Here are some reasons why Asbury Park may be the coolest location along the Jersey Shore.

Visit a place with a little more rock 'n' roll this summer.

Asbury Park has long been a favorite among enthusiasts of architectural and music history, and it has developed into an unexpected center of culture on the Jersey Shore.

Since the 1990s, the city has been gaining prominence, but in the last ten years, it has become an unmissable day trip from New York City (approximately a 70-minute drive away).

According to Tina Kerekes, a local designer, and manager of the Danny Clinch Transparent Gallery, "Asbury Park isn't just for us locals anymore." "People from all around the world are now coming here,"

A typical trip around the town can come across a drag queen bingo gathering or an unplanned drum circle on the boardwalk. In Asbury Park, surprises are celebrated.

According to local musician Rachel Ana Dobkin, "this town is about acceptance." People here are extremely open-minded and receptive to eclectic and original works of art and music.

Asbury Park is about originality as well. Every single local seems to have their pet project: the popular coffee shop is owned by a newspaper editor, the drag clubs are run by restaurant managers, and musicians own vintage clothes businesses. The smell of the seaside permeates every street, and swimwear is generally considered appropriate attire.

Asbury Park might be the East Coast's top contender if a place can have a "je ne sais quoi."

History of Asbury Park

At first, Asbury Park was a town known for its carnivals. People traveled there for its cutting-edge merry-go-round and boardwalk in the later 19th century. By 1930, live performances at the Convention Hall and Paramount Theatre attracted large crowds. It then gained notoriety for being a hub of culture, which is still very much the case today.

At the Silverball Museum, travel through time as a tribute to bygone eras. The boardwalk institution contains more than 600 operational pinball machines from the 1950s. Play all you can flip on the machines for an hour or spend the time taking an interactive history lecture.

Music Scene in Asbury Park
 

The lifeblood of Asbury Park is music. For a 1.6 square mile city, there are an astounding number of live music venues (at least 10 official venues, plus almost every bar and restaurant around).

Visit The Stone Pony to truly experience the scene. The historical location is most known for helping Bruce Springsteen and Jon Bon Jovi get their start in the music industry. Alternately, you might go to the nearby Wonder Bar ("Bruce hangs out there on a Sunday," one local advised). Locals are more likely to be spotted at the Asbury Park Yacht Club, Langosta Lounge, or Danny Clinch Transparent Gallery when they want to listen to free music, though.

Weekend parking is no longer available here, according to Kerekes. "We are conscious of making history. Many of these musicians are rising stars. They are on the rise, you can tell. It's tangible. It is visible."

When it reopened in 2019, the music venue Asbury Lanes joined the revitalization of Asbury Park. The performance venue, which had a vintage bowling alley in the back, was well-known for the DIY and punk scenes in the early 2000s. There are still traces of the past, despite the high-tech upgrading from its early days. On the benches of the bowling alley from the 1960s, there are stickers and posters from old shows stuck all over them.

A music, art, and surf festival called Sea Hear Now also takes over the beach for one weekend in September. Local up-and-comers from the area are consistently featured on the schedule, along with well-known performers like Stevie Nicks, Green Day, and Courtney Barnett.

Offers by Asbury Park Artists
 

Asbury Park is home to street art, boardwalk art, and gallery spaces. Internationally renowned artists' creations are adorning the boardwalk's blank walls as part of the Wooden Walls Mural Project. In the meanwhile, spaces like Art629, Parlor Gallery, and Whitepoint curate modern artwork by regional and international artists.

Shopping in Asbury Park
 

The carefully chosen store at Interwoven hums with equal amounts of metropolitan sophistication and beachy calm. Along with specific Asbury Park merchandise, the store carries designers like Clare Vivier and Rachel Comey.

Visit the Convention Hall to find Asbury Park's equivalent of a mall. The marketplace is home to stores like Drift and Sanctum Handmade, which sell locally crafted, boho jewelry with lots of crystals (stocked with beach dresses designed to go from day to night).

Shop for vintage items at the Asbury Park Antique Emporium, a treasure trove of antiquities. On its shelves, you can find everything from costume jewelry to luxurious rugs to worn-out novels.

