Travel & Leisure Names Asbury 1 of 50 Best Places to Travel
Chosen as a city on the rise, Asbury ranks 10 on the list
Asbury Park is among the nine American destinations to make Travel and Leisure magazine’s annual list of the most exciting places to visit in the year to come.
“These are the places that are changing the travel map, whether it’s Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for its emerging arts culture or the idyllic Panamanian archipelago of Bocas del Toro with nine islands and hundreds of cays and islets,” said magazine spokesperson Tess Povar in a written statement.
The magazine’s editors identified 50 destinations for 2016 based on industry news and trends, with input from their network of contributing writers, global correspondents, and travel agents, Povar said.
Asbury Park is ranked number 10 on the list.
“Travel is all about discovery,” Editor Nathan Lump said. “We know our readers are insatiably curious about the world and eager to uncover new places and experiences that will excite them. This list gives our audience fresh reasons to explore new destinations both near and far.”
Asbury Park was chosen as a city on the rise with new shops and restaurants alongside classic venues, and the first new hotel [at right] to open there in 55 years as part of a multimillion-dollar plan to revive a one-mile stretch of beachfront, Povar said.
In describing the city along the Jersey Shore, contributor David Shaftel writes:
“In the song “My City of Ruins,” written in 2000, Bruce Springsteen described Asbury Park as a city of boarded-up windows and empty streets. A battering by Hurricane Sandy in 2012 didn’t help. But the Jersey Shore town, 90 minutes south of New York City, has started to recover, led by its gay and live-music scenes. Visitors to Asbury’s boardwalk can still have their fortunes told at Madam Marie’s Temple of Knowledge and play on vintage pinball machines [preserved at the Silverball Museum], but now they’ll also find clothing and jewelry at the Market at Fifth Avenue [shown in feature photo], sushi and tacos at Langosta Lounge, and surfboards and skateboards at Lightly Salted. A short walk from the beach, the Asbury Festhalle & Biergarten [shown above right] serves almost 100 varieties of beer, and famous venues like the Stone Pony—a Springsteen haunt—are still packed. The Empress Hotel on the oceanfront is the place to stay, at least until the 110-room Asbury opens this year. The first new hotel in the city in 55 years is part of a multimillion-dollar plan to revive a one-mile stretch of beachfront. Also in the works: a face-lift for Asbury Lanes, the beloved 1930s-era bowling alley.”
The complete Best Places list is available at: www.travelandleisure.com.
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