I spent my first shore weekend of 2025 in Lavallette, Toms River, Wall, Point Pleasant, Ortley Beach, and Seaside Heights/Park. A fair amount of driving and idling through traffic, but experiencing the true bounty of the Barnegat Inlet. Here's what I did.
First, I took the bus from Port Authority to Toms River Park and Ride. It's all traffic-dependent, as most travel down the shore is, but leaving mid-morning Friday managed to avoid the worst snarls.
After situation in the house in Lavallette, I played 18 holes at the Bel-Aire Executive Course in Wall Township, getting there a little after my scheduled tee time because of, wait for it, the traffic. Luckily, I was able to jump on with some locals from Avon by the Sea.
After playing, I stopped by Last Wave Brewing Co. in Point Pleasant, which was unsurprisingly packed for a Saturday Night. I had one pint and then headed home, where I met my parents for dinner at Crabs Claw. We sat in the covered patio and listened to a very nice and eclectic cover band.
Saturday Morning, I had a coffee at Pop's Coffee in Ortley Beach and did the weekend shopping at Acme while waiting for my family and in-laws to arrive - which took a while because of, you guessed it, traffic.
While waiting, I went for a bit to Heavy Reel Brewing Company for a pint and saw they have a new edition of some vintage video games in the taproom.
When the rest of our family arrived, we grilled food for dinner and called it a relatively early night. On Sunday, we had even more family arrive and had leftovers for lunch. After relaxing for a bit - many of us went walking on the boardwalk, we went to seaside in the early evening so my son (and some of the adults) could go-kart and go on rides. We took a large pie from Maruca's to eat at home while playing board games.
On Monday, bagels from Bakin Bagels in Ortley and some more beach ambling and cleaning - and an early departure. Look forward to doing it again soon.
