That would have been unfortunate. Weather reports of impending doom and thunder and clouds sent lots of people home early on Sunday, but it turned out to be one of the best days yet. The sun hung in there, the breeze was nice, the beaches were (sorry) not too crowded and the ocean, well, let's talk about the ocean. Saturday, the ocean was 66 degrees. That means, it's almost warm enough to not be obsessing about how cold it is. You could swim and mean it. Sunday, though, it had dropped two degrees to 64 (at least along the Atlantic City-Ventnor-Margate-Longport part, reports from Avalon had it in the 50s). That's a big two degrees. Those two degrees meant, you could take a dip, but not without a lot of anticipatory build up and motivation. But it was not so cold that you couldn't stay in for a bit once you were in. But truly, if it's going to feel like summer, we need those two degrees back, plus a few more.
In other news, we made like tourists on Saturday and took a whale watching boat tour off Cape May and, ok, it's Jersey, so we didn't see a whale, but we saw some very cool dolphin stuff (mating, a little newborn kind of a dolphin guy who looked like a little black football swimming with mom, lots of pods, a dolphin snatching a fish out of the air) and, as a finale, an American Bald Eagle perched in a tree. That was spectacular. There had been word of a whale hanging around the Delaware Bay, and they do see them on these tours, but not for us. In any case, thanks to Nicole our guide. Here's a fun fact: Just like the shoobies, the dolphins who return every year to Cape May, or to Wildwood, or to Ventnor, are the same dolphins, year after year. So if they act like they own the joint, well, it's because they do.
Postscript: Speaking of weather, and hippy dippy weathermen, was a shocker to see this morning that George Carlin had passed away. I grew up listening to George Carlin records, over and over again, and I think that like many, Carlin was the guy who showed me what it was to laugh until it hurt. Carlin was scheduled to perform at the Borgata on July 26th. He will be missed.

When you're on vacation at the shore, a parking ticket can be a real turn off. But Cape May business owners are trying to help one quarter at a time, NBC 10 reports. They search for those who have parked without paying. But instead of wings, these angels come with quarters.


See the report.

So where can you see fireworks on the Fourth of July at the shore? Philly.com has compiled a list for you:

Atlantic City: Fireworks after the Atlantic City Surf baseball game, which begins at 7:05.

Cape May: Fireworks shot off on a barge on the ocean, visible from the beach, no charge. For tickets to an All-American picnic to be held on the lawn of historic Congress Hall, held before the show, contact Congress Hall at 888-944-1816. Tickets $20.

Lower Township: Fireworks at the Cape May Ferry Terminal Grounds, 9:30 p.m., with live music, and food available for purchase beginning at 7:30.

Ocean City: Fireworks after a kite-flying contest and other entertainment, beginning at 9 p.m., at Carey Stadium, 6th Street off the Boardwalk.

Sea Isle City: Fireworks at 9 p.m., JFK Boulevard and the beach.

Stone Harbor: Fireworks and band concert at the 80th Street Fields, 9 p.m.

Wildwood: Fireworks at 10 p.m., Boardwalk at Pine Avenue.

Ventnor: Fireworks at 9 p.m., raindate Saturday July 7.

For a list of fireworks displays scheduled throughout the region, see our Fourth of July guide.

FBI agents have joined an investigation into the theft of tools used by whalers in the early 19th century from the Cape May County Historical Museum, the Associated Press reports. The maritime instruments taken were kept in a case and included six harpoons and a whaling gun. A worker noticed them missing on June 5. The museum estimates the stolen items are worth more than $7,500.
Read the full story.

A Cape May woman who swerved to avoid hitting a turtle as it crawled across the northbound lanes of the Garden State Parkway Tuesday afternoon in Upper Township lost control of her car, crashed through a guardrail and tumbled down an embankment before the car flipped over onto its roof, the Associated Press reports. The driver was wearing a seat belt and was not critically injured, State Police said.
Read the full story.

By Jonathan Tannenwald, Philly.com producer

Greetings from the other side of the Cape May-Lewes Ferry -- Rehoboth Beach, to be precise. I’ve spent just about every summer of my life there, and I have much the same kinds of connections to its boardwalk that the other Downashore writers have to the Jersey side of things.

I went down to Rehoboth for the first time this summer this past weekend to surprise my father for Father’s Day. I usually go by car, but I decided to try something new this time. There’s a bus that runs on weekends from the Wilmington Amtrak station down to the Park & Ride lot out by the outlets for $7.50 each way. It’s run by DART, the Delaware public transit agency. So I caught the 5:33 p.m. R2 out of Suburban Station last Friday and decided to give the Route 305 bus a shot.

It was quite a pleasant trip. Just under two hours from start to finish on a modern, Greyhound-sized bus instead of a city-style bus – but much cleaner. There wasn’t a bathroom, but it was a short enough ride to not make much of a difference. Best of all, the bus got to Rehoboth right on time, and there’s an easy connection to Route 201, which takes you down Rehoboth Avenue to the bandstand.

Cape May County Buzz, the Press of Atlantic City's "look at the lighter, quirky and colorful side of the news," has its own take on word that Cape May County officials are considering a new library for the grounds of the county Park and Zoo.
Read their reading list of possible tie-ins with the zoo, and add your own under Comments.

Cape May County tourism officials said a stronger Canadian dollar has reinvigorated interest in north-of-the-border tourists and has renewed marketing efforts to highlight the sandy beaches and boardwalks at the New Jersey shore, the Press of Atlantic City reports. Canadians, primarily those from the province of Quebec, formed a large base of the region's tourism market for decades, but a weaker exchange rate in the mid-90s apparently triggered a dropoff in their numbers visiting the Jersey Shore.
Read the full story.

In my quest to visit as many beach towns as possible during my Shore jaunt, I hit Cape May today. And of course I had to check out the ocean there, as water temperature reports I'd read put the ocean at seven degrees warmer than Atlantic City water. But it's all relative - 57 degrees in AC is freezing, but 64 degrees in Cape May didn't really feel like 64 degrees. It felt much chillier. I must say that this feet-in-the-ocean photo gets filed under "what I do in the name of journalism."

Shortly after this shot was taken, I wrapped my feet in a warm towel. The moral of this story is: it's not quite summer yet. I much prefer a dip in water that's closer to 70, thank you very much.

I am always struck at how cute Cape May is. Tons of Victorian charm. Quaint downtown shopping area, all bricked and pretty. The sand is even quaint, with those Cape May diamonds giving it a texture all its own. And look! The motel is even different from other towns'. Although I don't know that a sign slapped on a brick front makes something Victorian. But points for effort, I say:

From Belmar to Cape May, shore towns and organizations will honor the memory of those Americans who have died in military service to our country. A list of services scheduled for Saturday and Monday follows.

Jersey Shore communities have a whole bunch of crazy rules about what you can and can't do on the beach, the Associated Press reports. Did you know you can't draw dirty pictures in the sands of Belmar, or ride a camel on the beach in Wildwood? And keep your ruler ready if your kids are digging in the sand on Long Beach Island.
Read the full story.