First off Amy Rosenberg, you should be happy to welcome the vacationers you call "shoobies". Without the "shoobies" your so called way of living would be totally out of your reach. Your island home as you call it would be a dump and the "Night at Venice" would be the weekly supply boats that would be bringing your daily supplies.

"Excellent work on the shoobie boat, decorated to look like a car with that annoying Pennsylvania plate on the back."

Um, and this is from PHILLY.COM? Coming from someone that grew up in Philadelphia and spent many summers at the Jersey shore (Wildwood, Sea Isle, etc) I have also spent many a pay check there as well, and I find it quite annoying to say something as arrogant as "annoying PA plate on the back". We are the people that keep those towns afloat. Let's be honest, the price us "duplex for a week shoobies" pay to sit in Jersey isn't exactly chump change. For that price we could fly to Mexico for 9 days, but it's what we have grow up doing, and I resent the fact that you/this article bashes those that keep those towns afloat.

"Excellent work on the shoobie boat, decorated to look like a car with that annoying Pennsylvania plate on the back."

Um, and this is from PHILLY.COM? Coming from someone that grew up in Philadelphia and spent many summers at the Jersey shore (Wildwood, Sea Isle, etc) I have also spent many a pay check there as well, and I find it quite annoying to hear something as arrogant as the "annoying PA plate on the back" comment. We are the people that keep those towns afloat. Let's be honest, the price us "duplex for a week shoobies" pay to sit in Jersey isn't exactly chump change. For that price we could fly to Mexico for 9 days, but it's what we have grow up doing, and I resent the fact that you/this article bashes those that keep those towns afloat. Wildwood, Sea Isle, Avalon, and Cape May are populated by Philly transplants.
Anyway, my point is, this article is going to piss a lot of people off!!!

I gotta agree with the other comments - I was thinking the same thing before I even got to the comment section. I've been coming to OCNJ for many years, staying a week or two. Most of us don't have 500K - 700K to drop for only half of what we would call a "house" here in PA. So if I'm nothing more than a "shoobie" after all these years, maybe Rehobeth or OCMD or OBX would be happier to have me? Or maybe a cruise for about the same amount I spend?

It seems like around every Memorial Day weekend, the Philly news media loves to focus on how good or bad the boardwalk vendors did or how good or bad the rental market is (like any of us care how many bucks Mack & Manco raked in). Well all the money they make is not coming from people who live in OC for the summer or all year.... so maybe you shouldn't look down your UV-fried noses at us.

(While I'm ranting, it's also funny how the Inquirer, Daily Snooze, and the rest of the liberal Philly media normally HATE anyone making money, but for some reason they are obsessively worried about making sure boardwalk vendors make money. Kind of odd.)

You're Lucky to Have a Friend in Pennsylvania

Thanks Amy,

Thank you for reminding why I take my money to Ocean City, MD.

Shoobies? Man is that word getting old and boring. It seems a bit sad that these shore town "year-rounders" are largely transplants from PA or inland NJ, yet come to think they are, and have always been, the only rightful people to populate the beach. The reality is that you're all just shoobies yourselves, just with different starting dates. The shore was here before you arrived and will be here after you leave. And yes, that would include those of you that were born there. Big deal - so your parents chose to live there. Your time there wasn't even a choice, so it seems you have less real interest than even the shoobies - at least they're making the decision to visit on there own. You had the decision made for you.

I visit the NJ shore maybe once a year and other than reading these types of stories have rarely experienced this kind of shoobie-scorn, so I hope its just over-hyped. I spent many years as a transplant in a western resort/tourist town and the people there were very friendly with visitors. They all recognized the visitors were there for the same reason they chose to live there. In what makes a ton of sense to me, the "year-rounders" were happy because they got to live in a town most people just get to visit...

Shoobies:

go home.

The jersey shore can function just fine on its own without your presence. Whenever I get cutoff drivin down West or Rio Grande Ave, i always see a PA tag. You people drive down here with your hummers and excursions and act like you own the whole damn island. you show no respect to the beaches or the stores, and you give all us locals a bad image with the po cauz they all expect us to act like you. I can't surf anywhere without knockin out some upper class teenagers who think the ocean was made for them to make out in. and then next person i see on the beach with an umbrella and an ipod is getting beat. how many people come to the beach and drown out the sun, the sounds, and the sand so that they can 'relax'. thats wat your main line living room is for. don't take up our space if you're not gonna enjoy it.

