Esther and I spent most of the day at Hereford Inlet Lighthouse today.

We had a very successful Challenge this year- there were about 950 vistors at Hereford Inlet yesterday and about 580 today.

I learned to late (when I got there) that Nancy younger was there both yesterday and today. As late as yesterday the HL site and the Hereford Inlet site listed her being there only on Saturday. Sorry I was unable to keep the info up to date.

A portion of the profits from all sales of Harbour Lights products were donated to the Lighthouse today.

I did purchase the Mark Twain Lighthouse today, but I did not win the drawing for the Gold. They held the drawing at just before 6 PM and unlike other places due to the nature of the Lighthouse Challenge you did not have to be present at the time of the drawing.

I did not think to ask for the names of the winners- we were busy packing up our stuff.

The weather wasn't bad- no real rain, mostly cloudy, but not very windy.

I did not meet any Forum people, but i know some planned on being at the Challenge early on Sunday before we were there.

Time to start planning next year's.

Dennis

Dennis -

Beaconfollower and I were both at Hereford Inlet today and Beaconfollower had two lighthouses signed by Nancy. Beaconfollower and i were both wearing our Wacko badges but no one mentioned them. We had a wonderful weekend and answered the challenge by going to all 11 of the lighthouses in the two days. What fun we had!!! I even climbed a few of the lighthouses and will probably suffer for the next couple of days because of it. I am sorry that we didn't see you at Hereford Inlet but the gift shop was very crowded and I was lucky enough to find Beaconfollower there.

Larry - did we see you at all this weekend? Did you drive the white Jeep Grand Cherokee that parked outside room 115 of the Red Roof in Tinton Falls on Friday night? We saw the same vehicle at East Point light this afternoon.

I will post pictures if anyone is interested?

Eskilady

PS - Heard at Hereford Inlet light that Maryland is suppose to be having a Challenge next September which should be great fun. Maryland has over 40 lights but they are hoping to pick out 11 or so and have them open like NJ did. I would love to see Thomas Point!! Dennis, someone said that there was a list of other states that had or are having Challenges -
did you see the list and do you know what other states were on it? Someone mentioned NY and since I have lived here for 20 years and never heard of it, I would really be interested. Beaconfollower and I were discussing trying to organize a St. Lawrence Seaway Challenge but if it's already been done??

...Sure show me the Jeep!

Just got back home to NH after our excellent adventure this weekend to NJ. We had a great time!! I was hoping to meet some people from the forum, but didn't see any wacko badges.

Anyway, we started at Sandy Hook at 8am on Saturday, ended up at Hereford Saturday night and did Cape May through Tinicum on Sunday. Had great weather all the way through. I got to meet Nancy Younger at Hereford on Saturday and had two pieces that I purchased that day signed by her.

My thanks to the members of the NJLHS that put on this event! It was great fun and the cards that we received at each lighthouse were wonderful. Thank you all so much!! Great job!!

Linda Ann,

The NJLHS can only take partial credit. It would not have been possible to do this without the help and cooperation of the Lighthouse Organizations and the State Of NJ that help run the 10 lighthouses that are not under the jurisdiction of the NJLHS.

Sandy hook is the only Lighthouse we officially are in charge of , and that's only the part about giving tours.

Twin lights is a State Park and we are lucky enought o have the curator there as the President of the NJLHS. We have many people who are members of a local organization as well as the NJLHS so that helps when it comes to getting cooperation.

Eskilady I also heard about the plans for a Maryland Challenge next September. I don't have any concrete info- I'd bet if anyone here would know it would be shirin she's she's invoved with the Chesapeake Chapter of the USLHS among others.

I doubt that Thomas Point would be included becayse of the difficulty getting there. They would probably pick all land based ones that were easyily accessible. Your going for the uninitiated here and they won't go for things too hard.

The other states that were mentioned were NY and Delaware, but I've never heard of anything like this in those states.

