AC Mike’s Weekend Update: Local Summer Is Alive — September 11–13 in Atlantic City & Down the Shore

Hey Folks,

We’ve made it to one of my favorite stretches of the year at the Jersey Shore — Local Summer. The calendar says summer is winding down, but somebody forgot to tell Atlantic City and the rest of South Jersey. From Friday, September 11 through Sunday, September 13, we’ve got boats filling Farley State Marina, jazz at Hard Rock, classic rock at Borgata, the music of the Grateful Dead at Ocean, classic cars and Corvettes taking over the Ocean City Boardwalk, Good Old Days in Somers Point and two days of jets roaring over the beach in Wildwood. Friday also marked the 25th anniversary of September 11, with communities around South Jersey pausing to remember the lives lost and the first responders who answered the call. If you’re reading this Saturday morning and wondering what to do with the rest of your weekend, you have plenty of choices.

The Atlantic City In-Water Boat Show Owns the Marina This Weekend

If you like boats, the Atlantic City In-Water Boat Show is one of the easiest recommendations of the weekend. It continues Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Frank S. Farley State Marina beside Golden Nugget. The difference between this show and the big indoor boat show is right there in the name: these boats are actually in the water, where you can walk the docks, compare models and get a much better feel for what they’re like. The show features new boats, marine products and services, food, drinks and entertainment along the waterfront. Even if you’re not currently shopping for a boat, there’s nothing wrong with doing a little dreaming. It also gives you a good excuse to spend part of the day in Atlantic City’s Marina District. Atlantic City In-Water Boat Show Info & Tickets

Atlantic City Jazz Fest Keeps the Music Going at Hard Rock

Atlantic City Jazz Fest continues at Sound Waves inside Hard Rock Saturday night at 7 p.m., with Norman Brown, Maysa and Jeff Bradshaw scheduled for the second night of the festival. This isn’t simply a concert with “jazz” stuck on the name — the weekend brings together some serious talent spanning smooth jazz, R&B, soul and contemporary jazz. If you want to keep the weekend going into Sunday, Hard Rock also has the Smooth Jazz Brunch featuring Reggie E. Harris to close things out. I like the idea of turning this into a full Atlantic City weekend rather than just driving in for one show and leaving. Atlantic City Jazz Fest Info & Tickets

Deadheads Have a Saturday Night Destination at Ocean

Over at Ocean Casino Resort, Dark Star Orchestra takes over Ovation Hall at 7 p.m. Saturday. If you know, you know. Dark Star Orchestra has built its reputation by going far beyond playing a collection of Grateful Dead songs. The band recreates complete Dead shows and eras, including the improvisation and feel that made the original concerts so different from night to night. They’ve been doing it since 1997 and have now performed thousands of shows. Whether you saw the Dead back in the day or discovered the music later, this is probably your Saturday-night pick. Dark Star Orchestra Info & Tickets

Starship Lands at Borgata

If your musical tastes lean more toward the big radio hits of the 1980s, Starship featuring Mickey Thomas plays Borgata’s Music Box at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Mickey Thomas has one of those voices you recognize almost immediately, going all the way back to his lead vocal on Elvin Bishop’s “Fooled Around and Fell in Love” before his years with Jefferson Starship and Starship. This is a smaller-room show packed with familiar music, and the Music Box is a good place to see a band like this without the scale of an arena concert. Starship featuring Mickey Thomas Info & Tickets

One Important Schedule Change at Anchor Rock Club

I had the 90s & 2000s Tribute featuring the music of Foo Fighters, Green Day and Red Hot Chili Peppers on my original weekend radar for Saturday night at Anchor Rock Club. However, Anchor’s current official event calendar now marks that show as cancelled, so scratch that one from the plan. This is exactly why I always tell you to check the latest information before heading out. Anchor remains one of the independent Atlantic City venues worth watching, but don’t head over expecting this particular show Saturday night. Check Anchor Rock Club’s Current Calendar

Atlantic City Has Plenty of Live Music Beyond the Headliners

You don’t need a headliner ticket to find live music in Atlantic City Saturday night. Around the casinos, the current local calendar has Dan Jost Trio at Council Oak inside Hard Rock from 6–10 p.m., Shore Dog at Hard Rock Café beginning at 8:30 p.m., Cat 5 Duo at Nola’s inside Ocean at 7 p.m. followed by My Hero Zero at 10 p.m., and live music at Borgata’s B Bar and Golden Nugget. That’s something visitors sometimes miss: you can wander into Atlantic City without buying a concert ticket and still build an entire night around live music. Weekend Live & Local Music Calendar

Good Old Days Is Exactly What a Somers Point Saturday Should Feel Like

Here’s one I really like for families and locals. Somers Point Good Old Days takes over John F. Kennedy Park Saturday for a free community festival filled with live entertainment, food, children’s activities, vendors, community organizations and classic cars. This event has been part of Somers Point for nearly five decades, and it’s deliberately old-school in the best possible way. There are even the traditional $1 hot dogs and hamburgers. The city’s official calendar lists Good Old Days from noon to 6 p.m., and the Somers Point Farmers Market is also open Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon at Somers Mansion. Farmers market in the morning, Good Old Days in the afternoon — that sounds like a pretty good South Jersey Saturday to me. Somers Point Weekend Events

Ocean City Puts 50 Years of Classic Cars on the Boardwalk

Ocean City has a great weekend lined up for anybody who loves cars. Fall Cruisin’ The Boards runs Saturday from noon to 5 p.m. and celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Ocean City Classic Car & Street Rod Show. Classic cars from 1989 and earlier will be displayed right on the Boardwalk, which is really the perfect setting for it. There is something about old cars, the boards and September at the Shore that just works. It’s an easy event to combine with lunch, a Boardwalk walk and a little time downtown. Ocean City Events Calendar

