Hi, all. I've never spent much time down the shore, and I was wondering if maybe you could give me some ideas. I am feeling the need to get away with my family this coming weekend. Things have been kind of rough the last several days and I think we could all use a distraction. I was thinking a 2-day trip to the shore might be something nice to do, but I have no idea where is good to go in the spring.
Here is what I'd like to be able to find:
* a decent kid-friendly hotel at a reasonable rate
* a quaint shopping area with locally-owned stores - this is my most important criteria - a little retail therapy is on my mind, even if it's just window-shopping. artsy places might be nice
* a boardwalk (with or without businesses - I'd just like to be able to stretch our legs within view of the water)
* and I guess there should be one or two good kid activities around, although I'll be honest and say my main goal for this trip is to make myself happy, so the absence of kid stuff is not a deal-breaker for me
* a few good used book stores would make my husband happy
I just want to go somewhere enjoyable and different enough than home to feel like a distraction and a change of pace.
It's in Wildwood, NJ (so a 2+ hour drive) but it has an *indoor* slide w/their pool! Other then the Wilderness Lodge in the Poconos($300+ night!) I don't know of any other place around here that has one.
I actually would rather avoid a hotel with a pool, since I don't want to spend the entire weekend inside. I know that's what the kids would want to do, so I'd like to just avoid the situation entirely
It does sound promising for some time when we have more than 2 days / 1 night to spend. I'll keep that filed away for future reference, LOL!
of Wildwood. Also, not too far from there is the Cape May Zoo, which is a free zoo. I've been there and it's pretty good. They have a nice playground for the kids, too.
My other suggestion would be Point Pleasant Beach. They have a small aquarium right on the boardwalk.
Lisa, Mom to Gregory, 4/19/96, Katy 4/2/00 & Robby 9/26/03
A few people have recommended the Cape May Zoo to me. I'm still not sure I want to travel that far. I think it's about 3 hours for me. But I'm tempted.
Just 44 miles from my own exit. Definitely sounds like a day trip. I'll have to file that away for the next day we're all sitting around staring at each other saying "you want to do something today?"
I would suggest Ocean City rather than Wildwood. Wildwood is much more teen-oriented than the family-geared OC. They're only about 25 miles apart, though, so you can easily visit one if you're staying at the other. Normally when we go to the NJ shore (and yes, we still go there even though we no longer live in NJ...Ray proposed to me on the Wildwood Ferris wheel, so it's got nice associations for us), we stay in Wildwood and drive up to Ocean City (and down to Cape May) at least once while we're there.
That's *exactly* where I have my eye at the moment.
March 21 2007, 7:54 PM
Another friend suggested it, and I've been doing a little online research and I checked with the chamber of commerce to see if any of the stores are even open at this time of year. They said there's plenty open in town, but not as much on the boardwalk. If we wait a week, though, more stores will be opening. We're going to have to wait a week anyway, since Eamonn has a school function this Saturday that I'd completely forgotten about.
I don't suppose you have a hotel recommendation? I'm guessing not, since you said you stay in Wildwood.
Ray's family always used to go to Ocean City when he was a kid (and they still do every couple years), but they always rent a house for a week or so and have everyone in the family visit. And we always stay in Wildwood, like I said (at the Riviera Motel, because they have units with really nice big whirlpool tubs). We'll often time our trip to coincide with the in-laws so we can see them, although we prefer to have our own hotel room down in Wildwood rather than stay with them. There's such a thing as too much togetherness.
I've never gone down the shore at this time of year, though...earliest I've ever gone is Memorial Day, when the season officially starts. Not sure how much there will be to do.
On a slight tangent, my family's beach town of choice when I was a kid was Asbury Park, so when I visited there as an adult, it made me very sad -- almost everything on the boardwalk is gone, closed, or boarded up; Palace Amusements (a favorite place of mine back then) was demolished a couple years ago, and the whole town is creepy and run-down. It's sad that they let it get that way, and I actually grieved for it -- it was like seeing the death of some of the few happy times in my childhood. So now Wildwood is our destination of choice when we decide we need a shore trip. It's all about the boardwalk for us since neither of us are beach people. I'd like to visit Ocean City, MD this year -- I've only been there once (on a band trip in high school), but I remember it as being fun.
and we've always liked the shore in the off-season better than at the hight of the summer. Neil's family used to have a place on Long Beach Island, and every few years I find myself wishing they still had it. This is one of those times.
Neil and I stayed there for our first weekend away in October of '93. So much of the island was closed, but there was still enough to do, and it was a peaceful getaway. That weekend is something I always think of fondly, and I guess that's what makes me want the sea air when I need a getaway these days. As a child, my family never went to the beach, so I have no real connection to anyplace other than where I've gone with Neil.
I'd heard that Asbury Park was experiencing a revival recently. I don't know firsthand, though. I'm not sure I've even been there before.
I think Ocean City it is. Now I just have to pick a hotel from the ones I saw online. It's kind of hard to choose one - they all look pretty similar.
, Lauren (3/00)
& Nicholas (6/02) 
