Photo by Colleen R. View full image
It’s normal for our ‘homeowners-to-be’ to ask what it’s like to live at the beach. Do you make friends? Are there activities all year round? These are all normal questions to ask about a place you’re investing in, whether it be a vacation or primary residence.
I talk a lot about ‘living like a local’. I recommend places to eat that maybe aren’t on the ‘main strip’. In fact just this week after recommendations from friends I told our recent new homeowners Jim and Eileen to try El Dorado, a small, beachy Mexican restaurant on Route 24, near the UPS Store and the Gray Hare Tavern. Well, it’s small and quaint but Jim now claims they’ve got the best fish tacos in the WORLD and you can’t tell him otherwise!!! Oh my, his compliments gushed when I saw him after his visit. I’m just trying now to wean him off so he tries something new 🙂 Sorry Jim!
Not long ago I asked another new homeowner for her personal comments about coming from the ‘outside’ to now feeling like a ‘local’. Colleen will probably kill me, but I’ve also included a photo above that she recently took at our community. I’ve told her to enter competitions, it’s a winner in my eyes. Below is Colleen’s story. This was given freely and without hardly any harassment from me 🙂
When we moved from NY to NJ just over 10 years ago and it took nearly that long to feel like a local. It comes down to a certain comfort level. Knowing the best places to shop and eat, finding good short cuts around town.
Our home at The Villages at Herring Creek is a vacation home, so we want a little of both worlds- Vacation & Home. We moved in mid-Fall. We spent the months leading up to this Summer getting familiar with the lay of the land. Naturally, you start at the tourist attractions, but then you start to settle in and approach it more like a local. I’ve been using websites and blogs to read reviews that the locals post. Of course, we have been shamelessly using Adam as our personal concierge!
Our NJ town is very friendly and neighborly, and that is exactly what we have found at The Villages at Herring Creek. That’s what makes you feel like a local.
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