Unfortunately this is a timely article because it looks like it's going to rain this Memorial Day Weekend 2025
The Jersey Shore may be paradise to many, but that doesn't mean it's without complications. It rains - a fair amount. As a result, you need to have several rainy day Shore activities on hand.
Sometimes it's a little drizzle that is either refreshing or, at worst, a minor annoyance. Sometimes it's a nagging persistent onslaught from 8am to 8pm, throwing any plans into the trash. And sometimes, the sky goes from a beautiful blue to thunderous rage within seconds.
I remember vividly driving like a maniac up Jersey City Avenue in Lavallette to collect my wife and toddler before the heavens open up and dropped what could only be considered buckets of rain down on them. In times like those, you will want a robust pipeline of things to do indoors at the Jersey Shore.
Yes, it rains at the Jersey Shore, and it can be an absolute bummer if you're only down for a weekend and that's all you get. But it can be a nice break from the routine if you've been enjoying the sunny beach five days in a row.
As someone who doesn't love the beach per se, it's less of a big deal for me. It's obviously worse for others hoping to work on their tans. But no matter what you would prefer to do, here are some fun rainy day ideas so the inclement weather doesn't spoil all your Jersey Shore bliss.
Go to the movie theaters
Yes, you may have a backlog of hundreds of TV shows and movies to get through on offer from the various streaming subscriptions you have. But may I suggest surrendering to the majesty and spectacle of a movie - perhaps one in 4DX? A movie theater on a rainy day is a joy, now and forever.
The Jersey Shore has a wide range of mega theaters and independent cinemas, scratching the itch of blockbuster fans and cinephiles alike. This weekend, you have Mission Impossible and/or Milo & Stitch to contemplate. The rest of the Summer slate looks great as well.
Get some in-home beauty and health treatments
For example, there are several platforms that connect people with masseuses that can come to your home, such as Zeel, Soothe, GLAMSQUAD, and more. Of course, if you want to support local businesses, you can probably find options, such as Pampered Spirit in Point Pleasant provides "mobile spa parties" that come to your home.
Tap into your kids' creativity
Nothing entertains kids and parents alike more than encouraging them to make a movie or a story. Unfortunately, getting kids to sit down and write is a much harder demand than in the days before iPads, but put the hours they spend watching YouTube, TikTok and Twitch to use by asking them to produce a short play or movie. Increase the fun (and level of difficulty) by having the adults write characters, plot points, and other details on paper that is placed in a hat and picked at random, for a truly random work of art.
Build the Olympics of ____________
For those of us who were young and irresponsible, we may remember drinking games. And those who decided to take it to another level might have created Beer Olympics, a progressive assortment of drinking games that crowned a winner.
Even if your drinking days are behind you, this conceit is a great time waster on a rainy day.
The beauty of the Olympics conceit is it can be fit into any sort of activity. Want to play a mess of board games? Either have a head to head tournament or play a multi-player game where the person who loses first gets ranked last, then all the way up to the winner, et voila like below.
| Name | Risk | Monopoly | Battleship | Rummikub | Average | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joe | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1.5 | Winner! |
| Victoria | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 2.25 | |
| Viktor | 3 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 3.0 | |
| Tomas | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3.25 |
Have a cooking competition
Did you spend your first day going nuts at the Supermarket in the hopes you would grill and BBQ every day, only to find a mountain of takeaway containers and restaurant receipts and slowly decaying produce? Now is the perfect time to get cooking. Here's a fun idea - write all of the ingredients on strips of paper and divide into the number of "cooks" in your party. Have them randomly pull out a couple and that's what they have to make. Of course, you can veto tuna and chocolate, but have fun experimenting with different flavors.
And, if you've been cooking every day, reverse the above - order takeout from one of the amazing restaurants in your neighborhood.
Just read the damn book
Apologies for the strong language, but we all need that inner boss telling us what we need to hear. You're reading this blog post instead of picking up the book you bought specifically to read down the Shore, either on the beach or during a quiet moment. There is literally not a better time than right now - during a Jersey Shore rain storm. Do your best to convinced others to follow suit - loan them one of the other books you have not read yet - so the house remains quiet. Failing that, find a nook or cranny in the house, put on some noise cancelling headphones, and get to work.
Plan the rest of the summer/vacation
Chances are that no one is out in the rain, so all the necessary parties to make important decisions will be in close proximity to each other. Remove all distractions, huddle around a table, and decide what you want to do with your remaining time, especially the now-precious-seeming sunny days ahead.
Rain does not need to equal boredom
It's obviously a bit more fun to wait out the rain in a spacious shore rental than a hotel. In the case of the former, maybe you've been out and about so much you haven't really appreciated the house you're paying good money for. Enjoy the time spent in there. All of the above can be customized to be rainy day activities for adults or kids. Got any other suggestions? I'd love to hear them below.
