Dusk, Asbury Park boards. Paul Goldfinger ©. Blogfinger.net. Click image to enlarge.
SONNY STITT “At Last”
Archive for the ‘Asbury Park lifestyles’ Category
A. Park serenity on the boards
Posted in Asbury Park Connection Photo Gallery, Asbury Park lifestyles on April 16, 2019| Leave a Comment »
Best beach? Where’s Asbury?
Posted in Asbury Connection, Asbury Park lifestyles, Blogfinger Presents, tagged Asbury Park best shore town on March 22, 2019| Leave a Comment »
Asbury Park July 2016
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor@Blogfinger.net
I’ve come to the conclusion that all those “best” lists are created by payoffs. After all, how can Asbury Park be one of the world’s best beach towns, better than famous beaches in California, Australia and Florida?
As a result, we have ignored those lists lately, because the A. Park that we know is usually awarded top billing on those lists. The only list I ever saw with Ocean Grove was some years ago, when we were rated higher than AP as the best place for gay folks.
However, to those of you who are cynical, as I am, about this subject, I did find a list that excluded A. Park. Maybe the payoff was too high for the Cookman crowd and iStar’s publicity department
U.S. News & World Report 3/19/19: Best Places to live near the beach:
1. Melbourne
2. San Diego
3. Sarasota
4. Honolulu
5. Charleston, South Carolina
6. Fort Myers
7. Jacksonville
8. Pensacola
9. Santa Barbara, California
10. Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
11. Tampa
12. Port St. Lucie
13. Daytona Beach
14. Virginia Beach, Virginia
15. Los Angeles
16.Corpus Christi, Texas
17. Miami
18. Salinas, California
19. Brownsville, Texas
20. San Juan, Puerto Rico
Here’s a link to a recent post on Blogfinger about this topic:
PINK MARTINI “Sway” Do people still dance on vacation?
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Is Asbury Park the best or the worst?
Posted in Asbury Park Connection Photo Gallery, Asbury Park lifestyles, Blogfinger Presents, tagged Asbury Park rankings on February 9, 2019| 1 Comment »
Ocean Grovers enjoy walking to downtown Asbury for restaurants, special events, music and a lively bar scene. Paul Goldfinger photograph for Blogfinger.net.
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor@Blogfinger.net
In 2016 we posted an article about the praise being lavished upon A. Park.
Last spring Money Magazine named AP as having the second best beachfront in the US, ahead of many famous locations in California, Texas, etc. “Asbury Park offers the classic combo of beach and boardwalk,” the magazine says.
The Asbury Park Press also reported that list. Asbury has also been ranked high for the city’s “cultural scene.” In 2017 it was named the “coolest small town in America.”
But, not so fast. Asbury has recently been reported to have the second highest violent crime rate in the state. And, according to the AP Sun, the city has been named this February to the “top 50 worst cities to live-in across the nation.” Similar reports have been mentioned in articles in the AP Press and the AP Patch.
Among the statistics, the city is reported to be high in poverty rankings, low median incomes, and high median home prices.
So, which is it: best or worst?
Blogfinger: The best or the worst? “It depends on where you stand.”
NANCY LAMOTT: “Not Exactly Paris.”
Is Asbury Park as marvelous as they say? The AP chamber of Commerce says, “More than a million visitors came to Asbury Park last year (2016).”
Posted in Asbury Park lifestyles, Asbury Park news on Blogfinger.net, Blogfinger Presents, tagged Asbury Park best shore town on December 26, 2018| 5 Comments »
New York Times, July, 2016. Fake news. Photograph by Tony Cenicola NYT.
This is Asbury Park in December 2016. They want to be a year-round attraction, but that goal seems to be a stretch—or is it? Paul Goldfinger photo of the Asbury Beach near Ocean Grove. ©
A. Park. Sunday 3 pm 8/6/17. Beach and boards very busy. A long line waits for Korean food (MOGO). Cuban music wafts from Cubacan. Blogfinger photo. © Click to see more. This is a re-post from August, 2018, but it is a topic which interests us, and some may have missed it. —Paul
Heading to Asbury on the OG boards. 2018. Paul Goldfinger ©
A. Park near the ocean. Paul Goldfinger ©. 2018
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger.net.
