By MADDY VITALE
New Year’s Day in Sea Isle City was in stark contrast to the night before, when fireworks illuminated the sky and family and friends enjoyed the downtown restaurants.
The weather was likely the main reason that just some of the city’s residents and visitors took to the Promenade and beaches in the afternoon.
A thick fog hung over the city and when the rains let up, a mist replaced it.
But with temperatures hovering around 50 degrees for much of the day, there were a few people who ventured out.
Some people jogged on the Promenade. Others walked with their umbrellas in hand. And others checked out the beach and the surf.
And it seemed that dog owners took their pooches for a romp in the sand at some point during the day, judging by all of the paw prints left behind.
Ashley Magee and her fiancé John Dodson, both of Malvern, Pa., were visiting Magee’s grandmother in Sea Isle for the holiday weekend.
“My grandmother just bought a house and we went to the yacht club for New Year’s,” Magee noted of how they celebrated the new year.
While she admitted it was not exactly a great day for a walk, she insisted.
“It’s freezing, but I wanted to still take a walk on the beach and see the ocean,” she said. “We have to see the ocean when we’re here.”
Dodson said that the couple had never been down to Sea Isle during this time of year before.
“It’s nice to see all of the Peace on Earth signs and the lights,” he said. “It is a whole different atmosphere, and still so Sea Isle.”
While they chose to walk off their breakfast on the beach, down by the water’s edge, Luis Quiles, of Vineland, was searching for hidden treasures.
Quiles was dressed in the right gear, too.
He wore waders as he used his new metal detector to search for trinkets and coins among other things lost in the sand.
“The weather isn’t great, but it is warm. I mean it is 50,” Quiles said. “And there aren’t too many people out, so I thought I would take advantage of having the beach almost to myself to metal detect.”
One of his finds was a ring attached to a necklace.
“I am going to put it up on Facebook. I like to reunite the things I find with the owners,” Quiles said. “It is the right thing to do. I do it with everything I find.”
The first day to the new year meant relaxation for some, quiet time for others and for Magee, Dodson and Quiles, it was all about taking in the sights and sounds of Sea Isle’s beaches and surf.
