I promise not to rave about sleepy little beach towns too frequently here at Gadling, but this Jersey Girl is headed to the shore for the next few weekends and wants to spread some Garden State love. Jersey gets such a bad rap, so I feel compelled to do my part to try and change that. In my opinion, as summer winds down, the best time to visit the shore actually begins. Each week this month, I'll mention one favorite NJ shore town worth visiting this fall.

First up is Sea Isle City. I spent last weekend relaxing at a friend's beach condo two blocks from the water. Sea Isle is a big draw for Philly folk on summer vacation. Surprisingly, the place was really quiet. College kids are all back at school, so things usually start to empty out in late August. (This means no lines for ice cream :-) It seemed quieter than usual, but I'm not complaining. We had a great time listening to live acoustic at the Dead Dog Saloon (Calmer and cleaner than the clubby Ocean Drive and La Costa), dining on fresh seafood at Braca Cafe (Be sure to try their famous 302 frozen cocktail) and sipping ice coffee at Coffee.Comedy (Bonus: they have free wireless!) Breakfast at Vince's and pizza from Angelo's rounded out the eating activities and kept us more than nourished all weekend long.

The beach in Sea Isle is very nice, but we headed south slightly to Avalon, where the sand stretches much farther from the dunes to the ocean. There are plenty of waverunners, kayacking and parasailing activities available in both towns. Or, you can save the active water sports for another time and stick to my favorite beach routine: swim, read, sleep, eat, swim again. Oh, and a few rounds of skee ball at the arcade. Friends of ours also took advantage of the close proximity to Atlantic City and headed north (about a 40 minute drive) to play the slots. Sea Isle is only about an hour and a half from downtown Philly and is a great central shore spot for beachgoers from Maryland to New York. The town's Fall Family Weekend begins September 16.

Filed under: Surfing, Food and Drink