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It was a beautiful Saturday and my wife and I decided to take a ride to the Keansburg Amusement Park just to see how they restored the park after Hurricane Sandy. When we arrived we were surprised to see there was also a Hot Rods and Food Trucks event at the park.
I am always prepared to cover breaking news or to photograph interesting subjects for our publications, so I took my camera and begin to take photos and videos of the event and the park.
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I have to admit that I have not visited the Keansburg Amusement Park for a number of years. Having grown children with families that are no longer living in our area, I spend a lot of my time now going to New York City to cover parades and events there for our sister publication IMPress Magazine.
However, since I decided to publish the Hazlet News last October 2014, I have been getting reacquainted with our area and all it has to offer. For those of you that have visited our website or are one of the 2600 Hazlet News Facebook group members you know I have spent a great deal of time visiting local eateries, businesses and now even theaters and amusement parks. We now feature some of them in our Editors Choice Best Businesses section on our website.
Runaway Rapids
I have never been to Runaway Rapids before and as we peeked through the gates, we could see so many people having a great time in the water park. My son Andrew has three small children, one age 4 and the twins age 2 and lives in Northern Jersey. When they do come down to visit us, he likes to go to the beach with his oldest son and at times we will visit Point Pleasant with the entire family. I suppose it is because as a child he used to like to get on the train with his boogie board and hit the waves there. As a family we used to go to Belmar in the summer as well.
But now that the Keansburg Amusement Park has rebuilt and has added some new and exciting rides and Runaway Rapids has to be a great way to spend a few hours. For more information on Runaway Rapids and their promotions click here.
Apparently the best deal is their season tickets. Here is a breakdown of the costs. Not bad if you compare it to a seasonal pass at a pool club. I would also imagine 3 hours at the park is more than anyone would need and their Splash Night prices are very reasonable as well.
2 Hour Ticket $25.95 • 3 Hour Ticket $27.95 • Splash Night (4pm-close*) $12.95
Toddler Rate (up to 42? tall) $12.95 • Dry Spectators $8.95 • Lockers $6.00
Season Passes $149/person OR $447/family of four*
Hot Rods and Food Trucks
If you love cars and love all sorts of ethnic and traditional food, than you would love their Hot Rods and Food Trucks show. Unfortunately we ate before we left the house so we didn’t have an opportunity to try some of the wonderful food we saw at the event. Whatever your taste, there was something there just for you.
It seems that this is the season for township car shows. Just two weeks ago we spent the day downtown Keyport at their car show and many other local towns have done the same. But in Keansburg they paired the show with the Food Trucks where you could try all sorts of ethnic foods from Asian to Greek.
I love the car shows and I go to many. Of course many of the same cars are at most of these shows, but it is always fun to see the care, attention and pride the car owners show in their vehicles.
I even saw my very first car at one of these shows, it was a 1959 Renault Dauphine. Bought it used for $500 and drove it to college every day with my friends. It was so small and light that we used to lift it up and squeeze it into a tight parking spot. Do we ever forget our first car?
Well if you attend these shows you may just see yours there and memories will flood back as you once again relive your youth.
In our video you will see lots of photos of some of the many cars at the show. If you see one you like, pause the video and take a screen shot. The video is in full 1080p HD and you can even view it in the larger mode or the full screen mode.
About The Park
We loved walking through the park. A bit surprised it wasn’t crowded at all. On such a beautiful day with so much going on, we thought it would be jammed with people, but I suppose many like us, just don’t realize that this jewel of a park with over a 100 years of history is a great place to spend the day. My wife and I are grandparents, I hate to use the word seniors, we do enjoy spending the day watching others having fun. Watching the children laughing, screaming and having a great time with their parents makes us happy too. But for the children that are sliding down a huge slide in the arms on their parent, or those on the kiddy rides, this park has a lot to offer.
At their beautiful and informative website you can see they run a number of specials, including a ticket promotion. You buy 200 tickets and get another 200 ticket book free. For any family this is a great deal and becomes affordable. On their website they have a number of coupons on an easy to print page…click here to go there now.
For a schedule of days and hours of operation, click here.
Top Jersey Shore Pizza – Pizza “V”
The first trip to the park we didn’t have time to check out some of the eateries. This last trip we visited Pizza “V” and their banner states they are the Best Jersey Shore Pizza by the Asbury Park Press. An award that we didn’t believe until we saw the size of their pies loaded with cheese and other goodies.
I was shocked when I saw a customer loading his pie with half the jar of hot red pepper flakes, oregano and cheese. When he was done you couldn’t see the pie. Now I am a purest. I like pizza with a little oregano, a little red pepper and some grated cheese. We were given two slices to prove their boast. One for the grandchildren we brought with us and the other for the adults to taste. Unfortunately I only got one bite before it was ripped out of my hands.
You can see my grandson Reid enjoying his slice . Excellent pie, lots of cheese and the crust and sauce was perfect. Will have to give it another try so I can enjoy my own slice or two.
Why Fight The Shore Traffic
For those of us living in Monmouth County, Keansburg Amusement Park and Runaway Rapids is a great place to spend the day. Not only do they have a nice clean beach that is FREE, but there are a number of places to grab something to eat, play some traditional games of chance, have some fun in their arcades featuring our favorite game “Skee Ball” but also rides for the entire family.
The Keasnburg Arcades
Gary Balaban and John Maurer own and manage the two Keansburg Arcades. In addition they sell arcade merchandise and equipment at their company Coast to Coast Entertainment.
The arcade you see in our photos has loads of modern games and prize machines. We noticed one woman sitting at one of the machines putting in her tokens and watching all the tickets piling up on her side. In a large 5 gallon bucket we saw what only could be hundreds of thousands of other tickets. I can only assume she doesn’t leave home without them. Gary explained that her and her husband prefer to take their gambling to their arcade rather than go to Atlantic City. He showed me photos of those that have reached their million point club and some of the larger prizes they won.
I have never thought of an arcade as a casino, but I suppose a machine that spits out coupons is no different now than the slots in the casino’s that spit out tickets. Great guy, fun arcade, will go back with my grandchildren to play some more games and try to teach Reid how to roll the skee ball and actually get it into one of those holes.
Why Fight The Shore Traffic
For those of us living in Monmouth County, Keansburg Amusement Park and Runaway Rapids is a great place to spend the day. Not only do they have a nice clean beach that is FREE, but there are a number of places to grab something to eat, play some traditional games of chance, have some fun in their arcades featuring our favorite game “Skee Ball” but also rides for the entire family.
I have spent hours driving to Point Pleasant only to find parking impossible and the rides so crowded that we had to spend most of our time waiting on lines. Keansburg may not have everything that Point Pleasant has to offer, but when you consider it is in our backyard and you can go anytime you please and not have to worry about week-end traffic to the shore, the choice is clear.
I would advise you to pull into their parking lot for $5 for the whole day. Meters on the street cost 50¢ for 15 minutes and we noticed some cars with a summons on their windows.
How many of us that live in our area actually go to the shore and fight the traffic on the week-ends? We did for years, but when the kids got older we stopped going. Now we pass over the Garden State Parkway and look at the stop and go traffic, or avoid taking Route 36 South now too. It has gotten to be too much of a struggle these days and will leave the shore on the week-ends to others.
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