Asbury Park
Promenade · Asbury Park, New Jersey
A mile of boardwalk and a small city behind it that produced Bruce Springsteen, collapsed for thirty years after the 1970 riots, and has been rebuilt over the last two decades into the best music town on the Jersey Shore. THE STONE PONY has been open since 1974 and is still a working club rather than a shrine. CONVENTION HALL AND THE PARAMOUNT THEATRE, a 1930 Beaux-Arts complex straddling the boardwalk with an arcade running through it, are the architectural reason to come. The burnt-out Casino carousel house at the southern end was left as a ruin for decades and is the most photographed thing here.
Ocean Avenue, Asbury Park, New Jersey, 07712, United States
A public boardwalk and town, free to walk at all hours. BEACH BADGES ARE REQUIRED AND CHECKED IN SEASON, roughly Memorial Day to Labor Day. Boardwalk shops and restaurants generally run late morning into the evening with the bars later; the Convention Hall arcade is open through the day. MUSIC ROOMS RUN YEAR ROUND, which is unusual on this coast, generally from about 20:00 — AGE POLICY IS SET PER SHOW RATHER THAN BY VENUE, so check the listing for anyone under 21. Much of the boardwalk frontage closes off season while the music rooms and better restaurants stay open. Lifeguards in summer only. The ruined Casino is a stabilised derelict — fenced areas must not be entered.