Last weekend I would have recently returned from my brief
getaway in Red Bank/Sea Bright/Holmdel, NJ.
There were quite a few places that I had the opportunity to visit, so I
thought I’d document them here in the event that any of you are looking for a
relatively short distance trip to the beach.
I stayed at the Oyster Point Hotel in Red Bank for $149 per
night. I checked in on Thursday evening and left early Saturday morning so I
could return for a concert in Hershey that afternoon. It was a nice hotel. It was clean and modern. They had a restaurant that overlooked the bay
area (the hotel was right next to the bay), although I did not eat there. Based
upon the rest of the clientele and the look of the place, it was apparent that
it was more of a business destination.
I give the place an A on hospitality. All of the staff at
the front desk was very nice and engaging. I will say, though, I didn’t like
that the staff would come in during the evenings to drop off cookies on my
night stand. It was unexpected and I
just don’t like people walking in and out of my room when I’m not there,
especially with my stuff all over the place. It simply doesn’t allow me to
relax into the room.
My room was clean and was really nice. The bathroom was a
little small, but the bed was comfortable and it was clear that things were
well-kept. The caveat? It was extremely
noisy at night. This was a complaint on Tripadvisor too, but I tend not to take
many criticisms on public forums too seriously.
The first night that I was there I kept on waking up from the noise of
the traffic on the highway near the hotel. I might as well have been sleeping
on the shoulder of the road. Furthermore, I could hear consistent bumping and
banging out in the hall and in other rooms. The second night this didn’t bother
me much since I had tired myself out from the day’s activities.
Finally, location.
The hotel is a little too far from the antique/restaurant stretch of Red
Bank to walk. However, there is quite a
bit of street parking there, and it is free after 6pm. The set-up reminded me of downtown Carlisle.
Over all, I’d probably stay here again if I had to. I think
the price was a little steep based upon the noise alone, but I’d pay it again
if it meant that I’d have a clean room and didn’t have to pay $300 just to stay
right next to the beach. Call me crazy but I’m OK with staying a few miles from
the beach if it means saving me a few hundred dollars.
The first night I was there, I ventured to Raritan
Bay Waterfront Park
in South Amboy (thanks, Rich!!!). It was
a really well-kept park that was right along the water. It had a really nice walking/running stretch
right on the beach if you like some scenery.
I don’t recommend swimming/tanning here.
I ate at Blue Moon in South Amboy. The menu and food was
nothing to shout about. I ordered a
roast beef classic sandwich. However, I
really enjoyed the laid back ambience.
It was a cozy bar.
The next day I drove to My Kitchen Witch in Monmouth
Beach for breakfast, which was
about 7 miles from my hotel. It was delightful!!! It is half café, half
smoothie bar. Both have a healthy-eating focus.
They advertise which foods are gluten free, vegetarian, vegan, etc. I
ordered green tea, the multi-grain pancakes, and their thick, classic bacon.
Everything was delicious. The pancakes (2) had the texture of cornbread. They
were thick and they came with grapes on top. There was syrup on the table and they gave you
a pat of butter. The bacon was also phenomenal.
I saw everyone raving about it on Tripadvisor, so I thought I’d add it
as a side to see what the big deal was. They put brown sugar on top and so you
have the sweet and salty thing going on, and the slices are definitely
thick. I highly recommend this place for breakfast. The smoothies looked delicious as well, but I
didn’t have enough room to try one.
After breakfast, I headed back down the street to Sea Bright
beach, which had advertised free public parking. I was lucky enough to get a spot around 11AM since they were filling up fast. The beach
tags cost $8. It was clean and I found that for how many kids and families were
on the beach, it wasn’t that loud. Also,
people were friendly. A lot of people brought coolers with them, but if you
were like me and didn’t think that far ahead, there was small place right off
the beach called Woody’s that you could get hot dogs, fries, ice cream, sodas,
water, etc. There were also bathrooms right off the beach. I really enjoyed my experience at this beach
and will definitely keep this place as a consideration in the future.
For dinner I went to Phole, which was a Vietnamese
restaurant in Red Bank. It was OK. I’ve had better pho. I ordered the vegetarian kind. Also, don’t get the bubble tea. What is bubble tea you might ask? Good
question. It is a tea-slushie with flavors (I chose mango) and large balls of
tapioca (hence the “bubble”). Call me
old-fashioned, but I tend to like my drinks to be completely liquid.
On Friday night, I went to the Jason Mraz concert at the PNC
Arts Center
in Holmdel. I really liked the venue. It
had inside seating for the folks who paid for the assigned seats (like me) and
they had a really nice lawn for folks who paid for outside seating. The only complaint that I have is that I wasn’t
allowed to bring my camera in. Now, I
wouldn’t complain if there wasn’t a significant
amount of people who had cameras my size (large) and smaller in the venue once
I got in. I’m not sure how some of them got them in because it was clear that
they couldn’t hide it anywhere on their person.
I was actually pretty upset about this and still am. I don’t mind having
to leave my camera in the car, but don’t tell only a select portion of the
people to not bring their cameras and let everyone else in.
That about wraps up my trip.
I definitely recommend Monmouth/Red Bank/etc. as a destination
point. It was quaint and enjoyable. I
know I want to go back.
