Jersey Landmarks

[columbus steve]

I'm packing up the family and heading out on a New York City vacation. Of course, we're going to roll in through Jersey as my wife hasn't ever been to Freehold, Asbury Park, etc.

Any suggestions for some Springsteen landmarks we should check out on our day in Jersey?

[Boccigalupe]

Contact Stan!

[brucegroupie]

you don't say when you're leaving and heading out....but Bocci is on the right track....if you've got time, contact Stan and order his book, The Rock and Roll Tour Guide of the Jersey Shore....it'll point you in every direction you need to take. It's a great book/resource!! :)

[ohio boss]

I think Red Bank is a cool little place to hit by the way..some decent shopping and restaurants but contacting Stan to see if he has a tour running is a must.

[Karo]

Stan's book is great. I highly suggest it. I also agree that Red Bank is pretty cool. Hank, did you really shop or was your arse in the pubs?

[ohio boss]

alright Karo..my kind of shopping was to go to Jack's to buy cd's and i went to the sports memorabilia store...that is real shopping right? I will admit, i did take in a few of the pubs--i am American you know.

[Karo]

OK Hank, good answer.

Enjoy your trip Steve.

[Boccigalupe]

From Stang:

Anyone is around on Sunday, July 3 in the afternoon, Jean Mikle and myself will be giving a walking tour of the rock and roll sites around Asbury Park.
The tour will start at noon on the Asbury Park boardwalk on the southside of Convention Hall, near the Howard Johnson's.
The tour, which was arranged for by the fine folks on the Greasy Lake board, will take about two hours. We may go to Freehold too, but that will be determined on that day (may be too much with the heat and the Pony doors open at 5 p.m.
There will be a charge for the tour, a portion of which Jean and I will donate to an Asbury Park charity.
E-mail me at stannerg@aol.com (stannerg@aol.com) with any questions.
Stan

[Woodyj]

Stan's book is a must for any Springsteen fan -- great reading, great photos. Lots of great memories. Highly recommend it!

[FFDan]

Rock & Roll Tour of the Jersey Shore (http://njrockmap.com/)

[admiralkosmos]

GRAVITY HILL Bruce Springsteen drops by, lays down a wicked guitar solo (who knew?) and tells a great story of a gravity hill in his neighbourhood where cars roll up not down. (Clip from box fror Zevon album "The Wind") (I think it's back by Telegraph Hill near the PNC Bank Art Center) You car literally does roll up hill!

The pond behind Brookdale - that's where he was photographs skating on the cover of Rolling Stone.

E Street in Belmar.

Driftwood - where Federici was almost arrested. I might have that one wrong - I know it's along the Sea Bright shore corridor.

West End, on Broadway, near beach, 2nd floor apartment on north side - above video store - where Born to Run was written.

Harry's Roadhouse - a very cool place and great atmopshere and chow in Asbury and RIGHT across the street from I believe the Student Prince (it's the shoe place on the corner) and up the street from where alot of Greetings was written and on Cookman, where the race riots happened in 1970.

I can't tell you exactly where there are in Holmdel (where River sessions were) or Danny house (auctioned in Colts Neck I believe long ago) but perhaps the single coolest place in the State of New Jersey associated with Bruce Springsteen is his current address.

That, my friends, you'll have to torture me to get.

Take Care and remember! Jersey is farm fresh! :hat:

[mississippi 2]

GRAVITY HILL Bruce Springsteen drops by, lays down a wicked guitar solo (who knew?) and tells a great story of a gravity hill in his neighbourhood where cars roll up not down. (Clip from box fror Zevon album "The Wind") (I think it's back by Telegraph Hill near the PNC Bank Art Center) You car literally does roll up hill!


Is Gravity Hill still there? I thought I had heard that it had been leveled out some time ago..... If it is still there, its true... put your car in neutral and you go backwards....

[Boccigalupe]

Is Gravity Hill still there? I thought I had heard that it had been leveled out some time ago..... If it is still there, its true... put your car in neutral and you go backwards....

Yep I think it's still there, I haven't been there in years though. it's just north of the Telegraph Hill house which is now a development. I used to think it was a joke .. but he took me there and yep it looked like the car was rolling up hill, took him a few min. to get it to work

[Boccigalupe]

aHa!!! I remembered .. it between Holland Road and Rt. 35 (Southbound) it's Laural Avenue

Please be careful a couple of kids were killed a some years back attempting it. ... So the town may have changed the road.

[Asbury]

Are thrill hill and gravity hill the same. I thought thrill hill was on Laurel and where the kids were killed. I live down the bloch and my knowledge of where it was is that is now leveled off.

