Taking the Asbury Park vibe on the road

Sharing the music, art, food, and culture wherever I find it. Stories about coastal towns, revival movements, and the people who shape them.

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Latest from the Happenstance Series

Dive into the untold stories of Asbury Park's revival — two men's unlikely journey shaping the city's future.

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Part One The Beginning

Happenstance - Part One

This story looks back at the unlikely connection between Pat Fasano and Pat Schiavino, two men whose separate careers in food, art, music, and real estate eventually brought them to Asbury Park. A series of coincidences led them to buy and renovate properties in the same towns without realizing they had known each other years earlier. When they finally reconnected, they teamed up and began shaping the future of downtown Asbury Park together.

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Part Two The Wonder Bar

Happenstance - Part Two

This chapter follows how Pat Fasano and Pat Schiavino expanded from real estate into Asbury Park's nightclub scene, eventually opening the Wonder Bar and becoming central figures in the city's revival. Their biggest stroke of luck came when a demolished landmark forced Chevrolet's Corvette team and the Goo Goo Dolls to relocate a major photo shoot, leading the two Pats to help transform the Wonder Bar into a 1950s set and put it on the national map.

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Feature Local Profile

Amy Quinn At Home: In Asbury Park

A profile of Amy Quinn, who discovered a cause in a flock of Canadian geese in 2009 and turned it into a political career — from the Environmental Shade Tree Commission to a seat on the Asbury Park City Council, and now a run for Mayor. It's a story about building a home, making history, and fighting for a city that gave her everything.

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Woman standing on a wooden boardwalk wearing sunglasses and a navy Asbury Park shirt, with a beach and historic building in the background

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Standalone Music & Memory

Time in a Bottle

A reflective, music-filled story set in Asbury Park, this piece recounts an intimate backstage concert with A.J. Croce, son of legendary singer Jim Croce. Blending personal memories, coincidence, and a sense of synchronicity, the author connects past and present through music, legacy, and place.

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Close-up of an analog clock face with text overlay reading TIME IN A BOTTLE in white letters

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