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By Avalon Zoppo | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com and Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media for NJ.comJersey Shore beaches were dotted with colorful umbrellas, sunbathers and beachgoers Sunday, making some towns look like the Fourth of July weekend.
Daytrippers trekking to the sand to beat the heat caused traffic along the Garden State Parkway, as temperatures soared above 90 degrees in some parts of the state, like Trenton and Newark. “It’s crowded like a summer day,” a Belmar beach official said. Picture time breaks out on a jetty. The beach in Asbury Park was packed on Sunday, May 23, 2021, a week before the official start of summer.Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com In Asbury Park, Amanda Hager was on the beach for the first time since last August, dancing with a hula hoop. “I’m just having fun, it’s what I do. But I can’t wait for the Stone Pony Summer Stage,” she said. With no lifeguards on duty until Memorial Day weekend in most towns and high risk for rip currents, some warned visitors to stay out of the water. An offshore storm was expected to cause swells, making swimming potentially dangerous. “It may be getting warmer but remember, lifeguards are still NOT on duty. Do not risk your lives in dangerous water,” Seaside Park wrote on its Facebook page going into the weekend. Amanda Hager hula hoops a week before the official start of summer in Asbury Park, N.J. on May, 23, 2021.Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com The beach in Asbury Park was packed on Sunday, May 23, 2021, a week before the official start of summer.Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com Fran Maiatico and Cara Maiatico sit at the edge of the Atlantic Ocean a week before the official start of summer in Asbury Park on Sunday, May 23, 2021. Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com Picture time breaks out on a jetty. The beach in Asbury Park was packed on Sunday, May 23, 2021, a week before the official start of summer.Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com Crowds arrived in Asbury Park on Sunday, May 23, 2021, a week before the official start of summer.Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com The beach in Asbury Park was packed on Sunday, May 23, 2021, a week before the official start of summer.Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com The beach in Asbury Park was packed on Sunday, May 23, 2021, a week before the official start of summer.Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com The beach in Asbury Park was packed on Sunday, May 23, 2021, a week before the official start of summer.Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com A week before the official start of summer, The Jersey Shore enjoyed a day of summer-like heat on Sunday, May 23, 2021, a week before the official start of summer.Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com A week before the official start of summer, The Jersey Shore enjoyed a day of summer-like heat on Sunday, May 23, 2021, a week before the official start of summer.Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com A week before the official start of summer, The Jersey Shore enjoyed a day of summer-like heat on Sunday, May 23, 2021, a week before the official start of summer.Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com The beach in Asbury Park was packed on Sunday, May 23, 2021, a week before the official start of summer.Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com Selfie time breaks out on a jetty in Asbury Park on Sunday, May 23, 2021, a week before the official start of summer.Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com Fran Maiatico and Cara Maiatico get a dose of the cold Atlantic Ocean as they sit on chairs as the tide rolls in. The beach in Asbury Park was packed on Sunday, May 23, 2021, a week before the official start of summer.Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com The beach in Asbury Park was packed on Sunday, May 23, 2021, a week before the official start of summe
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Generations of families have spent summers relaxing, attending church and Bible studies, and reconnecting with family and friends in the community’s tent city.By Caren Chesler | | May 24, 2019 | Appears in the June 2019 issue
