Secrets of the Shore- New Jersey Beaches Pt. 4

Getting around: Need I repeat myself? If you’ve been to one Jersey Shore town, you’ve been to ’em all. They all are a little bit different, but if you can’t find the ocean from where the street is, you’re hard pressed to be smart enough to keep from drowning. Strictly speaking: it’s a beach town with easily navigated streets from the highway.

Atmosphere: In a word: crowded. I should have known that an above 90 degree in Philly would have meant an infested Jersey Shore coastline. We battled for a parking and beach spot and narrowly avoided the patrolling beach cops during our entire stay. It was hard to change into a bathing suit discretely on the beach, and harder still to sneak beers into our system from our Styrofoam cooler. It was a little depressing seeing the hoards of people spend their one day of freedom from the man on the beach, secretly enjoying their substances of choice (saw a few ‘hipper’ moms and dads passing a joint), peering over their shoulder to see whether or not they’d be caught in the act.  Is this what people worked so hard for all week? To be preyed upon by big brother, the bossman? Oh well. People devised a way to avoid being caught and enjoyed themselves regardless of the cops in sand buggies breathing down their necks.

Colleen and Ryland beach bummin’

Good times: Because this beach trip had to happen on a Sunday, all of us were a little on the tired side from Saturday night’s festivities. Although it was crowded and full of 9-5ers, the beach was a very enjoyable way to spend the afternoon. As my friends drifted in and out of sleep next to me, I took to the ocean, swimming into, against and with the waves for about 2 hours. I may have had my bathing suit come off a little between each twist and tumble through the water, but that was an acceptable price to pay for the fun I had.

Whatchu Say?! Moments: Most of what you see under “Atmosphere” can be described as  “Whatchu Say?!” moments. That and the usually $5 beach tag was $8, AND they had annoying little beach babes coming up to each blanket, demanding to see a tag. Luckily we had a cool beach patrol. She gave us a discount because we hadn’t carried enough cash. Score!

In a nutshell: There are better beaches to spend your time at on the Jersey Shore, but let it be known that any Sunday on the shore is likely to mean hoards of people not only on the beaches, but on the highway. Do yourself a favor, quit your normal job, and go to the Shore on a weekday. Beat the heat and the people! I’m  not exactly sure I’d go back to Brigantine; the location was settled after we discovered we needed to get to the closest possible beach to Philly. Really, do yourself a favor and just go to Atlantic City. Little did we know, Brigantine was a beach bus drop off destination for many of the AC resorts. If you’re going to go to Brigantine, do it by way of spending a few days in Atlantic City.