48. Best getaway spot on the Jersey Shore? Long Beach Island NJ

I'm Johnny mack can Travel is back today. We're heading to Long Beach Island, New Jersey for a beach day. It is Sunday, July third. Now why that matters is because of the traffic and the lack thereof. If you are new to the Garden State Parkway, it's kind of the closest I see in the Northeast to California style highways. The section I'm on here is three lanes express, three lanes local. The northern section is more of a five lane highway. But in the Northeast you rarely see highways more than four lanes wide. You usually get three, and then when you're in the middle of nowhere, you'll get two lane highways. So this is pretty busy for a Northeast highway. When I first moved out to New Jersey, I had the mentality of somebody who grew up in Queens and also lived on Long Island, which was, when you want to go to the beach, you just go to the beach. When I lived in Nassau County on Long Island, it was no joke from the thought I had, Hey, let's go to the beach too, as I called it. Ass In chair in the sand was thirteen minutes. When I lived in Queens, if I drove out to Jones Beach, it was thirty five minutes. So when I moved out to New Jersey, I made the rookie mistake a few times of on a Saturday morning heading down the Jersey shore and getting stuck in horrific traffic, and the locals told me like, oh, you can't go on Saturday. Well when do you go? Do you go on Friday night and stay over at your second home, which is a very New Jersey thing to do that. A lot of people have beach houses. I do not. And then I was told, no, you can't go Friday night because of the traffic. Well when do you go? You go Thursday night? Well when do you come back? Will you come back Sunday morning? And I'm like, but I just want to go to the beach. I don't want to spend Thursday night to Sunday morning going. But as time went by, I learned to love my pool. Poor me, I only have a pool, and I've learned to pick my spots. Last summer, with my then brand new car, now in its second summer, I did a lot of what I called beach Fridays, and I would work in the morning and head down at like eleven am noon, and then drive back on Friday night. Now, northbound from the Jersey Shore on a Friday night not much traffic because everybody's heading southbound. So today is Sunday, July third, So why does that matter. I wanted to get into beach day for July fourth weekend. Yesterday I decided to stay home because I didn't feel like fighting the Saturday traffic I just talked about. So today I'm kind of moving. It's a little busy. The highway is not empty, but we're moving, and then coming home tonight. Because tomorrow's on Monday holiday, people will be staying over at their fancy shore houses, so I should have the highway to myself. So for me, this becomes a nice easy beach day. As I'm driving here in the express lanes, the local lanes are all backed up. Looks pretty miserable over there. We'll be coming up to a few exits. There's the exit that I take when I go to Sandy Hook, which is more or less the most northernmost beach and the easiest way to hit the shore if you're just looking for a quick trip. Then we'll get down to the Asbury Park exit. But Long Beach Island is a little further down and I'll check in with you from there. And hello from Long Beach Island. I'm about to turn on to Long Beach Boulevard. It is pretty crowded, no surprise. Sunday, July fourth weekend. Still overcast here, which sucks. I'm heading south from the bridge, which is the side I'm more familiar with. Let's see what we got here. On the right Donuts Coffee, ice cream sushi place. Oh yeah, this is a place you want to obey the speed limit, which is thirty It's very easy to creep up to thirty five and they will get you now. Pulling into the town of ship Bottom. On the left is Baker's Porthole Cafe. I think I've had a beverage or two in there some nights. On the right seafood dinners, eat In take Away, another ice cream shop. There's a lot of those. Bagel Lettis which is very good, surf taco which I've not tried yet, but it's very tempting. On the left Joe Pop's Shore Bar and Restaurant, which always has live music, The LBI Pancake House, which does very well. The Haymarket in on your left, Joey's Pizza on your right, sun Stations your typical department store. You'll find out a beach with T shirts and sunsand lotion or sunscreen. Sorry, I'm from the eighties. On the right, the Sandtrap, our second miniature golf course. Boy, traffic's heavy on the boulevard today, not really moving at all. Just ran into a whole bunch of joggers all of a sudden. Everybody's out for a run here midday. Heartland Golf our third miniature golf place. And I think I've driven about half a mile. I've obviously scoped this down so you don't hear me sitting at traffic lights. But yeah, another ice cream place on the left. I think that's also the third ice cream place. Now I found the source of the traffic, the person that was driving ten miles an hour and tying up the road. Speak to limit now, thirty five who stop to the light? Now on the left? Eight cyclery where you could rent some bikes. That could be a good option. Long Beach Island, like a lot of barrier islands, super flat so if you're a casual rider, yeah, great place to psych, great place to run as well. On the right and antiques shop I'd never noticed before. Bagels and Beyond is our second bigel place of the drive, Oh Fudge. On your left the island shop, another T shirts and sunscreen store. Am I right now? The Catholic Church Saint Francis. I know every summer they raffle off cars, which is a fun thing that a lot of locals do down here, take part in the raffles. I don't even think they want to win the car. It's more of a support the church kind of thing. Last year I think they