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| Island Beach State Park |
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| Barnegat Lighthouse viewed from the North Island |
On the central coast of New Jersey are two long barrier
islands separated from the mainland by the Barnegat Bay.
The northern island doesn’t seem to have a
name, it is referred to on maps as the Barnegat Peninsula (though it is cut off
from the mainland on all sides), and we saw it referred to as the North
Island.
The island to the south is known
as Long Beach Island or LBI.
When you cross over to the North Island you arrive at the
town of Seaside Park and almost immediately see the amusement park Boardwalk
that often represents the Jersey Shore in movies and books.
The rides and games were all closed for the
winter while we were there, but it was easy to imagine it noisy and crowded
with people having fun.
The beaches in the North Island were closed for renovation
with earth moving equipment pushing sand from the beach up into the dunes. So, we drove north along the central island
road and looked at beach communities varying from rows of modest houses to
towns with larger, fancier homes. One
thing every community had in common was that every parking spot has a number,
and you pay to park at computerized kiosks that issue you a ticket to place on
your dash.
The crown of this island is the Island Beach State Park
which takes up the last 10 miles of the southern tip of the island.
Historical kismet caused this section of
maritime forest and beach to never be developed, so the maritime vegetation is
the same way now as it was hundreds of years ago.
The NJ Park Service has divided the park
sections with some devoted to research and conservation.
You can drive through these sections, and we
saw 2 small foxes on the side of the road watching the infrequent
cars go
by. The beach here was wide and long
with fine grained white sand.
Long Beach Island (LBI) is lovely with long white sand
beaches lined by lovely homes. At the
north end of the island is the Barnegat Lighthouse. The lighthouse is a New Jersey State Park and
is open to the public. You can walk up
to the top without escort. Once there you
have a lovely view of Island Beach State Park as well as of LBI. While we were on LBI we stopped off to check
on a friend’s beach house there.
Afterwards we frolicked on the beach.
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| The view from Barnegat Light |
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| Frolicking on the LBI beach |
The crown of this island is the Island Beach State Park
which takes up the last 10 miles of the southern tip of the island. Historical kismet caused this section of
maritime forest and beach to never be developed, so the maritime vegetation is
the same way now as it was hundreds of years ago. The NJ Park Service has divided the park
sections with some devoted to research and conservation. You can drive through these sections, and we
saw 2 small foxes on the side of the road watching the infrequent cars go
by. The beach here was wide and long
with fine grained white sand.
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