A trip to Asbury park

Yesterday we took a trip to Asbury park to walk along the boardwalk and perhaps go to the beach. The entrance fee for the beach was 5 dollars per person. We did not go in. Dai Dai wanted to go play in the sand so badly, but all we did was walk along a more or less deserted boardwalk and go on a couple rides for 50 cents. We also had ice cream.

This really made me appreciate how great JP is. There are at least nine playgrounds I can walk to and many of them have sprinklers.

I noticed while doing a Kung Fu walk with Gong Gong (he just walked briskly while I Kung Fued) that many of the houses in the area have personal playgrounds. I guess that's what you do in New Jersey. You pay for your own playground, and you pay to go to the beach, like some sort of Ayn Rand version of America.

I suppose if you are rich the paying to go to the beach could be a plus since it keeps out needles or "riff raff" but I have never seen a problem with that on a free beach. Everyone was telling about how bad Atlantic City is now. But I actually have fond memories of the beaches there. We used to take the bus from Philly (Aunt Dotsy and my Mom and I) just for the beach. There is also Stone Harbor. These places were magical to me as a child. Now supposedly Atlantic City has a lot of needles under the boardwalk. Is it really that bad?

Asbury park had some nice ruins of a building. It looked like a Casino from the 1920's and there seemed to be a lot of Condos and Mansion like houses But that's not fun for kids.

The things is, even if you are rich and you buy your own playground, that doesn't guarantee playmates. Whereas, living near a playground does. The fact that it is public is a bonus because there will be people there. Children to play with and befriend. If you want the place to yourself for some reason (like Kung Fu), go early. Community is something that money can't really by. I remember seeing this piece on Sunday Morning about one of the Rockefeller girls and ho miserable her childhood was. The neighbors around here also seem to keep to themselves. In fact, even in Boston, we keep to ourselves. But a playground or park is a place where people, who want to meet other people can go and play in the sandbox, and share toys, and kick a ball around, without a cover charge. Well, except for Asbury park.