From the beach to free music concerts, here’s all the fun events happening in Asbury Park, NJ this summer

There is always something to do in the city of Asbury Park in the summer from the beach to the boardwalk to the Stone Pony to the many great restaurants and local shops and businesses.

The question is where to start.

To discuss the summer season ahead and what events are coming up, Asbury Park Deputy Mayor Amy Quinn was a guest on 'Shore Time with Vin and Dave' on Sunday morning on 94.3 The Point and 105.7 The Hawk.

If you're looking for a high quality beach and beach environment, Travel & Leisure says this is the place to be as the online magazine has ranked the Asbury Park beach among the top-25 in the country.

"Especially after the pandemic, we want people coming back to town, we want people having dinner, ordering a drink, going to our retail, going to our bookstores -- and so, putting us on the 25 best beach towns was much needed and we are thankful to it to get people back to Asbury Park," Quinn tells Townsquare Media. "So, come out, have a drink, be kind, know that staffing is still short, know that people's patience is frayed and -- just be nice if you're coming to Asbury Park, that is our only prerequisite."

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The effort to make this beach town more recognizable, clean, family-friendly and an overall great place to be has been years in the making for the governing body.

"It has its ups and downs, right, so the influx of people takes its toll sometimes on our staff, sometimes people don't know the historical knowledge of Asbury Park and maybe aren't up to speed on that," Quinn said. "On the one hand, I want to see businesses succeed so come to town, be kind, tip well -- and on the other hand, there's a large demographic in Asbury that thinks we already have enough people, we're good -- so balancing those two as a council person is always an interesting experience, that's for sure."

Safety is important on the beach in Asbury Park and officials are asking you to be mindful of that this summer.

Following the recent tragedy at Ocean Beach III in the northern end of Toms River, officials in many Jersey Shore towns are reminding beachgoers of beach and sand safety.

"We want people to come, we want you to have fun, and we want you to be safe on the beach," Quinn said. "What happened in Toms River was terrifying, so don't dig holes. Asbury Park beach has an ordinance -- you're allowed to go one-foot wide, one-foot deep -- don't go beyond that."

Following the tragedy on the White Sands Beach in the South Seaside Park section of Berkeley Township last August, Jersey Shore towns have begun taking measures to protect lifeguards and beachgoers.

"We bought a lightning detector, so, we're going to have a much better heads-up when storms are coming our way to keep our residents and visitors safe who are on the beach," Quinn said. "Know that lifeguards don't start 7-days a week until after June 12. A lot of our lifeguards and staff are school administration -- our teachers or cafeteria staff -- and they aren't out until the end of June, so, we are not fully staffed, in terms of lifeguards, so if there's not a lifeguard there, don't go in the water. Weekends, we absolutely have lifeguards right now, so, come every weekend, go for a swim, do what you gotta do, but, during the week, until after June 12, don't go in the water."

If you're looking to pick up a seasonal beach badge or just a daily pass, Deputy Mayor Quinn says you can go to the Second Avenue trailer.

"Our daily badges, I believe, are $6.00, our weekend badges are $9.00, our seasonal badges are $70.00 for a person who is not disabled or a senior, and then the senior/disabled/veterans all get $20-25.00 seasonal badges," Quinn said. "We're, hopefully, one of the more affordable places for people to go and really strive to be one of the more affordable places."

How to find parking in Asbury Park during the summer.

Parking can be at a premium in every Jersey Shore beach town during the summer months, which is great, a sign that people want to go there and have fun, but parking can also be a challenge.

"We absolutely don't have enough parking, so, what you should be doing is taking the train, we have bicycles that you can rent, we have scooters that you can rent that are so interesting to me because we have the ability to track where people are going -- whether they're going downtown or going to the waterfront -- we don't have enough space for a ton of parking and there's not going to be space created for a ton of parking in Asbury Park," Quinn said. "You can ride your bike, you can take the train, you can take an Uber, you can take a scooter."

Monday night music series and concerts this summer in Asbury Park are coming up.

"We have this great, if not my favorite event, in the top-3 of my favorite events is the Monday Night Music Series (put on by the Asbury Park Music Foundation) which is at the Springwood Ave Park, completely free, starts at the end of June (6-9 pm) and is no question one of the best experiences in Asbury Park," Quinn said. "Another amazing free music series that is back -- is 'Asbury Park Live', Wednesday nights up on the green space up on the boardwalk by Watermark, it's sponsored by Watermark and several other people, it's 7:00-10:00, about 3-bands, July and August on Wednesday nights."

There's also going to be some great bands and concerts at the Stone Pony Summer Stage over the next few months as well.

"We want people to come out, support the bands coming to the Pony -- 'Remember Jones' is there, Asbury Jukes (July 2) is coming -- they do every 4th of July weekend, and one of my favorites from the 90's is the Counting Crows are coming, so super looking forward to seeing them," Quinn said. "Come out to the Stone Pony, we have a lot of really great bands."

You can listen to the full conversation Dave Crossan and I had with Asbury Park Deputy Mayor Amy Quinn on 'Shore Time with Vin and Dave', right here.