We needed to vacate our Airbnb apartment and make our way towards NYC and JFK Airport. Megan will be flying to London later this week so we needed to get to a place where she could repack and refresh.
Our apartment was awesome but getting out was quite an accomplishment. Rob went to the garage to get the car while Megan and I took care of the dogs and our bags. It was raining really hard and there was no street parking. When Rob got back with the car, we got the dogs and Megan in the car and hurriedly loaded. It made for a couple of soaking wet folks but it was warm outside.
We took a quick side trip to visit some friends and their baby boy Grayson. Jen and Chris lived on our floor when we had an apartment in Arlington/Clarendon, VA. Baby Grayson was born after we moved and then they moved to Philly in early 2017. I will just say that Mr. Grayson is just a doll. I am not sure how his parents feel about my posting his photo so you will just have to take my word for it.
With our visit with Grayson over, we drove north to our hotel in NJ. We spent the rest of our Monday just taking it easy.
Tuesday came about and the skies had cleared. We had a great breakfast compliments of the hotel and then headed to the beach. We went to an area called Gateway National Recreation Area, Sandy Hook, NJ. There is an old Fort at Sandy Hook called Fort Hancock. There are also dog friendly beaches. You can guess what we did next.
Penny Lane got a scent of the beach and she went into hyper Penny Lane mode. We had her on her 30ft leash so she had some room to go.
She played.
SHE IS THINKING OF BEING A POLAR BEAR FOR HALLOWEEN
And played.
And played.
SHE NEARLY TOOK MEGAN OUT WITH THIS NEAR PASS
It is amazing how much pleasure a dog can get from playing in the ocean. She ran herself ragged.
She finally settled enough to allow for a couple of lovely photos with Megan.
TAKING A SHORT BREATHER
BUT NOT QUITE FINISHED
LOOKING FOR SOMETHING NASTY TO PUT IN HER MOUTH
We decided it was time to head back to the car. Little Annie had been trying to make herself invisible. She wanted nothing to do with the ocean so she was so happy when we turned and got away from the water. We got back and worked to get Miss dirty dog clean.
HER GOOD DADDY CLEANING THE SAND FROM BETWEEN HER TOES
BEING A TOTAL DIVA AS SHE GETS DRIED OFF
We had also explored Sandy Hook/Fort Hancock a bit.
Sandy Hook is a barrier spit in Middletown Township,[3] Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. The barrier spit, approximately 6 miles (9.7 km) in length and varying from 0.1 to 1.0 mile (0.16 to 1.61 km) wide, is located at the north end of the Jersey Shore. It encloses the southern entrance of Lower New York Bay south of New York City, protecting it from the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean to the east. The Dutch called the area "Sant Hoek", with the English "Hook" deriving from the Dutch "Hoek" (corner, angle), meaning "spit of land".[4]
Most of Sandy Hook is currently owned and managed by the National Park Service as the Sandy Hook Unit of Gateway National Recreation Area.
Ironically, Hurricane Sandy really put the hurt on Sandy Hook. The old quarters are in a horrible state but there is a plan in action to renovate them and have them privately owned.
THE BAY SIDE OF SANDY HOOK
OLD OFFICER'S QUARTERS ON THE BAY AT FORT HANCOCK
SANDY HOOK LIGHTHOUSE. THEY ARE BEGINNING RENOVATIONS LATER THIS WEEK
The Sandy Hook Lighthouse, located about one and a half statute miles (2.4 km) inland from the tip of Sandy Hook, New Jersey, is the oldest working lighthouse in the United States.[4] It was designed and built on June 11, 1764 by Isaac Conro. At that time, it stood only 500 feet (150 m) from the tip of Sandy Hook; however, today, due to growth caused by littoral drift, it is almost one and a half miles (2.4 km) inland from the tip.
Definition of Littoral drift: Littoral transport is the term used for the transport of non-cohesive sediments, i.e. mainly sand, along the foreshore and the shoreface due to the action of the breaking waves and the longshore current.
It is fascinating to me that time and the elements have "relocated" this lighthouse. In reality, the lighthouse has not moved but the ground around it has increased, therefore making it a greater distance from the tip of Sandy Hook. Cool.
We finished exploring, cleaned our sandy feet and drove down the coastline for a bit. This entire area took quite a beating during Hurricane Sandy and the impact can still be seen. The area has made a remarkable recovery but we saw a few houses that had just been left to rot.
We rested a bit and then went to dinner. We found a really good Greek restaurant and had a wonderful dinner.
We spent the rest of our evening just enjoying each other's company.
Another great day in this thing we call life.
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