Plenty of things planned today. It would help if I could find them! We were heading first to the Post Office in Colts Neck to get our mail. No problem, I had the address. Well, the address I had was on state highway 34. Is that North Rt 34, South Rt 34, plain Rt 34 or what? Turns out we couldn't find it nor could the GPS. The Post Office here is not a separate building, it is in a strip mall. We had to go back to the rig so I could get the phone number and call them for directions. I keep telling myself we should take that info with us when we leave but I forgot. We eventually got there and got our mail. Nothing exciting in it but at least there were no bills.
We decided to head to Camping World, about 20 miles south of us. The hookups at this campground are a little weird. The sewer is in the middle of the concrete pad at the rear of the site. We had enough sewer hose but one section sprung a leak so we need to replace that. Off we went. One thing that has surprised us is the cost of gas. We are seeing prices ranging from $3.27 to $3.65. I plan on hitting one of the cheaper ones when the car needs gas. Diesel is running from $3.72 to $3.99. Who would have thought NJ would have such cheap fuel! We will have to fill up the motorhome before we leave the state. Oh yeah, they even pump your gas for you (actually it is the law).
We did find Camping World. It is a smaller store but I still found plenty to buy. They didn't have the chair I have been looking at but I got other stuff. I thought our President's Club membership had expired but they said I had until Nov. Goody! I will wait and renew it later.
After shopping we headed over to the Jersey Shore to check things out. It is foggy today so the view is a little limited. And it is cooler here than at the base.
The homes along the coast are huge! I wonder how much some of these go for. They are right across from the beach. We didn't see any houses that were right on the beach.
We were looking for a lighthouse. We missed it as there were no signs indicating the street it was down. We asked a couple of nice gentlemen while we were here and they gave us directions. We were only a couple of blocks off. We were looking for a tall structure, not a house with a light on top. This was built in 1896.
There were very few people on the beach or boardwalk. I guess Hurricane Irene did some damage to parts of the boardwalk as there were areas that were washed out.
After spending some time at the beach we decided (or rather I did) to have lunch/dinner. I stopped at a place I saw on the drive in. It was called Rod's Irish Tavern. I don't know what was Irish about it but the food was good. They didn't have any of the standard Irish menu items. It was more of a steakhouse place. I have one of the specials of the day, beef burgundy on mashed potatoes and Bill had a hot turkey sandwich. They were both good and both big. We both left most of the mashed potatoes but ate the meats. It wasn't as expensive as we thought it might be, at least for lunch. Dinner could get a bit pricey. Bill said to show the restaurant to show that he does take me to nice places.
We drove north up the coast to find another lighthouse and I think we found the area the mob lives in. I have never seen so many million dollar homes in one place. Normally the GPS takes us through the less desirable places but not this time. The houses were gigantic. One question, where do these people work? There are no businesses around here. All the shopping areas are small shops. I guess they could take the train or ferry into NYC for work. We also noticed that there aren't any big grocery stores either. Since there is no commissary on base I need to get some stuff and was looking to see what chains are in the area. We saw a couple of Acme and A&P stores so I located one on our way back to the base.
Our next stop was a section of land called Sandy Hook. Today it is part National Park, part Coast Guard Station. Fort Hancock is located on this strip of land. It is an old Army fort that was built in 1859. It was used to defend NY harbor and decommissioned in 1974. It has been turned into a historic park. In this area is also Sandy Hook lighthouse, the oldest operating lighthouse in the US. It was built in 1764 and is still in use today. You can tour the lighthouse but I don't do that many steps.
There are mortar batteries around the fort that were the nation's first "disappearing batteries". Meaning the guns could be raised and lowered.
There is also an observation deck which you can climb and look across the harbor to New York City. Can't you see the lovely view?
We will have to come back if the fog ever lifts.
In case you are wondering, we aren't going into NYC. We thought about going to see the 9/11 memorial but you have to get tickets (they are free) to enter the site. You have to plan in advance as the first day they have available tickets for is Oct 27th! Maybe when we know months in advance that we will be in the area we can do that. We also have to figure out the ferry/train system and cabs.
We finally made it back to the campground around 6:30 pm. We didn't have dinner since we had such big and late lunches. Time to settle in for some TV tonight. Dancing with the Stars and NCIS. Enjoy the pictures.
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