Welcome to the Siberia, USA

There are many signs that this has been an unusually cold winter. The temperature hit -5 degrees F in my back yard this morning, and my car refused to start. But nothing really brought home just how extreme these temperatures are like the news that the waves are freezing down the Jersey Shore! And Cape May, for those unfamiliar with the area, is the southernmost point of the NJ shoreline.

Gulf Oil Spill drives Southerners to the Jersey Shore

It may have been inevitable as BP and the Federal Government have fiddled while the Gulf of Mexico has been fouled by the oil spill. Southern tourists who would normally vacation along the afflicted shores of the Gulf are seeking other destinations. And many are headed for the Jersey Shore. This is good news for New Jersey tourism, but may be extra-bad news for Gulf towns whose only real economy is serving tourists.

Local tourism officials can't provide hard numbers, but cars from Texas, Mississippi, Tennessee, and other states below the Mason-Dixon Line appear to be in greater supply at the Shore this summer.

"I'm hearing a lot more southern accents this year," said Susan Martin, a reservations manager at the Golden Inn in Avalon. "And I just love the sound of it."

There has been an increase in the number of Southerners booking rooms, Martin said. They don't say why they are coming, she said, but many have identified themselves as first-timers.

The newcomers are finding their way largely on their own, say those in the tourism industry. New Jersey this year eliminated its national multimillion-dollar Shore promotional campaign, leaving resort towns complaining even before the gulf disaster about their inability to compete with rivals such as Ocean City, Md.

Vacation Photos - The Full Set

After 38.09 miles walked on the boards, 15 animals from the claw machines, over 160,000 points earned at skeeball/videopoker/etc., and about 10 upload sessions to Flickr/YouTube, our vacation is over and we have returned to the Batcave. Tomorrow is the return to work and normality (such as it is). If you want to review where we have been and what we saw, click on the images below to see my whole photoset. CRChair's will be coming later.

Friday Night Fireworks

One of the new traditions in Wildwood is a fireworks show every Friday at 10:30 PM. Here is a little clip of that fireworks show from last night. The only disappointment is that they did not play "Wildwood Days this year.

8.39 Miles Walked Yesterday

The Roar of the Waves, the Peace of the Soul

Wildwood Daze

It is amazing the sights you can see at Wildwood when you are out and about.

Nomad wins a jackpot

Nomad wins a jackpot
Originally uploaded by nomad7674.

Big Brother at the Beach?

About a decade ago, we went over to Ocean City, NJ instead of our usual staple of Wildwood, because it was a bit closer to home. The ambiance is different, and the crowds are a little more transitory (i.e. you don't get families there for the whole week, for the most part). And there was a charge to get off of the boardwalk and onto their beaches. The place was nice enough, but we quickly decided we'd rather drive the extra hour for Wildwood. Since then, the place has gone downhill quickly, losing both vacationers and businesses to its crumbling infrastructure.

Well, now they are planning to do an overhaul that will make Ocean City the "model for the 21st century beach resort". They are planning ubiquitous WiFi (i.e. the ability to get onto the wireless web from anywhere in the city) and to use RFID chips in wristbands to monitor the tourists in town. This comes with the good - a mother will be able to monitor where her children are via the RFID chips - and the bad - it will be far easier to enforce the beach policy and harrass those who attempt to violate it, even innocently.

It is an interesting idea. But the way it is being proposed, I could easily see it being abused very quickly.