Mack's in Wildwood. Here's the view out from the counter. Mack's is related to Mack and Manco in Ocean City, which many a shore wag counts as the best, but I've had both recently, and there's no comparison. Mack's is the uncle's place, it predates Mack and Manco's by a few years and is going on 55 years in Wildwood. It's a similar kind of pizza, thin crust, same family, but I think what sets it apart is the sauce. It was just tastier at Mack's. Here's a website with some more history and great old photos of Mack's (it's a descendant of Anthony and Lena Macaroni's tomato pie in Trenton) . I'm sure there must be other contenders in the category of great Boardwalk pizza, offer them up if you please, but I'm also pretty sure Mack's is tops. Worth the trip.

Previously on Downashore...

A French bistro in North Wildwood? This shore town is known for several things — its annual Irish festival, its profusion of Irish pubs, its proximity to the doo-wop-and-honky-tonk extravaganza that is Wildwood — but fruits de mer isn’t one of them, writes David Corcoran of the New York Times. Yet he found it - at a sprawling yellow Victorian with a huge rooftop sign: Claude’s Cafe. The well-heeled diners who pack those rooms every night in season are on to something: in ambition, pricing and execution, this is no mere cafe, Corcoran writes.
Read the full story.
The restaurant Web site is at www.claudesrestaurant.com.

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.

Check out this nifty multimedia presentation on Jersey Shore boardwalks by the Asbury Park Press. This seven-part series, done in 2006, includes sections on the boardwalks in Atlantic City, Ocean City and Wildwood.

Up and down the Wildwood boardwalk they ride the iconic, lumbering yellow tram cars - some passengers are tired and sandy from the beach, others are showered and fresh from their hotel rooms or condos. They chug past the T-shirt shops and arcades, the monster truck rides and ice cream stands. Philly.com's Kristen Graham reports that the repetitive squawk of "Watch the tram car, please" is a welcome sound for many, including the Stachowski family of Baltimore, below.
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There are many many stores peddling t-shirts on the Wildwood boardwalk. Of course, that's a pretty common thing for a boardwalk to have, but Wildwood's is rife with them (and it has a Kabbalah Centre and a little chapel, too!) But: I'm wondering what your favorite t-shirt saying is? You know, the one that makes you laugh or even makes you cringe.

Here are some of the winners I saw today: "Beer Pong Champion!" "Italian Stallion." "Watch the Tramcar, Please" (complete with dead, splattered duck. Nice). "Senior Week 2007!" "Silicone Free." "Jake's Property." (If I were Jake, I don't know how I'd feel about that.) Lots of pirate stuff - "Walk the Plank", "Hand Over The Rum And No One Gets Hurt," etc.

And, my favorite: "I went on Senior Week for vacation and I came back on probation."

There were, of course, plenty of shirts whose messages were raunchy or profane. I didn't see anyone wearing anything remotely like that, though. The only "message" shirts I saw on the boardwalk were "Class of 2007" shirts.

Anyway. Leave a comment with your favorite - or most memorable - T-shirt saying.

I love that each Shore town has its own character. Today I spent my morning and part of the afternoon in Wildwood, riding the tram car from 16th Street in North Wildwood to the Wildwood/Wildwood Crest Border, at Cresse Avenue.

I met some delightful people, some of whom I got to mention in my story, and some of whom I didn't have room for. One of them was Elena Quinn. She's 68 and, as she proudly pointed out, "The oldest tram car driver around." She loves her job - it gives her a good tan, she gets to see the sights of the Wildwood boardwalk, and the people who ride her car are very nice. Well, Nikolay Korichkov, 25, who worked collecting money on Elena's tram today, they're mostly nice. "It seems like a fun job, but sometimes, it's not so fun - there are a lot of drunks at night." Oh, right. Wildwood, with its numerous bars, is still a party town, Nikolay points out.

Of course, there are also lots of families and non-drunks, so that works out, too.

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.
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