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.

ALY and A.J.