Colorful awnings, flags and flowers adorn Ocean Grove's tents each summer. All photos by James J. ConnollyThree images greet visitors to Ocean Grove: the inviting downtown, the narrow streets lined with diminutive Victorians, and the neat rows of tiny tent houses that flank the massive Great Auditorium. Jenifer Green-Grigg was baptized in the Great Auditorium and has summered in a tent house for 45 years—almost her entire adult life. She lives in nearby Spring Lake but moves to her tent each summer with her husband and 14-year-old son. All three sleep in the same canvas-covered room. “Sleeping in the tent is magical,” says Green-Grigg. “When it rains, you can hear the rain, and we can hear the ocean.” Jenifer Green-Grigg inside her Ocean Grove tent house. Ad Green-Grigg’s extended family also spends summers in the tent city: Her parents are at 1 Mount Zion Way, her grandparents at number 3, and her aunt at number 5. Her brother’s tent house is around the corner. When Green-Grigg was young and relatives came to visit, two families—eight people in all—squeezed into one tent. Sunset illuminates the sky above the Great Auditorium. For more than 100 years, generations of families have spent summers relaxing, attending church and Bible studies, and reconnecting with family and friends at Ocean Grove’s tent city, a unique complex of tiny residences clustered into several square blocks of this unincorporated Monmouth County community within Neptune Township. Largely used by seasonal congregants, the tents fan out from three sides of the Great Auditorium—a 6,250-seat gathering place for religious services, speakers and concerts. The building is separated from the Ocean Grove beaches by a three-block swath of lawn that funnels the morning sunlight onto the auditorium’s yellow-shingled facade and striped awnings. Each of the tent homes is constructed on a wooden platform, the largest being about 13 feet by 18 feet. On the platform, a permanent wooden structure called a cabin houses the kitchen and bathroom. A canvas section pops out during the summer to create a living room or bedroom. In front of the canvas section juts a narrow porch, often covered by an awning. During the summer, ferns, petunias, and impatiens adorn the front porches. American flags are a common sight. Come Labor Day, the residents take down the plants and close the tents for the season, leaving just a platform, the wooden cabin (used as an off-season storage shed) and a couple of wooden poles out front. The tents are just one of the unique features that draw people to Ocean Grove. The inclusive community’s 19th-century charm is a magnet for a diverse colony of artists and other creative types, who in recent decades have been gobbling up Ocean Grove’s cozy, gingerbread-trimmed homes. Their decidedly 21st-century influence has not changed the town’s religious character. The Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association, a Methodist group, still owns the land and grants homebuyers 99-year renewable leases on their property. Tent inhabitants do not have to be Methodist, but they do have to support the association’s spiritual mission. A group of Methodists in search of a seaside location for worship founded the town shortly after the Civil War. They appreciated that their new community was relatively free of mosquitoes, a concern because of outbreaks of malaria and yellow fever at the time. The Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association was formed in 1869; the Great Auditorium was completed in 1894. Over the years, dignitaries such as Ulysses S. Grant visited the Great Auditorium; other presidents, including Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson and Richard Nixon, have spoken there. It also serves as a music venue, hosting acts as eclectic as Peter, Paul and Mary; a Queen tribute band; and contemporary Christian star Matthew West. “It was built to help people heal after the Civil War,” says Green-Grigg’s father, Jack Green, a local developer, Great Auditorium usher for 50 years and a Camp Meeting Association trustee. He has fond memories of childhood here. “There were no cars anywhere,” he recalls. “You couldn’t even see a car. But that all changed in the 1970s, when the town was forced to open its gates to cars and join the 20th century.” Homes along Pilgrim Pathway. Contrasts abound. Church bells play inspirational music, and ushers dress in blue blazers and white pants for Sunday services at the Great Auditorium. Three blocks away, sunbathers lounge on the beach. For the Fourth of July parade, the Ladies Auxiliary, a church group, marches in red shirts and white shorts with flags and banners promoting their plant sale and ice cream social. Not far behind, a car draped in a rainbow flag carries members of Ocean Grove United, a local LGBT group. Yet Ocean Grove remains a quiet oasis. Neighboring Asbury Park draws crowds with its bars, restaurants and music venues. Ocean Grove is a dry town; day-trippers tend to be families with children. New Yorkers Kim Collan and Jason Beer enjoy breakfast at the Starving Artist. Arnold Teixeira, a longtime resident and owner of the Starving Artist (47 Olin Street), a popular breakfast and lunch spot, says those who go