The Best Time To Visit The Jersey Shore May Be AFTER The Summer

That's cause the Bennies* have gone home

This beach, in Ocean Grove NJ, like the others along the Jersey Shore, is packed between Memorial Day and Labor Day. But a 75 degree day on the first day of October allows people like this man to find his beach and a degree of solitude impossible during the summer season.

He wasn’t the only one finding special time without intrusion on the beach. I think I’ll call this photo “Love on the Rocks.”

The Jersey Shore boasts more than 40 towns and each offers its own character. This is Main Street in Ocean Grove. It’s lined with small shops, places to sip coffee and places to enjoy ice cream. It may be the most family-oriented town along the shore. It was founded in 1869 at a location where Methodist clergy formed the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting. The values of camp meeting prevail. The Methodists own the community land which is leased to homeowners and businesses. The town is dry but it’s walking distance to Asbury Park which is filled with nightclubs and bars so libations are just a stone’s throw away.

Houses like these are typical in the neighborhoods and they add to the town’s charm, which is known for many examples of Victorian architecture. Ocean Grove is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Closer to the beach one finds more modern, larger and expensive homes such as these. Speaking of the beach, it is not without controversy. The town closes the beach Sunday mornings during the summer season. It’s a throw back to the blue laws that were once prevalent in the United States. The idea being that one should be in church those hours. The state of New Jersey objects to the rule and has sent the Ocean Grove Camp Association a violation notice which argues the closures violate state law which promises public access to the ocean and wet sand. The association is challenging the notice.

The Windamer is an ocean front guest host and its rooms, complete with full kitchens, are furnished in Victorian style. It’s one of a number of places people can book - usually for a week at a time - as a summer rental.

Red flags were up on the beach during my visit. That means bathers should stay out of the water. But Red Flag conditions also mean you’re sure to catch surfers doing their thing.

All photos copyright Gary Baumgarten.

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*Rude, flashy people from North Jersey and New York are referred by the locals as Bennies. And yes, the term is a pejorative. The origin of the term Benny is in dispute. But it is so much a part of the vocabulary of year-round residents of the Jersey Shore that a song was recorded that explains the phenomenon from their perspective.