Best of the Shore
Sea Isle City
If you’re more popsicle- than martini-oriented right now, consider veering off the Parkway at Exit 17. In Sea Isle City, side-by-side townhouses are taking over, making rentals a bit less expensive and easier to come by. Sea Isle’s wider beaches (with no tags required on Wednesdays) also mean lots of room for the little ones to play. But don’t go if you’re hoping for peace and quiet. The center of town can be overrun by boozy college kids.
Best of Sea Isle
Place to pull up the boat and eat: Carmen’s Seafood Restaurant. Sit at the picnic tables and watch the boats dock as you savor plates full of lobster, king crab legs and fried flounder—safe behind the seagull netting (343 43rd Place; 609-263-1634).
Surf shop: Heritage Surf and Sport. In Sea Isle for 43 years, the Heritage “surf team” will suit you up with a board and all the appropriate gear, then point you in the direction of the best waves (3700 Landis Avenue, 609-263-3033; heritagesurf.com).
Sticky buns: Mrs. brizzle’s buns. Michael Cardinale keeps his recipe secret and bakes 400 to 500 rolls a day, plus homemade biscotti and cookies; he also makes a mean Italian deli sandwich (4411 Landis Avenue; 609-263-2773).
Sunset: 82nd street and the bay. See the slow dip from sky to sea from a special dock built for this purpose.
Personal Best: “La Fontana del Mare [1 Commonwealth Avenue; 609-263-7700] is great Italian food, right over the border in Strathmere. I’m a card-carrying Italian, so I know, they do the most authentic Italian food around. I love their pasta with seafood.” —Angelo Cataldi, 610 WIP
“I never miss the Secret Service Band at Ocean Drive [3915 Landis Avenue, 609-263-1000]. They’ve been doing this afternoon jam session for 900 years over there, right off the beach.” —Big Daddy Graham, comedian and radio personality
Bed & Beach
Average 2004 home price: $580,347
AVERAGE 1999 HOME PRICE: $197,859
Recent listing: A two-bedroom, two-bath top-floor beach-front condo, $459,000.
Cost to rent a three-bedroom beach-block house: $1,800 a week.
Where to stay: The Colonnade Inn Bed & Breakfast, a grand old Victorian house with modern amenities (4600 Landis Avenue; 609-263-0460).
On the beach: Sea Isle’s got some of the widest beaches around, having escaped the erosion problems of its neighbors. Its sands are full of families spilling from the rentals to enjoy kayaking, rafting, surfing, fishing and volleyball — all on the designated beaches, of course.
