Asbury Park is definately making a comeback. In 2004, on a warm June Saturday morning, I traveled down the shore to visit the small resort. Coming down Asbury Avenue, I did see a large abandoned Hotel, very sad, as it was once probubly very pretty. But then we passed the Empress Motel, and it's pool was packed with people, as was the area outside of the pool near the street. Driivng infront of the Motel, inside is a nightlub called Paradise, and the lobby houses a small cocktail bar.
Next we passed the Goldigger Bar & Grill, which had a few tough-looking leather-clad bikers inside. And then the legendary Stone Pony of which so many speak! Awesome, a Springsteen landmark!
Next we passed by a construction site, soon to be home to oceanfront condos. Then came the Wonderbar, of which a sign proclaimed "Longest Bar in the World!" The longest bar in the world, that is a pretty big task. I passed the Berkeley Carteret, a large hotel; nice.
I decided to get out and walk down the world famous boardwalk, which I am told is abandoned...Not true at all! It was teeming with people! The pavlilions are not abandoned, they have a Pizza place, T-Shirt shop, (they were wokring on an arcade which has not opened yet) and a resteraunt! But not any resteraunt, an old time Howard Johnson's!
The boardwalk was fun, as was the beach, where the lifeguard's keep close watch over the people swimming. A large Casino (used in Springsteen's "Tunnel-Of-Love" video) sits abandoned at the city's souther end, but renovations are being planned. The beach was not "crowded" but it did have a lot of people, hardly abandoned!
I ate over at the North End Pavillion in OG (other side of Casino) and then ventured through Asbury Park's busy streets, passing clubs like "Anybody's" (formerly called "Down the Street", "Jimi's", "The Saint", as well as a club that wasnt opened yet called "Crusin'", which I believe to be a Gay oriented disco club or something!
There are alot of unique shops in downtown Asbury Park, and some awesome Black Folk Art galleries! I love the city, the comeback is being made, I look forward to next year, when I can take another trip to Asbury Park. My only problem with the city is there are no amusements on the boardwalk...but they plan to build an amusement park sometime soon.