And then there's the harbor, with its cement boardwalk and stone quay, and the beaches.
Follow the winding stone paths and suspended boardwalk for glimpses of lions, leopards, rhinos, ostriches and zebra.
They lounged in the shallows beneath a waterslide clearly meant for children and they dominated the wooden boardwalk and stone piers, staking a claim on the best seaside property on the strip.
The Stone Pony, just off the boardwalk in Asbury Park, closed in September 1998 after a slide that included bankruptcy in 1990 and a brief stint as a dance club called Vinyl.
And here, at the corner of Second and Ocean Avenues, across the street from the fabled, faded boardwalk, is where it looks as if the Stone Pony will stay.
Stony Pony and Stone Pony Lot, 913 Ocean Avenue, across the street from the Asbury Park Boardwalk, Asbury Park.
With boardwalk walking trails stretching the perimeter of the valley and granite stone cliffs towering overhead, the landscape views stretch far, high, and wide.
Finally, at a playground overlooking the boardwalk and glittering sea, she hit pay dirt: about 70 men sitting around stone tables in the shade, playing cards, checkers and dominoes.
Winding stone staircases appear from nowhere, overgrown with vines and wild pink roses and, further east, a boardwalk materialises as the drone of Essingeleden motorway muddles with birdsong.
OUR route, which followed a section of the Long Trail, began wide and well worn, with stairs, stacked rock cairns, wooden boardwalks to protect small wetlands and an occasional blaze of white paint on stone.
