Wildwood, New Jersey

Wildwood's boardwalk is a genuinely rare specimen among Jersey Shore boardwalks, two and a half miles of free beach, free boardwalk, and an almost defiant commitment to old-fashioned seaside fun. I spent the day moving between the sand, the ocean, and the long seawall walk toward North Wildwood, in a dress with rather more Regency flair than the tram cars are accustomed to seeing. It remains, without qualification, one of the best family-friendly beach towns in New Jersey.

There is a particular hour at dusk when the Wildwood boardwalk empties of its daytime crowds and the ocean turns the color of pewter, and I will confess to a mild addiction to it. Photographing Wildwood at night, the neon of the boardwalk motels reflected in wet sand, has become one of my favorite rituals, and a compelling argument for why sunset in Wildwood, NJ deserves its own place on any shore-town itinerary.