixed up with the Hamptons, these towns have only sand in common. The party areas of Seaside Heights and surf city are centrally located and Atlantic City south to Cape May are all considered South Jersey. Ocean City, Sea Isle, Avalon and Wildwood are the most popular areas for families and young summer workers.
Two years ago, I took my daughter to Ocean City, NJ for a few days coupled with a trip to see her grandparents in Pennsylvania. The first year, Cassidy and I rented a convertible mustang to ride “down the shore” and have the best memories from it. This car isn’t practical until you start to smell the salt air, 90 minutes or so from Philadelphia, but once you’re at the beach it is such a luxury to have the convertible. We traveled a little before the summer season started in Ocean City, officially it is considered season the last week in June until Labor Day weekend. That means all stores and restaurants are open their full hours, the beach has lifeguards and first aid stations are located every few blocks. The beach and boardwalk are much less crowded, but this was a great time to come just before peak season (and prices).
We stayed at the Ocean 7 Hotel, right on the Boardwalk at 7th street. It gave off 90’s beach vibes and was far from luxurious, but the location was perfect, and it has both beach and pool options which is always a plus with my kids. Cassidy and I spent our days on the beach, our nights playing on the boardwalk and ate ice cream three times a day. We built great memories and it was about as fun as I remembered as a kid (just a lot more expensive when you’re the parent).
There are really only two main options for staying in Ocean City, hotel/motel or a vacation rental. If you are planning to stay a week or longer or have a large group staying together I’d suggest renting a beach home. There are rentals from efficiency apartments to huge beach mansions and everything in between, check them out here Ocean City Rentals. The boardwalk runs from 2nd Street to 27th street (this is the quiet part of the boardwalk) and any rentals 28th street and higher are in the residential part of Ocean City. It will feel more beach oriented and less shopping, eating, riding. Easier to have quiet nights at home, cook meals in a fully equipped kitchen and take a romantic walk on the beach. I look forward to the future and hope to plan annual Ocean City beach trips and continue meeting my cousins with their kids for a family fun week and think we will start looking for vacation rentals in the future, but will also need to book the full week and well in advance.
Ocean City is known as “America’s Greatest Family Resort” and has been a hot vacation spot for decades. Honestly, some of the older hotels and motels feel like they are still out of the 80’s or 90’s and can be disappointing when people spend “that much money” and just get a musty smelling, little room with 2 queen beds next to the ice machine. Do a little research before you choose your hotel. We’ve stayed at Ocean 7 Hotel both years and my daughter thinks it’s amazing…my mother and I can see the flaws in the layout of the suites with the bedroom in the back and living room by the front door layout, separated by a kitchenette/ bathroom sink combo that doesn’t work well. The actual bathroom is so small that you are either on the toilet or in the shower, there are no other options. But the location can’t be beaten, right on the boardwalk, and it doesn’t smell musty. We are considering trying Flanders Hotel, The Forum and The Beach Club Hotel & The Beach Club Suites just from walking around and looking at their location and condition while we were there. Next year I’ll compare them to the moderate pricing of the Ocean 7 to see if we keep staying there in the future.
The Beach
The Beach of Ocean City is 8 miles long with surf lessons, paddle board rentals and boogie boards to purchase. There are over 40 lifeguard stands, especially in the well populated part of the touristy area, but be warned this water can be rough. My Florida born daughter was quite surprised at how rough the ocean water was in New Jersey, but also learned that made riding a boogie board super fun too. If your family is not used to rough waters, pick an area near the lifeguards and learn what the flags mean. They are all there to keep you safe. If you’re from New England or Hawaii, you’ll be fine, this is going to feel like calm waters to you.
