Jersey Shore residents welcome local summer

If you’re not familiar with the term “local summer“ it’s the part of the season after Labor Day when the temperatures are still warm, the ocean is at its warmest and the crowds are gone.

Some businesses close but many remain open for what they would call the shoulder season. On weekends things are definitely open but during the week some things are shut down.

Attractions like arcades, boardwalk amusements, ice cream shops, and the like. But for people who live there year-round at the Jersey Shore, it is heaven.

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And for those who are fortunate enough to get a few weekdays off or even weekends, it’s a real treat. You used to have to worry about hotels and motels staying open through September and October but now with Airbnb and Vrbo that’s no longer much of a concern.

For the barrier islands in the southern part of the state, some towns really empty out.
Long Beach Island becomes almost desolate. Towns like Barnegat Light, Loveladies, Harvey Cedars, Surf City, Ship Bottom, and Beach Haven, whose populations swell in the summer are much quieter now.

Also, towns like Ventnor, Margate, Avalon, Stone Harbor and Wildwood really wind down as well. Things are quieter up north from Seaside up to Sandy Hook but most of those towns, not being on barrier Islands still see a decent amount of people around.

One tradition they have in the tiny town of Surf City on Long Beach Island is kind of sweet. At the end of the day on Labor Day, the lifeguards blow their whistles for the last time and wave goodbye as the crowd shows their appreciation and gives them a round of applause.

If you can sneak down to the shore this month, you should. The locals won’t mind…too much.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Dennis Malloy only.

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