Turtle Tales: Day 19-21 - What A Difference a Day Makes.....

Well, as you can tell , we are playing catch-up once again! But to be truthful, Monday we really did not do anything worth blogging about (laundry, house-cleaning, read a book.... not too exciting!) and Tuesday the weather was horrible! We had thunderstorms, high winds and tornado warnings all day! We stayed close to the girls as Lacy really doesn't care for the loud noises that come with the storms! The Turtle kept us safe and sound and we were glad to have the comforts of "home" around us.

Today, however, we continued our quest for lighthouses and arose early to head to the Jersey shore to seek out five lighthouses, and ended up seeing six lighthouses! We left at 9:30, and arrived back home at 5:00 PM. We took the dogs with us and they got to explore a little as well. The weather was awesome once again, and believe it or not, the traffic wasn't all that bad.....for New Jersey that is! LOL

The first lighthouse we visited was the Sea Girt Lighthouse, which was the furthest lighthouse visit planned for today. Sea Girt, New Jersey is a lovely beach community and the homes are unbelievable! There are all types of architectural styles to be found in this community! Sea Girt is located right on the Jersey shore and the beach was quiet since it is off season for this otherwise very busy resort town.

The second lighthouse was the Sandy Hook Lighthouse, located on an old Army post called Fort Hancock. This is a very interesting old post which would be an amazing place to be assigned active duty. Fort Hancock was first used as a gun battery that guarded New York harbor.   Later it was used as a defensive missile facility. For more information on Fort Hancock go to: www.nps.gov/gate/historyculture/hancock.htm It is an interesting read!

The third lighthouse(s) we visited today was the Navesink Light. Commonly know as the Twin Lights. These lights are the first lighthouses that used Fresnel lenses in America. Also Guglielmo Marconi used a transmtter and mast located not far from the Highlands Lighthouse to conduct the first practical demonstration of his wireless. Using the air rather than a wire to carry the dots and dashes of Morse code, he relayed to New York City the results of the America's Cup races being run off Sandy Hook!  Without this work, we would have no wireless phones, TV, radio or radar! How far we have come!

We tried to see another lighthouse in this area called the Chapel Hill Rear Range Light, but it is located on private property and we did not have access.

The fourth lighthouse to visit, was the Conover Beacon. This lighthouse is located in Leonardo, NJ, and is known as a "skeleton" lighthouse. This particular lighthouse is in need of some TLC. We would hope the community would come together to renovate this light!

The fifth and sixth lighthouse on our list for today are both located in Raritan Bay, South Amboy, NJ.  The Romer Shoal Lighthouse is located in the middle of the Raritan River entrance. The Great Beds Lighthouse located on the shore of Perth Amboy, NJ. These two lights were viewed from the Rarition Bay Waterfront Park. It is a beautiful facility with a new YMCA located nearby and many walking trails along the water front. There were soccer fields, baseball fields, picnic areas and playgrounds - a great community gathering place. On a somber note, the community has erected a beautiful memorial for one of their own who was killed in 2007 while serving in the Army in Iraq. It is a moving tribute to a valiant solider and many have left memorials on his memorial - as did we. There were several who came to the memorial and removed their hats and said a silent prayer before moving on..........what a wonderful tribute to one who gave his life so we can continue to do what we do each and every day.........

On our way to see the lighthouses, we passed through many interesting seaside towns such as Avon-by-the-Sea, Deal, Asbury Park, Monmouth Beach, Highlands, Leonardo and South Amboy.

For more information on the lighthouses mentioned above, please click on the Lighthouse Friends link on this blog. All the lighthouses have a story to tell - some more interesting than others!

Enjoy the pictures of the day........

Sea Girt Lighthouse