Shore towns celebrate Fourth of July with parades, fireworks

With the glistening Barnegat Bay as a backdrop, Seaside Park kicked off its annual Patriotic Bike Parade Thursday morning, with hundreds of children and adults decorating their bikes and other vehicles—as well as themselves—in red, white and blue. Parents pulled toddlers in carts, children deftly wove their bikes around people marching on foot, and Uncle Sam drove his red tractor along the nine-block parade route on Bayview Avenue.

Many homes on this street flooded during Superstorm Sandy, and today during the festivities, boarded-up houses stood as solemn reminders of the long road back for many borough residents.

To cap off Independence Day, brilliant fireworks lit up the night sky of towns throughout New Jersey. In Toms River boaters dropped anchor and spectators gathered along the shoreline to watch Beachwood’s annual display.

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Sandy Levine is a freelance writer and television producer who was born and raised at the Jersey Shore.