The closest I've heard to this idea is done in MA when the open a number of the lighthouses on Cape Cod that are not normally open. It is done once a year, but the date escapes me.

We can throw that one out to Bob M or someone with NELL (again, that could be Shirin).

As for the picture question- This group is always up for pictures of Lighthouses, although they'll; take the picture of the Jeep if that's all you have.

I neglected to mention that I had a very nice conversation with Nancy Younger. She saw my Wacko Badge and knew what it was immediately.

Dennis

Eskilady, I thought you and Beaconfollower were traveling together? I know from our bus trip stop that the gift shop at Hereford can get very crowded, but you were worried you lost her? Did she have the car keys?

Please do share some pictures with us so we can see you guys on your great adventure.

The Chesapeake Chapter of the USLHS is working on a challenge for next year, and I believe they were considering MD lights. (this from memory from an article in the newsletter sometime this year.) Land views of Thomas Point are from a distance, and I don't think the residents of the neighborhood you have to drive thru would be too thrille. I have not heard of any other group working on a similar project.

Dave

Ok, 22 trips up the Sandy Hook tower this weekend has left me absolutely worn out! I'm surprised I made it into work today. I'm not quite sure if I can talk yet but if last years challenge is any indication I'll be fine by this evening. It's not often I get the chance to talk constantly for almost 2 days straight.

I didn't get to meet anyone from the forums I didn't already know. Sorry I missed you guys! But it was nice to see some familiar faces again as well.

To the best of my knowledge, I've been told that the MD Challenge will be September 13-14th. The next Ches. Chapter newsletter should have more details. I cornered the editors yesterday morning at Sandy Hook to try and pin down some dates.

shirin

No, I didn't mean pictures of the jeep - pictures of the lighthouses!! Just like everyone on the trip, I got plenty of pictures. Beaconfollower and I were traveling together and we didn't actually lose each other, I was just trying to indicate how full the gift shop was.

Linda Ann - I wonder if we ran into you somewhere along the line? We did see a car from NH along the way - what were you driving? We started out at Sandy Hook too and went as far as Absecon on Saturday - didn't climb Sandy Hook but took many pictures. We went to Atlantic City on Saturday night as Beaconfollower had never been there. We started out at Hereford Inlet Sunday morning.

Where in NY did they have the challenge? Long Island? We would love to have one for the Seaway Trail - it would be fun, don't you think?

Met at lady at the top of Tinicum Light who just got back from Italy - 27 lights!!! How I wish that I could have stowed away in her luggage!!

Eskilady

Eskilady – we were driving a green Mazda. Did I see you somewhere? I was wearing a black shirt and jeans on Saturday and am on the short side with dark hair. We climbed the lighthouses from Sandy Hook through Barnegat and Finn’s Point and Tinicum. We did visit but did not climb Absecon through East Point as we have previously been to those lighthouses. Plus, after Barnegat my legs just were not up for Cape May or Absecon!!

Dennis – thank you for correcting me. Anyway, my thanks to all those involved in putting on this event. We had a great time!!

It would be great if MD had a challenge next year!!! Those in the know please keep us posted!

Linda Ann

Linda Ann,

I agree that trying to do Barnegat, Absecon and Cape May on the same day is a challenge in and of itself.

There were a number of people who did that yesterday though.

I also hope if anybody has heard of or knows of any information on other challenge type events, especially those that were mentioned yesterday ij NY and Delaware, will let us know about them.

The person who mentioned these to me yesterday ahd no information specifically on them and had only heard that the MD one was supposed to be 12 Lighthouses and was to be mid-September.

Sounds like they had that part right- got to circle that calendar now so we don't forget.

Dennis

Linda Ann - Beaconfollower and I were traveling in a grey Astro van with Yankee plates. She is short and I am tall - we sort of looked like Mutt and Jeff. I was wearing sweatshirts and jeans and Beaconfollower looked alot nicer in an orange striped shirt and vest. I climbed Hereford and Tinicum lights (the line was way too long at East Point). On Saturday, I climbed Twin Lights, Tucker, and Sea Grit (I had climbed Absecon and Cape May previously). It was great fun!!

