15 Comments

I love learning about NJ from your dispatches. The northern Shore has indeed been quite dirty lately. Not sure what affordable accommodations you're finding in CM. WW is more my budget, I thought, yet all I found was a million sad motels (called 'hotels'), at inflated prices. So instead I splurged on an ocean view room in a nice hotel in Long Beach (NY) right on the boardwalk and that was worth it.

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It's been a while since I've rented in Cape May. It's probably pricey now. Everything is.

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I really like how the Bahamas keep the waves down here at a minimum most of the time. And it's warm. Bathwater warm this time of year.

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That’s what I grew up with. That warm bathtub ocean water. This North Atlantic water is not delightful! 🤷‍♀️

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This is the main thing I don't understand about California. They portray it as this whole bikini vibe, but the water is freezing!

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I love the drama of cold water beaches myself but I'm not opposed to snorkeling around in warm ocean either.

Earlier this week I took a plunge in Lake Superior just a tad north of Duluth. It was ... chilly.

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You live, you learn. (Alanis M.) Ireland sounds amazing! Have not been there.

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It's beautiful but the water doesn't get very warm there at all! If you go, make sure you book a trip to Skellig Michael, an island off the coast that was home to monks since the 6th century.

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I'd love to go to Skellig.

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Skellig Michael was a very memorable experience.

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Sorry about the Shore but honestly you managed to totally sell me on The Arlington. (Also completely agree with you re: climate change & the coast, though also with a lot of sadness for the destruction ahead. There’s so much we should’ve done — seawalls, building & maintaining marshes, etc. It’s heartbreaking.)

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I grew up on LBI back in the day. My parents had a small house on a lagoon where we spent summers and weekends in the winter from time to time. My sister and I used to catch blue claw crabs off our dock. It was sad to see one species of fish after another disappear as time went on. It used to be my favorite place- so much so, that at the end of every Summer I would fill glass bottles with sand from the beach to carry the place home with me as I returned to go to school. I loved your sunrise picture. LBI was where I developed my love for the sea and where I learned to body surf. I still get such great enjoyment out of that. We moved from NJ almost 30 years ago. I miss the place the way it used to be and think it would probably make me sad to see it now.

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I think a lot of the tourism to the Shore is driven by nostalgia. It wasn't a bad week, but I could have done something else...

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Love the shore

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It's still nice for family trips to get away from things.

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