Be aware that you will need to purchase beach tags. My husband was shocked to hear this, having grown up in Florida he views the ocean as a free right to all. Some hotels (like ours) comes with 4 tags per room, but if you lose them, you pay for them. Young children are free with an adult and you can also buy them online for just a day trip. Beach chairs and umbrellas can be rented at the back of the beach near most of the lifeguard stands and every 2 blocks. Being that I love my backpack/cooler Rio beach chairs, I typically don’t rent a beach set up, but this was super convenient having my mom join us, who is very concerned about sun exposure. Since I was a tourist, without our chairs and just a few sand toys this setup was great and gave me less to drag to the beach. The hotel had a collection of sand toys that could be borrowed daily, which also helped us not have to buy a ton of beach stuff that my mom has to store at her house. I think that all child friendly beaches should have a little collection area for a beach toy library. Take a toy, leave a toy, just like those little community libraries, but at the entrance of the sand so you don’t have to drag them the whole way.
My kiddo LOVES the beach and will always make friends and find kids of all ages to play with anywhere she goes. She spent hours digging up creatures and creating a mini aquarium of little pools made of buckets. Cassidy has always loved digging in the sand and making sand creatures and castles, maybe since she was born in Florida, she’s a beach baby. Ocean City has great sand, with the perfect ratio of wet and dry to create some amazing sandscapes. The city hosts sand castle contests 2-3 times a summer, open to children, teens and adults of all ages.
The sounds of the waves crashing at the shoreline entices sunbathers to cool off in the Atlantic water. When the kids are little, they are happy to be held in the water or jump the waves, but as they get older the activities get more intense. Boogie boarding, skim boarding and surfing are all great activities for the choppy, but not too rough waters of the Jersey Shore. I spotted a surf shop that offers lessons right off the boardwalk, on the surf side of the jetty (surf and swim areas are separated to keep everyone safe). I learned to surf in Costa Rica 20 years ago, but think I may need more than just a refresher by the time Cassidy shows an interest in learning to surf.
We never get to the beach early enough, so it goes without saying that we start thinking of lunch pretty soon after arrival. The obvious choice is to consider lunch options while having a Kohr’s Brothers Ice Cream…it’s almost a religious experience! I actually let my kid have ice cream three times a day when we are down here; afternoon ice cream, evening ice cream, late night ice cream. The best pizza on the boardwalk is Manco & Manco, where they have three shops on the boardwalk, the main restaurant with a huge, air conditioned seating area or offer delivery to the beach! Another one of my favorite options is the Lobster Roll shack near 9th street. Quincy’s Original Lobster Rolls might be traditional to New England, but they are a delicious lunch on the Jersey Shore. A word to the wise, be careful of your food around the seagulls. They are vicious birds that are not scared of humans. They will go after food in your hand and even swoop you to get you to drop your food! Bags, boxes and lids for food are a must and don’t overestimate your ability to carry a million items at once. Cheesesteaks and hoagies (sub sandwiches) are also popular options. Finding a spot on the boardwalk, ordering from a shop or even stopping at Wawa (the best convenience store ever) before the beach are all great options for lunch. When we do the beach, we really do the beach and spend all day, until the sun is setting and the screams from the amusement park start calling Cassidy’s name.
The Boardwalk
Early morning bike riders, joggers and surrey riders all take to the boardwalk to get the blood flowing. I wish I could say we have enjoyed this time in the morning, but alas my daughter likes to sleep in on vacations (that one has way too much of her father’s vacation style in her). I remember as kids, renting a surrey bike first thing and riding them around the boardwalk for at least 60-90 minutes. Next year, my daughter is going to get up with me one morning to experience this tradition.
After working up an appetite, I suggest walking off the boardwalk a few blocks to the Downtown area. It’s better for restaurants and shopping, but there is no ocean view. Enjoy a coffee shop breakfast or better yet stop for bagels. These are the kind of Northeast bagels that you just can’t get everywhere, and I miss them terribly. We often bring bagels and the accouterments and make them in our hotel kitchenette or as sandwiches for a beach picnic. I’m sure there are some good breakfast spots downtown, we have been disappointed on the boardwalk restaurants with the quality of the breakfast options.
