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Jersey shore town recommendation for July 4th weeekend

Jersey shore town recommendation for July 4th weeekend

Old Feb 26th, 2017, 07:17 AM
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Jersey shore town recommendation for July 4th weeekend

Looking to stay in a hotel with my family (kids ages 8-16) for July 4th weekend. looking for recommendation for a nice charming town to stay in with things to do. Requirements: Town should be: not too small, sleepy and not to gritty. Ideally, has decent hotels, and fun things to do/see besides beach. Thinking about Rehoboth beach (I know in Delaware), LBI, open to anything else up and down the coast. Bonus if you can recommend a nice hotel with big rooms that wont break the bank ( I know a hard feat but any recommendations will do)
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Old Feb 26th, 2017, 07:35 AM
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Look at some of the towns in Monmouth County...Spring Lake in particular. The Point Pleasant boardwalk and Six Flags Great Adventure are nearby. Or even consider staying in Point Pleasant...not as charming as Spring Lake, but has all the boardwalk activities that kids love.
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Old Feb 26th, 2017, 07:36 AM
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I can't help you, but you may want to post budget? 4th of July in my experience is often really expensive, and we don't know what you consider bank breaking!
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Old Feb 26th, 2017, 08:13 AM
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"nice charming town" - Spring Lake, Stone Harbor (You still need a pay permit to get ONTO that Spring Lake beach?) How about parking?

"things to do" -FORGET Spring Lake, Stone Harbor

"sleepy and not to(o) gritty - DEFINITELY forget Wildwood unless you want a very wide beach, lots of "things to do" although you may not want to actually DO some of them; great boardwalk but those kinda tacky, "Do you have any Puerto Rican in you? Would you like some?" t and sweatshirts are over the top.
Cape May, maybe?

Rehoboth? Boardwalk, sure? Lots of things to do? Maybe. Great restaurants and a list of things you CANNOT do at every beach entrance on the boardwalk. Time to reserve any of these places: YESTERDAY.
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Old Feb 26th, 2017, 10:02 AM
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I don't know what is bothering Dukey 1 but that is a nasty post.

No one mentioned Stone Harbor or Wildwood or Cape May (CM is not the place for kid activities)..

If you stay in a hotel in Spring Lake they will provide Beach Badges and parking is free everywhere in Spring Lake, including the beach front.

The Puerto Rican remark about Wildwood is racist and I can't believer anyone would make such a comment.
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Old Feb 26th, 2017, 02:46 PM
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SusieQQ makes some good recommendations but I have to disagree on Cape May. I spent my childhood there as my grandparents owned a house in the Villas. It actually spoiled me when I visited other beach towns. CM doesn't have much of a boardwalk but not too far from Wildwood. Wildwood is your typical boardwalk and yes can be tacky. I think it's better than Seaside. In high school, my class trip was to Wildwood's Morey's pier. I honestly don't know what Dukey is talking about either. There was always a big mix of people who went to Wildwood.

So I say take a look at Cape May as you wouldn't be there that long. It is more family friendly than Wildwood but you could still get your boardwalk fix if you wanted. You could also take the ferry to DE for the day. There were always fireworks at both too.
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Old Feb 26th, 2017, 05:05 PM
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I think Point Pleasant is a great pick. Nice beaches, great boardwalk with rides, mini golf, aquarium, boat rides, fishing, etc.
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Old Feb 26th, 2017, 05:30 PM
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4th of July weekend will be expensive no matter where you stay even if it is a small motel. Many places have weekly rates if you ask which can save some money. Most of the towns are very small so even if you stay in one you can go out to dinner or to the beach in another town easily. If you just wanted to do a week at the shore consider coming in June, its the cheapest month and many towns have weekly fireworks and activities.

It depends on where you are coming from and how far you want to drive.
Example: if you are coming from the north Cape May is really far especially in holiday traffic.

In my opinion there is much more to do around Monmouth County. If you stay in a town like Belmar you are within 15 mins of a whole bunch of small towns and boardwalks and you can get to Point Pleasant easily. Staying in Point Pleasant is also a good option. Spring Lake is going to be expensive and is mostly inns and b&bs.

If you go further south try Lavallette, Ortley Beach or Seaside Park, they are cute towns and close to Seaside Heights for the kids to go to the boardwalk rides. Seaside Heights can be a little "gritty" though.

Also, most towns require beach badges which people who are not from New Jersey don't usually realize. You can check the towns website for the costs. They all have different prices, some offer weekly badges and some let kids on for free.
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Old Feb 27th, 2017, 05:40 AM
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Just a slight correction. Spring Lake has hotels and Belmar not.
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Old Feb 27th, 2017, 11:37 AM
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I can tell you whatever you need to know about Stone Harbor but I'm not sure you can get a reservation at this point. It would be worth it to check. Stone Harbor is a nice, walkable town. There's mini golf, a renovated movie theater, and some cute shops. I wouldn't hesitate to let the kids walk into town. You can also check the towns rec schedule for crafts classes and work out classes. There are also some gorgeous tennis courts. Nearby is a great zoo, Wildwood and Ocean City boardwalks and Cape May. There's a great Nature center with tours and the bird observatory offers family walks and boat trips.
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Old Feb 28th, 2017, 09:08 AM
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I too recommend Spring Lake where biking, skateboarding are popular and safe. There are parks. For boardwalk activity, Point Pleasant is a 15 min ride south.
Both the south and north pavilions in SL have pools should it be too windy at the beach one day. We day trip there all the time and there are tons of kids thru teens thru young adults.

I also recommend Cape May where there is a boardwalk and pedestrian mall that teens would love to do on their own; it's a town where it'd be totally ok. For one night you can go 5 mi north to Wildwood. You can ferry to DE, fish in West Cape May, where rentals/properties are less expensive. But I grew up on summers on Perry & Beach St. If you stay in the historic area, you would not touch your car, kids like to explore on their own, there are arcades on the boardwalk where they hang out.

Cape May has tons of excellent restaurants; Spring Lake has fewer but between it and Sea Girt to the south, you'd be eating very well.

Avoid Seaside, Wildwood and LBI. LBI is narrow, the highway in/out always backed up w traffic, streets are too busy w cars to ride bikes anywhere. Beaches are very narrow and steep. They do mainly house rentals, few hotels. They got killed during Sandy and are just coming back to a small degree.
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Old Feb 28th, 2017, 02:58 PM
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We enjoyed our time in Spring Lake but since the OP has failed to mention exactly what they feel are "things to do" then who can say for sure if any of these places will be adequate.

And thank you for the clarification about those beach badges, too.

I am sorry but I do NOT consider Wildwood to be a "charming" town.
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Old Jul 3rd, 2017, 04:33 AM
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I hope yardkay's weekend wasn't screwed up by Christie's closure of the state parks.
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Old Jul 3rd, 2017, 06:02 AM
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None of the towns recommended on this thread are "state parks"! So, no worries Birdie.
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Old Jul 3rd, 2017, 09:25 AM
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I only brought it up because of the mention of LBI. It would be a shame if anyone was turned away at the gate of LBI SP while Christie had the entire empty beach to himself.
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Old Jul 3rd, 2017, 10:19 AM
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LBI stands for Long Beach Island which is not a state park! Wrong place, Birdie....
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