Folks in the Garden State flocked to the Jersey Shore for Memorial Day.

Beachgoers walked the boardwalks, went swimming, played air hockey and ate good food. Temperatures reached at least 80 degrees in most of the state, but were a bit cooler at the shore.

Jim O'Donnell, a Korean War veteran who was at the beach, said he thinks the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have younger generations paying more attention to veterans on the holiday. He said he was floored when someone came up to him on the beach and thanked him for his service to the country.

For Navy veteran Bob Bennett, there's just no better place than the beach on Memorial Day. "I've been on the boardwalk here for the past 60 years, yep. I always managed to get my 30 days leave in July or August so I could come home and work on the boardwalk."

List of Memorial Day weekend events in NJ