Have you ever indulged in the same treat every Sunday for an entire summer? You will once you check out Maple Shade Custard Stand. Head to the window that looks like it’s straight out of a ’50s movie to place your order (my go-to is an oreo flurry), and then spend some time people-watching and enjoying the cool summer air. Don’t forget to bring cash, this place doesn’t accept cards.

Celebrity chef Timothy Witcher has a wing sauce for everyone – from honey jalapeño to garlic parmesan, sweet heat or sesame ginger. The Wing Kitchen’s Numb Tongue sauce is so hot that the menu says you have to sign a waiver. If you think you can handle it, well, so did we. (Spoiler, we could not.)

People might assume the best Philly cheesesteak would actually be found in Philadelphia, but those of us in-the-know head to Camden. The dark wooden dive bar with a griddle in the back is everything we didn’t know we needed in a cheesesteak hotspot – our “cheesesteak wit” was bigger than our faces, but thankfully not our appetites.

Bespoke’s outdoor section changes themes seasonally, so right now you can find the cacti of your dreams in their Joshua Tree National Park courtyard, and last winter’s ski lodge was an aesthetic 11/10 (with a ski lift chair for pics and everything!) The owners are also willing to help with any plant problem you have  – I can tell you all about how they rescued me from the fungus gnat infestation of 2020.

Trust us, we are not the kind of people who will jump out of bed at 7 am on the weekends. (We can barely pull it off during the week!) But we’ll always make an exception when the Collingswood Farmers Market is on the schedule. Whether we’re grabbing veggies for the week, a pastry or some rejuvenating juice (shoutout to Wild & Co.), the trip gives us energy for the rest of the day.

If you’re looking for a milkshake and fries and an 8 am grilled cheese (I’m not judging), this is the place to go. Did I stake out the place to get the best corner booth? Absolutely. I’m all about an iconic diner experience.

Here’s the real question: How did I get this far in life without ever trying pork roll? And if you’re going to have pork roll (notice I did not say Taylor Ham) for the first time, Chick’s is the place to go. Eggs covered in melty cheese and wrapped in pork roll pulled straight off the griddle onto a fresh kaiser roll? Sign me up.

When I first moved to South Jersey, this was the place that made me fall in love with the SJ food scene (shoutout to SJ Mag’s Jayne Feld for the suggestion). Their short rib mac & cheese is the stuff of dreams, and the hot buttered bourbon with homemade whipped cream may or may not have changed my life.

If spending the afternoon watching real, live hippos swim just a few feet in front of you isn’t exciting, don’t admit that out loud. Sure, I tell everyone I’m heading to the aquarium to take my animal-obsessed nephew off my sister’s hands for a bit, but really I’m in it for me. That shark tunnel is just plain cool, no matter how old you are. (Check out my trip with my nephew on p. 80.)

I never knew how cool charcuterie boards could be until I started following Rachel Ginter’s charcuterie Instagram account, dreamboards. Her creativity is through the roof, whether she’s putting together a Bravo-inspired board or trying out a dessert board for “Yes Day.” No matter what, I can always count on being a little hungrier when one of her posts pops up in my feed.

If there’s one thing you need to know about us, it’s that we love a good brewery. This boardwalk-themed brewery has skee ball machines, fun house mirrors, spinning wheels and even a funnel cake nitro ale – everything you need for a memorable afternoon down the shore…without going down the shore. Not to mention it’s women-owned, which we can totally get behind.