In “I Love You, Phillip Morris,” Jim Carey said it best: “Being gay is expensive.”
We have the best clothes, the best bodies, best clubs, the best resorts, the best parties, the best weddings, the best music, the best drinks, and consequently, the best price-gouging. Fire Island, about an hour from New York on Long Island, is a case in point. During the summer months, the gay scene of the Big Apple pretty much up and moves to the place. While the actual population of the island is a puny 292, it balloons into the thousands from June to August. Wanna know what else balloons? The price tags. Everything from well drinks to rental properties skyrockets. Thus was born the phrase “I’m only homosexual; I’m not rich enough to be gay.”
About an hour away from Manhattan is Asbury Park, in New Jersey. It’s bigger, it’s cheaper, it’s right on the shore, and it is at least as gay as Fire Island. Jersey Pride, technically the Annual LGBTI Pride Celebration, kicks on Sunday, June 7 — and aside from July 4th, is THE summer festival for miles around. The whole town pretty much shuts down for it.
But if gay pride for you is a celebration 24/7/365, looking no further than the Empress Hotel. One of the most popular gay resorts on the Eastern seaboard, the Empress is Ground Zero for gay life in the town, and that goes double for Paradise, the in-hotel club. If you are a Madonna fan, Paradise is, well, paradise — Madge’s frequent playmate, Shep Pettibone, owns it.
Asbury Park should also stick in your mind if you are in anyway a rock-n-roll fan. Not far from the Empress is The Stone Pony, a bar and music venue. But not just any bar and music venue: This is the place Bruce Springsteen and Jon Bon Jovi launched their careers. It is one of the most prestigious stages in the country, and to take a in a show is to see music history in the making. And get good beer.
As a side note, expect “quirky.” The Jersey Shore is home to all things bold and oddball. The coast came into its own in the 1950s and 60s, and from Sandy Hook in the north to Cape May in the south, few state can embrace plastic palm trees, kidney-shaped pools, and all things tiki as fervently as seaside New Jersey. The boardwalks, and not just of Asbury Park, have been amassing the weird and wonderful ever since. And are damn proud of it, thank you.
For more info, go to cityofasburypark.com and asburyempress.com. Steele Luxury Travel is a big fan of Asbury Park. Feel free to use us as a resource for all things Asbury. www.SteeleTravel.com.