Ocean Grove, New Jersey. 2010. By Paul Goldfinger Cl ick once to enlarge.
SOUNDTRACK: The Fleet Foxes performing “White Winter Hymnal” from the film “Jack Goes Boating.”
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Asbury boards at 5:30 pm last Sunday. Paul Goldfinger photo and video ©
This past Sunday, late in the afternoon, we were on the Asbury boards where it was happening. There were musicians, photo shoots, busy restaurants, kids in the playground, bikers, and quite a few people walking the boardwalk—all kinds of people. We stopped at Days, walked on, and made a U turn near Convention Hall. People watching is really good in Asbury. The place has a happy feel. It wasn’t noisy, but there was a quiet cacophony due to all the board walkers. I could have done without the guy playing drums.
By the time we went through the Casino back to the Grove, dusk was settling in, and the sun was beginning to set. At 6:00 pm we were at the Pavilion.
It was striking how different the two towns were at around the same time. Asbury seemed more alive, like the Jersey Shore towns I experienced as a kid. But Asbury is not Seaside Heights or Pt. Pleasant, and it is the differences from town to town that make the Jersey Shore so fascinating.
These two shore towns (OG and AP) are both wonderful in their own ways, but so different. I think they complement each other. We are fortunate to be able to go so easily from one to the other. It’s almost like magic.
On the OG side, there were much fewer people, and the most striking difference was in the relative quiet on the OG boards. A woman walked by and said to her friend, “Look at the pier. It’s amazing.” But she was gone before I knew what was so amazing. The sound of her voice stuck out. There was some soft recorded music playing in the Pavilion. A few people were inside chatting.
Then I became aware of the bells. Those bells seem so peaceful and comforting unlike the sound of drums and an electric guitar over in Asbury.
Here is a sampling of the sounds in the Grove at 6:00 pm last Sunday at dusk. And then A.Park
ALY and A.J.
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Paul Goldfinger photo. Painter Diane Hutchinson turned this image into a painting (see link below). Click once to enlarge. Nagle’s will reopen in April, 2026.
SHE AND HIM:
Posted in Ocean Grove businesses, Ocean Grove Main Avenue photo news, Ocean Grove photographs, Ocean Grove restaurants | Tagged Nagle's Apothecary Café | 1 Comment »
Paul Goldfinger photo. Wegmans, Ocean
A new shipment of sweet onions had just arrived; from where? Maybe Peru.
Eileen and I were selecting some onions. We liked their color, size, shape, and potential for salads. We were discussing the situation.
Suddenly I felt a presence behind me; I turned. A man, perhaps age 60 was standing nearby staring at our onion exploration.
Me: “Eileen, I think this man wants to get at the onions.”
She: “OK;” We stepped aside.
Me: I turned toward the man and I said, “Ok you can get the onions. ”
Man: “I don’t want any”
Me: “Oh. It seemed like you do.”
Man: ” No; I was just eavesdropping on your conversation.”
Me to him: ” I didn’t know that we are so fascinating .” He smiled as did I.
Then we headed towards the potatoes. He stayed by the onions.
On the way to the cashier we squeezed some avocados. Eileen is an expert avocado squeezer. She picked out for, and we were done. She prefers to check out with a person. I like the electronic self checkout, but I need help about 1/3 the time. It’s more complicated than you might think.
” Duo For Two Shoppers in E Major” by Jacque Offenbach. Uh, oops—It’s for two cellos.
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Paul Goldfinger photo;
PINK MARTINI. “Donde Estas, Yolanda”
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The Asburians might think so, and the media coverage of the Casino plight ignores the Grove, but maybe they need to take the bypass or the breezeway. (when it opens) and walk on the OG wild side: After all, although we do have our religious side, secular Grove might be a surprise.
Girls in their summer clothes: Ocean Grove,NJ, USA. Paul Goldfinger photo Blogfinger.net
AMY WINEHOUSE:
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May 24, 2023: The Asbury side of the Casino breezeway which had been closed. Paul Goldfinger photo. Click once to enlarge
Ocean Grove side of the Casino 5/24/23. Asbury only put up the stone barricades on our side. Paul Goldfinger photo
LINK. 10/7/23
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Paul Goldfinger photo on the Casino bypass. It came in handy to go to and from the Zombies. Asbury Park made this happen. 10/7/23. Click to enlarge. Blogfinger.net.
We learned from Google search today (3/20/26) that the Casino bypass is open again.
