Shoobie

Shoobie is a term used to describe a tourist who visits the seashore for a day (a daytripper), primarily to use the beach during the summer months.

Shoobie is used in the Southern New Jersey coast (along with other parts of the east coast), and resort towns in California. The term "shoobie" originated in the late 1800s, and it derives from daytrippers taking the train to the beach, with their ticket price including a boxed lunch packed in a shoe box. Later it was used to refer to anyone who brought a picnic lunch to the beach resorts. Either way, these daytrippers deprived local businesses of the revenue the tourists would have spent on food. The term "shoobie" may sometimes now be applied to tourists who are more likely to feed the seagulls, or wear sock with flip-flops, or wear shoes on the beach, or set up umbrellas on windy days, or act like they have never been to the beach, although this is not the original meaning. Homeowners (whether year-round or seasonal) often walk to the beach barefoot or remove their shoes immediately upon reaching the sand. Similar terms are "Benny," which is mostly used in the resort towns of the Jersey Shore.