So one day last week I am perusing through Facebook and I see something that catches my attention.  It’s a post from a member of Ocean County Memories, a public group with more than 8,700 members who share pictures, stories and plenty of nostalgia.  Nothing controversial, at least until I came across the post in question.

With a lovely picture of the beach, complete with dune grass in the background came the following, “In Jersey we don’t go “to the beach”…we go “down the shore.”  That simple post has been shared over 200 times and received more than 400 comments and I strongly agree with the majority who insist that statement is flat wrong and not even subject to debate.

It might be accurate if the post said “In North Jersey we don’t go “to the beach”…we go “down the shore” because indeed that’s what many visitors from that part of the state would say when coming for a day, weekend or even longer.

The same might be said for someone from Philadelphia or New York but that’s not really part of this so I’ll move on.

However if you live at the shore why would you refer to the place you’re already at?  You wouldn’t except to say “I live at the shore and go to the beach.”  I can tell you that in the over 50 years I have lived here the only time I ever referenced the shore is when telling someone from out of state that I live at the Jersey Shore.

Of course the danger in that is all they know is the reality show originally filmed in Seaside Heights but that’s another story.  Bottom line if you live here you go to the beach.

This post did spark some BENNY talk with people commenting that only BENNIES go down the shore and that goes back to my original comment that it’s more of a North Jersey thing.  By the way with summer fast approaching I would suggest careful use the BENNY term for three reasons:

  1. It has a negative connotation and likely does not apply to the majority of visitors who come to the shore and our beaches.
  2. Without those visitors the economy of the shore would suffer dramatically.
  3. Most of you were BENNIES at one time.

I sure can’t wait to “go to the beach” for the first time this season.

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