You nailed it with the 1970s analogy, but not in the way you think. It's hard to get into on purpose because the people there aren't great with change. Notice no Starbucks?....guess who owns local coffee shops (rhymes with "down tonsilmen")

They outlawed food trucks during their boom a few years ago because another tonsilmen owned an ice cream shop and didnt want competition.

We used to joke it was the "Westerly Shore" after the Jersey Shore show because that Italian American bravado was so hardcore in the summer. I worked at the Beach a lot of summers, things get weird.

Definitely some good people and outliers. The locals have a hard exterior because the town transforms into a tourist trap every summer and totally changes. People from actual Jersey and NY summering there tend to wear local patience thin come Labor Day.