were given away like a like a crazy jeep or something. I was like, Grandma, what are you gonna do with that? If you win? It gonna turn down one of these side streets. Now to my destination for the day, making a right, heading over to the day side of Long Beach Island. And this is just a typical suburban street. Everybody's lawn is rocks, which makes sense. You do want to have a grass lawn here and houses are inner tight to each other, but like a beach town. But nothing crazy. And I'm gonna put the recorder away and head down to the meet you there. I've been telling me about Circa c r c A. That's a new podcast app that just launched with podcast guys the places all around the world London, Barcelona, La Iceland at Rome and Moore. I was checking out the Barcelona one reminded me of my trip there. Those guys do a great job. Circa comes from the same people who created Passport, which is another excellent travel podcast you should check out. Inside Circa, there are stories about food, fashion, culture, history, art, sports, everything you want to know, whether you're trying to plan a perfect trip or just want to learn about somewhere new. Circa is written and hosted by locals. These are people who really know the place. So when Andreas in Barcelona tells you about the bar where you should watch the FC barsa game with the best fans in the city, you know that's an experience you need to have. Amen, So take a spin through Circa and hear about the best meals in Barcelona, what it was like to live through the blitz in London, what's to do with your kids in la and how to dress to fit in when in Paris. You can subscribe to Circa podcasts CERCA wherever you get your podcasts, or download the Circuit app from the app Store for a limited time. It's all free. Well, the weather broke. It is a seventy eight and sunny and not a cloud in the sky, and you were listening to the Atlantic Ocean. A beautiful day here at Long Beach Island. I like to come down and stay until about five o'clock. Today. It was a late arriving crowd because of the overcast, guys and its elite staying crowd. Usually right now it's fourth third in the afternoon, get out of the beach to yourself. But it's great, So I fourth week on what's not to like taking the ocean? Just in travel polls just recently dubbed Long Beach Island or LBI, as it's called the best summer travel destination in all of New Jersey. The eighteen miles sandbar has all the makings of a classic short getaway, but with a more chill vibe than it's boardwalk boasting counterparts. Yeah, no boardwalks, no cheesy rides, nobody selling youano, cotton candy or whatever. It's just houses and a beach. The Digest online dot Com says it has a mix of laid back beaches and towns. Even at the island's widest point, you're never more than half a mile from the other side. Yeah, the part I hang out with is let me count six blocks wide. While relatively small in size, LBI is divided into three parts, the South End, the North End, and the Central region. To the north you'll find Barnegat Light and quaint towns such as Love Ladies, Harvey, Cedar, and North Beach. That area is known for fishing, and of course Beach is more central surf city, Brand Beach and Ship Bottom. There you'll find a bunch of boutique shops restaurants. You heard me talk about those in the front part. That was what I was driving through. To the south you'll find more upbeat energy. That's where the surfers go. There are museums and a bustling nightlife scene. Yeah, further down south it gets a little louder. Digest online dot Com rights the secrets out. The best time to surf in New Jersey isn't the summer, but the winter. Pro tip head to the South End or central region of LBI for prime surfing experience. Ship Bottom is an area that's great for wave riders of all levels. This family friendly beach is even home to one of the best surfing schools on the Jersey Shore. Check out the Ron John's Surf Shop. Yeah, that's a really cool store and up at the north end. Don't forget the quote remarkably atmospheric. Barnegat Lighthouse. The lighthouse dates all the way back to eighteen fifty nine. In nineteen fifty seven, a thirty two acre park was built around it, known today as Barnegat Lighthouse State Park. Visitors have the option of climbing to the catwalk for panoramic views of LBI Island Beach and Barnegat Bay, or you could skip the two hundred and seventeen steps. I know you were curious and just hang out and bird watch. There are some hotels that take nightly or weekly visitors, but it tends to be a place where you rent a house for the week unless you know somebody who has one. New Jersey one O one five dot com reminds you on summer weekends, leave very early and plan to be in more traffic to the south of head towards Beachaven and lighter traffic. If you're more of a nature lover and want to head up north. There's only the one road in and out New Jersey State Road seventy two, says you heard me saying the first half of this pod. Get out of bed and head down. Don't think you're strolling up there at noon. If you've got kids or just want to take a bike ride through a cool Jersey short town, make it right off the bridge head to Beachaven. Long beachildand nice place to spend the dead all right. I usually wrap these up with if I had one day, well you heard today, if I had one day at Long Beach Island, what would I do? I would get out in my beach chair and I would sit on the beach for five six hours. Then I go home. Sorry, I don't have anything too excited for you. I mean, we could get ice cream or something, but sometimes I just like sitting on the beach. Daily Comedy News Podcast ten minutes a day about your favorite comedians Chappelle, gaff Again, Rogan Mulaney, plus late night recaps. 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