Newer snacks such as monkey bread, which looks like a cinnamon bun to me, and Polish water ice, which I find smoother and creamier than Rita's, have been added to traditional treats in recent years.

Still, lunch in Ocean City, for example, mandates a slice of Mack & Manco's, followed by a container of Johnson's Caramel Corn. I can't go to Wildwood without putting vinegar on my french fries, and cotton candy comes with the territory on the amusement piers.

The ride home wouldn't be the same without molasses paddles, and the drive to the Shore absolutely demands a stop at a Stewart's or Weber's drive-in. To this day, the color orange makes me salivate for a grilled hot dog and a root-beer float - ask for a Black Cow.

A handful of drive-in restaurants are still around, still offering carhop service to the driver's door. My favorite is the Stewart's on Main Street, which is Route 9, in Tuckerton, because in addition to drive-in service, it has tables overlooking the water, and boat slips for aquatic arrivals. The expanded menu includes zucchini sticks, eggplant fries and even pierogies, but that's not what I go to a drive-in for.

The Stewart's on the boardwalk in Wildwood at Magnolia Avenue has a terrific roof deck. And if you can't wait to get to the Shore, you can still get carhop service closer to home, at the Weber's on Route 38 (at King Road) in Pennsauken.

Speaking of snacks, nothing says empty calories more than salt water taffy.

Two of the biggies from the 1880s, James' and Fralinger's merged in the early 1990s. All the taffy is trans-fat free and kosher now, and this year, James' introduced an all-natural line. But let's not kid ourselves or our dentists - salt water taffy is delicious and without redeeming nutritional value.

Both brands are made on the same equipment at the James' store on the Atlantic City Boardwalk at New York Avenue, spokeswoman Lisa Glaser Whitley says, but the two brands maintain their distinct recipes.

The family that started James' sold it in 1947 to the Glaser family, Philadelphians who owned Dairy Maid Confections (remember that store on Broad Street in Logan?). Recently, the company bought Bayard Chocolates, says Whitley, who is the third generation of Glasers to work in the salt water taffy business.

Fralinger's and James' have other distinctions.

Joseph Fralinger claimed to have created the souvenir box (prior to that, the taffy was sold loose), and Enoch James won the hearts of collectors by selling his taffy in a blue-and-white papier-mâché barrel that doubled as a bank. The barrel gimmick related to the fact that most goods were shipped in barrels in those days, Whitley says.

In the 1990s, James' couldn't find an American manufacturer to make its papier-mâché barrels, so it went with a plastic model, she says. Shoppers quickly revolted, and James' started importing the old barrels (just the containers, not the candy) from China.

There was a slight panic earlier this season when no barrels were available in any of the James' stores. But a shipment was due by the end of this month, Whitley says, and they can be ordered - filled with the flavors of your choice, online at www.seashoretaffy.com or by calling 1-800-441-1404.

The July 11 column contained an incorrect phone number for Nomad Parking Lot and Bathhouse, 4320 Boardwalk in Wildwood. The business is in operation but does not have a telephone number.

Gulls and a String Theory

Have you been seeing strings? Look overhead the next time you're at an outdoor cafe near the ocean and you may see what appear to be dozens of fishing lines strung across like a ceiling.

These monofilament fishing lines hung three feet apart and four to nine feet long are a low-tech form of seagull control. The lines are so thin gulls can't land on them, and the birds won't fly under the wires for fear of being trapped.

Gulls go away unharmed and kids get to finish their french fries in relative peace, according to Bronx-based entrepreneur Barry Fast, who has a patent pending on his $396 self-installation kits.

Check out the research on gull deterrents at Fast's Seagull Control Systems: www.seagullcontrol.com.

- Dianna Marder