[Boccigalupe]

Are thrill hill and gravity hill the same. I thought thrill hill was on Laurel and where the kids were killed. I live down the bloch and my knowledge of where it was is that is now leveled off.

Yes it is. So they did level it.

[moondance]

Gravity Hill and Thrill Hill are not the same. As stated before, Gravity Hill is on Telegraph Hill Rd (where Bruce once lived) and Thrill Hill is on Laurel Ave.

Danny was almost arrested at Clearwater Beach Club (my old beach club) located on Hwy 36 in Highlands. It is now an overgrown area, nothing much to see.

[Boccigalupe]

Gravity Hill and Thrill Hill are not the same. As stated before, Gravity Hill is on Telegraph Hill Rd (where Bruce once lived) and Thrill Hill is on Laurel Ave.

Danny was almost arrested at Clearwater Beach Club (my old beach club) located on Hwy 36 in Highlands. It is now an overgrown area, nothing much to see.

AhA!! You're right !! I haven been there in 25 years. Are you sure it's not the other way around .. i.e. Thrill Hill Production?

Gravity Hill. (http://www.gravityhillmedia.com/pages/653127/index.htm)

[Red Bank Ron]

Are thrill hill and gravity hill the same. I thought thrill hill was on Laurel and where the kids were killed. I live down the bloch and my knowledge of where it was is that is now leveled off.

Gravity hill was leveled out. It was a 100 yard or so stretch of road on South Laurel Avenue that ended at Holland road (heading toward the Parkway). "Thrill Hill" as it was named in the sixties I believe, was also on South Laurel Ave. The "hill" was a HUGE speed bump on the mile and a half strait-a-way that is between Holland Road and Route 35. You could get a car airbourne at speeds as low as 50mph! The BIG problem was if you were heading towards highway 35 the NJ Transit train overpass was right in your face. Many lost control and died here and some actually hit the overpass!! This section was leveled in the late '60s.

Factoid:

When driving Northwest on Telegraph Hill Road if you throw the car into neutral (in the area of Bruce's old house) you will coast for over a mile until you reach Bethany Road (let me know if you need a demo Stan :) ). Maybe this is where the gravity gods relocated after modern day construction ruined the old location! :eek:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Tirezan/ThrillHillmapcopy.jpg

[Red Bank Ron]

Just Googled this.....

Gravity Hill Media is an advertising copywriting service that creates copy, concept and content for print, radio and web (ads, brochures, flyers, catalogs).

Why "Gravity Hill?" Well, that's easy, it's just a really cool name! But there's more to the story.

There is a road on the Holmdel-Middletown NJ border known as Laurel Avenue. Between Route 35 and Holland Road, Laurel Avenue boasted not one, but two legendary teenage hot spots: Thrill Hill and Gravity Hill. The thrills came when you accelerated at the crest of the hill, causing your car to become airborne. Unfortunately, these launchings were extremely dangerous, as a low railroad overpass was directly in your flight path. The story goes that in the early 60's, a carload of teens hit the overpass, causing their untimely deaths, and Thrill Hill was flattened shortly thereafter. Bruce Springsteen actually name-checks Thrill Hill somewhere in his canon of Jersey-related song.

Gravity Hill provided many saner, but equally exhilarating kicks. The procedure was to stop the car at the bottom of a slight incline. Putting the car in neutral, (with the headlights off, of course,) caused the car to roll up the hill. Explanations ranged from ghosts pushing the car away from a fatal accident scene, the aftereffects of a meteor crash, or magnetic fields from deep within the earth. Local officials dismissed these theories with their own: it was an optical illusion, it wasn't really a hill, and anyone foolish enough to try to duplicate the effect would be ticketed. The forbidden factor only increased Gravity Hill's cachet, and teens continued to tempt the spirits well into the late '70's. Sadly, Gravity Hill today is just another four-lane intersection between Route 35 and The Parkway, with the only mystery being whether a "right-turn-on-red" is permitted.

[joshuaj]

[West End, on Broadway, near beach, 2nd floor apartment on north side - above video store - where Born to Run was written.

I thought Bruce was living in a rented bungalow on West End Ave in Long Branch when he wrote Born to Run. Isn't that the photo that appears in the "Songs" book? Or . . . do I have the story wrong?

[columbus steve]

Thanks for the ideas everyone. Too bad I waited so long to post- Stan, your book looks amazing. We're going on Friday. Unfortunately we'll be long gone before your upcoming tour.