Summer Has Arrived in Ocean City

Summer has officially arrived in Ocean City. We have plenty to get to today.

In the email today:

• 📆 Upcoming Events in (and around) Ocean City

• 🎥 What’s Going on with the Moorlyn Theatre?

• 👮‍♂️ Margate Will Fine Parents of Misbehaving Tee …

• 🦈 Tickets for Jimmy Buffett Tribute Band Now Avai …

• 🔗 News Links

• 🏈 Brandon Graham Coming to Night in Venice

• 🔥 HOT RESTAURANT TAKE: Tomatoe’s Is Better Than S …

• 📰 OCNJ Daily Sale Looking Like It Will Go Through

• 🍺 The Official Summer Shore Beer Fridge

• 🛟 List of Guarded Beaches

• 🌊 Tides

📆 Upcoming Events in (and around) Ocean City

Our full Fourth of July week events guide will come out later this week.

Monday, June 24

• 💃🏼 Let’s Sing Taylor: A Live Band Experience Celebrating Taylor Swift | Music Pier | Details and tickets here

Tuesday, June 25

• 🎷 Kenny G | Music Pier | Details and tickets here

• 🍋 West Cape May Farmers Market (West Cape May) | Backyard Park 732 Broadway, West Cape May | Details here

Wednesday, June 16

• 🍓 Farmers Market | Tabernacle Grounds | 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

Wednesday, June 26 - Thursday, June 27

• 🍻 Jason Kelce and Eagles Autism Sea Isle Takeover (Sea Isle) | OD and other spots throughout Sea Isle | Full details here

Friday, June 28

• 🎶 Somers Point Beach Concert (Somers Point) | The Dane Anthony Band | Details and times here

• 🍫 Cape May Coffee and Chocolate Festival (Cape May) | Cape May Convention Hall | Details here

You can see the full list of events in all nearby Shore towns with the following links: Ocean City | Sea Isle | Margate | Avalon | Stone Harbor | Somers Point | Wildwood | Cape May | Ventnor

Also note the Ocean City Library has many events for adults and kids alike on their calendar, which can be viewed here.

Want to get in either of these places or another last-minute rental? Contact THE last-minute rental agent in Ocean City, Kevin Laskowski.

Full contact details:

Kevin Laskowski
Berger Realty

1670 Boardwalk
Ocean City, NJ, 08226
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 888-579-0095x312
Cell: 267-432-1248

If you are a homeowner or an agent and want to show off your available sale or rental in this space, just reply to this email and I’ll get right back to you. We reach more verified Ocean City residents, second home owners, and vacationers on a weekly basis than any other publication in Ocean City.

🎥 What’s Going on with the Moorlyn Theatre?

Last year we told you about the planned refurbishment of the famed Moorlyn Theatre.

It was purchased by Town Square Entertainment, which owns and operates beautiful theaters in Stone Harbor, Ventnor, Rio Grande, and Northfield (actually saw Inside Out 2 in Stone Harbor yesterday).

Their plan was to be open by last Thanksgiving, but that clearly didn’t happen, and the theatre still isn’t open.

Work is continuing on the theatre though. In March, their Facebook page included this photo:

And I was also able to find this photo on the Facebook page for what looks to be their ceiling contractor, Diversified Ceilings, which was posted last week:

So, things are happening. I reached out to Town Square’s owners for an update on several platforms and have yet to hear back. But here’s what usually happens when I post an update like this— someone sees the newsletter and reaches out directly… so that’s the goal here. Will try to get you a more concrete update for next week.

👮‍♂️ Margate Will Fine Parents of Misbehaving Teens

Ocean City has, understandably, received plenty of attention for Boardwalk incidents and the city’s subsequent response to deal with throngs of unruly teens.

Perhaps it’s because Ocean City IS America’s Greatest Family resort and the best-known Shore town that we receive so much attention. Or perhaps it’s the city’s roots as a family-friendly destination that make large beachside gatherings, fights and stabbings so dichotomous with the image.

But Ocean City is far from the only Shore town dealing with these issues, with many mayors and municipalities attributing the disruptions to a state law preventing officers from properly enforcing pesky little things like public underage drinking and drug use.

Count Margate as the latest city to place their bets on the roulette wheel of law enforcement wack-a-mole. Their wager? Ticketing parents of bad teens.

Per The Patch:

I see your backpack ban. Let me raise you a parental fine.

Anyway, I’m sure pontificators from across South Jersey and the Philly area will scrutinize Margate’s attempt to circumvent state law enforcement restrictions with the same vigor as they do Ocean City.

They should probably just hire Kylie Kelce to keep everyone in line.

In Ocean City, a proposal for a Boardwalk mask ban brought by councilman Jody Levchuk, whose family runs JiLLy’s which I can never appropriately punctuate, was quickly dismissed after discussion with Police Chief Campbell. Officers felt a mask ban would have been a knee-jerk and largely useless response to Memorial Day weekend incidents and some teens who may have covered their faces.

In Wildwood, Surfside Pier was briefly evacuated after a man pulled a gun on Saturday night.

🦈 Tickets for Jimmy Buffett Tribute Band Now Available

As you likely know by now, the Night in Venice theme for 2024 will be Summertime Vibes: A Tribute to Jimmy Buffett.

Count me all-in— parrots and fins and lays. All of it.

Anyway, to get you in the spirit, the Landsharks, a Jimmy Buffett tribute band, will be performing on the Music Pier the night before, on July 19.

Tickets are now available here. They range from $22 to $27, and it looks like there’s plenty of good seats available. Finnnnnnnnns to the left. Finnnnnnnns to the right.

