2021 Lighthouse Challenge - Day 1

This past weekend we participated in the NJ Lighthouse Challenge once again.  We started doing this in 2001 and have missed a few years here and there for illness, weather, or other commitments.  Last year the official challenge was virtual but we got in the car and did some visits on our own.  This year it was back in full swing with 10 lighthouses open, 3 life saving stations, and one museum to see in 2 days.

Full disclosure - I am not an early riser, but bad weather was predicted for late afternoon on Saturday and we knew we wanted to finish a certain amount that day so an early departure was required.  We actually left at 6:48 before the sun rose and about 20 minutes into the trip there it was.

Our first stop was in Paulsboro along the Delaware River - 76 miles from home on the west side of NJ and an hour and a half later.  The official opening time was 8 and we were there shortly after.  This was were we paid for our souvenir booklet so we could collect our tokens for the day.  (That'll be in the Day 2 post.)

Found a WaWa nearby to make a bathroom break and then on the way to Finn's Point in Pennsville.  This is another rear range lighthouse that helps the ships on the Delaware River.   Twenty seven miles in 41 minutes and entering the lower portion of the state off the major highways.

The distance between the last stop and East Point in Heislerville is the longest of the day - 49 miles.  Took us just short of an hour and a half through some towns that always look like they were forgotten by time.  Made a stop at an Amish market outside of Bridgeton and picked up some baked goods for when we got home.  And of course, since we were there, another bathroom break.  

The view from this side of the lighthouse had those wonderful clouds in the background.  There was another surprise there that I'm going to do a separate post of in a couple of days.

I love to photograph this one.... can you tell?

Time to swing out to the east coast of New Jersey now and on to Cape May, the southernmost tip of the state.  It's a 36 mile trip and took us about an hour.  We stopped at the lighthouse first and then HWNSNBP dropped me off at the outdoor mall so I could check the Swede Shop for some new felt ornaments for fall and Christmas.  (When we were there in early Sept. they said they would be getting more mid-October and I had called during the week to make sure.)  I'll post my fall findings in another post.  While I was shopping he was eating his lunch in the car.  I ate mine on the road to the next stop to save time.  (We had packed our lunch for the day.)

The next two stops were at two of the life-saving stations.  Tatham in Stone Harbor was first.   It was about 18 miles and my records for the time are a little sketchy because it included the shopping time from leaving the lighthouse at Cape May.  

The two doors on the outside open out and have these murals painted on the building behind them.

It took us about 45 minutes to get to the next station 25 miles away.  It's in a residential area of Ocean City and travel through those streets is slow.  I wish they would rope off the parking spaces in front of these venues so the photographers could get pictures of the buildings unobstructed.  

To get to the Absecon lighthouse you have to travel through Atlantic City taking the AC Expressway off the Garden State Parkway, 45 minutes to go 41 miles.  This is the tallest lighthouse and almost impossible to get a picture of while on the grounds, thus my picture is outside the fence.  There were a lot of people here at this time that were taking group pictures in front of the porch so I grabbed what I could with the least amount of people present.  HWSNSBP was doing the token pickup at the lighthouses while I was doing the photographs to save time.  They did ask him to put a mask on before entering this building.  All the others did not.

We were getting closer to home and on our way to Tucker's Island Lighthouse in Tuckerton.  We travelled about an hour and 34 miles taking a little detour to once again find a WaWa for a pit stop.  This is actually a reconstruction of the original which perished in a storm a long time ago.  There was a gentleman in line in front of HWNSNBP who was bragging that he was going to finish the entire challenge in one day.  The challenge worker there pretty much told him that was impossible because it was around 3:30 and the lighthouses were only open until 6:00.  There are 6 more stops after this one and our goal was to get to 2 more for our first day.  The guy was insistent that he was going to do it but we doubted that he could. 

On to familiar digs - the Barnegat Light Museum at the north end of Long Beach Island and within walking distance of Old Barney.  You can tell by HWNSNBP's wardrobe that it was an unseasonably warm day although at this point the temps were beginning to drop and rain was moving in from the west.  From Tuckerton to here it took us a quick 50 minutes to go 22 miles.  I say quick because at this time of the year the traffic lights on the north end of LBI are turned off and the speed limits are raised a little so you can get to the north end much faster than during the summer months.

They have a beautiful garden on the left side and around the back of this building and at this time of year it's a little worn out (as are much of the summer plantings everywhere), but this rose caught my eye.  There was only this one on a, I won't even call it a bush because it was tall and thin and over my head which is why I asked HWNSNBP to pull it down so I could get a picture of it.

Around the corner and into the parking lot at the home of Old Barney in Barnegat Light on the Barnegat Inlet.  I've taken so many pictures of this lighthouse and try to find different views.  This was up through the trees on the path outside the Visitor's Center building.  I should note that at this stop and the last one HWNSNBP was providing weather predictions for the upcoming rain to the challenge workers.   They were going to be closing up shop for the day at 6 and that was just about the time that the rain would begin.  

This was our last challenge stop for the day and from the lighthouse we made a short detour to say hi to some friends who live on LBI year round and left as the storm clouds were approaching.  HWNSNBP had pretty much nailed the forecast.  The was very angry looking but the rain was brief and non-existent by the time we reached the condo about a half hour later.  

And,  while we settled in with our dinner and baked goodd there was a little treat of fireworks from across the nature preserve before the bigger rain came.  I looked back through my pictures and there were fireworks there last year also - don't know what the celebration is though.

So we had left at 6:48 a.m. from Branchburg and made it to Barnegat by 6:25 for a total of 337 miles.

Day 2 to come.