Shopping and eating are the two things that are always open early in the morning and until midnight (about an hour after curfew, anyone under 18 must be with a parent after 11:00pm). There are so many touristy shirt and beachwear stores, souvenir shops, beachy home decor, trendy toys & collectables and the coveted hermit crabs…yes crabs! I remember getting these small cages and picking out a few crabs each year to take home with a few shells for them to grow into. They never lasted long, they were not meant for the suburbs and I don’t want to continue the tradition now that I realize how terrible it is for the crabs. But my brown eyed girl wants them SO badly. So far I have her convinced that you can’t take hermit crabs on an airplane. I distract her with the candy stores, bakeries and ice cream shops that are abundant everywhere.
Dinner Restaurants on or close to the boardwalk are typical for shore nights. If I can convince my husband to start joining us for our summer beach trips, I’ll probably start planning a date night for the two of us to enjoy at a nice seafood or Italian restaurant. We’ve tried two of the seafood restaurants on the boardwalk, Clancy’s By the Sea and Ike’s Famous Crabcakes. The first was ok, but nothing to return to, however Ike’s Famous Crabcakes was amazing and we went twice on this last trip. They have incredible homemade potato chips with warm crab dip oozing down the plate. The kids’ fish stick meal came in a sand bucket and shovel, so we had a few of our toys from those meals, what a great presentation for a kid to remember!
After dark, the amusement parks really gets going. They open early for the little kids, but you hear the real screams after sundown. There are two on the boardwalk, Gillian’s Wonderland Pier (on the north end, close to our hotel) and Playland’s Castaway Cove located midway down the boardwalk. Of course Cassidy likes the one that is the farthest away! But we go to Wonderland’s too, where her younger cousins can ride cars and trains. There are arcade game areas in the amusement parks and stand alone places on the boardwalk, quite a few mini-golf locations and some new attractions where you have to climb through lasers or a mirror maze. For the ultimate shore souvenir, stop by an old time photography studio and get a photo memory of your group dressed up like a gangster on the bar or girls in hoop skirts on a sofa in the parlor. It’s silly, but makes for great memories. I also see families hiring a photographer for golden hour (one hour before sunset) and take family beach portraits. Also a great option, especially for family reunions and special occasions.
For those interested in getting out on the Bay for fishing, water sports or renting a boat for the day, try Shore Thing Charters or Moover Fishing and Adventures to book your boat day experience. We are not big into fishing in our family, but we love getting out on the water for a boat day and exploring whatever body of water we are exploring. I remember my grandfather taking me out to fish on his boat as a kid at the shore, where I caught my first flounder. There are marinas and lessons for jet skiing, kite boarding and windsurfing all located in the Ocean City area. I recently learned of a dolphin and whale watching cruise by The Cape May Whale Watcher, about a 30 minute drive south. Since my daughter has a new found love of whale watching, after our Boston trip this summer, we will have to schedule a day to go dolphin and whale watching next summer.
The New Jersey Shore also has lots of day trips to take around the area from family friendly amusement parks like Storybook Land and Great Adventure to adult only attractions in Atlantic City. Atlantic City is known for more than just gambling, but there is certainly lots of gaming to choose from in A.C. Atlantic City is like a miniature Las Vegas, but with an ocean in the background. There are tons of expensive and budget hotels, delicious restaurants and lots of music concerts and shows. New Jersey also has easy travel access to large cities like Philadelphia, New York City, Baltimore and Washington D.C. which are all within a 1-3 hour drive. This offers a great opportunity to see sights in one of the major cities of the Northeast and relax on the beach during the same trip.
Next year, consider “America’s Greatest Family Resort” for your next family vacation. Cassidy is already asking me which week we will be going this summer, clearly I’ve created a beach monster. I find it stressful to go ‘home’ to the Philadelphia area, but it’s so nice to have this area at the Jersey Shore where I can share happy parts of my childhood with my own family.
Join my email list, so you never miss a blog and view my library of adventures at LauraMarieMyers.com/wanderlust.