It’s good to keep tabs on the neighbors. The “small city” just north of us is being treated to a media blitz that is designed to promote tourism to our “sister city” on the other side of the Casino. There is no doubt that the deluge of visitors to Asbury Park is increasing, and we are positioned awfully close to this rapidly expanding and increasingly “in-our-face” place. The Asburian invasion is real and is causing rising density and parking problems in the Grove.
What do you Grovers think about the way that Asbury Park is progressing? What is it adding up to, and how will it affect Ocean Grove? We have spoken about the AP connection to the Grove and about how these two much different towns could compliment each other.
The photograph top above was part of a NY Times article extolling the beach community of Asbury Park. The caption says:
Over the course of the last year or so, Asbury Park has been named to a variety of “best” lists including being named #1 as “the coolest small town in America” by Budget Travel Magazine.
Source: http://us.pressfrom.com/lifestyle/travel/-56239-asbury-park-named-coolest-small-town-in-america/
Travel site Thrillist named AP as among the “25 best beaches in America.”
USA Today said that the Asbury Hotel was the “best new hotel in America for 2016.”
Thrillist named AP to its list of “the top 13 beach destinations for tourists.”
Travel and Leisure magazine named AP as the “tenth best travel destination in the world.” It ranked higher than Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Daily Meal named the beach bar by Convention Hall as one of the “top 25 beach bars in America.” What in the world can you do with bloody Marys and clams on the half shell?
The New York Post said that Asbury Park “had finally made it” as a top tourist attraction in America. Here is a link to our recent article about what was said at the Post:
NY Post article on Asbury Park
Car rentals.com named AP #14 to its “20 most unique cities to visit in your 20’s.”
NJ.com chose AP as “the top beach in Monmouth County.”
Oh, does Ocean Grove get any respect? NJ.com made a list of “the best things to do in each of the Jersey Shore’s 47 towns.” Even Deal is there, a town with nothing to do, but OG? You guessed it; we were AWOL. But that’s probably a good thing if we want to lower density in the Grove.
VINCE GIORDANO AND THE NIGHTHAWKS “Darktown Strutters Ball” from HBO’s Boardwalk Empire. (A show about prohibition bootleggers in Atlantic City.)
Tonight we are young….
Posted in Asbury Park Connection Photo Gallery, Asbury Park lifestyles, Blogfinger Presents, tagged Photo: Nocturnal Asbury on December 11, 2018| Leave a Comment »
A. Park boardwalk: the colors of…..
Posted in Art, Asbury Park, Asbury Park Connection Photo Gallery, Asbury Park lifestyles, Blogfinger Presents, tagged Asbury Park boardwalk on October 29, 2018| Leave a Comment »
Paul Goldfinger ©. October, 2018. Click to enlarge.
THE BIRD AND THE BEE
“I’m Into Something Good” (From the movie Valentine’s Day)
Grovers: Don’t miss visiting The Asbury Hotel.
Posted in Asbury Connection, Asbury Park, Asbury Park Connection Photo Gallery, Asbury Park lifestyles, Asbury Park news on Blogfinger.net, Blogfinger Presents, tagged The Hotel Asbury in Asbury Park on October 15, 2018| Leave a Comment »
The lobby bar at The Asbury is the Soundbooth where you can hear live music every night. All photos by Paul Goldfinger, Blogfinger.net. Re-post from July 21, 2016. © Click on the music below and then return here.
Check in here or visit the juice/coffee bar. Get a snack and sit down and relax. No pressure. © Paul Goldfinger photo ©.
The nocturnal Asbury. July 2016. Paul Goldfinger ©
One time, in Paris, we wanted to walk through the lobby of the Hotel George V, a very ritzy famous place. But we were not allowed to even walk in the front doors. Some hotels are fussy about non-guests coming in. But the new Asbury Hotel at Kingsley and 5th Avenue, near the ocean by the Paramount Theater, is just the opposite.
