Asbury Park - We left Manhattan for a day of house hunting at 7 am on the morning of 9/11/2001. Arriving at Asbury Park station we learned that the first airplane had hit the World Trade Center. Shocked and unable to return to the city we decided to press on and kept our appointments. We found ourselves bonding with strangers gracious enough to welcome us into their homes and share the terrible awe of that day. The last house we saw that day is the one we decided to make ours. Over the past two decades we have watched this formerly depressed and blighted city spring back to life to become named The Coolest Small Town in America (2017). In tandem with the efforts of federal, state and local government, local businesses, local homeowners, most of whom, like us, arrived in a rainbow wave from NYC and Philadelphia. Together we've pioneered the reconstruction and redevelopment of this great and historic resort town to make it the success it is today welcoming one million visitors a year.