While the recent debate over the Casino had been happening, the roof was repaired, and then, as promised, the bypass has reopened on March 19, 2026. The shortcut is approved for walkers and bikers but no electric devices .
That beach side walking path was a big help when the indoor “breezeway” was closed, and walkers and bikers needed a short way to get to one boardwalk or the other. Many have assumed that the Ocean Grove side belonged to the Grove up to the Casino entrance, but actually the Asbury boardwalk extended a short distance south past the Casino entrance. But, as a practical manner, when one exited the breezeway on the OG side, most people believed that they had stepped over the CMA OG property line.
The Google report on 3/19/26 is one of the few media discussions, besides Blogfinger’s, to emphasize that the Casino breezeway connected the AP boards with the Ocean Grove boards. Most ignored the OG component.
This is an important fact which ought to be emphasized when the Casino’s importance is reviewed now that a decision to rebuild has been agreed upon.
And for the record, Asbury Park was founded in 1871 by James Bradley who also was the first to buy a lot in Ocean Grove. It looks like some in A. Park are waking up to the need to recognize and save historical places in the City, even if history is defined by more recent components like the Casino. And the AP history story needs to include the Grove.
Here a Blogfinger photo from 2022:
This is James Bradley behind Convention Hall during the Sea, Hear, Now Festival of 2022. Paul Goldfinger photo. Click once. The shirt says “Asbury Park.” Old Jim is also wearing a skirt. He’s in drag. Blogfinger.net
PAUL McCARTNEY:
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A blond in a black dress ordering coffee. That’s who you see around a corner in A. Park at Café Volan. Paul Goldfinger photo © 9/14/17 Click to enlarge.
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor@Blogfinger.net 2017
It seems like Greenwich Village by the sea. Café Volan can be a bit hard to find. It’s tucked into a side street, at an angle off of Cookman, unobtrusive on the left side of Bangs Avenue.
When you walk in, it feels like a beat up Beatnik hangout from the sixties. You expect to find Alan Ginsburg sipping an espresso. The crowd is not boisterous; in fact it is downright in whisper mode with no laughing. The customers seem serious, but maybe that’s because they are seriously enjoying a superb cup of real coffee. The cappuccino’s are excellent, although they serve them warm–the baristas say that’s the correct temperature.
I like the vibe at Café Volan. I went with Steve Valk who is spending a month in the Grove (from Germany where he lives) and he loves to go there; it’s about the mood and the coffee. We met there to discuss a variety of subjects. The place feels comfortable.
Steve is is enjoying his family in the Grove while developing some serious academic ideas as he plans for his PhD studies. Next week he will go to Duke for discussions with faculty there.
But now, in the Grove–where he spent his childhood summers—he tries to figure out how we could obtain some coherence among the Groverian factions. Steve has a lot of experience working with diverse populations and he is an optimist.
He wants to meet with anybody in authority: CMA/Neptuners/HOA or whoever would agree to talk to him (besides Blogfinger—we like to talk to Steve) because he has ideas as to how to pull this town together.
Personally, I don’t see much chance of that without a sea change in attitudes among Grovers of various stripes.
BOB DYLAN. He would like Volan. He played a lot of coffee houses in the day. This song is from his latest album Triplicate.
“I Could Have Told You” is a Sinatra song and a standard. It’s a far cry from the folk music scene of the fifties and sixties, but Volan is a far cry from Bleeker Street and the Bitter End.
Posted in Asbury Connection, Asbury Park Connection Photo Gallery, Asbury Park lifestyles, Blogfinger Presents | Tagged Café Volan Asbury park | 1 Comment »
Photo by Paul Goldfinger © Dec. 2013. A look back on 3rd Avenue, Spring Lake, NJ
LAWRENCE LEBO: “I Want a Big Butter and Egg Man” with the “Little Big Band” from the album Don’t Call Her Larry.
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Ocean Grove. 9/20/22. Paul Goldfinger. Click once to enlarge.
BEATLES (From the Blue Album 1967-1970)
“Don’t Let Me Down”
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Feb 22,2026. It’s always prettiest when it first falls. Paul Goldfinger photo. Blogfinger.net. Click once to enlarge the snow flakes.
GUSTAVO SANTAOLALLA. From the score of Brokeback Mountain:
“Snow”
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Paul’s portrait. Eileen photo. 2019. Ocean Grove.
LEONARD COHEN “Iodine” from the album Leonard Cohen—Death of a Ladies Man.
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