Crowd at Convention Hall
CBS.com photo
Tuesday, May 28. We were out and about and decided to return home at around 1:30 pm today. We knew that there would be security around Asbury Park and on Route 71, but we never imagined that Ocean Grove would be inaccessible. We came off Rt. 18 somewhere north of here and tried to use back roads to get over to Route 33 and then travel east down to Broadway, but there were no left turns onto 33. Route 71 in Asbury and Ocean Grove was totally inaccessible, and we didn’t even try to go into downtown Asbury Park.
At Convention Hall. Internet photo
At one point we tried to maneuver through the no-mans lands west of downtown Asbury Park, but it was no go there also. Trying to get to Ocean Ave and sneak into the Grove via the shore road was insanity. We could rent a plane and drop onto Mt. Hermon Way by parachute, but what would we do with our car? We considered hiring a Sherpa guide and walking home, but the Sherpa’s yak was off today, so we couldn’t use him.
Then we cleverly made our way south through the back streets of Neptune in hopes of ending up on Route 71 in Bradley Beach. Then we would take a left and take 71 south to Broadway, but, sigh, all those east-west roads to Main Street in Bradley were closed—blocked by saw horses and police cars . I never saw such horses, and there were flashing lights and cops everywhere. If Patton’s 3rd Army itself had showed up in full force, they would not have gotten through.
After that we came to Rt 35 in Bradley and headed north. What to do? We would have to kill about 90 minutes until the Pres and the Gov got back on their copter and went someplace else. Eileen said, “Let’s go to the movies at the Monmouth Mall.” She whipped out her iPhone and checked the listings (Have any of you found that women are much more involved with their smartphones than men? ….just wondering). The only thing we found for 2 :00 pm was “Hangover Part II .” Luckily I had seen a review of the flick, and you could only watch that movie if you had been drinking, so the movies were out.
Finally we wound up at Wegmans cafe, having coffee. Eileen bought some dark red peonies, the Jersey Shore edition of NJ Monthly magazine, and a book “The Light Between the Oceans.” The book is about a couple who move to an isolated lighthouse island in Australia. Evidently a live baby washes up on the shore….yadda yadda. I had a bagel, baked extra long to make it dark brown and crunchy. I read the Times and found my next car: Porsche has a hybrid which has over 800 horsepower and sells for about $1,000 per horse. You can save money if you buy this car because it can get up to 71 m.p.g.
Something not to miss in Ocean Grove: Main Avenue district. PG photo
The good news was that the NJ Monthly magazine’s writeup about OG was quite excellent. Their “Back to the Beach” survey looked at 38 Shore beaches. They did not focus on our Boardwalk issues, but instead they encouraged tourists to come and “don’t miss” the Great Auditorium, “Tent City,” Bridgefest Beach Festival, Boogie board races and the sand sculpture contest. Ok, so they forgot a few “don’t miss” items, but at least they were kind.
At around 3:30 pm we headed back to the Grove and discovered that magic had occurred—-every hint of the big visit was gone. The Tale of the Gov and the Pres had come to a happy ending. It was all back to normal in Asbury Park—–but that’s another story.
—Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger
LOUDON WAINRIGHT III with something from the movie “The Aviator”: