I have a question for those of you that have done the NJ Lighthouse Challenge. Bob and I are hoping to do it this year, and we are trying to figure out our plan of attack.

We are thinking of staying in the vicinity of Atlantic City on Saturday night. Can we start at Tinicum, and see Finn's Point, East Point, Cape May, Hereford Inlet and Absecon in one day?

Any tips/pointers are welcome.

Last year I spent Friday night in Tintin Falls and did the entire challenge on Saturday. But that was only because Tinicum was open until 7:00 pm. You can certainly do the southern portion on Saturday.

From everyone I talked to, they said start south and work your way home. I did Barnegat, Abescon, and Cape May in 3 hours - climbing the first two.
have fun,
Bob

Diane,

Yes you can do all of those Lighthouses in one day- especially if you get to Tinicum first thing in the morning.

Here's my best tip for you- choose wisely which lights you climb. Tinicum and Finn's Point are very similar so you could skip climbing one of them.

You want to make sure you climb East Point. They are in the midst of renovating it so you get to see a before, after and during climbing that one. Unfortunately, since the lantern room is so small this one can take very long to climb

You can also decide to climb either Cape May or Absecon. They are very similar (and also very similar to Fire Island for that matter). The good thing about both of these is there usually isn't a long wait to climb as people have a good long climb to the top and the stairs are wide enough for two way traffic.

Hereford Inlet is another must climb and again because of it's size it can have a line for the climb. Don't forget to take a walk through the gardens there. Steve (who will probably be on hand) has done a beautiful job on them. Hereford Inlet is Esther's favorite Lighthouse in part because of it's gardens.

I don't think it matters much if you start in the south or the North - the most important part is to get to the first lighthouse as close to the opening hour as possible.

Your route is probably the best for overnight stays- you get more than half of the Lighthouses done the first day and if you get lucky you can even drive up to Tuckerton and then back down to your motel in the AC area.

That would leave only Barnegat (the longest part of the trip because of backtracking) Sea Girt, Navesink and then finishing up at the best of the lot- Sandy Hook.

You could stop and take a look at the Conover Beacon on your way back to Long Island. It's right around the corner from Sandy Hook and Navesink.

Hope this helps. Any other questions let me know and I'll try and answer them.

Esther and I will be at Sea Girt on Sunday afternoon. I may be somewhwere else on Saturday as it looks like we won't be attempting the MD Challenge this year or repeating the NJ Challenge due to uncertainty with my Mother's medical situation.

Dennis

Dennis,
we will miss you at the Maryland Lighthouse Challenge.

Thanks for the info/tips/pointers!

Dennis, sorry to hear you won't be able to complete the "triple crown." I hope your mom is doing better.

Diane / Eric,

That's life. As for my mother- it's one of those hurry up and wait situations. There are three different doctors involved at this point and that tends to gum up the works- at this point she may not have any operation until October.

One good thing about it at least- if they aren't treating it like it has to be done yesterday things aren't that bad.

The problem is it makes my plans uncertain so it's best to just cancel them now. Understand, I'm not complaining- priorities are important.

I got to the LI Lighthouse challenge this year and I've done the other two already so I'll survive- and I won't have to spend so much for gas.

I hope prices come down soon or I predict a much smaller turnout for both the NJ & MD Ghallenges. I'll be very interested to see the comparison of last year's and this year's numbers.

Dennis

Family is more important of course. Hope your mother gets well soon.

Eric,

It's somewhat strange to be able to explain open heart surgery to your own Mother from the perspective of one who has already had it.

Dennis

Now that is remarkable.

Have fun!