Long a photographer’s favorite, Asbury Park is known for its carnival and music history, architecture, and its offbeat, artsy, and diverse vibe.
I have photographed there before, but mostly in the off-season, as it’s well north of the South Jersey beaches most Inquirer readers favor.
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My assignment in Ashury Park last week was to illustrate an end-of-summer ode my colleague, columnist Helen Ubiñas wrote, finding it “a welcome mix” between her New York City birthplace and her current home in Philly.
The boardwalk there captivated me as well:
The diversity of Shore patrons results in what Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Helen Ubiñas calls "a glorious symphony of accents and languages and Philly neighborhood and NYC borough dialects."Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Christina Delli Santi of Hoboken readies for her November wedding at her bachelorette party with friends (and “Chad”) at the Beach Bar at Convention Hall.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Delli Santi with her friends Kelly Yager (left) and Alex Damielo (center)Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Surfboard stickers and a replica of “Tillie” on the side of the Wonder Bar. The original amusement park “fun face" was painted in 1956. The Palace indoor park closed in 1988 and was demolished in 2004, but a Tillie section of the historic building's wall was saved and remains in storageRead moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Vintage pinball machines at Silverball Retro Arcade on the boardwalk. The arcade is also a “playable” museum.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
The 1978 “Rock Star” pinball machine is one of only 278 made by D. Gottlieb & Co. The rare one-player electromagnetic add-a-ball game was designed by John Osborne with art by Gordon Morrison.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Asbury Lanes, a vintage bowling alley, and live music venue Aug. 28, 2023, near the end of the summer and the weirdness and wonderfulness of the beach and boardwalk.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Here in Philadelphia on this Labor Day - the unofficial end of the summer - we are going into what could be the longest heat wave of the year. And the longest in September since 1931.
I am looking forward to the cooler, shorter days (with long shadows) and back-to-school assignments and fall sports.
In the meantime though, the holiday weekend is just as good an excuse as any to look back at some of my photo essays from this past summer, starting with a visit from N.J. Senator Cory Booker, also last week:
Keisha Stephenson Taylor reacts as U.S. Sen. Cory Booker records a video message on her phone for her son following the Chamber of Commerce Southern New Jersey breakfast on Tuesday.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Lamon Hill greets Booker during a roundtable at the Camden County Correctional Facility in Camden on Monday.Read moreMonica Herndon / Staff Photographer
Booker listens during the roundtable. He is introducing a bill that would allow states to use Medicaid to pay for the care of inmates. For people with addiction, leaving jail can be deadly because the forced period of abstinence lowers their tolerance for drugs, putting them at risk of an overdose. Read moreMonica Herndon / Staff Photographer
Francis Ortiz embraces Booker following the roundtable. In Camden, jail officials have worked for some time to offer better medical care for inmates with addiction.Read moreMonica Herndon / Staff Photographer
Booker greets and meets members of the Chamber of Commerce of Southern New Jersey.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Booker greets, meets, and takes selfies with members before the chamber’s annual breakfast meeting in Mt Laurel, Burlington Co.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Booker briefly steps up onto a chair as featured speaker.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Booker talks and answers questions at the breakfast meeting in a Westin ballroom off Route 73 in Mt Laurel, Burlington Co.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Booker will likely be spending a lot of time helping President Joe Biden and fellow Democrats in 2024.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Booker could be key to the party’s messaging in 2024. And he didn’t rule out the possibility he’d run for president in 2028.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
U.S. Sen. Cory Booker takes many selfies with members of the Chamber of Commerce of Southern New Jersey on Tuesday.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Booker meets three generations of the Coombs family, at their farm in Elmer, Salem Co.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Booker talks with John Coombs, Sr. (back to camera) and his son, John Coombs, Jr. (right). Booker, who serves on the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, visited the ninth-generation family-owned sod and potato farm along with New Jersey Farm Bureau officials.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Coombs, Sr. gives Booker a tour of his potato farm.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Potatoes pass on a conveyor belt as Coombs' grandchildren inspect potatoes and toss rejects into a bin - with Booker jokingly going for the interception.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Coombs, Sr. (left) gives U.S. Sen. Cory Booker a driving tour of his potato farm.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Staffers and New Jersey Farm Bureau officials watch from the van.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Booker leaves after a visit to the Coombs Sod Farm in Elmer, Salem Co. on Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2023 .Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Booker meets local elected officials and firefighters at the firehouse in Clayton, Gloucester Co., announcing a $715,000 congressional appropriation to purchase a new ladder truck under the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant program.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Others capture the moment on their phones as Booker records a video message on the phone of Kingsway Regional High School senior Dillon Dukes - for his history teacher, Edward Moody - at the firehouse.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Another of our local U.S. Senators, on another summer recess tour:
