Look who's back in town

Hi, I'm Kelley Anne — a proud local from Long Beach Island, New Jersey. I grew up on the mainland — just a 15 minute drive (without summer traffic) from my childhood home to the Route 72 Causeway, which takes you up over Barnegat Bay to the Island (as us locals affectionately, or lazily, call it). Of course, if you find yourself soaking up too much sunshine on the beach, and you're afraid you just can't handle any more leisure, the Causeway will always take you back to the mainland (the highway only travels east and west). But if you leave, you will surely miss the serenity of soft sand between your toes and rolling waves reverberating in your ears. It's a fact. It has to be. Hundreds of stores around the world sell manufactured conch shells that mimic the sound of that calming rush of waves rolling onto the shore. But Long Beach Island and its surrounding beach areas is filled with beachy sounds, sights, smells, textures, and tastes you can experience first-hand, and I suggest you do.

Photo by Steve Essinger
This picture was taken two years ago on

Barnegat Bay. As my family and I awaited 

the Fourth of July fireworks display, our

boat bobbed atop rippling waves, and the 

sun set in a radiant splash of color.

As a young girl growing up in southern New Jersey, I didn't fully understand the beauty of the life around me. I easily tired of the beach and its laid-back atmosphere (crazy, I know). A longing for the fast-paced environment of the city was always tugging at me. After graduating from Richard Stockton College of New Jersey with a Bachelor of Arts in Writing and Liberal Arts, I ventured off to Washington, D.C. for an internship with a video production firm called Double R Productions.

Although I loved DC's urban culture and its upbeat attitude, I found myself heading back to Long Beach Island only a few months later for a seasonal journalism position. During my time writing for The Beachcomber, I learned a lot about the history of the 18-mile island that I had never known before. Even though I've spent most of my life here, I often felt (and still feel) like a newcomer, eager to experience anything new and exciting at the Jersey Shore.

But when bathing-suit weather replaced itself with sweatshirt weather, the Shore appeared to close up shop. For me, running around the Island, looking for leads to good stories came to a halt, and I found myself longing for the city again. This time, I headed to Philadelphia, where landed a job writing for the Clean Air Promise Campaign on behalf of the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania. But I only stayed a couple of months before the Shore summoned me home again.

This summer, I'll be at it again — running around the Island and all over southern New Jersey, sharing my thoughts with you about the beach, local eateries, upcoming events, nightlife and whatever else I feel like talking about. Please feel free to follow along and comment at any time. If there’s anything you’re particularly interested in learning about, let me know, and I’ll be sure to dig up something for you!