Greetings from Asbury Park: A Love Song With Snapshots

Why do I love Asbury Park, New Jersey?  Let me count the whys.

1.  Its charming, friendly coffee shops and restaurants: 

Breakfast at Toast

2.  Its boardwalk, perfect for a stroll.

3.  Its history, as embodied by the formerly grand Casino building, name checked by Bruce Springsteen in "Sandy," now a picturesque ruin.

4.  Its moxie.  Asbury has done a great job of bouncing back after that other Sandy (the hurricane) and some very rough decades.

A peek inside the carousel house

5.  Its funky storefronts on the boardwalk and beyond.

The cops finally busted Madame Marie for telling fortunes better than they do

6.  And most of all: its incomparable music scene.  

Eddie Manion with Joe Grushecky at the legendary Stone Pony