Where To Celebrate New Year’s Eve 2022 In Lakewood

LAKEWOOD, NJ — New Year's Eve is closing in, and for many people the most enjoyable way to close one year and welcome the new one is celebrating at a party.

While some prefer to celebrate with close family or friends at a quiet event, there are many who look to head out to a restaurant or bar for a more fancy night out. The good news is you don't have to go to New York or Atlantic City to find places to go. There are a number of restaurants in the Lakewood area holding New Year's Eve parties, complete with a meal and a champagne toast. Many of them require reservations, so you'll need to call ahead.

• River Rock Restaurant and Marina Bar, 1600 Route 70, Brick. 732-840-1110.
• Beacon 70, 799 Route 70, Brick. 848-232-4235
• Bum Rogers at Island Beach State Park, Seaside Park. 732-830-2770
• Hemingway's, 612 Boulevard, Seaside Heights. 732-830-1255
• Beachcomber, 100 Ocean Terrace, Seaside Heights. 732-793-0526
• Water Street Bar & Grille, Robbins Parkway, Toms River. 732-240-4800
• Ocean View Restaurant, 2 Boulevard, Seaside Heights. 732-250-6557

Having a New Year's Eve event in the Lakewood area? Email karen.wall@patch.com for additions.

In addition, Seaside Heights will hold its annual First Night celebration for families from noon to 5 p.m. on the boardwalk. There are games, facepainting and more. Exit 82, the Seaside Heights tourism website, has more information.

In the United States, one of the most popular New Year’s Eve traditions is, of course, the dropping of the giant ball in New York City’s Times Square. Various cities have adopted their own iterations of the event — the Peach Drop in Atlanta, the Chick Drop in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and the giant Potato Drop in Boise, Idaho.

The end of one year and beginning of another is often celebrated with the singing of “Auld Lang Syne,” a Scottish folk song whose title roughly translates to “days gone by,” according to Encyclopedia Britannica and History.com.

The history of New Year’s resolutions dates back 8,000 years to ancient Babylonians, who would make promises to return borrowed objects and pay outstanding debts at the beginning of the new year, in mid-March when they planted their crops.

According to legend, if they kept their word, pagan gods would grant them favor in the coming year. If they broke the promise, they would fall out of God’s favor, according to a history of New Year’s resolutions compiled by North Hampton Community College New Center in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Many secular New Year’s resolutions focus on imagining new, improved versions of ourselves. The failure rate of New Year’s resolutions is about 80 percent, according to U.S. News & World Report. There are myriad reasons, but a big one is they’re made out of remorse for gaining weight, for example, and aren’t accompanied by a shift in attitude and a plan to meet the stress and discomfort of changing a habit or condition.