Things To Do In Point Pleasant

Nationwide Bowling orchestrates a cacophonous symphony of clanking pins and cheering bowlers at 11 modern bowling centers located throughout New Jersey. Center size varies from the Hudson-Bayonne location where 60 lanes with automatic scoring, a grill, sports bar, and arcade games accommodate armadas of bowlers to Garden Palace, which houses 16 lanes, a bar, and a snack shop. At all locations, staffers host birthday parties and corporate events and organize leagues for competitive bowlers or people who just like to chuck heavy objects as hard as they can.

Racing go-karts and glowing laser battles simultaneously challenge and entertain visitors inside iPlay America's 115,000-square-foot amusement facility. Like its outdoor cousins, the indoor fun park houses more than 200 motorized attractions and carnival-style games for the whole family. Interactive amusements, such as the iPA Speedway, place patrons in the driver's seat of a real vehicle, and simulated sessions, including the Kite Flyer, tantalize visual senses with video images and sound effects. Scents of fresh pizza, lobster mac 'n' cheese, and hotdogs waft from five nourishment purveyors.

Highlights

• Mile-long boardwalk with batting cages, food vendors, and mini-golf
• Amusement park with 20+ rides, a fun house, and arcade games
• Sprawling beach with lifeguards on duty
• Aquarium with Pacific sharks, coral reefs, and seals
• Sweet shop with taffy, fudge, chocolates, and caramel apples
• Dark Ride interactive 3-D movies with motion simulators

Who They Are

In the early 1900s, entrepreneurs were rapidly taking over the Atlantic shore in a race to please throngs of seafaring tourists. Despite this, Charles Jenkinson managed to acquire most of a quiet boardwalk on Point Pleasant Beach. But it didn't stay quiet for long—that sleepy beach soon boomed to life with a soda fountain, candy shop, dance hall, and mini-golf course. Even the Great Depression couldn't dampen Jenkinson's rapid expansion. By 1934, his empire had grown to include a bathhouse, a pavilion, and the entire beach. Jenkinson's Boardwalk continues to grow in both size and popularity with each passing year, drawing in tourists with its thrilling rides, sandy beaches, and sweet treats.

On June 19, 1946, a veritable herd of racing fans—18,724 of them, in fact—galloped through the turnstiles at Monmouth Park Race Track. It was a gathering fit for a historic return, and indeed it was: 53 years separated that moment from the last time the track had hosted a race. Originally opened in 1870 in an effort to increase summer trade and give horses something to do while not in school, Monmouth Park was immediately popular, earning the moniker “Newmarket of America," a reference to the famed course in England. Yet in 1894, the state of New Jersey banned wagering on horses, effectively ending the facility's operations. In the 1940s, though, a man named Amory M. Haskell lobbied to have that law reversed. Today, the track honors its legislative savior by hosting the annual Haskell Invitational, a 1 1/8-mile race limited to three-year-old horses who’ve just learned to race without their training hooves.

After joining the South Atlantic League in 2001, the LakeWood BlueClaws didn't hesitate to make their mark. In less than a decade, the team won three league championships, including a landmark 2010 season in which they became the first club in SAL history to win the division in both halves of the season and go on to claim the title. As the Philadelphia Phillies' Class-A affiliate, the team has sent 50 players to the majors, including an eventual National League MVP and the 2010 Phillies' star 8-foot mutant crab at shortstop.

During three-day MAC Home and Garden Shows, tens of thousands of people visit each year to talk to professionals about the latest design trends and to make plans for interior & exterior home improvements. Garden display awards showcase top-notch themed gardens and environmentally based landscapes that home gardeners can incorporate into their own designs. From basic home improvements and maintenance projects, to major renovations and new construction, the shows can help home professionals do the job right while saving time and money.