Fourth of July in Spring Lake

Spring Lake is the shore's most genteel beach town, and it stays that way on the Fourth. There's no commercial boardwalk, no arcade noise - just two miles of clean boards, a spring-fed lake ringed by footbridges, and grand Victorian inns a short walk from the sand. If your idea of the holiday is a quiet beach day and a long porch evening, this is the base.

The town doesn't put on a big municipal fireworks show of its own, and that's the appeal: you stay somewhere calm and walk or drive a few minutes to the action. Manasquan runs its parade and fireworks on July 2, and Belmar lights up Taylor Pavilion on July 5 - both an easy trip from Spring Lake.

Days here are simple. Walk the lake loop in the morning, claim a stretch of beach, and book dinner at one of the inn restaurants. It's the kind of place families return to for decades precisely because so little changes.