LGBTQ+ Community in Asbury Park
Long regarded as New Jersey's unofficial gay capital, Asbury Park. The homosexual community has such a significant presence in this area that it is recognized as one of the groups that helped to spark Asbury Park's revitalization. (In 1970, Asbury staged its first Pride parade.)

Attend the weekly drag bingo at Paradise to get a glimpse inside the LGBTQ+ culture. A nearby establishment called Georgie's, which has been running since 1999, calls itself a "gay Cheers."

Best beaches in Asbury Park

Asbury Park Beach is incomparably more accessible than any other beach. You can go from drinking margaritas on a seafront patio to splashing in the waves in less than a minute. But in the summer, the beach could become busy due to this very convenience. Because of this, even if there is more than a mile of sand, you should show up early and establish your claim.

Visitors are required to pay a daily beach charge from Memorial Day to Labor Day. For guests, 13 years of age and older, passes cost $6 during the week and $9 on weekends and holidays. The beach is free to use for anyone under the age of 12.

In Asbury Park, people almost universally cherish their four-legged pets. However, Asbury Park Dog Beach is the only location where they are permitted on the sand. Puppies are allowed to run loose on the dog-friendly beach as long as their owners watch them carefully. The tiny community can be found along Asbury Park's northernmost stretch of coastline. Follow the sound of barking and enter through Fisherman's Parking Lot.

Even though surfing is a big part of Asbury Park culture, not many residents surf at the town's principal beach. The next beach south, Avon, is where many people usually go because the seas are less crowded but the surf is still excellent.

Best Restaurants in Asbury Park
 

It only seems logical that Asbury Park would have a robust culinary scene given the amount of culture on its streets. You can find everything there, from basic boardwalk food to fine Ethiopian cuisine.

Start at Cardinal Provisions, which is a favorite, especially for weekend brunch, when people swarm in for chicken and waffles, cacio e Pepe scrambled eggs, and strawberry rhubarb French toast, if you want to explore the local food scene.

Get some tacos at Pop's Garage when you start to get hungry on the beach. This vibrant and environmentally friendly Mexican restaurant, which is right on the boardwalk, is the closest thing to a tropical retreat you'll find along the Jersey Shore.

Although Frank's Deli is a little off the beaten path, the trip across town is well worth it if you're in the mood for some classic Americana. This is the kind of greasy spoon that Anthony Bourdain ate and that feels like the ideal remnant of an earlier time. Order one of Frank's renowned "overstuffed" sandwiches, which certainly live up to their moniker, to eat like a local. This diner only accepts cash, just like all the best ones.

Visit the Parisian-style brasserie Pascal & Sabine when the occasion calls for a party. The restaurant's sleek, dark walls create a posh atmosphere, and its cuisine, which includes dishes like caviar, steak tartare, and escargot, has a decidedly European flair.

One of Asbury Park's most well-known seafood restaurants, The Bonney Read, is located right in the center of the city (which is saying something in a seaside town). Stay for the rum flights; come for the raw bar. Make sure you know how to return to your accommodation, though.

Best Hotels in Asbury Park
 

Locals who have lived there for a long time may give The Asbury credit for sparking the area's most recent tourism boom. The 110-room hotel, which is only a few blocks from the beach, has established itself as a prominent presence in the community. Its social programming may be partly to blame for this.

The Asbury's co-owner David Bowd told T+L that the goal of the building has always been to serve as a hub for gatherings. "It was always meant to be accessible and reasonable. It makes them feel extremely at ease."

During a normal visit, locals and guests are likely to be gathered in the lobby for nightly live music, on the rooftop for handmade cocktails, or by the pool when the weather starts to heat up.

The Asbury Ocean Club, which debuted in 2019, is the place to go if you're seeking glitz right on the beach. It welcomed a new kind of traveler to the area. A 17-story oceanfront tower houses the hotel's 54 rooms, the majority of which are on the fourth floor (the rest of the building is made of up fancy condominiums). A rooftop pool, suite-style rooms with floor-to-ceiling windows, an ocean-view fitness center with free yoga lessons, and other upscale amenities are available to hotel guests.