My wife and I enjoyed a beautiful getaway weekend last week. First we journeyed down to Long Island for the annual John Charos/Patty Costello Belmont bash. On Sunday afternoon we headed to Spring Lake NJ for the evening. While I was living in Hoboken in the '90's Spring Lake was one of my favorite summer spots. It's the opposite of what most people think of when they think Jersey Shore. Spring Lake is elegant, classy, clean and if you can afford it, a great place to bring your family.
If what I witnessed on our drive down the main drag of Ocean Ave is any indication, we have much more pain to go on the real estate front and the economy in general. Ocean Ave is the main street in Spring Lake, running directly parallel to and right next to the beach. It's the home of a couple beautiful hotels and homes as you can see pictured above. ( The house in the picture is on the market for $4.9 million).What was stunning to me was the number of homes for sale within the mile to mile and a half drive. Let's face it, your not going to be putting up an ocean front piece of property for sale in this environment, unless you absolutely have to. Evidently there are a number of people that must have to. There must have been 10-15 houses for sale---just on Ocean Ave. I sense blood in the water. When you combine that with stories out of the Hamptons like this one in Vanity Fair, it's obvious that the well to do are in for some pain. Remember the trickle down theory espoused by the Reagan crowd in the early '80's? Cut taxes at the top of the income scale and wealth will trickle down to the masses---I have a feeling economic pain will trickle down at a much greater rate to Joe 6 pack as this all plays out.
If you do visit the Jersey Shore this summer and you like seafood, make sure to stop at Spikes in Point Pleasant. Spikes is a BYOB, hole in the wall, with no atmosphere, no reservations but fabulous fresh fish. Check it out! If Spikes is too crowded then head over to Red's Lobster Pot
