Columns
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•June 1, 2022
Music Festival Survival Guide; Local Fests for Garden State
For many live-music enthusiasts, Woodstock-inspired, three-day festivals are the highlight of summer. Some of the major ones East Coasters will road trip to include Bonnaroo, Peach Festival, Mountain…
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•May 26, 2022
They Gave All So We Might Party Onward; The Pinelands Are Blazing With Pollen
It’s that holiday weekend when we let the summerness begin, despite the calendar technically clinging to springiness. The summer solstice, marking the longest day of the year, takes place on June 21…
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•May 26, 2022
Mixed Bag of Swell This Week and an Island for Sale
It really doesn’t matter if you’re busting out of 11th grade with a fresh driver’s license and a new twin fin or waxing your sailboat as you ready for your 90th summer on LBI, there’s a feeling of…
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•May 25, 2022
‘You Can’t Get There’
During the early days of the 20th century as Henry Ford put America on wheels with his car for the common man, the Model T, New Jersey began a road-building project.
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•May 19, 2022
Capture the Moment, Think Horizontal; Trillion Trees Present Perfect Start to Bettering Skies
There’s now a slew of waterproof cases for smartphones, which have reached an Einstein-grade smartness, meaning they need serious protecting when in the hands of anglers, especially those of a boat…
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•May 19, 2022
Coining the Term ‘Maysery,’ and Other Musings on Terrible Run of Surf and Weather
Since 2008, I have built this column by reporting, editorializing, hypothesizing and explaining the way that the weather, waves and climate of coastal New Jersey can create such pure joy and abject…
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•May 18, 2022
Promises, Promises – But No Money
After years of sitting in traffic jams caused by the ongoing construction of the “Causeway Improvements” and asking if this will ever end, it should be obvious that the history of Long Beach Island…
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•May 15, 2022
A Wind Whacking That Unlooses Naysayers; It’s Time to Begin Regreening LBI
It was quite the rollicking wind whacking we’re slowly shaking off. It was an old-fashioned three-day(-plus) nor’easter.
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•May 11, 2022
Barnegat City Fights Big Railroad
Today a trip to the northern end of Long Beach Island is highlighted by some notable differences: fewer traffic lights and less congestion along with fewer commercial properties. Modern LBI was in…
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•May 9, 2022
Within Bay Mud Lurks the Rarest Fangs on the Planet; A Lone Star Tick Bite That Carries Vegan Aftereffects
It’s odd the way nature worms away some of its most stunning accomplishments. Take for rather ugly instance … bloodworms. Their metallic fangs make them one of the most unusual creatures on Earth…
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•May 5, 2022
Beach Haven Skatepark Talk Grinding, Mother’s Day Nor’easter Could Really Blow
So, the numbers are in. New Jersey recreational cannabis retailers made about $2 million the first day they were open, on April 21.
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•May 4, 2022
Railroad Trials and Tribulations
The Jersey Pine Barrens is dotted with ghost towns, such as Pasadena and Martha’s Furnace. These towns grew up around a single industry, and when it failed, they quickly disappeared.
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•May 3, 2022
Amphibian Week Has Snuck Up on Us; When Les Turned Butterknives Into Lures
Next week is Amphibian Week, running from May 1 through 7. Yee-ha, right? It’s a perfect time to shower some extra love on that pet toad of yours.
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•April 28, 2022
Rails Laid on Shaky Sands
For all of recorded time the only practical way to travel to what is today known as Long Beach Island had been over the bay by boat. This isolation came to an end in 1886 when the Philadelphia Times…
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•April 25, 2022
‘May the Fourth’ Be With You as State Bag Ban Starts May 4; Surf Moments Far Between
May the Fourth be with you … especially this year.