to Asbury Park tend to stay there—although they might take a quick peek across Lake Wesley at Ocean Grove. “They walk over the bridge,” says Teixeira, “and they say, ‘Ooh, how cute,’ and then they go back to Asbury Park.” Other local business owners thank Asbury Park for bringing more people to the area. “Our weekends were busy both years,” says Barbara Eisel, who for the past two summers has owned the 19-room Bath Avenue Guest House (37 Bath Avenue), a B&B two blocks from the Ocean Grove beach. “Now,” she says, “I’m seeing business during the week. It’s just nonstop.” She says many guests stay for a night to see a show at the Stone Pony or the Convention Center in Asbury Park. Others come for the gentle delights of Ocean Grove. “You feel like you’re in Mayberry,” says Eisel. “Everybody is so friendly. It just cracks me up.” Eisel’s partner, Sandra Carioti, who worked in institutional bond sales on Wall Street before buying the bed and breakfast with Eisel, says she appreciates the proximity of Asbury’s nightlife. “And then,” she says, “you can leave it behind, sit quietly on this porch, look at the ocean and get the breeze.” Laura Massaro, co-owner and co-manager of the Laingdon Hotel (8 Ocean Avenue) just across from the beach, says visitors like the quiet and noncommercial boardwalk. She notes that the town’s beach was listed among the world’s 15 Best Beaches in Fodor’s guide for 2014, along with locations like Cartagena, Corfu, Corsica and Belize. “We have definitely benefited from Asbury’s popularity,” says Massaro, who is also a Realtor for Re/Max Gateway. She refers to the two towns as “innocence and decadence.” No explanation required. Asbury Park’s vibrant restaurant scene leaves its neighbor in the dust, but Ocean Grove is not without its downtown options, however quaint. Pear trees, wrought-iron lampposts and a clock tower punctuate the commercial district, a two-block stretch of Main Avenue. Here you can get seafood, steaks and chops at SeaGrass (68 Main Avenue), or pizza at Osteria Procaccini (50 Main Avenue). For something sweet, there’s the Ocean Grove Bake Shoppe (55 Main Avenue) and Ocean Freeze Shaved Ice (56 Main Avenue); for a pick-me-up, there’s Odyssey Coffee (50 Main Avenue). If you’re heading to the beach, you can pick up a baguette, cheese and olives at Cheese on Main (53 Main Avenue), or stop by Ocean Grove Hardware (51 Main Avenue) to rent a bike or buy a pail, shovel and flippers. But while Ocean Grove is a hive of activity in the summer, it’s all but dead in the winter—so much so that Teixeira now shuts his restaurant for the month of January. “There’s no one here in the winter time,” he says. “No one.” It wasn’t always this way. Lately, he says, escalating property taxes have pushed people out in waves. On one block of 10 homes, four full-time residents sold in the last three years to New Yorkers who wanted second homes. Some longtime residents fear an ongoing tax assessment will result in another tax hike. “I have a feeling,” says Teixeira, “that any of the people who have been here very long, that held on—this will be what pushes them out.” Co-owners Barbara Eisel, left, and Sandra Carioti serve home-baked goods to patrons at the Bath Avenue Guest House. That’s unlikely to be the case among the tent dwellers, although their seasonal fees have gone up too. The tents used to rent for $75-$100 for the season. These days, they run $4,000-$7,000, including water. Utilities are additional. Change is noticeable inside the tents, too. Green-Grigg’s tent has a TV and air conditioner, and even Wi-Fi. A few years ago, her husband and she renovated the kitchen, replacing the old stove with a Jenn Air grill, toaster oven and microwave, and adding IKEA cabinets and a breakfast bar. They also put in insulation, giving them a modicum of privacy. “With a lot of the original tents,” she says, “you could really hear everything.” Consuming alcohol is still prohibited, but not unheard of. Now, she says, “it’s definitely loosened.” Even Ocean Grove likes to party sometimes. An old souvenir picture book of Asbury Park proclaims, "In 1869 the land on which the City of Asbury Park now stands was nothing but forest and sand dunes without house or habitat." James A. Bradley, a developer and visionary, changed all that. He discovered the land that was to become Asbury Park while vacationing in Ocean Grove, a Methodist retreat situ-ated immediately to the south of the city. As described in his diary, Bradley happened upon the area and recognizing its resort potential, quickly began negotiations for its purchase. On January 24, 1871, Bradley acquired approximately 500 acres of land contained east of the railroad, between Wesley and Deal lakes, for approximately $90,000. He named his community Asbury Park after Francis Asbury, the founder of Methodism in America.
