Two Festivals, One Saturday: How to Play September 19 Without Wasting Your Afternoon

The mornings turned. You know the feeling — you reach for the sweatshirt on the way to the beach and you are not even mad about it. This is the part of the Central Jersey calendar I wait for all summer: the crowds thin out, the parking opens up, and the good stuff keeps happening anyway.

One warning before you write anything down. Saturday, September 19 is double-booked. Two of the best events of the month run at the same hours in two towns forty minutes apart. Pick one. Do not try to do both — you will spend the good part of the day in a car on Route 35.

Wind & Sea Festival: the one worth the shuttle

Saturday, September 19, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Bayshore Waterfront Park, Port Monmouth. Free. It is the Monmouth County Park System''s coastal carnival, and it is genuinely charming — kayaking, fishing, crabbing, kite flying, sandcastles, seining and shelling, naturalist tables and food vendors. The Wind Wolves Traveling Kite Show is the draw, and it plays better for adults than the brochure suggests. Bring a chair, sit where the wind comes off the bay, and let the show come to you.

The part nobody tells you: park at the Belford Ferry Terminal and take the shuttle. Bayshore Waterfront Park is not built for a festival crowd, and the walk in from a creative parking spot is longer and flatter-in-the-sun than you want. The shuttle is the whole difference between a nice day and a sore afternoon.

One honest note for our crowd: this is a family event, heavy on kids'' activities. Go for the kites, the water, and the food — not for a quiet stroll.

Spring Lake Italian Festival: the other Saturday, September 19

Noon to 5 p.m., Third Avenue in downtown Spring Lake, with the Italian specialties food court on Morris Avenue. Rain date is Sunday, September 20 — worth knowing, because that gives you a second bite if the weather turns and it is the reason a rainy forecast is not a reason to bail.

Vendors, a wine and beer garden, and live music through the afternoon: Julian & Dominique from noon to 4, Zack Alexander from 4 to 5, plus an appearance by opera singer Jacqueline Quirk. There is the family stuff too — spaghetti eating contest, face painting, balloon twisting, a photo booth, mini train rides, and the Spring Lake School of Dance.

Here is my call. If you want to sit, eat well, and hear music on a flat, walkable downtown street, Spring Lake wins. If you want the water and the sky, drive to Port Monmouth. Spring Lake is the easier day on your knees, and I am not going to pretend that does not matter.

Parking in Spring Lake is street parking and it goes early. Get there by 11:45 or plan on a few blocks.

Free O.A.R. night on a Wednesday — but you need a ticket

Mikel Paris, Wednesday, September 16, 6 to 10 p.m., Twin Lights Brewing, 4057 Asbury Ave, Tinton Falls. Free show. Paris spent more than a decade with O.A.R. on keys, percussion and backing vocals, and his own set leans rock, funk and soul.

Do not just show up. "Free" here still means you reserve a spot in advance — the brewery runs it as a free ticketed event, and a Wednesday headliner in a brewery taproom fills. Free parking on site. It is four hours of music, so you do not need to be there at six; roll in at seven and you have not missed the night.

Asbury Park Fall Bazaar: indoors, and that is the point

Saturday and Sunday, September 26 and 27, noon to 5 p.m., the Grand Arcade at Convention Hall, 1300 Ocean Ave North. Free admission, 30-plus makers a day, and — the reason I keep going back — the entire thing is inside a beautiful old building. No sun, no wind off the ocean, no mud. Family-friendly and pet-friendly.

Handmade goods, vintage, art, jewelry, home décor, candles, specialty foods and sweets, plus music and a photo wall. Saturday brings names like Asbury Park Cheesecake Co., Laplaca Pottery Works, The Beaded Mermaid LBI and Timberloom Woodworking; Sunday leans toward Forever Golden Permanent Jewelry, Hoffman Bread, Magic Candle Studio and R&R Music vinyl.

Go Sunday if you hate crowds. Go Saturday if you want the cheesecake.

Live Music Lowdown

Friday, September 11
The Proving Ground, Highlands — High Strung, 6 p.m.
The Wonder Bar, Asbury Park — Strangers Stopping Strangers, 7 p.m.
The Sandbox, Highlands — Radio Stranger, 7 p.m.
The Stone Pony, Asbury Park — Phantogram, 7 p.m.
Donovan''s Reef, Sea Bright — Radio Royalty, 6 p.m.

Saturday, September 12
The Proving Ground, Highlands — Ken Dubman, 1 to 4 p.m.
The Proving Ground, Highlands — Nine Deez Nite, 6 to 10 p.m.
The Wonder Bar, Asbury Park — Steel Beans, 7 p.m.
The Sandbox, Highlands — Moroccan Sheepherders, 7 p.m.
Red Rock Tap + Grill, Red Bank — Crash The Party, 7 p.m.
The Stone Pony, Asbury Park — Aftermath, Mike Santos, Calveria, 5 p.m.
Donovan''s Reef, Sea Bright — The Ned Ryerson Band, 6 p.m.

Sunday, September 13
The Proving Ground, Highlands — Steve Johnson, 6 to 9 p.m.
The Wonder Bar, Asbury Park — Vincent Pastore: Celebration of Life, 6 p.m.
The Sandbox, Highlands — Not Leaving Sober, 5 p.m.
Red Rock Tap + Grill, Red Bank — The Cliffs, 3 p.m.

The 1 to 4 p.m. set at The Proving Ground on Saturday is the one I would actually plan around. Afternoon music, daylight drive home, and you are on your couch by five. That is not getting old. That is getting smart.

Times and lineups change without much warning at the smaller rooms — call ahead before you drive.