Stargirl’s Blog

Valley Forge - National Memorial Arch (Foliage)
Originally uploaded by etacar11

It wasn’t REALLY on the way home exactly, but close enough. I made Rob take us to Valley Forge after we saw Nine Inch Nails in Atlantic City. He didn’t mind.

I had been to Valley Forge once before, on a junior high school field trip. Can’t say I remember much, though.

It was a dreary November day but the fall colors were out. We drove around to a lot of the stops on the driving tour. The National Memorial Arch (seen here), a covered bridge in the park, some of the old quarters. Washington’s Headquarters was closed, unfortunately. Looks like I will have to go back again.

History of the area: This is where the Continental Army under George Washington spent the winter of 1778. Conditions were horrible and the army was poorly trained and equipped. Prussian officer Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben was brought in to remedy the training part and he succeeded in turning our boys into a force with a fighting chance.

Sandy Hook Lighthouse
Originally uploaded by etacar11

What did I learn from doing the NJ Lighthouse Challenge? Climbing lighthouses = great cardio! In fact, my legs are still sore. The weather was a little bit better on Sunday than on Saturday, much more sunny. But it was still chilly and windy. We only had four lighthouses left, so it was a much shorter day than the first day.

Our first stop was the Twin Lights of Navesink, a two-towered structure that sits on the Highlands overlooking New York Bay. I climbed one of the towers (they aren’t very high); there are good views of New York City. Interesting historical note: Marconi sent the first wireless messages from the site in 1899.

Sandy Hook Lighthouse is just a few miles from Navesink and was the logical second stop. It was built in 1764 on a tiny strip of land several miles long stretching out into the Atlantic (a serious navigational hazard for those entering New York Harbor). The Americans tried to destroy the lighthouse during the Revolution, to keep it out of enemy hands, but they failed and the original light still stands today. Amazing. The view from the top had even better views of New York City than Navesink did.

Next was Sea Girt Lighthouse, further south down the coast. It’s a beautiful redbrick Victorian building. Very windy, just across from the beach. Mom and Dad managed the easy climb up the tower. There was a long line and a narrow ladder but they did just fine.

The final lighthouse was Barnegat, on Long Beach Island. It’s a tall, red and white structure but I wasn’t able to climb it, unfortunately, due to the high winds (they had closed it). I was disappointed. I guess I’ll have to go back someday. Our actual last stop on the challenge was the Barnegat Light Historical Museum, where the original Barnegat first-order Fresnel lens is housed. We got our challenge completion cards and they even gave us a special card for doing the Long Island Challenge too, though the card actually said New Jersey and Maryland. Oh well, the thought is all that counts, I guess.

So my second challenge was fun. My sights are set on the Maryland one next September.

East Point Lighthouse
Originally uploaded by etacar11

My parents and I did the Long Island Lighthouse Challenge last May. We enjoyed it immensely, except for the horrific traffic getting to and from Long Island. We missed the Maryland one due to me being in Philadelphia at the time. This weekend we’re doing the New Jersey Challenge.

Our first stop was Tinicum Rear Range Lighthouse in Paulsboro, on the Delaware River across from Philadelphia. It’s a steel tower light and one of the volunteers explained how it’s used by pilots in the river in conjunction with a forward range light to stay in the center of the channel. The top of the tower gave a great view of Philadelphia, including the airport.

The second lighthouse, Finns Point Range Lighthouse in Pennsville, is also a steel tower, almost identical in appearance to Tinicum. It’s a part of the Supawna Meadows National Wildlife Refuge and used to guide ships between the Delaware Bay and River.

East Point Lighthouse in Heislerville on Delaware Bay was our third stop. My mom and I were going to take the tour and go to the top (it’s not very tall), but the line was long and didn’t seem to be moving. We gave up, since we were behind where we wanted to be at the time, and left.

Next was Cape May Lighthouse. It was a good climb, although I of course had to do it myself, since my parents are getting on. I think my parents had been to it before, since they have vacationed in Cape May in the past. It’s a nice little town, I wouldn’t mind visiting it again and spending more time. There’s a nice beach near the lighthouse, which is in a state park. The next stop was not a lighthouse at all, but Cape May County Historical Museum in Cape May Court House. The reason? They have the first-order Fresnel lens from the Cape May Lighthouse. Those first-order lenses are humongous…

Hereford Inlet Lighthouse was the next stop, in North Wildwood. It’s a Victorian style lighthouse and looks very similar to Point Fermin Lighthouse, which we visited in July in San Pedro, CA. Wildwood was pretty sparse of people, but there were hardly any parking spots around Hereford Inlet. All the lighthouse goers were clogging up the place!

Late afternoon took us to Absecon Lighthouse in Atlantic City. Man, it is a bitch to get there! The traffic in that town is awful. I’m returning to Atlantic City in a couple of weeks for another Nine Inch Nails show but I definitely don’t like the looks of the place. It’s the tallest lighthouse in New Jersey. I took the climb in stages.

We considered ending the day after Absecon, but since the next lighthouse, Tucker’s Island in Tuckerton, was open for night climbs, we decided to cross it off our list before heading to our Saturday night hotel. It’s located in one of those “historic” seaports. Can’t speak to the quality of that, since it was dark. But it was interesting to see one of the lighthouses outside of normal hours.

It looked to be a chilly, but sunny, day at the beginning but it clouded up and even rained a little. Hopefully tomorrow will be an improvement.

Philadelphia City Hall
Originally uploaded by etacar11

Ok, hopefully Flickr will like my new blog better.

I visited Philadelphia again in September, just a couple of weeks after going there for the Nine Inch Nails concert. What can I say, I can’t get enough of the place. This time it was for the MEETin Celebration. I was staying just a few blocks from City Hall, one of the most beautiful buildings in the city. It was a fun three days. The highlights included visiting the Barnes Foundation, a great museum full of impressionist paintings; and running through the haunted house at Eastern State Penitentiary.

The day after I returned from Philly, I had to go on a business trip to the New Orleans area. I hadn’t been down there since 1991. I didn’t have much chance to sightsee but we (me and some of the other attendees of the meeting I was at) did take an evening to visit Bourbon Street. It was fun, but kinda gross considering that it seems like every other place on that street is a strip club. If I get sent down there again, I’ll have to take a couple of days and see the real sights of the city.

Tomorrow, my parents and I are doing our second lighthouse challenge, the New Jersey one. Last May we did the one on Long Island. Maryland’s unfortunately was during my trip to Philly. Maybe next year.

Yeah, I’ve got to pay attention to updating my Wordpress software or my blog will die.