Between 1871 to the time of his death in 1921, Bradley was deeply involved in every aspect of the development of Asbury Park. He planned the layout of the area before the first structure was built. He set aside park lands and waterfront areas. The urban scale blocks, remarkable in the 100-foot width of the avenues, flaring to 200 feet at the ocean, to this day provide a feeling of spaciousness often lacking in seaside resorts. Asbury Park Arcade, 1908 [Courtesy Jersey Shore Postcard Page] Bradley took full advantage of the natural assets surrounding and contained within the tract of land he purchased. The land surrounding the three lakes within city limits were designed as public areas. He planned a plank walk along the ocean for strolling and restful enjoyment of the shore area. Bradley wanted a special character for Asbury Park and donated land to religious and civic groups, offering only large residential lots. Most of the churches front 100-foot-wide Grand Avenue and are surrounded by large Victorian-style "summer" homes. The religious area is contained around Library Square Park. The library, a lovely example of turn-of-the-century architecture, was built on land donated by Bradley. The commercial areas of Main Street and Cookman Avenue were all planned in advance. Bradley had traveled extensively in Europe and incorporated into the planning for Asbury Park ideas already proven successful on the Continent. The result of his planning and attention to detail gives Asbury Park a distinctly unique appearance, somewhat like a mini-Paris, rather than the usual randomly developed American town. In the beginning, the town took on the appearance of the typical pioneer town. Understandably, as all the original structures were wooden, Bradley organized the first fire department, the Wesley Steam Fire-Engine Company No. 1, within the first year of development. As Asbury Park was intended as a year-round community, the first school session was held in 1872 in a room in Park Hall, the first building erected by Bradley. The building, no longer standing, also served as headquarters for all business, social and religious activities during Asbury's early years. Monterey Hotel, Asbury Park, 1916 [Courtesy Jersey Shore Postcard Page] Washington White erected the first store in Asbury Park. It was later enlarged and in 1873 became the Lake View Hotel, the city's first hotel. Asbury Park's first post office was established in October 1874, with Bradley as the first Postmaster. The Asbury Park Journal, established January 29, 1876 by Bradley as a weekly newspaper, was printed by the Brooklyn Eagle until June 1878. When Bradley started developing the city, the railroad did not stop in Asbury Park; Bradley provided horse-drawn coaches to pick up vacationers at the train depot in Long Branch, the resort town to the north. By 1877 several large hotels had been established, notably the Coleman House, which occupied an entire city block on Ocean Avenue between Asbury and First avenues. Asbury Park, in 1881, was the first seaside resort on the American continent to adopt a perfect sanitary sewer system. Water was supplied to the city from the very beginning from artesian wells. An opera house, on Sewall Avenue near Grand, was erected in 1882. It had a seating capacity of twelve hundred. In 1885, a trolley system was constructed that circulated from the train station through the shopping district and beachfront and then through the residential areas near Deal Lake to Main Street and back to the station. Asbury Park's trolley system was the second electric system in the United States; previous trolleys were horse drawn. Asbury Park was the first community of the Monmouth County coast to use the electric light service provided by the Asbury Park Electric Light and Power Co. starting June 20, 1885. Asbury Park Boardwalk, 1971 [Courtesy Jersey Shore Postcard Page] The early Boardwalk was really a plank walk, consisting of portable planks. Bradley built a fishing pier, eventually enlarged the Boardwalk and began placing old boats and carriages along side it for the amusement of children. The Steeplechase, a forerunner of the modern roller coaster ride, was built between Second and Third avenues; a merry-go-round and Ferris wheel were built near Wesley Lake in the 1890s. By 1890, there were over a dozen hotels that could accommodate better than 2500 guests and more than 1000 guest cottages. The first "Baby Parade" was held in 1890 and became a yearly event. In less than 25 years Asbury Park had become renowned throughout the country for its grandeur. In 1903, Bradley sold the Boardwalk and beachfront to the city. The city rapidly set about redeveloping the area and soon the Boardwalk could boast such grand structures as the Esplanade, Beach Natatorium, 7th Avenue Pavilion, and the original Casino. A fishing pier was built at the foot of First Avenue that extended 500 feet into the surf. Men in white straw hats and women in white-linen, bustled dresses, carrying lace-trimmed umbrellas, would promenade the length of the mile-long boardwalk. In the evenings, bands would play for the enjoyment of the promenaders. In 