By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
Josh and Jenny Pahys packed up their children, Gemma, Charlie and Ellie, and made the drive from their Philadelphia home to Sea Isle City to celebrate New Year’s Day at the shore.
Two other family members also tagged along for the holiday getaway. Their gigantic Great Danes, Stella and Rosie, romped on the beach while playfully chasing after a remote-controlled toy car that spun around in the sand.
For the Pahys family, visits to Sea Isle on New Year’s Day are a family tradition. They also love summer vacations in Sea Isle, but the serenity of uncrowded beaches in the winter is their holiday treat.
“It’s so quiet. This is why we come down,” Josh Pahys said while gazing at a large section of the beach that his family had nearly all to their own.
Gemma, 14, and 12-year-old twins Charlie and Ellie, had the added bonus of being off from school for the holiday. They head back to school on Tuesday.
“Everyone was excited to come here,” Josh Pahys said of his children. “In winter, we like to come for New Year’s Day. It’s our New Year’s tradition.
Sea Isle’s New Year’s Eve celebration attracted thousands of visitors to town for dinner, drinks and a spectacular fireworks show that lit up the sky above the beach.
But things were decidedly more tranquil on New Year’s Day. Visitors who walked on the beach or rode their bikes on the oceanfront Promenade found the laid-back atmosphere to be very appealing.
Jason and Carla Wentworth, of Media, Pa., took a bike ride on the Promenade with their children, Thane, 14, Lea, 12, Garet, 9, and Elaina, 3.
“For us, it’s all about being together,” Jason Wentworth said of the special time the family spends with each other on the holiday.
The Wentworths spent the entire New Year’s weekend at the shore. Carla’s parents, Steve and Gail Phillips, have a home in Sea Isle on 55th Street.
The time off from school allowed Thane, Lea and Garet to catch up on some shell-hunting on the beach.
“There’s a lot of scallop shells,” Garet said of what he has been finding.
What he didn’t find were a lot of people on the beaches.
“It’s good being here and not seeing too many people,” he said.
Steve and Peg Humes also savored Sea Isle’s quiet surroundings during New Year’s Day. They live in Philadelphia, but have a summer vacation home in Sea Isle on 84th Street.
“Down here is so relaxing. Everything is so nice down here at this time of year,” Peg said of the shore.
The Humes made the rounds on New Year’s Day to admire Sea Isle’s Christmas decorations. They posed for selfies in front of the 30-foot-tall artificial Christmas tree that overlooks Excursion Park just steps from the beach.
The Humes have been married for 43 years. Although they would like to spend more time at the shore in 2024, both Steve and Peg said they haven’t made any New Year’s resolutions yet and don’t plan to, either.
“I found out that every year when I make resolutions, I don’t keep them. So, I decided not to make them at all this year,” Peg said.
