The Strange and Beautiful Wonders of the Jersey Shore
The Wheel at Steel Pier.
IT'S AN EAST COAST SUMMER INSTITUTION CONTAINING MULTITUDES: BOISTEROUS BEACHES AND DOG-DAYS TRADITION, ARCADE HUM AND WAVING SALT MARSH, AMUSEMENT AND PURE BLISS.
As day breaks over Atlantic City, its flamboyant skyline takes a much-needed breath. Gilded columns, curved glass and flashing signs melt into the haze of sunbeams and sea spray. A choir of gulls take its station around the 30-foot replica of a Gibson guitar. Buskers pack up their instruments and pets to catch a few winks before the boardwalk wakes up again. Even the palm trees—imported from Florida and replanted every year when the sand thaws—sway slowly in the morning lull. It’s a softer side to a city that’s been called “the World’s Playground” ever since the wild and lawless days of Prohibition. A far cry from the frenzy of casino tables and daiquiri-soaked happy hours and a good time to roam the streets that inspired vaudeville acts, Monopoly and Bruce Springsteen himself.
But New Jersey’s most visited hotspot won’t stay peaceful for long. Soon, the summer mob will take over, forming queues for rooftop pools, arcade games, ghost walks and tours of Lucy, the six-story model elephant and nationally registered monument. The beach and historic boardwalk hit capacity during the mid-August air show. Weekdays are more relaxed but still entertain the melee of accents, cultures and identities that the city, and New Jersey itself, is known for.
If the glitz and kitsch of Atlantic City prove overwhelming, don’t worry: the Jersey Shore is the dim sum of coastal getaways, with 40 varied beach towns and 18 boardwalks to sample. A few miles south lies Wildwood, a postcard-perfect maze of arcades, waterparks and retro diners. At the state’s southern edge, where Delaware Bay elopes with the Atlantic, the seascape becomes a living panorama. The romance spills over onto Cape May’s 19th- century promenade, dotted with Victorian manors and ice cream parlors. Wildflower meadows, breezy marshes and towering sand dunes make the area a haven for avian species—and birders and butterfly lovers, too.
North of AC, a long walk on the slippery jetty at Barnegat Lighthouse is a summer classic. Fly anglers line the shore of Island Beach State Park, a barrier island stretching for 10 miles. A few miles inland, spooky local folklore doesn’t keep campers away from the eerily beautiful Pine Barrens.
Near the shore’s northern tip, the little city of Asbury Park holds true to its roots—more than 50 years after Springsteen dedicated his debut album to it. The Stone Pony, where the Boss played solo and with the E Street Band, still books big acts on its open-air stage. Other artists of many sorts—tattooists, psychics, muralists—are tucked between pinball museums and funnel cake stalls.
Some 130 road miles north of Cape May, the 6-mile sandbar of Sandy Hook has a beach for everyone and views of New York City. Windsurfers and crabbers flood the bayside; nudists, cyclists, kayakers and birders take the oceanfront. The road fades into the ruins of an army base, where beach plums poke out of old masonry and holly spikes the air. You can watch the sun rise and set over the water here and think about what Springsteen said while cruising by on his Moto Guzzi. “Down the shore, everything’s alright.” Now your heart knows what he means by that.