1904, Arthur Pryor, who had once been a member of the John Phillip Sousa band, began a series of concerts that performed each summer on the Boardwalk. In 1906, Asbury Park doubled its size by annexing the area west of the railroad, then known as West Park and part of Neptune Township. Asbury Park continued to grow. Soon the commercial section included four banks. The magnificent post office building, after moving three times, was finally located in 1909 at its present site on Main Street. The post office is included on both the State and National Register of Historic Places. Steinbach's Department store, built in 1912, soon became the leading retail establishment for the entire northern shore area. The Cookman Avenue shopping district was exceptionally prosperous, attracting vacationers, local and regional shoppers. On April 5, 1917, Asbury Park experienced its greatest fire. Four blocks of hotels, boarding houses and residences, part of the Boardwalk, and the First Methodist Episcopal church, a total of over 50 buildings, were destroyed. Asbury Park Casino, 1996 Asbury Park recovered from the fire and severe devastation caused by a winter storm in 1923 with a building boom. Among the buildings built during this rejuvenation were the Santander, long known as a posh summer apartment house, the Berkeley-Carteret, Convention Hall and the Casino. The Casino and Convention Hall were designed by the architects Warren and Wetmore, who designed New York's Grand Central Station. Convention Hall, a unique structure, also included on the State and National Register, would fit comfortably on St. Mark's Square in Venice. Asbury Park Convention Hall, 1996 The hall, presently earmarked for extensive changes, has hosted performances by world-famous entertainers, trade shows and folk festivals. The Casino, located at the south end of the Boardwalk, is presently considered eligible for listing on the Register of Historic Places. The circular Carousel structure, attached to the Casino, resembles a royal crown, a fitting symbol for this jewel of a city. Cookman Avenue, to a large degree, still retains the look of an early twentieth-century shopping center. The bank buildings, built in this section of the city, remain as outstanding examples of the architecture of that era. The area west of the railroad began to be settled as early as the 1880s by people needed as support staff for the many large hotels, and numerous services provided for the tourist trade. There are small cottage developments on the west side that appear to be untouched by time. By the 1930s, the city had become "the" place to be on the Jersey Shore. There was a swan boat and paddle boats on Wesley Lake, pony rides and miniature golf on Ocean Avenue. A foot bridge crossed Ocean Avenue near the Berkeley-Carteret, providing easy access to the many pavilions, several of which provided both fresh- and salt-water swimming pools. During the evenings, noted "Big Bands" played at the various pavilions for dancing. Asbury Park got through World War II gasoline rationing and wartime shortages by having the British Navy take over the Monterey and Berkeley-Carteret and the British Army take over the Kingsley Arms. Asbury Park Boardwalk, 1996 The post-war years brought drastic changes in the lifestyle of the average American. Slowly but steadily those changes took their toll on Asbury Park. One-stop shopping centers, which included movie theaters, began the decline of the commercial business district. Better roads and greater prosperity provided the opportunity for vacations further from home. Air travel came within the means of the average citizen. Asbury Park was by then well established as a year-round community, and to a large extent self-sustaining. Asbury Park had so much going for it by then that the effects were at first imperceptible. By the late 1960s, when Bruce Springsteen first came of age, he could only see a vision of an Asbury Park that was declining, but Springsteen's vision has already disappeared. The City Council started implementing a plan for revitalization; the changed economy has made it necessary to go back to square one, forcing the council to revise plans for a "new" renewal. Asbury Park has experienced renewal several limes before, coming back after fires, hurricanes and economic hard times in the past. The council has had to call in experts in the past, and finally move on to turn things around. The process of change has never been rapid in the past, not for Asbury Park, nor for other cities going through a rebirth, but like the Phoenix of Egyptian mythology, Asbury Park has always managed to rise again. A very convenient location and great infrastructure will again be the features that bring Asbury Park back to prominence. Copyright ©1991 by Florence J. Moss James Adam Bradley (February 14, 1830 – June 6, 1921) was a wealthy Manhattan brush manufacturer, financier, member of the New Jersey Senate, philanthropist, and real estate developer.[1] He designed the resort destination of Asbury Park on the New Jersey Shore.[2] Bradley was also involved in the development of Bradley Beach, which bears his name.[3]