To Steve: WAAAAAHHHH!

I have spent many a weekend at my in-laws place on LBI, and year-in-year out the "locals" never cease to amaze me with their bad attitudes and rudeness. But here is some food for thought:

I went to the Adirondacks for a week this year...what a change...I was shocked at how friendly and polite the locals were...how much there was to do...and how the 6.5 to 7 hour drive up wasn't half as stressfull as the 2.5 to 3 hour trip to the shore.

Bottom Line: New Jersey isn't an especially nice place to visit! So jam this "shoob-e-tube" nonsense where the sun don't shine (somewhere like Washington State)...

Also as an aside to New Jersey (and PA) residents: You are not Italian, Irish etc. unless you were born there..so don't bother announcing this or displaying these flags you morons...

My rant is over and I feel better now.

Amy - you got it right. PA drivers: KEEP RIGHT PASS LEFT. Is that so hard to understand?

I've been going to my parents' house at the jersey shore my entire life. I love it down there, couldn't live without it. I'm from the philly burbs. Call me a shoobie, call me whatever the heck you want. It's all good. This article was some friendly ribbing. All of you who took offense to it need to pull the sticks out of your butts. Relax. Learn to take a joke. It's a friendly written piece celebrating/commenting on this little philly-jersey shore culture thing we have going on here in our corner of the world. Lighten up. Thanks Amy!

-Proud Shoobie

Mike....SHOOBIE is a SLUR...

Just like when I was a kid and we called the hunters visiting my neck of the woods "FUDDS" (you know Elmer Fudd)....but hey you just go on being all "relaxed" and call yourself whatever you like...

I want to call you a "ChuckleKnuckle" so I suggest you sign your next post as "Proud ChuckleKnuckle."

WWNDS

(What Would Napoleon Dynamite Say)

Hey Steve, try to brag to anyone in the world that you are a world class surfer from the jersey shore and you would be laughed at. You really think you own the island ? Tourists are what make or break the shore towns. Get off your high hourse and remember, its the "Jersey Shore", people in cali, florida and the tropics of the caribean would be laughin there ass off to here about your surfing adventures on the Jersey Beach! LOL Its not YOUR space at all, basically, the shore is the states ho! Anyone can rent a piece of it! Now, watch out for those 2 foot waves!
What a joke you are !

haha the joke is on all of you suckers, Jersey shore is a bunch of overpriced garbage real estate.

Enjoy paying a mil for something that will be gone in 20 years. Those hypodermic needles in the surf are a nice touch though.

Nothing like arrogance and snobbery coming from the NEW JERSEY SHORE.

Go to Disneyworld. It's actually less money for a week down there, then to spend a week on any one of the crummy boardwalks down the shore.

Go to Disneyworld. It's actually less money for a week down there, than to spend a week on any one of the crummy boardwalks down the shore.

The term shoobie - came from the original visitors - who came down by train and brought their lunches to the beach in a shoe box. It's probably one of the most unoffensive slurs ever.

We teased them when they asked "which way to the beach" but so what - I can assure you there is nothing more annoying than a local's only mentality. Those idiots in Hawaii who fist fight at their break have no clue.

Let me let you in on a little secret - the locals who despise the visitors the most - have empty little lives filled with depression and envy. Despising the tourists is all they have between their warm Budweisers in their dark pubs, and their spotty jobs.

So laugh off the shoobie thing (consider the source) everybody else is happy to see you!

The commenter who said lighten up was right.

Oh and Steve while I agree the ipods are pretty lame for enjoying the natural beauty of sun, surf and sky I have to tell you making out at the beach is what summer is all about, amigo!

I'll never forget that dingy Wildwood rental and those awesomely cute waitress...or sneaking in and out of that cramped attic loft in that Stone Harbor beach cottage ...or ...well you get the idea...

Have an awesome weekend and a great August everyone!

Paul Burke
Journey Home

I grew up in Stone Harbor in the 60s and 70s, worked every summer and later financed my surf trips to the islands every winter with the dollars spent by our summer visitors. I still know friends with businesses there doing the same thing. We were always glad when Labor Day came and used to count down the days to September but were also very happy that those folks chose to come to our town and spend their dollars. I live in San Diego, another vacation city, now and feel the same way about those visitors.FYI-"Shoobie" actually refers to folks who used to come down for the day and bring their lunches in shoe boxes. I doubt there is anyone who comes down for the day anymore. So it really is an outdated term.