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A national, if not global, attention has turned toward the just over 1-square-mile city along the Jersey Shore.

Having already received accolades for its venues, like The Asbury, national publications are beginning to name the city itself among their best of lists.

It began with last year’s Travel + Leisure and USA Today’s nod, and just this month Budget Travel named the city the coolest small town in America in 2017. This was quickly followed by Thrillist naming the city beaches among its not to be missed destinations.

“Even if you have seen the ocean before, likely you haven’t been to every inch of coastline this great nation provides,” writer Matt Meltzer said. “And summer is the perfect time to fix either of those situations.”

Asbury Park was the sole New Jersey beach on Meltzer’s list saying in the June 9 publication:

“The Jersey Shore is always a time-honored summer beach trip. But once you’ve done Point Pleasant and outgrown Seaside Heights, perhaps it’s time to try something different. Bruce Springsteen’s launching pad has made a rise from ruin worthy of, well, a Springsteen song, where the once dilapidated beachfront is once again alive with sun-worshippers by day, live music by night. The Stone Pony is still going strong, and the Downtown is now full of chic, modern restaurants, cocktail bars, and interior design shops. Which some might call gentrification, but for a visitor make it a much more appealing choice.”

Others that made the grade include:

Huntington Beach, California

Surfside, Florida

Waikiki, Hawaii

Juno Beach, Florida

Carolina Beach, North Carolina

Orange Beach, Alabama

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

Siesta Key Beach, FL

Sleeping Bear Dunes, Michigan

Lanai, Hawaii

Rehoboth Beach, Delaware

[Photo courtesy of AP Boardwalk]

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The Asbury Park Sun is affiliated with the triCityNews newspaper.

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