Ocean City Boardwalk

A truck driver from Vineland was arrested and charged yesterday with aggravated sexual assault and kidnapping in the abduction early Monday of two teenagers from the Ocean City boardwalk. Investigators said James Randall Smith, 23, of Laurel Street, is accused of abducting the vacationing 17-year-old friends - a boy and a girl from Perkasie, Pa. - at knifepoint as they strolled along a mostly residential section of the boardwalk near First Street just before 2 a.m. Neither victim was identified by authorities.

The balmy weather made it a perfect day for a ride along the Ocean City Boardwalk yesterday. Donna and Brian Mackos of Millville pedal their son Nicholas, 15 months, along the boards at 10th Street.

It's hard to miss the stylish newcomer called Clancy's that has perched its Spanish-tile and trellised terrace alongside the Ocean City boardwalk near 12th Street. Connected to the Clancy's Pubs in Sewell and Brooklawn of pot pie fame, this is essentially a diner with a seaside view. As diner kitchens go, it still plays second-griddle to the frumpier standby, Cafe Beach Club next door. But still, these open-air tables are hard to beat for a relaxing morning meal with an ocean breeze.

Anyone who vacations at the shore every year has favorite spots for everything from sand buckets to sauteed soft shells. And visiting the same places, year after year, is part of what makes a family vacation at the Jersey shore memorable. For my family it was breakfast, including cinnamon buns that my mother swore she could smell as soon as we crossed the 9th Street bridge, at Sims on the Ocean City boardwalk. Even though Sims has been closed for years, there are still certain things without which no summer season would be complete.

If you didn't know better, you might think that "Mack & Manco" is how they say "pizza" in Ocean City. After all, for more than 50 years along the town's famed boardwalk, the name has been synonymous with what is arguably America's favorite fast food. You need look no further than the three - count 'em, three - Mack & Mancos on a mere four-block stretch in the heart of the wooden esplanade - a feat of market saturation that would make even Starbucks executives gnash their teeth in envy.

There's something magical about the Ocean City boardwalk. The minute my feet hit the wood, I close my eyes and the sweet smell of funnel cake, kettle corn and cotton candy takes me back in time. Once again, I'm a kid begging my parents for junk food and rides. "I want to go on the teacups!" The voice that for a split second seems to come from inside my head actually belongs to my 9-year-old. She tugs me toward Wonderland Pier and a ride that looks identical to one I loved decades ago. I step into the seat and imagine my mom and dad waving from outside the fence.

Compared to Atlantic City, other Shore towns seem less edgy about their boardwalk identities. They seem to know pretty much what they want from their boardwalks, and for the most part have achieved it. If you follow the Atlantic City Boardwalk south toward Ventnor, for example, you leave all the commercial buildings behind. Ventnor planners want the boardwalk to remain residential, and with a few exceptions, it has. City basketball and tennis courts are at Somerset Avenue. At Newport Avenue, there is a playground and a kid-friendly one-room library.

The heat and humidity of August in Philadelphia making you feel like a stalk of broccoli left too long in the steamer? Then grab your sweater and come on down to the Jersey shore. While Philadelphia sweltered in record 98-degree heat yesterday, the high on the Boardwalk was a pleasant 81 degrees. About a dozen miles inland, that was hardly the case: At Atlantic City International Airport in Pomona, the mercury reached a record 100 degrees. On Sunday, the high temperature in the casino city was 77 degrees, two degrees lower than the overnight low of 79 degrees at Philadelphia International Airport.

K. Averil Dolaway, 89, former personal secretary to Walter Annenberg and owner of Ocean City women's fashion shops, died Wednesday at her Ocean City home, where she had lived for 40 years. From 1940 to 1952, Miss Dolaway was secretary to Annenberg, the former Inquirer publisher, TV Guide owner and U.S. ambassador to England. "It was a wonderful experience and a very happy experience for her," said Mary Dolaway, Miss Dolaway's sister, with whom she lived. "She traveled throughout the United States with (Annenberg)

The summer season is over, but the vacation season isn't. It's just cheaper. Nancy and Brian Polisano of Glenside couldn't wait for the Labor Day weekend to end. That was when the couple and their two young children headed to the Jersey Shore. "A lot of people are sad when Labor Day is over, because it means the end of summer," Brian Polisano said. "For us, it means the beginning of our vacation. This is the best time to be here. The crowds have left, prices are cheaper, and the weather is great.