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•April 23, 2022
Long Beach Island Gives Birth to a Baby Island; Rollicking Winds Won’t Give Anglers a Fair Break
Check it out! Long Beach Island is apparently giving birth to a brand spanking new island. It is emerging, baby-like, oceanward of Little Egg Inlet, off Holgate’s far south tip. It’s so adorable –…
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•April 21, 2022
Bridge Brings Railroad to LBI
One of the interesting aspects of studying history is that when you search to find out the why for a question, it inevitably can trigger a “what if” discussion. Why is Long Beach Island so different…
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•April 14, 2022
Shore Visit Ends in Tragedy
During the summer of 1926, there had been scattered reports of shark sightings at the Jersey Shore, from a thresher shark attacking a boat off Seabright, to a 9-foot record sand shark being caught at…
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•April 13, 2022
It’s All About Invasiveness … and Asian Jumping Worms; Fluke Fishermen Are Fine With the Strictest Slot in the Land
Correction: Sorry for the mucked-up caption in last week’s photo attached to this column, regarding red and green buoys. I’ll safely let discoverboating.com clarify: “As a general rule of thumb, when…
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•April 9, 2022
Our Weekly Friday South Swell and a Global Surfing Gentrification Issue That Hits Close to Home
You see, last Monday every columnist in America received an email from the American Content Editorial Society. (We call ourselves the ACES.) I believe that Jay Mann, Monique Demopoulos and Tom Farner…
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•April 7, 2022
‘Tis a Complicated Thing, the Whipping Wind; Time for Cursing to Take a Permanent Break
ALERT: This Thursday evening, a New Jersey Marine Fisheries Council decision will be made on 2022 fluke regs. You can take in the live 5 p.m. proceedings at state.nj.us/dep/fgw/mcnclmtg.htm. Once on…
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•April 7, 2022
Suddenly Sharks Are Everywhere
If you mentioned New Jersey and shark attacks to even a casual visitor, you will likely get the story of 1916 and the 12 days of horror. The events have been the subject of books, movies and…
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•March 30, 2022
Will Bridge Tender Go to Jail?
On Oct. 28, 1906, a newly inaugurated electric railroad express train derailed on the drawbridge entering Atlantic City, toppling into the bay and killing over 50 people. A coroner’s inquiry was…
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•March 30, 2022
Hang Tough, My Blueberry Bush Family; The Vernal Ponds Are Overflowing
Here’s hoping that wasn’t a killer freeze we just shuddered through. Areas of the Pinelands bottomed out in the terrible teens. Just think of how cold it would have been without global warming. But…
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•March 24, 2022
Little Bit of Lion This March; Meteorological vs. Astronomical Calendar Geek-Out
Everyone knows that January is the time for sledding in the dunes around these parts. Crabbing is hottest in June. In September, we get jazzed about hurricane swells. November is when the big…
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•March 24, 2022
Placing Blame for Railroad Disaster
On Oct. 28, 1906, six weeks after the opening of the nation’s longest electric rail line, it suffered a devastating crash as a train derailed on the drawbridge leading to Atlantic City, killing over…
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•March 23, 2022
Teaching a Goldfish Driving Skills, Bringing in a GE Billion Mosquitoes
In my lifelong pursuit of the weird, very few finds are weird to high heavens. Such is the case with a news story out of Israel that might qualify it as biblically weird.
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•March 21, 2022
Decelerating to Reduce Poundings at the Pumps; New Law Makes Bicyclists Rulers of the Roads
“We Did It Before And We Can Do It Again … we’ll win!” was a World War II rally call. It eventually became the theme of cheerleaders at my high school. Now might be a fine time to call it back into…
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•March 16, 2022
Drawbridge Leads to Death
In September 1906, the Pennsylvania Railroad began service on the longest and most modern electrified rail line in the entire country. The line ran from Camden to Atlantic City and was hailed by…
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•March 14, 2022
First Chirps of a Nearby Spring; Scalloping Could Be Getting Spacey
In pre-spring times like these, it’s little things that first hint at warming times ahead, as wildlife reappears, either emerging from winter siestas or winging back in a migratory fashion…
