Asbury Park Fireworks 2010

I took a trip down to Asbury Park, NJ this July 4th for fireworks. It's about an hour drive from me. The fireworks themselves were nice, but what I didn't like is that they lit them off from three different locations. One to the left, one to the right, and later one in the middle. The left and right went off simultaneously so your head had to keep turning and you didn't know which way was the better way to look.

Parking is horrible. You can pay $20 bucks to go in a lot, or if you can find an open space you have to pay in a parking meter. If you're willing to walk a few blocks, you can park in "the ghetto" residential area for free.

The boardwalk was pretty crowded and the food is overpriced. One placed charged $2.50 for a hot dog with nothing, $3 for chili dog. The place next to them charged $3.98 for a hot dog. These aren't anything special either. It makes me wonder how much a stand is. I could go down with a better product at a cheaper price and some homemade chili sauce and clean up!

Down the boardwalk a little was place that makes fries and lemonade. The fries looked nice and crispy and came in paper cones. I didn't think the prices were too bad at $5 for a regular or $8 for a family size. The only thing I'd have liked to seen is a bunch of different sauces for the fries. Not just ketchup. Pommes Frites in New York City makes about 30 different sauces. I'm not saying they have to get that crazy, but a little variety would keep me coming back. Maybe some homemade Fry Sauce at least.

There's also a sandwich shop, some kind of Mexican place, a few bars / restaurants. I can't comment on those, since I didn't go inside for fear of even higher prices.

If you're spending the day and don't mind driving a little, there's plenty of cheaper places not too far. Drive down to Main Street and hang a left. There's a Burger King, Chinese, Thai, Windmill, and a bunch of other places.

The boardwalk has a lot of other things to do.. Hot Sand Glass Blowing, shopping, and of course my favorite the Silverball Museum - hundreds of pinballs to play. On weekends they're open real late.. Saturday's is 3am I believe. You can pay one price and play the whole day.. which means you can leave and go sit on the beach, eat lunch, and come back, etc.

Would I go back for the fireworks again? Definitely.