If you didn't know better, you might think that "Mack & Manco" is how they say "pizza" in Ocean City. After all, for more than 50 years along the town's famed boardwalk, the name has been synonymous with what is arguably America's favorite fast food. You need look no further than the three - count 'em, three - Mack & Mancos on a mere four-block stretch in the heart of the wooden esplanade - a feat of market saturation that would make even Starbucks executives gnash their teeth in envy.

THE RAZOR WIRE atop the prison fence glistened yesterday morning and winter's first winds whipped tears from Sue Aitken's eyes. But the foreboding walls, the frigid air and almost two years of guilt did not dampen her mood. "I haven't woken up with a smile in a long, long time," she said, beaming with excitement as she went inside. An hour later, her son, Brian Aitken, 27, walked out of Mid-State Correctional Facility, in Burlington County near Fort Dix, less than 24 hours after New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie commuted to time-served his seven-year sentence for weapons possession.

OCEAN CITY, N.J. - Cynthia Donahue stopped her bike to take a sip of cool water as other cyclists whizzed by on the Ocean City Boardwalk on Monday morning. The other well-marked lanes were teeming with surrey riders, pedestrians, and joggers under a brilliant sun. But the 42-year-old Conshohocken woman said it was nothing compared with Saturday night's all-foot traffic. "It was mobbed," she said, describing long lines that snaked in front of Mack & Manco pizza stands and the ice cream places.

This has been a long summer. In fact, they don't come any longer than this one. Memorial Day was the earliest it could be, falling on the last Monday in May, which this year's calendar put on May 25. Then Labor Day falls on its most procrastinating, first-Monday-in-September day possible: Sept. 7. A lot of people have packed it in, back to school already. The crowds on the beach are noticeably lighter. But we're still chillin' at the beach ("happpyyy, home, chill," as my daughter put it recently on Facebook.

Standing across from the Ninth Street bed-and-breakfast, Christian Barth wondered in which room the two vacationing college women had slept hours before their murders near the Garden State Parkway in 1969 - the first slayings, some believe, by notorious serial killer Ted Bundy. "You can't help but think about the fact that those two girls and whoever actually killed them walked on these very same streets, on this very same boardwalk, maybe spent time on these very same beaches," Barth said, staring at the wide-porched former boardinghouse now called Serendipity.

It's hard to miss the stylish newcomer called Clancy's that has perched its Spanish-tile and trellised terrace alongside the Ocean City boardwalk near 12th Street. Connected to the Clancy's Pubs in Sewell and Brooklawn of pot pie fame, this is essentially a diner with a seaside view. As diner kitchens go, it still plays second-griddle to the frumpier standby, Cafe Beach Club next door. But still, these open-air tables are hard to beat for a relaxing morning meal with an ocean breeze.

When it's this nice outside at the Jersey Shore, they call it "chamber of commerce weather. " And so it was yesterday, and the day before. And - if the forecast holds out - as it will be today. Up and down the coastline, towns packed with tourists, vacation homeowners, day-trippers and locals enjoyed the flawless weather of the unofficial start of the summer season. "Everything we do here at the Shore is weather-driven. And the weather has certainly been working in our favor this weekend," said Diane F. Wieland, director of the Cape May County Department of Tourism.

Three adults and two children suffered minor injuries yesterday when the Canyon Falls Log Flume ride malfunctioned at an amusement park in Ocean City, police said. One of the log boats improperly slid backward about 1 p.m. and hit another at Gillian's Wonderland Pier on the boardwalk, police said. Those hurt were identified as Kimberly Aceto, 40, of Barrington, and Travis Lindenmoer, 27, and Danielle Summreil, 23, both of Lehighton, Pa. A 9-year-old boy and a 12-year-old girl were also injured, but police would not release their names, citing their ages.

The summer season is over, but the vacation season isn't. It's just cheaper. Nancy and Brian Polisano of Glenside couldn't wait for the Labor Day weekend to end. That was when the couple and their two young children headed to the Jersey Shore. "A lot of people are sad when Labor Day is over, because it means the end of summer," Brian Polisano said. "For us, it means the beginning of our vacation. This is the best time to be here. The crowds have left, prices are cheaper, and the weather is great.

There's something magical about the Ocean City boardwalk. The minute my feet hit the wood, I close my eyes and the sweet smell of funnel cake, kettle corn and cotton candy takes me back in time. Once again, I'm a kid begging my parents for junk food and rides. "I want to go on the teacups!" The voice that for a split second seems to come from inside my head actually belongs to my 9-year-old. She tugs me toward Wonderland Pier and a ride that looks identical to one I loved decades ago. I step into the seat and imagine my mom and dad waving from outside the fence.