By TIM KELLY
Plunging temperatures, a “code blue” announcement by Cape May County officials and the first appearance of white particles in the sky failed to dampen the spirits of Ocean City folks on Tuesday.
On the contrary, everyone we spoke to would rather discuss the colors in the sky at sunset, the rolling waves and the invigorating nature of the air.
“There is no such thing as a bad day on the Ocean City Boardwalk,” said attorney Bryan George, an Ocean City resident whose law office at 1011 West Ave. is a short stroll away from the boards.
“It’s beautiful out here,” he said.
He was out for a walk with his son, Brandon, a paralegal with the firm.
“We try to get out every night and walk for three or four miles,” Brandon said. “We never considered not going. This is actually pretty nice.”
Scott Fisher and Dave Nuhn, a pair of local 20-something surfers, were representative of the 14 wave riders paddling around the vicinity of the Fourth Street beach.
“The (temperature) drop was kind of a wild ride,” Nuhn explained. “We just surfed an area that’s not Third Street and it’s not really Fourth. It’s three and a half.”
The County’s Office of Emergency Management issued its first “Code Blue” warning of the season, intended to aid homeless people on the streets exposed to potentially life-threatening cold.
The county asked those in need of shelter to call the hotline numbers of 609-886-1325 or after hours at 1-877-886-1325.
The warning was issued for both Tuesday and Wednesday.
Despite the cold weather, Upper Township residents Laurianne St. John and her daughter, Lauren, said they were out on the Boardwalk to take a long hike “for the exercise.”
“It’s not bad at all,” Laurianne said of the temperature, which registered 33 degrees on a car thermometer at 5 p.m. “We’re OK. We’re all layered up.”
The National Weather Service’s website was calling for the temperature to keep dropping, to a low of 21 degrees by 2 a.m., and that there could be more flurries on the way.
Lauren said the first appearance of snow didn’t bother her a bit.
“I like it. It gave me a Christmassy feel,” she said, laughing. “We don’t let the weather stop us. We’ve walked through blizzards, we’ve walked through floods.”
At the Ocean City Post Office, local resident John Hadam shrugged his shoulders about the snow’s first appearance.
“It’s really not surprising. It’s been cold. It’s just that time of the year,” Hadam said.
A man who asked to be identified only as “Jim,” was taking pictures of the sunset in front of Manco and Manco Pizza, where an employee walked outside on the Boardwalk to do the same thing.
Jim, a resident of Egg Harbor Township, said he was visiting his father, who lives in Ocean City.
“I just wanted to get out for a few minutes and take a walk,” he said. “The colors of the sky are really incredible,” he said.
Jim called the first appearance of snow “a little early” for his taste, noting that winter does not officially begin for a few more weeks. December 21 to be exact.
That fact did not bother him in the slightest.
“We’re getting a little preview,” he said. “It’s just a beautiful night to be outside and to look at all the colors. I really like it.”
