In October 2007, I visited New Jersey for the New Jersey Lighthouse Challenge, which is an annual event organized by the New Jersey Lighthouse Society. The object is to visit 11 lighthouses in one weekend, but I only made it to 9 of them. Here are the ones I made it to:
First day (10/20/2007):
Absecon lighthouse
Hereford Inlet lighthouse
Cape May lighthouse
East Point lighthouse
Second day (10/21/2007)
Tucker's Beach lighthouse (a re-creation)
Barnegat lighthouse
Sea Girt lighthouse
Navesink lighthouse
Sandy Hook lighthouse
The two I didn't make it to were the Tinicum Rear Range and the Finn's Point Range, both on the western side of New Jersey, south of Philadelphia, PA. I've loaded all the photos on to Flickr, a great photo-sharing site.
The three tallest lighthouses on the Challenge were these:
Absecon lighthouse, 171 feet, 240 steps
Barnegat lighthouse, 163 feet, 127 steps
Cape May lighthouse, 157 feet, 199 steps
I've created a Google map showing the stops on my trip. Click on any blue marker to learn more about that location:
View Larger Map
The Details:
My adventure started when I flew into Atlantic City on Oct 18th. This may seem weird to start in Atlantic City because it is in the middle of the Challenge route. Most people I talked to started on the western side of the state (Tinicum Rear Range), or they started on the northern side with the Sandy Hook lighthouse. I decided to use Atlantic City as a "home base" for a lot of reasons (long story which I will skip).
On my first full day in Atlantic City (Oct 19th), the weather was yucky - cold, gray, drizzly, windy. I mostly rested up that day and went over the maps and info for the Challenge. The organizers did an amazing job of planning this challenge, by the way. I especially loved the way they served up some gorgeous weather for the weekend.
There were 11 lighthouses on the challenge, so I decided to visit 6 of them on the first day, and 5 on the second. My plan was to start at the Absecon lighthouse in Atlantic City, then work my way south and westward, all the way to the Tinicum Rear Range. Then I planned to drive back to Atlantic City for the night. On the second day, I would head northward, starting with the Tucker's Beach lighthouse, and ending at Sandy Hook, then back to Atlantic City for the evening.
1st stop - Absecon Lighthouse:
Click here for more Absecon photos
My first stop was the Absecon Lighthouse in Atlantic City. Let me say first that when I visit a lighthouse, I like to climb the tower, view all the exhibits, shop in the gift shop, and photograph the lighthouse from every possible angle. This slows me down a lot, and I was slowed down even more because I got a late start that morning.
Absecon (accent on the middle syllable) was the tallest lighthouse on the challenge, but it didn't feel that way because of all the tall buildings surrounding it.
One high point of visiting this lighthouse was getting to meet artist Donna Elias. She does beautiful lighthouse art work, and did the official poster for the Lighthouse Challenge. It's gorgeous - click here to see it.
As I was leaving the lighthouse, I discovered that I had misplaced the keys to my rental car. I searched my purse and camera bag, with no luck. I retraced my steps around the lighthouse, inside and out, but couldn't find them. I worried that I had locked them in the car. After going through my purse and camera bag several more times, I finally found the keys tucked into a pocket of my camera bag. Jeez...very frustrating, since I do not remember putting them there.
2nd stop - Hereford Inlet lighthouse:
Click here for more Hereford Inlet photos.
I was looking forward to the Hereford Inlet Lighthouse because I love Victorian architecture. It was fun to tour, and the gardens behind the lighthouse were spectacular. It is the best-landscaped lighthouse I have ever seen. The skies were cloudy tho, so my photos came out kind of blah looking. I bought an official Lighthouse Challenge t-shirt at this stop, and also a Hereford Inlet jacket.
3rd Stop - Cape May lighthouse:
Click here for more Cape May photos.
My next stop was the Cape May lighthouse. My GPS quit working temporarily so I got a little lost, but found the lighthouse eventually. This was an awesome lighthouse with a great view from the top. When I got to the top, I met an older volunteer who said that she climbs the lighthouse several times a week for exercise. I felt inspired after meeting her, and promised myself I would start doing some Stairmaster workouts at the gym (yeah, right, any day now!)
When I got back down to the bottom, I walked towards the beach. I saw a wedding party on the beach that was being photographed, so I snapped a photo myself.
I also spotted a weird object on the beach, but was in a hurry so I didn't walk down to inspect it. I asked someone in the museum what it was, and she said it was a bunker from World War II. It was definitely the weirdest thing I've ever seen on a beach.
4th stop - East Point Lighthouse:
Click here for more East Point photos.
The East Point Lighthouse is being restored and maintained by the Maurice River Historical Society. It is structurally sound and looks good on the outside, but the interior has not been restored yet. There was a really interesting tour guide who gave us a lot of info. He could only take a small group of people at a time, so I had to wait a bit.
I asked one of the volunteers when the work on the lighthouse would be finished, and she said "hopefully in my lifetime". I hope it is within my lifetime too, because I would love to go back and see it again when it is fully restored. When you see a lighthouse in this kind of shape, it really makes you appreciate all the volunteers who raise money and lobby for grants to maintain our beautiful historic beacons.
By the time I finished touring and photographing the East Point lighthouse, I realized that I could never make it to the Tinicum lighthouse before it closed for the day. Plus I wanted to see the end of the Florida-Kentucky football game, so I headed back to Atlantic City. And the Gators won, YAAAAY!
That's the end of my first day of the Challenge! To read about Day 2 - Click here.
1 comment:
Your photographs are really wonderful. What a cool idea as both a generator of travel and a collectible that takes up no space.
Our favorite lighthouse was a point off the edge Block Island. We can't seem to remember the details very well, but we do remember running across the sandy point to get there in time for the sunset. That part is was a fine memory; the rest is lost in the oblivion of old brains.
Which is why I am blogging everything now. At least I can find it.
This week I found the word "ewer" again after losing it.
Anyway, thanks for the comment on my Blog. I've enjoyed many of your photographs.
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