Getting Beached On The Jersey Shore
We are now starting the sixth contract location since Amity started doing the Travel Physical Therapy thing. We both did not have New Jersey on our radar of places to visit when we set out on this adventure, but the timing was too right that we couldn’t pass it by. Amity got a solid 13 week contract in Eatontown, NJ and we had found a renal a short drive north in Keansburg, NJ. It was only appropriate that we spent a good portion of our first weeks here exploring the beaches in our general area and beyond. This is the Jersey Shore!
Mile: 47,379
Quote of the Blog: “ Yeah, I am from New Jersey. Who’s from New Jersey? Nobody. It’s all mine.” - Bruce Springsteen
Song of the Blog: “Glory Days” - Bruce Springsteen
The beach outside of our rental is locally referred to as Hello Beach. It is the only slice of miles long beach that only has private access to it, which keeps the crowds completely out away from it. The reason behind its name is the local zip code; 07734. If you flip that number upside down and backwards, it spells hello. Our little slice of beach is great! We have spent several days and night out here taking it all in. One of the best features of it, is the view of New York City. It blows us away to see the city so clearly and a nice day, and when it lights up at night, there is not many better views!
The first weekend we were here, we decided to head down to Asbury Park to check out the boardwalk and beach down there. We took this opportunity to ride the train down there. Throughout this area, there are fantastic train connections and stations that give anyone the ability to get between the Jersey Shore and New York City. We wanted to test it out to the beach, before heading into the city. The train system here is very convenient. Especially with some of the popular beach towns like Asbury Park. The train dropped us off about one mile away from the beach. A short walk brought us through town and down to the boardwalk. As we learned, parking in these area is a mess, which only makes taking the train that much smarter.
The boardwalk at Asbury Park is quite the scene. There are several venues for live music, restaurants, shops and everything in between. The beach itself is great! It did cost us a small fee to access the beach, but this was no big deal. We found a spot in the masses of people to post up for the day. It has been relatively hot lately, but nothing like Arkansas. After some time soaking in the sun, we had to get in the ocean. It was not as cold as I thought it would be. This made it easy to come in and out of the water as you pleased. After a while we did some more exploring of the area, and learned a little about the history here. We learned that this area is Bruce Springsteen’s “Home Venue” and he frequently pop into bars and restaurants to randomly play. We were not this lucky, but we did end up unintentionally following around a large group of people all wearing Bruce t-shirts. A couple of the best spots we enjoyed were the Robinson Ale House. This is where we had lunch. Solid spot with an amazing patio next to the beach. We also had to check out the infamous Wonder Bar. They were having a doggy day on the patio. We always love a good brewery that allows so many doggies to play with each other! Too funny! We wrapped up our day in Asbury Park with some drinks at the Asbury Ale House while waiting for the train to come pick us up. Before we knew it, we were headed back north and wrapping up our first day on the Jersey Shore.
The next spot on our list of beaches to check out was the Sandy Hook National Recreation Area. This is a peninsula that jets out northward from the Atlantic Coastline with serval amazing beaches lining in. We had to check it out! Driving into it reminded us a lot of going up to Logan Pass at Glacier National Park. Parking was few and far between, but we found a spot next to a pub. We spent our first day there just exploring the whole area. There is a nice bike path that runs the length of park and allowed us to get 9 miles of walking in while going past the different beaches and facilities in the park. Historically, this area was once a military base. In fact, it was one of the most top secret bases in the country due to its revolutionary radar equipment during World War II. Most of the base is now decommissioned and very old. It made for some really cool backdrops and buildings to check out. One of which was amazing; the Sandy Hook Lighthouse. This is the oldest working Lighthouse in the United States. We didn’t even know it was here. We were very impressed with this fact. That means it was built 1764 and it older than the country itself! It has lasted several major wars, significant cultural shifts and the test of time! We were both impressed with the quality of the building and how nice they have kept it! When we finally made it back to our car, we had worked up a good desire for a cold beer. This made parking next to the Mule Barn Tavern. This was an old military mule barn that has been renovated into a really nice pub! We found a great spot to stand outside and listen to the live music playing on their patio. It was a great way to wrap up our first day on Sandy Hook.
That night back in Keansburg, we had to check out a little Amusement Park next to the beach. We have only walked around it, because the rides look like they were built decades ago and we have no reason to risk it. Next door to the Amusement park is a cool little spot called the Beach Gallery. We have come to love the rooftop bar they have here. At night, it gives to amazing views of the amusement park, the bay and New York City in the distance. We have also found that the town likes to do different events on the beach. We had the chance to catch a movie night on the beach on one of the first nights we were there. It was my luck they played JAWS (a movie that totally freaked me out about sharks as a kid!!!). Unfortunately, there was a lot of wind that night, and the poor blow up screen they used was struggling to keep itself upright. It only made for some good laughs before we were too cold and had to head home. Another night, we walked down to the beach for a concert that was going on. This was a good time. We met a couple people and felt like this was the first time in a while that we were part of a small community that likes to do fun things.
We have spent several days just sitting out on the beach next to our house. We frequently find ourselves taking walks after dinner and any other time we just need something to do. It is really nice to have a quite spot on the water to just hang out. We will never swim here, as this water is in a bay that is fed by the Hudson River (New York City) and other tributaries coming from New Jersey carrying all kinds of nasty stuff, but it is still a great spot for some chillin!
As the weeks progressed, we shifted past Memorial Day and into what is called “Local Summer”. We aren’t quite “Locals”, but we fully plan to take advantage of the nice weather and the lack of crowds. Our first spot for “Local Summer” was down in a town called Sea Bright. This is a short drive from our house, and just south of Sandy Hook on the Atlantic Coastline. We walked around a little before heading down to the beach. This is a very cute little seaside town! Everything is fancy and cute. Even Amity fell in love with the bus stop’s decorations. I had to do some work before I could head down to the beach. I found it very comical that I was now in a place where I needed to log into Wifi to have a meeting, and that this spot was a public library that sits on a small boardwalk on the beach. Sometimes I have to pinch myself to remember this is reality! After some quick work, I was able to join Amity on the beach. It was a sleeper of a day out there! Not the nicest day, but it was still a great day to be hanging out next to the water. It has been a little bit of a quickly happening/chaotic month, so having some time to just chill on the beach is very therapeutic for both of us! We found a beach side bar called, Donavon’s Reef. This spot was really nice for sitting out on the patio and watching the waves. This area of the coast is know for having a solid surfing scene. This bar was a great spot to watch the waves. No one was surfing today, but we both got the vibe that this would be a perfect spot to watch them.
Our final introductory adventure to the Jersey Shore was back to Sandy Hook. We heard that after Memorial Day, they stopped charging and people stopped coming. For us that meant, HEADED TO SANDY HOOK for LOCAL SUMMER! This was a great time! There was no one there! Parking was so effortless that we got to pick with beach we wanted to hang out at. One of the local bits of knowledge we have gained in our first couple adventures to the beach is that no one follow the No Alcohol rules and no one follows the No Swimming rules. We made sure to take full advantage of breaking the rules on this trip to the beach. The water up here is still so much cleaner than our beach area in Keansburg, but does have a hefty rip current, so we only dabbled into the water to waist deep parts. No reason to risk it for the brisket! Amity loves this time to get some reading in and soak in the sun. I find time to relax, listen to music and enjoy the waves crashing in. We are trying out best to take advantage of all of this great late summer weather on the beach before we shift into the cool fall temps and shift our attention to the fall foliage. Until then, we will pretend to be “Locals” and take full advantage of our proximity to amazing beaches!!!
If you can’t find us, check the beach!