Sandy Hook, yes it is.

After leaving the Navesink Lighthouse, we headed across the bridge over to Sandy Hook. The traffic leaving the state park was backed up over a mile, everyone by this time of night was trying to leave. We on the other hand, were trying to get in!



Sandy Hook Lighthouse

We traveled about 3/4 of the way out the peninsula and finally found the light. Wouldn't you know it, the same family we met up in the Highlands were following us to Sandy Hook as well! We couldn't believe the traffic, wonder how long it was going to take us to get out? (keep in mind, we still have no place to stay tonight!)


More of the Sandy Hook light

We stayed a bit and snapped a few photos before we decided to move along and try our luck on one of the beaches. We came across these "battery" is what the sign said. They really peaked our interest. If you'd like to know more information about the Sandy Hook Lighthouse and surrounding area,
please click HERE or click HERE!


battery, I think?

We really struck gold on the tip of Sandy Hook. Wow. It was a long, long trek in some very soft sand. In the words of Taylor, my 3 year old, "Mommy, this is like exercise class!" It was horrid trying to walk through that, but boy was the view worth it! From the beach we got some awesome closer views of the NYC skyline, as well as two more lights, the Romer Shoal Light, and the West Bank Lighthouse.


Romer Shoal Light is only located 2.4 miles due north of the northern tip of Sandy Hook in Lower New York Bay.


West Bank Lighthouse is west of the Romer Shoal Light in the Lower New York Bay.

While enjoying the view, we were surprised by an unexpected visitor that came passing by...



...this HUGE Ocean Liner came cruising by, nearly 100 yards off shore! The wake alone created a tsunami effect that sent us running back from the water's edge.

We gathered some shells, but left this "shell" alone. At this point we didn't know what we had found yet, but we would learn later on the beach in front of us was loads of Horseshoe Crab. As much as Taylor wanted to pick them up, we had no way of transporting that thing.


A female Horseshoe Crab Carcass on the beach.

Time was slipping away, and we had the task of finding a place for our heads for the night, one last shot of the beautiful bay, then off we went.


The calm before the storm.

If you refer back to my post about the Navesink Lighthouse, this lighthouse and surrounding military base is definitely in the same category. It is on my list of places we need to visit again! Maybe if (or when) we visit NYC we can make a stop back here?

So now we're driving into the night. GPS both helps and hurts. No matter if we used it or not, we could not find the motel we were planning on staying at for the night. When the GPS said we arrived, we were in the middle of a mall parking lot. Humm, maybe its under that asphalt?

Plan B, find a different motel. After getting the jerk around by Red Roof Inn* (litterally, the "boy" was a jerk!)we found our haven....Days Inn in Neptune, NJ.

*ok, side note...why publish coupons when you are NOT going to honor them?? I had 3 Red Roof Inn coupons and the "dude" behind the counter didn't know how to use the computer, so he didn't know how to enter the codes in to give us the discount. Come on?? The only code he said he knew was the AAA discount. He was such a tool, I took my coupons and left, thank goodness I did!

Drum roll please....THIS was WAY better than Red Roof Inn!


Days Inn...our #1 pick, look, our room was so cute!

The staff, the price, the location, brand new rooms...all were an A++ here! It was late, almost 9:30 pm, we haven't ate since lunch at noon, and we are DEAD TIRED! The woman behind the counter gave us a super great rate and even pointed us in the direction of our favorite pizza splurge..Papa John's! She even gave me a great map and directions for the following day on short cuts to the best beach!



Papa John's Pizza...the good ole' days.

Hands down, Days Inn in Neptune, NJ. If we're in the area again, we will look you up! I even told the woman we'd see her next year as I took a business card. So the end of the day, all is well that ends well.

Up and at them at 7 am for a super breakfast, and it was free! Off to the beach we go for a relaxing day in the sun, but that's for later!

Until next time...

Jersey, am I seeing double?

Hi guys! Long time, no see! How's life been treating you? I told you about an upcoming trip a few weeks ago, and now I'm here with some cool photos of our first ever trip to the Jersey shore!

So without further ado...

Our first stop after a LONG 11 hour drive was the Navesink Lighthouse or Twin Lights as it is more commonly known.


Taylor did very well with the long trip.

These lights are definitely on our list of favorite lighthouses that we have visited. The area itself was very breath-taking, and I really wish we would've arrived earlier in the day to be able to properly tour them. I found a really good website with more information, if you'd like to check out the Twin Lights, please click HERE.

The first sight up the VERY steep hill was the north tower. The massive lights look very fortress and somewhat intimidating. Matt said by far these are his favorite. To me they look more for protecting and defense other than guiding, but what do I know? Whatever your feelings, wait til you turn around. Across the harbor from the lights is New York City! NYC is very visible, and depending on the day (it was a bit hazy when we were there) you can see all the way up the Long Island coast!


A look at NYC from the Twin Lights, yup, that's the Empire State Building! You could almost touch it!

We walked around, seen two baby fawns, and helped a family get a group picture of themselves in front of the NYC skyline. I look back now and wish I would've gotten a few more shots. I really think I was too excited to finally be in Jersey that I was rushing myself.


Matt and Taylor standing in front of the Navesink "Twin Lights" Lighthouse.

We also played around a bit, this was the first "extended" time out of the Jeep the whole trip, so we all wanted to stretch our legs.


Taylor sitting on the "Mystery Canon".

The lights were so massive, I could hardly get both towers in one shot! They really do look neat on their own though.


My artsy B & W shot of the South Tower (it's a new feature I found on my camera, lol).

I really loved this lighthouse; the view, the history (what we learned on our own), the lights themselves, I was impressed. If it wasn't so late, we would've stayed longer. Unfortunately though, it was a long travel day and we hadn't yet found a motel to stay for the night. We definitely will stop again, maybe if we ever plan that trip to NYC? Moving on, our next stop was Sandy Hook Lighthouse....but that will have to wait!

Until next time...