>>Back in NJ, we always said we were "going down the shore" when you were going to the beach, even though in almost all cases it was east.
>
>Quick! Delete that before Dragan starts a language rant for next week on our dropping "to" from the expression! :-)
>
>FWIW in England one "goes down the pub", etc, too.

Droping the "to" not withstanding, maybe it was always "down" in reference to sea level. NJ, while not very high, is above sea level.