JERSEY SHORE

Our first beach experience was BELMAR, it was a straight shot from Princeton, and it was easy!  Great day trip, easy parking, family friendly.

For labor day, we headed to Avalon.  We went to see Cape May (darling Victorian houses), and could not find a dog-friendly hotel in Avalon and ended up at Wildwoods at Tide Winds Motel, it was a little scary but do-able for Stella.  We loved HOT BAGELS right beside it and the kids enjoyed the super tacky boardwalk.  We loved Duck Donuts in Avalon but fell in love with Shore Harbour.  Right near the main street of shopping we found a seafood shack that had GREAT Mexican take out.

NOTES from Norah Wasden

While I'm thinking about beach, FYI...our favorite beach here is Spring Lake.
It's sort of a more well off, historic town, Very pretty. 

It's really close to Belmar (which is also great, but we like this even better!), so about the same distance. 

Island Beach State Park is also great because it's preserved land, so more rustic and pretty. 

Still doesn't compare in beauty to real New England beaches to me, so I don't always feel like it's worth the extra drive. But nice! 

Cape May down at the tip of NJ is totally worth the trip sometime. Brightly painted Victorian homes, lots of shops and restaurants, a lighthouse and protected beach down there too in one area, very pretty, close to the amusement park type stuff in Wildwood too, and you can do a dolphin or whale watching boat trip out there too. That's also a good one for a longer stay if you want more time there.