🔗 News Links

• A former OCBP lifeguard was sentenced to probation after allegations of assault surfaced against lifeguards on an Instagram page called “ocbp_predators” in 2021 🚔

• A woman attacked a 10-year-old kid and his dad at a Wildwood Crest motel 🤦‍♀️

• Pictures of Ocean City high school grads receiving diplomas 🎓

🏈 Brandon Graham Coming to Night in Venice

Brady gets hit… the ball is out… and Philly has it! - says a sleepy Al Michaels as he announces Super Bowl 52.

And with that, we bring you this official update from Ocean City:

Philadelphia Eagles veteran Brandon Graham and his family will be special guests and appear in the 2024 Night in Venice boat parade on July 20. Brandon represents everything that Philly fans love, and it’s a great honor to have the Grahams join us. They’ll get a warm welcome from everybody in Ocean City. Soon after Night in Venice, Brandon will report to training camp for his 15th season with the Eagles.

Graham will join the likes of recent NIV guests from sports, including Jay Wright and Comcast Spectator CEO Dan Hilferty, who recently sat down with my former site, Crossing Broad, to talk about his plans for expansion at the South Philly sports complex.

🔥 HOT RESTAURANT TAKE: Tomatoe’s Is Better Than Steve and Cookie’s

Lots of Margate coverage today, unintentionally.

But everyone knows that if you want to enjoy fine dining, you largely have to leave the island, save for a few bespoke options.

For those especially in the northern end of the island, Margate remains a great option. Everyone knows Steve and Cookie’s. After all, greats like Michael Jordan and Jason Kelce (among many, many others) dine there.

But getting a reservation to S and C is akin to splitting the atom. Meanwhile, Tomatoe’s, which has surged in popularity over the last few years, remains a pretty incredible alternative.

Tomatoe’s offers food at 80% of the quality of S and C with only 20% of the hassle. It’s easier to get a reservation, their parking lot is better, the wait staff is generally fun, friendly, and accommodating, and it’s quite a bit less stuffy.

Kids enjoy it too. Little Squirts loved the sushi and absolutely demolished a shared blueberry pie, which, unlike S and C meets the technical definition for being a pie (filling “in a pastry shell”), and not a pile of blueberries atop a thin crust.

There’s also a high-quality sushi bar and, later in the evenings, the actual bar is lively.*

*So I’m told. I have two small kids, so late nights for me consist of falling asleep on the couch -before- going to bed and then having to listen to a nonfiction audiobook for about 30 minutes or so in order to fall back asleep in an efficient fashion so I’m charged up to throw 96 innings of wiffleball in 486 degree sand the next day on the beach. Some real wild stuff.

📰 OCNJ Daily Sale Looking Like It Will Go Through

Last week we told you about the planned sale of one of Ocean City’s only other media outlets, OCNJ Daily, to Access Global Media, which is owned by media veteran Jim McDonald, who also owns the website Breaking AC.

After hearing about some potential holdups in the sale, I reached out to the current owner of OCNJ Daily, Ken Wisnefski. He confirmed that Access will be operating the site moving forward and control all content.

“It’s bittersweet for me,” Wisnefski said. “I live in Ocean City and love working on the OCNJDaily but I never was ever able to commit enough time to really expand it.”

“It has so much potential and Jim McDonald at Access has a similar vision I had for the site but he can place a full-time focus on them.”

Of course, this is where we would remind you that Walking The Boards reaches more than 14,000 Ocean City residents, vacationers, business owners, and blue crabs every week. The blue crabs never respond to our poll questions though— must be the opposable thumbs thing.

🍺 The Official Summer Shore Beer Fridge

A bit late this year, but I have fully stocked my summer Shore beer fridge. So let’s use the opportunity to take a very scientific and official poll:

🛟 List of Guarded Beaches

The Ocean City Beach Patrol guards beaches from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. weekends and holidays, and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays.

From Saturday (June 22, 2024) through Friday (June 28, 2024), the following beaches will be guarded:

• Surf Road

• Atlantic

• North

• Stenton

• St. Charles Place

• Park Place

• Brighton Place

• Surfing Beach

• 8th Street (open until 7:30 p.m.) 

• 9th Street (open until 7:30 p.m.) 

• 10th Street

• 11th Street 

• 12th Street (open until 7:30 p.m.) 

• 14th Street

• 15th Street

• 18th Street

• 24th Street

• 26th Street

• 30th Street

• 34th Street

• 39th Street

• 44th Street

• 50th Street

• 55th Street

• 58th Street

Guarded beaches may close unexpectedly for various reasons. Please swim only in front of an OCBP lifeguard stand staffed by OCBP lifeguards. 

Please note: There’s also the potential for high rip currents this week. Here’s a reminder what to do if you’re caught in one. Here’s a video showing a rip current.

🌊 Tides

June 24, 2024

• Low Tide: 4:32 AM

• High Tide: 10:21 AM

• Low Tide: 4:17 PM

• High Tide: 10:38 PM

June 25, 2024

• Low Tide: 5:19 AM

• High Tide: 11:11 AM

• Low Tide: 5:11 PM

• High Tide: 11:27 PM

June 26, 2024

• Low Tide: 6:07 AM

• High Tide: 12:05 PM

• Low Tide: 6:09 PM

June 27, 2024

• High Tide: 12:20 AM

• Low Tide: 6:58 AM

• High Tide: 1:02 PM

• Low Tide: 7:12 APM

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Thanks! Enjoy the week.

Answer: That’s the Funny Face pancake from Doozie’s Place (100 Asbury Ave.)