Road Trip to NYC and Asbury Park

Mike's band Black Helicopter was scheduled to play in Brooklyn this weekend, so we planned a mini road trip down to New York and New Jersey. We headed down Friday morning, slugged through traffic for hours, and eventually arrived at the venue.

After loading in, we popped around the corner to a hipster microbrewery. When in Brooklyn, do as the hipsters do.

The Keg & Lantern in Greenpoint was a nice spot to stretch and grab an early dinner before the show. Mine on the right is their Berliner Weisse, a tart cherry beer. I don't remember what Mike ordered because I was too busy trying to a photo of him in front of the vintage beer can wall.

After dinner, we walked back over to the venue, Bar Matchless. This is the original signage from when it was a auto garage.

And this is the original garage bay, now covered with large murals of...things.

A very fuzzy shot of Black Helicopter during their set. Mike (bassist, vocals) wore his orgy shirt from Provincetown. Tim (guitar, lead vocals, left) wore his Pac-Man suit. Matt (drums, vocals) has yet to carve out a fashion niche. Can (guitarist, not pictured) was on vacation.

After the show, we made the drive down to Asbury Park, New Jersey. I spent a good chunk of my life there and miss all my Jersey friends now that I'm up in Boston. So this weekend provided a great opportunity to hang with best friends and also show Mike around my former haunts.

We arrived at my friends Kathy and Elisa's house in the early morning hours, crashed hard, and woke up gloriously late. I asked Mike if he wanted to shower before we headed into town for the day. He said he'd rather jump in the pool if it's all the same.

After brunch and personal hygiene rituals, we drove down Ocean Avenue into Asbury Park. I gave Mike the official tour and we strolled along the famous boardwalk on what was the most pitch-perfect summer day ever. Mike achieved his goal of jumping into the ocean. I achieved my goal of scooping up some sand from the beach for my sand jar. It wouldn't be complete without Asbury Park.

We started a mini bar crawl in the late afternoon. First stop was Bond Street Bar (not pictured). Located right around the corner from my former apartment, it's a wonderful dirty little bar that does it right.

Second stop of the day was the iconic Wonder Bar. Opened in the 1950's, it's still rocking as a bar and music venue, right off the beach across from Paramount Theater and Convention Hall.

After PBR, chicken, and friend pickles, we strolled down Ocean Avenue to see the Stone Pony, the Casino, the Carousel House, and what new murals have popped up since the last time I was down. There were some incredible works of art and even a few lingering hints of Shepard Fairey's work from a few years back.

As the sun set, Kathy and Elisa rejoined us and we continued our bar crawl to my new favorite, Asbury Festhalle and Biergarten.

And then after finishing those beers (I think I helped Elisa cheat at hers), we rounded out the night with tapas-style dinner at the new REYLA. Which used to be a restaurant called FISH, and before that, was a vacant, derelict building back when I first moved to Asbury. So much has changed so fast.

The final stop before home was a peek inside Kathy's new bookshop. Kathy opened Paranormal Books & Curiosities ten years ago and is in the process of expanding from her small rented storefront to a larger building a few doors down. We got the hard hat tour of the construction and build out, it's really impressive. Just like her. Opening an independent bookstore in today's world is a risky endeavor. Opening a niche bookstore is an even bigger challenge. Kathy's been killing it for a decade now and I couldn't be more proud of her.

If you ever find yourself in Asbury Park, stop in Paranormal Books for a ghost story, a tour the paranormal museum, or take the quintessential Ghosts and Legends tour. It's a can't-miss destination downtown.