Ask a longtime resident where the town's center of gravity sits in August, and the answer used to be simple: the pier block on Roland Avenue. This year the answer is different. The sound side of the island, roughly the stretch of North New River Drive along the Intracoastal and the two-acre lawn at Soundside Park, has quietly absorbed most of the summer calendar. Two new waterfront rooms opened, a third reopened after renovations, and the town's free concert nights land there through August.
None of that means the pier block has gone quiet. It means the season has two centers now, and knowing which one to point out-of-town guests toward on a Friday depends on what's happening that specific weekend.
The soundside got a new anchor this spring
The most visible change is at 209 N. New River Drive, where Marina Joe's opened as a two-story restaurant on the Intracoastal Waterway. The operating group includes Joe Lyons, Justin and Becca Smith, and brothers Clay and Scott Darren. The Smiths bring three decades of Wilmington restaurant history to the table, having previously owned YoSake, Dram + Morsel, Little Dipper, The Husk, and Mixto, with current ownership stakes in Proust, Anne Bonny's, and The Rift.
The building was designed around the view. The two-story Marina Joe's offers indoor and outdoor dining with about 170 seats, thirty of them on outdoor decks facing soundside views, and Lyons told Port City Daily the lot is angled toward the swing bridge. What matters for locals is the operating plan: rather than shuttering after Labor Day, Lyons said the restaurant would not necessarily close altogether during winter months, betting on a year-round base of Holly Ridge and Surf City residents.
A quarter mile north, Surf City Line reopened this spring after a shutdown for renovations. Per the North Carolina Restaurant & Lodging Association's activity report, the restaurant at 2112 N. New River Drive underwent upgrades and expansions ahead of its five-year anniversary and the 2026 season, reopening on March 17. If you haven't been back since last summer, the room reads differently.
Together those two openings put roughly a mile of active ICW dining on the same drive, which is why the town's foot traffic map looks different this August than it did in August 2024.
The Soundside Park calendar, at a glance
Soundside Park at 517 Roland Avenue is doing most of the programming work. Here's what's booked for the back half of summer and into fall.
| Date | Event | Time | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fri, Jul 31 | Shop the Sound Craft & Farmers Market | 8 AM–12 PM | Free |
| Fri, Aug 28 | Meet Me at the Sound: Carl Newton's Review | 7–9 PM | Free |
| Fri, Sep 25 | Shop the Sound Craft & Farmers Market | 8–11 AM | Free |
| Fri, Oct 23 | Shop the Sound Craft & Farmers Market | 8–11 AM | Free |
The one to plan around
The August concert is the anchor. Meet Me at the Sound runs June 26, July 24, and August 28, 2026 from 7 to 9 PM at Soundside Park, and it is a free event. Per Visit Pender, the August 28 date features Carl Newton's Review from 7 to 9 PM, a free concert with blankets and chairs welcome and a rotating set of local food and drink vendors. The July date leaned Christian rock with Scotti Stringz performing with Patrick Brown from North Tower band on drums. If you skipped it, the August night is the last of the series.
Sundown movie nights on the same lawn round out the family calendar, with recent programming including Moana.
The pier block still holds its regulars
The Roland Avenue side of the island did not empty out. It simplified.
JM's on the Water at 602-B Roland Avenue shifted to a full-week schedule this season. Per the restaurant's own site, JM's is officially open full-time beginning May 25, which closed the Monday and Tuesday gap that had shaped a lot of resident dinner routines the last few years. The name traces back three generations to Joseph Montgomery Moseley, J.M.'s grandfather and Joe's father, who also went by J.M.
Daddy Mac's Beach Grille stays on its familiar rhythm: closed Monday, Tuesday through Saturday 11–3 with dinner 5–9, Sunday brunch 10–3 and dinner till 9. Two things worth remembering before you head over. First, Daddy Mac's does not offer reservations, so a Saturday dinner is a walk-in wait. Second, parking gets confused on busy nights because the front lot is shared with Shaka Taco, with the back lot reserved for Daddy Mac's customers.
If you have out-of-town family staying with you this month, the useful pattern is soundside for sunset dinner and pier block for the mid-day beach pivot, not the other way around.
Two September dates worth writing on the fridge now
Ocean Fest closes the summer season downtown. Per the festival's own site, Ocean Fest returns to downtown Surf City as a free all-day beachside celebration with live music, a vintage surf contest, a 5K beach run, eco education, local vendors, food and drinks, and family-friendly activities, all benefiting Mother Ocean. Parking downtown that day is the real planning problem, not the schedule.
For a different lane, the Greater Topsail Art Association is running its first automotive-and-fine-art show up the road in Hampstead. Per Visit Pender, DRIVEN: The Art of the Car takes place Saturday, September 19, 2026 at ArtExposure Gallery in Hampstead, presented by ArtExposure Gallery and the Greater Topsail Art Association. It is close enough to fold into a Saturday errand run if you live north of the swing bridge.
The September 25 market at Soundside Park is the third date, and it functions as the soft opening of shoulder season. Fewer strollers, more residents, better parking.
A quieter stop that punches above its weight
If you are hosting relatives who have already done the beach and the pier, the useful pivot is the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center. Daddy Mac's, which sponsors the hospital, notes on its site that the hospital is located in Surf City and provides tours throughout the year. A late-morning tour before a soundside lunch is the tidy version of a resident Saturday.
A small thesis about this August
The reason the two-center pattern matters is not gastronomic. It is that a town of this size only gets to reinvent its social geography every few years, and the New River Drive investments coincide with the town's summer programming settling into a repeatable calendar rather than a rotating one. That combination is what makes the current shape of the season feel different from last August, not any single opening on its own.
If you have lived here long enough to remember when the concert series was smaller and the ICW rooms were fewer, that is the shift you are feeling.
For neighbors who want to see what's currently on the market in Surf City or the broader Topsail area, or who have friends asking about the town after visiting this summer, Team Gale is happy to sit down for a straightforward conversation. Call (910) 541-1212 to reach the agent on duty, or request a home valuation if you are quietly wondering what your place would list for in the current market.