We're Moving to the Jersey Shore!

After five days of exploring southwestern New Jersey, today we are heading east. The 49-mile drive started in the forest, then took us through the strip of agricultural land where they grow more blueberries than any other place in the country.

Our final destination this day was just a few miles from the Jersey Shore in the town of Barnegat, New Jersey. We forgot to take a picture, but we are enjoying another Boondocker's Welcome site--this time in a dentist office parking lot. We are amazed that people are so willing to welcome RVers to their private property! We're here during the weekend when the parking lot is empty of dental patients. This location put us within easy driving distance of the Atlantic Ocean.

We set out to explore Long Beach Island--a 18-mile-long barrier island. Our first stop was the New Jersey Maritime Museum. It got great reviews and it has free admission. That sounds like a win-win way to get good information about this Jersey Shore.

That little building was just stuffed with interesting displays of all-things maritime. Denisa is standing beside an early example of scuba gear. In order to keep the diver from floating to the top of the water, the suit has lead weights in the belt, and the shoes are heavy because they have lead soles. 

Besides the displays, we also enjoyed talking with the docents that run the museum. They gave us insights about island living that only comes from people that have lived here all their lives. They have watched the school enrollment shrink on the island as rich people have bought up most of the houses to use as summer homes. The full-time population is certainly less than when they were children. The beaches are different now too. We had to drive to Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge at the far southern end of the island to find a free beach where we could park and walk on the beach. Most of the beaches on this narrow island require visitors to purchase a beach badge before they can touch the sand. Each borough requires a separate beach badge, and even people that live here must purchase one. We know that because the little old ladies playing mahjong at the museum told us all about it.

The waves were rolling to shore in crazy curls, and the weather was perfectly cool today. We love this Jersey Shore, but one must sometimes get creative just to take a short walk on the beach for free.

Our next stop would be at the other end of the island, at Barnegat Lighthouse State Park. Denisa has a list of lighthouses that she intends to see, and the Barnegat Light was one of the top ones on her long list. But this was as close as she could get once we saw that this tall thin light was totally encased in scaffolding during renovation. 

We took a little hike around the nature loop here at the state park. From this new direction, we could see the outline of the Barnegat Lighthouse a little better. That had to count as our lighthouse viewing here on the Jersey Shore.

This bright yellow bloom will have to count as our wildflower picture here on the Jersey Shore.

We walked down the jetty on the north side of Long Beach Island for a picture of the Atlantic Ocean. According to the sign board at the state park, the air temperature today was in the 70s, the water temperature is 71 degrees, and the wind speed is 6 miles per hour. That's perfect weather here on the Jersey Shore!

It had been a full day of moving the motor home, and then exploring another new-to-us location. We watched the sun set over the Lighthouse Marina as we finished another day of wandering His wonders here on the Jersey Shore.