Scranton Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti (left) welcomes U.S. Sens. John Fetterman and Bob Casey (right) at the Mayors Innovation Project meeting in Scranton on Aug. 10, 2023.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer / Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Cognetti presents Fetterman with a framed photo of Michael Scott and a “World's Best Mayor” coffee mug, a take off on the “World’s Best Boss” mug used by Scott, the regional manager of the Scranton branch of the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company on the television series The Office. Fetterman remarked that this own joking reference to the TV show was not go over well on a previous visit to Scranton. Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer / Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Fetterman greets small town mayors during breakfast at their national summer meeting.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer / Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Fetterman poses for a selfie with South Fulton, Georgia mayor Khalid Kamau. A steady stream of mayors at the conference approached him for introductions or photos.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer / Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Fetterman reads along on an iPad equipped with transcription software as fellow Sen. Bob Casey speaks to the mayors. His May 2022 stroke impacted his hearing and auditory processing.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer / Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Fetterman told the mayors, “I miss being connected to people a lot. I miss being connected to problems you can work on directly and it’s not a bunch of committees.”Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer / Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Fetterman went from flipping a Republican-held Senate seat last year to a very public battle this year with depression that he attributed to the pressures of the campaign and recovery from a near-fatal stroke.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer / Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Fetterman sports a full beard he started growing after his father suffered a heart attack earlier this summer and couldn’t shave. Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer / Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Sen. John Fetterman talks with Greg Heller (second from left), third generation owner of Heller Orchards in Wapwallopen Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023 as he visits Pennsylvania farmers during the Senate summer recess. Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer / Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Fetterman comments on a sign at the orchard, asking if anyone has ever verified the ruler accurately measures six-feet. The 6-foot-8 senator did not stand next to the large smiling apple to check it for himself. Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer / Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
On a tour of the 100-acre orchard, Fetterman talked about growing up in York and having an appreciation for farming. Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer / Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Fetterman bites into a McIntosh apple. He will have a significant role in crafting the farm bill — a huge package of legislation that supports the agricultural economy and provides food aid for more than 40 million low-income Americans.
Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer / Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
For Fetterman, the Senate is not the same as connecting
with people in small towns. At Heller Orchards he talks with Greg and Andrea Heller (left), third generation owners of the orchard; Pa. Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski (right) and Brenda Briggs (back to camera) with Rice Fruit in Gardners, Adams Co.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer / Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Frustrated by gridlock in Washington, Fetterman is energized by his constituents. He invited the Hellers to testify in D.C. about the farm bill.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer / Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Fetterman buys peaches and apples after his visit to Heller Orchards.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer / Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Sen. John Fetterman leaves after a visit to Heller Orchards in Wapwallopen Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023 as he meets with Pennsylvania farmers during a Senate recess. Fetterman serves on the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry that will soon consider the farm bill which is renewed every five years. It was his first visit to the region since the election campaign.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer / Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
And... a former governor now running for president:
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie launches his bid for the Republican nomination for president at a town hall at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire Tuesday June 6, 2023. Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Christie’s 2021 book is with a member of the audience. He and Donald Trump were once allies, but he broke with the former president after the January 6th attack. His book is titled "Republican Rescue: Saving the Party From Truth Deniers, Conspiracy Theorists, and the Dangerous Policies of Joe Biden."Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie makes his announcement at a town hall at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
The candidate's wife, Mary Pat and two of their children, Andrew and Sarah are in the audience.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
The candidate’s 90 year-old father, Wilbur James “Bill” Christie, talks with voters before town hall. Going door-to-door canvassing for his son in 2016 Bill Christie told ABC News, “I come up here to help Chris, and they couldn’t stop me if they tried. I’d come and do it on my own actually. It’s a labor of love.”Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
The former New Jersey governor spoke and answered questions for over two hours.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Christie said former president Trump made the country “smaller by dividing us even further and pitting one group against another.”Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Christie first ran for president in 2016, but dropped out after a sixth-place showing in New Hampshire.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Photos of previous New Hampshire presidential primary campaigns hang on the wall above the news media. Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Christie told the audience. “If you are in search of the perfect candidate, it is time to leave. I am not it.”Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie launches his bid for the 2024 Republican nomination for president at a town hall at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire Tuesday June 6, 2023. Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Christie reacts as he delivers a punch line invoking a Harry Potter reference and Trump. He said the other Republican candidates are treating the former president, “Like Lord Voldemort, He who shall.not be named.” Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Christie says he is best-positioned to take on Trump in the primary while also appealing to independents in a potential general election showdown with President Joe Biden. Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
After a half hour speech Christie announced, “That’s why I came back to New Hampshire to tell all of you that I intend to seek the Republican nomination for President of the United States in 2024.”Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Christie took aim at the former president throughout his speech, calling him "a bitter, angry man who wants power back for himself."
Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Christie steps into the audience to answer a question during the town hall.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Christie starts his 2024 campaign at the bottom in polls. Not only is he behind Trump and Ron DeSantis but also Nikki Haley, Mike Pence, Tim Scott, and even Vivek Ramaswamy.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Christie poses for selfie with a supporter after the town hall.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Christie leaves the town hall at Saint Anselm College. He told the crowd that he’d be back. “I promise you I will always show up,” He said. “I will always take your questions. Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
A supporter of former President Donald Trump leaves a small gathering outside the venue.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Finally, circling back to the Jersey Shore, my appreciation of Garden State rest stops, as the summer driving season kicked off in May.
Abby Lynch takes Tia and Shyla (right) to the dog walk at the Frank S. Farley Service Plaza on the Atlantic City Expressway, stopping on their way to the Jersey Shore on Memorial Day weekend Sunday, May 28, 2023.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Ron Fisher, Sr. waters the flowering plants for sale at Ron’s Gardens at the Frank S. Farley Service Plaza. His son, Ron, Jr., owns the farm stand - which just opened for the summer season over the Memorial Day weekend. It’s still too early for Jersey Fresh produce, but soon they will have local blueberries, peaches, corn, tomatoes, squash, and more.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
The Frank S. Farley Service Plaza.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
A brief description of Frank S. Farley hangs next to his portrait at his namesake service plaza.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
The Frank S. Farley Service Plaza.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
A 22-foot brass replica of the Battleship New Jersey at the Frank S. Farley Service Plaza. The model was first constructed to test radio waves for the US Navy, prior to the ship’s re-commissioning in 1981. The detailed 22 foot-long model built on 1/48 scale allowed the Navy to monitor antenna response patterns for a given frequency between ships of the battleship class.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
The 9-11 Memorial at the Frank S. Farley Service Plaza.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
A photo of Celia Cruz outside her namesake service area near Forked River on the Garden State Parkway.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
The Celia Cruz Service Area.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
An off-white turban-style concert-used headdress designed for Cruz on display at her namesake service area.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
A life-size “Video Selfie” of Danny DeVito joins photos of other members of the New Jersey Hall of Fame displayed at the Celia Cruz Service Area.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
The Frank Sinatra Service Area, on the Garden State Parkway just north of Atlantic City. Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
The Pedraza and Clifford families from Staten Island at the Frank Sinatra Service Area.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Gov. Phil Murphy proclamation hangs at the Frank Sinatra Service Area.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Members of the New Jersey Hall of Fame displayed at the Frank Sinatra Service Area: Mary Chapin Carpenter (from left), Count Basie, Sarah Vaughan, George Benson, Steven Van Zandt, and Jon Bon Jovi.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
A ticket to a 1984 Frank Sinatra Carnegie Hall concert on display at his namesake service area.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
The Richards and Fearon families from the Bronx at the Frank Sinatra Service Area.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Phillip Richards put his dollar in for a three-minute massage at the Frank Sinatra Service Area.Read moreTom Gralish
The Frank Sinatra Service Area on the Garden State Parkway.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
The Toni Morrison Service Area on the Garden State Parkway in Cape May County.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
The N.J. Department of State, Division of Travel and Tourism, staffs an information desk at the Toni Morrison Service Area.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Automobile accessories for sale at the Toni Morrison Service Area.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Long before service areas there were ten picnic areas for drivers on the Garden State Parkway. The Townsend Shoemaker Holly Picnic Area is the only one that remains. It is 4-1/2 miles from the Toni Morrison Service Area.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
The Shoemaker Holly tree at the picnic area is more than 300 years old. Holly Society of America founder Daniel G. Fenton led the charge to save the tree in the 1950s when it was directly in the planned path of the parkway’s proposed construction. Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
The main building closes at 10 p.m. but the gas station and convenience store remains open all night at the Frank S. Farley Service Plaza, on the Atlantic City Expressway.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Since 1998, a black-and-white photo has appeared every Monday in staff photographer Tom Gralish’s “Scene Through the Lens” photo column in The Inquirer’s local news section. Here are the most recent, in color:
August 28, 2023: Canada geese take advantage of a retention pond on a townhouse construction site along Rt. 38 in Mount Laurel, N.J. Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
August 21, 2023: Quashima Hill records video as some of her children participate in an end-of-the-summer performance during the Germantown Summer Showcase at Roosevelt Elementary School. The kids’ performance came at the end of a two-week summer music camp organized by Rock to the Future, a musical education nonprofit that emphasizes music and also teaches middle school youths what it takes to succeed in the labor force.
Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
August 14, 2023: Yusuf Sarac rides with his “good bunny” helmet past the Moorestown Mall. A junior mechanical engineering major at Drexel University, he says other drivers and pedestrians always wave to him as he rides from his Oaklyn, N.J. home to and around and in University City and Center City. “People’s reaction is just killing it. People love it,” he says. Plus, he adds, the bunny helmet cover, “helps with the noise.” Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer / Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
August 7, 2023: Saying neither one was like Tom Sawyer, who tricked his friend Ben Rogers into finishing painting a fence in the Mark Twain novel, Woodrow Smith and Judith Pardun paint her fence together along busy Nicholson Road in Audubon, N.J. Both were glad they weren’t doing it during last month’s heat.
wave.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer / Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
July 31, 2023: When returning to your car parked in Center City, a lesser of two evils question: Which is worse, finding a parking ticket on your windshield or noticing that your roof has become a pigeon restroom?Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer / Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
July 24, 2023: What’s left of the old Islander Raceway and Amusement Park, a longtime landmark at the foot of the George Redding Bridge on Rt. 47 just before Wildwood. Closed since 2002, it boasted six different go-kart tracks, bumper boats, mini golf and batting cages, and as the sign says, refreshments. Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
July 17, 2023: With its diversity of habitat — beach, dunes, ponds, forest, and marsh — Cape May Point is one of the best places to watch birds year-round. In addition to hawks, visitors can see breeding songbirds, waterbirds, terns, and passing migrants. When using the binoculars for a quarter on the Cape May Point State Park hawkwatch platform. just remember to look up.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
July 10, 2023: The Ferris Wheel on the midway at Independence Blue Cross RiverRink Summerfest is visible behind the stairway and ramp from the Market Street bridge to Penn’s Landing. Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
July 3, 2023: 18th century cannons point away from the Museum of the American Revolution at 3rd and Chestnut Streets. After the British occupation and the war, many old discarded canons and smaller carronades were embedded upright in the ground to protect structures and streets - much like the bollards we see today around most government and public buildings. Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
June 26, 2023: The morning pause in North Wildwood. Every day from April through September, every walker, runner, biker, and surrey rider stops at 11 a.m. as "The Star-Spangled Banner" is played on the boardwalk (followed by a Kate Smith recording of “God Bless America”). The playing of the anthem along the boardwalk, which stretches through Wildwood and North Wildwood, has happened as long as anyone can remember. Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
June 19, 2023: On the pedestrian walkway between the Cira Center and Amtrak’s William H. Gray III 30th Street Station. Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
June 12, 2023: Freshening up an arcade game on the boardwalk in Wildwood, ahead of the summer season at the Jersey Shore. Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
June 5, 2023: Maryanna Barr cuts the grass around the bird condominium tree trunk next to her Brooklawn, N.J home. She attributes the high bird occupancy rate — all her bird houses have residents — to her not feeding them. “I only do rooms, not board,” Barr says.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
May 29, 2023: Visitors watch the official welcome film of Philadelphia, playing for free in the Independence Visitor Center. The eight minute video runs all day on a continuous loop, previewing the city's sights and sounds in an open-walled theater. Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
May 22, 2023: A banner along Spring Garden Street reminded Philadelphians of Primary Election Day. There were a half dozen candidates running for mayor, and seven times that many seeking one of the 17 seats on City Council. Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
