By Donald Wittkowski
Holding a plastic spoon, Tracy Creekmore stood at the front of a line of clam chowder lovers, just waiting to taste some delicious soup prepared by seven Sea Isle City restaurants.
“I like something with spice, something with a little wine flavor, something with a little bite,” Creekmore, of Cinnaminson, N.J., said of her favorite type of chowder.
On Saturday, Creekmore and other festival-goers paid $5 each to savor homemade soups created by professional restaurant chefs in the fiercely competitive chowder-tasting contest that serves as a highlight of Sea Isle’s annual Harborfest celebration.
“The chowder contest is always a big hit,” said Christopher Glancey, president of the Sea Isle City Chamber of Commerce and Revitalization, the Harborfest sponsor. “Today, people lined up 30 minutes before we even started.”
Festival-goers sampled clam chowder prepared by local restaurants and voted for their favorite soup. By public acclamation, DeNunzio’s Brick Oven Pizza and Grille topped six other restaurants to capture the chowder-testing title on Saturday.
“They make very good soup there as well,” Glancey said of the pizzeria.
Glancey noted that this was the second time DeNunzio’s has won the chowder-tasting contest. As a result, DeNunzio’s will now have the honor of holding on to the coveted trophy given to the contest winner each year.
“They will be able to display it in their restaurant,” Glancey said. “There’s a lot of bragging rights with this contest.
Although Harborfest is a culinary celebration, it also pays tribute to Sea Isle’s commercial fishing industry. A plaque on the wall at the city’s Welcome Center credits the fishing industry for saving the town from economic collapse, particularly during the Great Depression and World War II.
The city’s historic Fish Alley area along the Park Road waterfront serves as an enclave for longtime seafood restaurants and commercial fishing boats.
Harborfest is held in a parking lot across the street from where the commercial fishing and lobster boats are moored at the city’s marina. The festival includes a blessing of the commercial fishing fleet by local clergy members.
“Fishing has always been a big part of Sea Isle’s history,” Glancey said. “We’re lucky to still have a commercial fishing fleet in Sea Isle.”
Attracting thousands of festival-goers, Harborfest is one in a series of family-oriented events sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce and the city to draw visitors to town during the normally slow fall and winter months – after the big summer beach crowds are gone.
Glancey said Harborfest gives Sea Isle’s second-homeowners and their guests another reason to come to town during the weekends in the off-season. It also serves as a source of entertainment for the city’s year-round residents, he pointed out.
In addition to an array of food, Harborfest features live music and vendors selling everything from clothes to jewelry. There are also kid-friendly activities such as face painting and a pop-up art barn allowing children to create their own masterpieces.
Using bold brush strokes, Maci Griffith, 7, was busy painting a pink crown framed by a blue background, while her father, Kris Griffith, looked on with amusement.
“There are no Rembrandts in our house,” Kris Griffith joked.
However, his daughter surprised him by declaring that she enjoys painting and wants to continue with it.
“I like to paint with different colors,” Maci said.
With a smile, Kris Griffith noted that his daughter’s interests are fleeting.
“This morning, she wanted to be a horseback rider,” he said.
Along with Maci, Kris Griffith was joined at Harborfest by his wife, Kathleen, and their 5-year-old son, Ryan, who had his face painted at the festival.
The Griffiths, who live in Willow Grove, Pa., have a summer home in Sea Isle. They were also at Harborfest in 2017, but noticed that the festival had grown this year.
“It’s a lot of fun,” Kris Griffith said. “They have expanded the things that families can do together. Now they have an art barn for the kids.”
Ashley and Patrick Savage, of Philadelphia, brought their daughters Gia, 8, and Kaylee, 2, to Harborfest for the first time. The kids were treated to matching bracelets by their grandmother, Linda Savage, of Ocean City.
“I like it. It’s cool. There’s a lot of stuff for kids to do,” Ashley Savage said of the festival.
Gia Savage showed off her bracelet, along with a new blue necklace that was another present from her grandmother. The necklace was decorated with a miniature surfboard.
“I like to surf,” Gia exclaimed.
Ashley Savage laughed at the thought of her 8-year-daughter actually getting out on the waves and surfing.
“She likes the idea of surfing,” Savage said, emphasizing the word “idea.”
Families crowded the Harborfest grounds on Saturday. Boosting the turnout was gorgeous weather featuring sunny skies and temperatures in the 70s. This was the second year in a row that the weather cooperated with the festival.
Previously, Harborfest was marred by three straight years of dreary weather that scared away the crowds or forced the cancellation of the event altogether.
Rain cut the festival short in 2014 and caused it to be scrapped in 2015. An abbreviated version of the event was held indoors in 2016 after the rain made another unwanted appearance and dampened the turnout.
