Atlantic Highlands

A stop that was originally planned for only a night turned into 5 but in a good way, not due to storms or broken parts.  We watched the Seastreak Ferry depart on a regular basis and head in the direction of New York City so we decided to check it out.  For about $100 round trip for the two of us, we could go straight into the heart of Manhattan and spend the day seeing the sights.  So after, buying groceries, watching a movie in town and refilling our propane tanks, that is what we did! Besides that, we really liked Atlantic Highlands and spent time exploring the area and had a few pleasant surprises. The town is very much a bedroom community for New York but has it's own personality as well.  We met a couple our first night in town and learned he was a battalion chief who led a team up in the burning towers.  From his 13 man squad, only 4 made it out alive and each of them has had severe medical issues since.  His wife was the widow of a police officer.  When he learned that David was retired AF, he thanked him for his service when really he was the hero.  We did watch a storm roll in from the bar stools we were perched on a few days later  which isn't really a good thing since we wouldn't know if our anchor drug until it was too late.  It all ended well for us but not all others.  Bottom line, we had a great stop in New Jersey and it made us ready for the next phase of the adventure.

Once again, I am blown away by all the flowers.  This house was gorgeous on it's own but
the many, colorful hanging baskets really made it spectacular.

Stately old houses were common, especially on the hill overlooking the harbor.

From our spot in the anchorage, we could see that there was a lower road

                                                        A middle road

and a much higher road going through town.

The road was quite steep in spots and was a challenge on our little bikes with few gears.
I was worn out and thirsty after 4 miles uphill but I didn't have to walk!

This sweet little bike path leading away from the marina gave no hint of the
grueling uphill waiting for us.  Actually the entire bike path was basically flat and
ran from Atlantic Highlands to Highlands.  We chose to head up the hill to see what
we could see and challenge ourselves.  (ok, it wasn't a challenge for David but it was for me.)

A view of Raritan Bay.  In the far distance, you can see Sandy Hook.
We have a Raritan head (toilet) but couldn't find out if it was manufactured locally.

A nice surprise was finding this park at the top of the hill and learning that
it was the highest point on the entire Atlantic Seaboard from Canada to the Yucatan .
It wasn't really all that high as far as mountains go but still was a nice find.

The park also included a monument to all those from New Jersey who
lost their lives in the attack on the Twin Towers 9-11-01.  The names of each
person was inscribed in the map showing the counties they were from.

One of the pergolas in the park.

Not sure what this boat owner was thinking but he had his main fully
up then apparently left the boat.  When the storm rolled through with up to
50 knot gusts, the sail didn't stand a chance.  By the end of the next day,
it was shredded all the way back to the mast.  Several jibs weren't securely
tied down and they sustained damage as well.

One spectacular sunset

After another graced our view.

I wish the camera had done a better job capturing the colors.  It was like a
horizontal rainbow.  The jetty was lined with people trying to capture the beauty.