Architect Anda Andrei (looking at us) was guiding a photo-shoot in the lobby. Paul Goldfinger photo. ©
The designer/architect Anda Andrei wants her new hotel to be full of life and to be welcoming. Steve Valk and I took a tour of her new Asbury Park establishment and we found out that they want the public to come in and visit: have a coffee, listen to live music, sit at the bar, do your homework, or chat with the staff.
Be sure to check out the roof top space called “Salvation” where the views are spectacular in all directions. It is particularly impressive at night.
The eastward view from Salvation (not the mystical place; it is a wonderful rooftop lounge and bar.) Paul Goldfinger photo ©
Roof top lounge and bar. Photo from the NY Times July 5, 2016 by Tony Cenicola © See link below.
You can also watch classic or cult movies at the roof top garden called The Baronet, a tribute to the old Asbury Park theater which was torn down a few years ago.
Rooftop garden “The Baronet” where you can watch movies every night. © Paul Goldfinger photo.
In the lobby you can have casual food like a sandwich or something from the juice bar or the coffee bar. Steve and I ordered cappuccinos, and they were very good.The lobby bar area is called the “Soundbar” and it is beautiful and functions as a music venue.
More relaxation space on the ground floor. Paul Goldfinger photo
In fact you will marvel at the functional and gorgeous design features. Every night there is live music in the lobby, and you can just walk in and sit down. The staff is welcoming and very proud of their hotel.
If you are from Ocean Grove, do not fail to walk or bike or even drive (there are parking meters) to the Asbury. You will be impressed and you will enjoy yourself even if you don’t rent a room…but then again….
Paul Goldfinger, Travel Editor @Blogfinger.net
THE HOT CLUB OF SAN FRANCISCO: “J’Attendrai”
LINK: Click on this NY Times article below.
Here is a link to a Blogfinger article in response to the Times piece above:
Art and about in A. Park
Posted in Art, Asbury Park, Asbury Park Connection Photo Gallery, Asbury Park lifestyles, tagged Wall art in asbury park on October 1, 2018| Leave a Comment »
Residences on Deal Lake Road near the bridge to Norwood Avenue. Paul Goldfinger © 10/1/18 Click to enlarge.
We have posted other examples of wall art in A. Park going back a few years. It is a wonderful idea, bringing color and imagination into public spaces for all to enjoy.
Here is a link to an example from 2015:
RAY WATERS AND HIS ORCHESTRA:
All roads from OG lead to Asbury Park.
Posted in Asbury Park Connection Photo Gallery, Asbury Park lifestyles, Blogfinger Presents, tagged Asbury Park connects with Ocean Grove on August 13, 2018| Leave a Comment »
Blogfinger walking the dog by the New Jersey Avenue bridge in OG on Sunday afternoon 8/12/18. © All photos by Paul Goldfinger. Click to enlarge.
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger.net
I was playing “sit” with my son’s dog Pooja when I found out a few things. First, cute girls will stop and pet a dog with lots of oohs and ahs and “what’s his name?” “It’s a girl,” said I, but no one wanted to know my name. (“Is it Mary or Sue?” as in the song.) I would have allowed them to pat my head, but no such luck.
DON AND JUAN:
Secondly I became distracted by the steady stream of people heading north to “sin city,” But, to be fair, there were all ages, genders and sizes. And they all seemed happy to be heading in that direction, so the “Asbury Connection” (with OG) seems to be working out. On a summer Sunday, a walk to A. Park seems to hold great promise for laughter, fun, food, friends and ogling.
Grovers understand this, and so do the Grovarian realtors who are pushing this concept.
And where did they all park? You know where.
A bridge not too far. Blogfinger photo. 8/12/18 ©
Heading north to the bridge from Asbury Avenue in the Grove.
Bring the kids. It’s not all babes, booze and bon-appetite. 8/12/18 Blogfinger photo
BOB GAUDIO from Jersey Boys:
How sweet it is…..
Posted in Asbury Park, Asbury Park lifestyles, Blogfinger Presents, tagged Ain't misbehaven in Asbury Park on June 10, 2018| Leave a Comment »
Asbury Park Boardwalk. c. 2014. Paul Goldfinger photo © Click to see that three’s not a crowd. Re-posted from 2016.
BILLIE HOLIDAY AND HER ORCHESTRA. From the Woody movie Celebrity