Then Ocean City Turns the Music Pier Over to Billy Joel

After the cars clear out Saturday afternoon, the Ocean City Pops move the action indoors with The Music of Billy Joel featuring Tony DeSare at the Music Pier from 7:30–9:30 p.m. DeSare brings the Billy Joel catalog to the stage backed by the Pops, which gives songs everybody knows a completely different treatment. If you’re already in Ocean City for the car show, you could easily make a full day of it — classic cars on the Boardwalk in the afternoon, dinner in town and Billy Joel’s music with a live orchestra that night. Ocean City Weekend Schedule

Sunday Belongs to the Corvettes in Ocean City

And Ocean City isn’t finished. On Sunday from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., the Boardwalk hosts its annual Corvette Show. Hundreds of Corvettes traditionally fill the boards for this one, ranging across generations of one of America’s most recognizable sports cars. Even if you aren’t the guy who can identify a Corvette’s model year from the taillights, it’s still a great Boardwalk scene and another free-to-watch reason to spend a September afternoon in Ocean City. Ocean City Corvette Show Info

Wildwood Has Jets Over the Beach — And It’s Free

If I had to pick the biggest spectacle of the weekend, it might be the Wildwoods Air Show. The show runs Saturday and Sunday from noon to 3 p.m. over the Wildwoods beach and Boardwalk, and general viewing is free. The current lineup includes the U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor Demonstration Team, the 177th Fighter Wing, a MiG-17, P-51 Mustang, Kevin Russo, the Jersey Jerks and the RE/MAX Skydiving Team. The center of the action is over the ocean around Lincoln Avenue between Morey’s Mariner’s Pier and Adventure Pier, but the show can be seen from a large stretch of the island. Jets over the Atlantic while you’re standing on the beach — you don’t get many free attractions more impressive than that. Wildwoods Air Show Information

Wildwood Somehow Packed Even More Into Saturday

The air show isn’t the only reason to head south. The Wildwoods Food & Music Festival is also happening Saturday, giving you food vendors, live entertainment and another free event to work into the day. And New Year’s in North Wildwood continues Saturday with the Mummers, bringing one of those wonderfully strange South Jersey combinations that somehow makes perfect sense once you’re here: airplanes overhead, food and music downtown and Mummers strutting through North Wildwood. If you want a full-day road trip rather than one specific event, Wildwood is probably the strongest play this weekend. Wildwoods Weekend Events

Smithville Is Starting to Feel Like Fall

If you’re ready to lean into the next season a little bit, Historic Smithville is another Saturday option. The village is hosting its September Art Walk, with more than 75 regional artists around the Village Greene, alongside the shops and restaurants that make Smithville an easy place to spend a few hours. Shore Local also has Rockabilly Uprising on the weekend radar there. It’s a completely different pace from Atlantic City or the Wildwood air show, which is exactly why it belongs on this list. Sometimes the best weekend plan is simply walking around somewhere interesting with nowhere else you have to be. Smithville Weekend Information

What’s Coming Up This Weekend

Saturday, Sept. 12: Somers Point Farmers Market — 8 a.m.–Noon • Somers Mansion • Event Info
Saturday, Sept. 12: Atlantic City In-Water Boat Show — 10 a.m.–6 p.m. • Frank S. Farley State Marina • Event Info
Saturday, Sept. 12: Wildwoods Air Show — Noon–3 p.m. • Wildwoods Beach & Boardwalk • FREE • Event Info
Saturday, Sept. 12: Good Old Days — Noon–6 p.m. • John F. Kennedy Park, Somers Point • FREE • Event Info
Saturday, Sept. 12: Fall Cruisin’ The Boards — Noon–5 p.m. • Ocean City Boardwalk • Event Info
Saturday, Sept. 12: Dark Star Orchestra — 7 p.m. • Ovation Hall at Ocean Casino Resort • Tickets
Saturday, Sept. 12: Atlantic City Jazz Fest — 7 p.m. • Sound Waves at Hard Rock • Tickets
Saturday, Sept. 12: Starship featuring Mickey Thomas — 7:30 p.m. • Borgata Music Box • Tickets
Saturday, Sept. 12: The Music of Billy Joel with Tony DeSare & the Ocean City Pops — 7:30–9:30 p.m. • Ocean City Music Pier • Event Info
Sunday, Sept. 13: Atlantic City In-Water Boat Show — 10 a.m.–6 p.m. • Frank S. Farley State Marina • Event Info
Sunday, Sept. 13: Smooth Jazz Brunch featuring Reggie E. Harris — Sound Waves at Hard Rock • Event Info
Sunday, Sept. 13: Ocean City Corvette Show — 11:30 a.m.–4 p.m. • Ocean City Boardwalk • Event Info
Sunday, Sept. 13: Wildwoods Air Show — Noon–3 p.m. • Wildwoods Beach & Boardwalk • FREE • Event Info

Local Summer Is Doing Just Fine

This weekend is a pretty good example of why I keep telling people not to pack South Jersey away with the beach chairs after Labor Day. Look at what we have in two days: boats in Atlantic City, jazz at Hard Rock, the Dead’s music at Ocean, Starship at Borgata, live local bands around town, classic cars in Ocean City, Good Old Days in Somers Point, artists in Smithville and fighter jets over the beach in Wildwood. You don’t have to do everything. Pick something interesting. Try somewhere new. Walk the Boardwalk. Support a local restaurant or business. See a band. Take the kids to an event that doesn’t cost anything. Bring somebody with you. September weather can be some of the best of the year, and the Shore is still very much open for business.

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