ContentsBiography[edit]Bradley was born on February 14, 1830 in Rossville, Staten Island to Hannah and Adam Bradley. At age sixteen, in 1846, he became an apprentice brush maker for Bernalds and Weeks in New York City.[1] In 1857 he established his own brush making business, Bradley & Smith, in New York City. Bradley was married to Helen M. Packard of Boston; they had no children. Bradley converted from Catholic to Methodist, and was very close philosophically with the leaders of the Ocean Grove Meeting Association who ran the summer retreat on the New Jersey shore. These relationships lead Bradley to focus his attention on developing the area around Ocean Grove. On January 24, 1871, Bradley acquired approximately 500 acres (2.0 km2) of land east of the New York and Long Branch railroad, between Wesley and Deal lakes. Bradley named the new community Asbury Park after Francis Asbury, the founder of Methodism in the United States.[4] Bradley served as the first postmaster of Asbury Park from 1874 to 1884, and established the city's first newspaper, the Asbury Park Journal (1876–1910) in 1876, serving as its editor and until 1882. Bradley began Asbury Park’s first sewerage system in 1881, and setup water & gas works in 1884. Bradley also served as Mayor of Asbury Park, New Jersey and councilman. In 1894, Bradley was elected to the New Jersey Senate from Monmouth County. The City of Asbury Park sued Bradley for control of his beach front property, and sewer system in 1902. Bradley lost the suit. Bradley died June 6, 1921.[1] He was interred at Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx, New York. Legacy[edit] Statue at Bradley Park in Asbury Park, New JerseyA statue of Bradley stands in front of the Paramount Theater and Convention Hall complex in Bradley Park. Constructed shortly after his death to mark the 50th anniversary of the city's founding, a campaign began in 2017 to remove the statue based on Bradley's history of instituting segregation on the beach and boardwalk that he owned. Bradley was pressured into this by hotel owners and a campaign by the Asbury Park Daily Journal upon complaints of White visitors in 1885. Previously, the oceanfront was open to all.[5] Bradley openly explained his motivations to Black groups. He felt that should Asbury Park remain integrated and cease to attract White visitors, economic ruin would result. The city's economy was negatively impacted in the 1970s when the number of White visitors declined after the beach and boardwalk were reintegrated. Members of the Asbury Park Historical Society acknowledged Bradley's use of segregation but opposed removal of the statue.[6] Bradley set aside park lands, waterfront areas, and urban scale blocks, that widened at the ocean. Bradley donated land to religious and civic groups, and the public library. Bradley is responsible for the creation of the mile long oceanfront boardwalk that remains today. [7] Point Pleasant Beach is an enchanting little shore town in Ocean County that continuously ranks as one of the best beaches to visit in NJ. It was established as a borough on June 2, 1886, after which waves of tourism started and never truly stopped to this day. You'll find welcoming waters, pure white sand beaches, a bustling boardwalk with rides, bars, classic junk food, and sweet n' salty snacks along its shoreline. Come see what the hype is about. This is one of the perfect shore towns in NJ as far as diversity goes because it can cater to couples, friends, families, and singles equally.
One Mile Long But Miles of Fun! Despite being only a few miles away from other beaches and summer attractions, the boardwalk in Point Pleasant Beach, NJ has a lot to offer visitors. It is home to the Jenkinson’s Boardwalk, which attracts families with children of all ages because it has rides, games, and activities that everyone will enjoy. Other places you can go on or near this boardwalk include numerous arcades, the beach, and the Jenkinson’s Aquarium, where you can see a variety of animals, take part in kid-friendly activities, and possibly adopt an animal! Point Pleasant Boardwalk 732-892-0600 | Ocean County Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey Point Pleasant NJ Boardwalk GuideTaking the one-mile walk down the Point Pleasant Boardwalk is a perfect option for those who want to keep busy all day. There truly is so much to do, it can't be done in one day. A perfect boardwalk experienc... Read More Visit WebsiteView Details The Center of It All! Jenkinson's Boardwalk is the epicenter of life during the summer in Point Pleasant Beach. From a state-of-the-art aquarium featuring more than just sea creatures to a full boardwalk with staples such as pizza, hot dogs, and fried oreos, Jenkinson's has remained the crowd favorite on the Point Pleasant Boardwalk. Cool off and make a splash with the Asbury Park Splash Park! For a small fee, families can enter this small but awesome park, filled with things children will love. Leave the san behind but still stay cool in this park that’s open every day in the summer. There is even a deal where you can purchase a ticket for bowling and mini-golf!
