It’s no secret New Jersey has a seemingly endless supply of history, unique mysteries and ghost stories. Tourists and locals can find plenty to learn and uncover throughout the state.
From Sandy Hook to Cape May, local author Mary Dixon Lebeau details what is lurking around the corner in her new book, “Secret Jersey Shore: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure.”
“My favorite part about writing this book was learning what I didn’t know about the shore,” Lebeau said. “I thought I knew a lot, but I really didn’t know anything about the shoreline past Asbury Park.”
Her book details many attractions off the beaten path and not commonly found in most brochures. Lebeau visited each of the sites she mentions in the book.
“The Jersey shore is an amazing collection of towns, each with its own history, mysteries and culture but all centered around the ocean and seaside life,” she said. “I fell in love with each town I visited.”
The book is written loosely in order from north to south. It begins with the Nike Missiles at Guardian Park in Sandy Hook and ends with the Emlen Physick Estate in Cape May. Each attraction takes up two pages, which include details and history about the location, multiple pictures, website links, addresses, costs and professional tips.
“I really wanted to write about the shore because [in a way] I’ve been researching it all my life,” she said.
Lebeau’s story begins on the Wildwood boardwalk, where her parents met. She grew up on the beaches in Wildwood and spent her teenage summers in Ocean City. She also waited tables in Cape May throughout college and still brings her family to Ocean City every summer.
When Lebeau got the go-ahead for the book from her publisher, she planned to visit each site to research and take pictures. But unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic made it challenging to conduct her research.
“The pandemic posed a variety of challenges because of the nature of the book,” she said. “Since most travel attractions had closed, it was very difficult to identify a person to speak to about each site.”
Many pictures had to be taken from outside the attractions, while some of her planned pages had to be replaced.
“I actually visited every site in the book, except those that no longer exist,” Lebeau said. “Even with those, I tried to visit where they had been and that’s how I found the marker for Tony Marts (in Somers Point), for example.”
Of all the locations included in “Secret Jersey Shore,” some of the unique stand-outs include the Flanders Catacombs in Ocean City and the site of the Battle of Turtle Gut Inlet in Wildwood Crest.
In addition, the book includes staples such as Congress Hall in Cape May, Lucy the Elephant in Margate, the Harriet Tubman Museum in Cape May and more. Lebeau also wrote “Secret Philadelphia: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure,” published in 2017.
By RACHEL SHUBIN/Special to the Sentinel