On Sunday, I ran the first annual Asbury Park Relay Marathon. For a new race, it has a lot of potential—but we could do without the Nor’easter next year.

Rosie has the latest information on where NJ chefs are manning the stoves.

Michele Gillian was so amped up that she could barely catch her breath – Ocean City has been named top beach in the state.

There are music or food festivals in just about every part of the state.

It’s two revivals in one.

“Hair,” the rock musical that revolutionized Broadway 40 years ago, is opening Friday as the first event held inside Asbury Park’s newly refurbished Carousel House, the boardwalk landmark that for decades sat empty and falling apart like much of this Shore town.

It’s a big weekend for food and wine lovers at the Jersey Fresh Food and Wine Festival, Saturday and Sunday at Hopewell Valley Vineyards in Pennington. Taste wines from the state’s vineyards, attend seminars by wine and food experts, and try food from Brothers Moon and Nomad Pizza Company in Hopewell, The Bent Spoon, Tre Piani Restaurant and Underground Café in Princeton, and High Street Grill in Mt. Holly.

The New Jersey State Fair kicks off tomorrow and runs through August 10 at the Sussex County Fairgrounds in Augusta. In the tradition of old fashioned American state fairs, the idea is to showcase agriculture with wholesome family events like livestock and garden exhibits, a tractor pull, one of the state’s largest horse shows, and lots of Jersey Fresh produce. 

Asbury Park was in full summer mode last weekend.

So what’s really lurking in those majestic buildings of historic Asbury Park?

You may be reading this from your laptop as you “work from home” this morning at the beach house. Or you may be considering heading down the Shore to soak up the first real sunshine of the season this long weekend. Consider us your guide to the summer season, with plenty of ideas and new sights to keep you busy off the beach.

Cool Asbury Park is a hot spot this weekend. Tomorrow through Sunday, the Garden State Film Festival brings indie films and filmmakers to classic New Jersey venues like the Paramount Theatre and the Stone Pony.

From London to Newark, they will be dancing all night at NJPAC, which brought to New Jersey the 50th Anniversary London production of My Fair Lady, with original British cast members Christopher Cazenove and Lisa O’Hare — Professor Henry Higgins and Eliza Doolittle. Through Sunday, www.njpac.org for show times and tickets.

The new Boss of Asbury Park has four legs. And he couldn’t be more eager to show them off, striding through the rapidly improving downtown shopping district, eyes bright with excitement.