Location:950 Ocean Ave, Asbury Park, Monmouth County, New Jersey 07712 Visit Website:View Website Phone:732-897-6538 Since 2007, Asbury Park has been working on renovations to attract new visitors, tourists and residents alike. The Asbury Park boardwalk is now bigger and better than ever. They boast a one-mile long boardwalk with attractions such as Convention Hall, Asbury Splash Park and Silverball Museum Arcade. The entire family can have fun on the boardwalk and since it is only 60 miles south of New York City and about 90 minutes north of Atlantic City, everyone in the surrounding area can easily take a trip there for the day.
Although many of the historical buildings and landmarks such as the old casino have since closed, there is still a lot of beauty to Asbury Park. People will be amazed by the breathtaking views of the beach and inspired by the spectacular music scene. As a town favorite of musician Bruce Springsteen, it is only natural that music be integrated into everyday life. People from all corners of the NJ travel to Asbury Park so they can see a concert at The Stone Pony, one of the most popular venues in the state. Here's The Scoop!
We've got all you need to know about visiting Bradley Beach, NJ. The coastal region is home to family-friendly and couple-friendly activities, so whoever is coming will enjoy themselves. It's even been rated a top location in NJ by tourists and residents alike. See it for yourself by planning the perfect trip with the help of our informative guide. Located between Avon by the Sea and Ocean Grove, Bradley Beach is a beautiful beach where you can spend long summer days. Although their boardwalk is small, there is plenty to do and you will never be bored. Map of Bradley Beach, NJ. Bradley Beach Boardwalk 732-776-2999 | Monmouth County Bradley Beach, New Jersey NJ Boardwalk TownsBradley Beach Boardwalk offers a number of options of activities whether is kicking back and relaxing with a book or enjoying some local fare. Check it out for yourself to be the judge of this boardwal... Read More Visit WebsiteView Details A Shore-ly Fun Getaway Spend a quick weekend in a charming shore town of your choice by planning a coastal town getaway for yourself and any friends or family that want to come along! You can spend your brief vacation getting in on the action or kicking back and relaxing. Voted one of the top 15 beaches in the world by Fodor’s, Ocean Grove, New Jersey attracts travelers from far and wide. This quiet stretch of shoreline is a jewel of the Jersey Shore and features pristine white sand, gentle waves, and a boardwalk. It’s perfect for a relaxing getaway with friends and family! Whether you’re planning a quick weekend trip or an extended summer stay, Ocean Grove Beach, NJ has everything you’re looking for and more. Here’s how you can have an epic day at the beach.
Experience Ocean Grove Beach, NJ1. Head to the SandOcean Grove offers relief from the crowds and noise of other New Jersey beaches. It’s a great place to get some summer reading done, watch the kids play in the surf, or simply enjoy the sun. You’ll also find bathrooms and a snack shack. In the summertime, check out fun activities like sandcastle contests, boogie board and inner tube races, kite flying contest, volleyball games, and more. Just be sure to load up on sunscreen! Note: Like most NJ beaches, Ocean Grove requires guests to purchase a pass. We sell discounted daily beach passes to our guests for $5 instead of $8 down at the beach. Seasonal and weekly beach badges are also available at the Beach Office located on the boardwalk at the end of Embury Avenue. 2. Grab LunchWhen your stomach starts to grumble, leave your beach chair in the sand and take a short stroll to one of the best Ocean Grove restaurants. The charming downtown area is only two blocks from the boardwalk and is perfect for a quick bite. Enjoy classic American fare at Nagle’s or The Starving Artist at Days. Or choose from a variety of savory pies, soups, and salads at Burbelmaiers. If you’re craving something light and fresh, try the Asian tuna salad at SeaGrass Restaurant. It’s absolutely delicious! 3. Do Some ShoppingAre you in need of a little retail therapy? Be sure to pop into a few of the stores that line Ocean Grove’s Main Avenue on your way back to the beach. From art galleries and surf shops to one-of-a-boutiques, you’re sure to find the perfect souvenir. 4. Watch the SunsetThere’s nothing quite like a Jersey Shore sunset. Here in Ocean Grove, you’ll find many beach-goers relaxing in the sand long after the lifeguards have left. It’s a great time to go for a run, fly a kite, and watch the sky change. Throw on a sweatshirt and enjoy a beautiful display of color as your beach day comes to a close. |
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