ASBURY PARK, NJ
The perfect uptown, downtown and main street mix, Asbury Park has all the highlights of a great beach town, minus the cheese factor. Unless you want some on your fries, in which case head straight to the boardwalk. Vegetarians will love this Monmouth County gem (a little under two hours on NJ Transit from Penn Station or 75 minutes by car) where meat-free options abound, including Twisted Tree Cafe (twistedtreecafe.com), spicy Korean tofu tacos at Mogo (eatmogo.com) and vegan icecream at Eddie Confetti’s on the board walk.
What’s new:
Beers are a must at the Asbury Festhalle & Biergarten (asburybiergarten.com), a massive German-style beer garden with delicious house-made soft pretzels the size of your head and strapping bartenders who will happily help you navigate the extensive brew menu. Go early and snag a seat at the open-air upstairs bar. Speaking of brew, a beer flight with breakfast at Brickwall Tavern (brickwalltavern.com) on Cookman Ave. — Asbury’s main drag — is also a good idea. If you’re in the mood to buy, Shore shopping gets a makeover with Market at Fifth Ave. (1200 Ocean Ave., on the boardwalk), a fashion collective featuring accessories, apparel and offbeat finds from local and national designers.
Don’t miss:
Spend a half hour at the Silverball Museum Arcade (silverballmuseum.com), a massive selection of vintage pinball and arcade games where $7.50 gets you all-you-can-play for 30 minutes. And don’t miss the old-school Convention Hall (apboardwalk.com). The majestic structure is home to Asbury Park Roasters (iced coffee is a must), the Anchor’s Bend, a lowkey drinks spot with a beautiful ocean view and pop-up night markets and concerts.
No trip to Asbury is complete without popping your head in to the Stone Pony (stoneponyonline.com) and Wonderbar (wonderbarasburypark.com). The pet-frendly Yappy Hour, complete with doggy swimming pools, could easily steal the show had Bruce Spingsteen not performed two surprise gigs at Wonderbar over the last three weeks.
Stay:
The Berkeley Oceanfront Hotel (1401 Ocean Ave., berkeleyhotelnj.com) — just steps from the boardwalk — is more than 100 years old, but boasts modern luxuries, thanks to recent renovations that complement the original Victorian architecture.