Down the Shore

A quick refreshing respite was taken last weekend to Wildwood, N.J., a beach town on the Atlantic Ocean a few miles north of Cape May, which is a beach town famous for its many lovingly and tenderly and colorfully restored late 19th century Victorian homes.

A key element of any trip to the beach is food. In Wildwood, the Bayview is a huge facility that seats a few hundred diners at a time. The menu ranges from traditional fried seafood items to five varieties of chicken wings plus BBQ items (e.g., ribs and shredded pork with a North Carolina spin) and a limited dessert selection. The servers were generally right on top of things.

It is definitely family friendly judging by an adjacent table seating 14 people, half of them under the age of 10. You should expect a wait, especially if you are with a large group. Our party of four was seated in about 30 minutes after arriving about 5:30 p.m. Sunday.

Other things to do include outings to Morey's Piers, riding the boardwalk tram to cover "36 blocks of fun" without wearing a hole in your flip-flops, and sampling the offerings of many local food vendors. If you truly want a unique experience, buy tickets for a dolphin and whale watching cruise.

About 90 miles north of Wildwood is Asbury Park, N.J. Still struggling to come back to life in the wake of the 1968 and 1970 riots, decades of serving as a dumping ground for the homeless and mentally ill, and a rich culture of political corruption, it still has a long way to go.

Recent bright notes include the 2007-2008 rehabilitation of the historic Paramount Theater and adjacent Asbury Park Convention Hall and the opening of the adjacent Tim McLoone's Salt Water Beach Cafe in a former Howard Johnson's restaurant.

The limited lunch menu offers an excellent Angus burger with blue cheese and an artfully overstuffed shrimp salad sandwich. Both were served with fresh potato chips. Alas, the service was only adequate.