We want to thank the club for putting on such a great event too!! I hope that we can do MD next year and any other ones that come along.

Eskilady

Here are the pictures that I promised you all. I hope that you all enjoy them:



This is Seagirt Light



Tucker's Island



Absecon Light



Hereford Inlet light with some of the workers around it.



Cape May light



East Point light

Eskilady

Here are my last pictures:



Tinicum - I even climbed this one!



Finn's Point

Ok, that's all - for now anyway.

Eskilady

Thanks for sharing your pictures, Carol. Looks like the nicest weather / sky to be found was at Absecon.

Dave

We also completed the challenge and we have reasons to go back next year.

We headed up on Friday, and our first stop was to be the Chapel Hill Rear Range Light. I had found the street it was on on the internet and mapped it all out. Too many leaves on the trees. We never saw it, but more on this later.

Next we headed up to the Conover Beacon, also based on the directions from the 'net. Those directions all need to be corrected and they drop you in someone's back yard. One more street over is access to the beach.

We then headed to Navesink to beat the Saturday crowd, and I'm glad we did. Navesink looks like it will be really nice when they take the scaffolding down (reason #1 to go back next year). And the big first order clam-shell lense is really cool! Also, I mentioned our failed attempt at Chapel Hill to the lady behind the desk. She then told me that the owners don't really mind as long as you call them first. She gave me their names and phone number (reason #2 to go back next year).

The sky was blue and the weather forcast for Saturday was grey, so we headed up to Sandy Hook for some nice clear pictures. Along the way, we stopped at the Spermicetti Cove Life Saving Station. I like them too.

After that we headed back to our room at the Red Roof in Tinton Falls. We ate at Chili's and hung out at the mall.

Saturday, we left early to get up to Sandy Hook early. Mapquest told me 55 minutes. I was there in 27 and had to wait to the NJLHS people to get set up. At 7:30am we were disappointed to hear that tours wouldn't start until 10am, and a guy named Joe said "if you're real quiet, I take you up now." So Joe descretely let us in and led us to the top. Up top I got a real distant picture of Romer Shoal light in the New York Harbor.

Then it was off to Navesink, which wasn't open yet. good thing we climbed Friday.

Seagirt is a beautiful brick house. We climbed there too.

Off to Barnegat. The clouds were doing some cool things by now. I hope it shows up in my pictures well. It was really starting to get crowded.

Then we went to Tuckerton. It's a nice little area. Has nice shops. It has a nice three year old faux lighthouse that sits right on the road. Some how I didn't get that same special feeling like I get at real lighthouses. The museum is nice. And the lady there told me that there are three life saving staions on Long Beach Island (where Barnegat is) that I missed (reason #3 to go back next year).

Finally, we headed for Atlantic City for our overnight break. We booked a room at the Shereton, which is connected to the Convention Center, which was having a thing called Atlantique City, billed as the world's largest antique show. We couldn't even park our own car. We were required to valet park. Anyway, we checked in to our room and I opened the shades and was greeted with this view:

(Billows has always been my favorite electricians!)
After a little rest, we dumped Donna off at the Showboat for her fun on the trip, and Kris, Amanda and I went to climb Absecon. It was MOBBED!!! Then we headed to dinner and a show at the Tropicana (illusionists...I'm still trying to figure out some of that stuff).

Sunday, we hit Herefore Inlet, Cape May and East Point. We were hoping for sunny blue skies, but got the same cold grey ones we got the last time we visited these three, so no better pictures this time (except maybe angle-wise) (reason #4 to go back next year).

The next logical step looking at the map would have been Finn's Point, but that's closer to our road home, so we pulled out the atlas and found our way to Tinicum. It's very nicely maintained. And it will be in an upcoming Jennifer Lopez movie called "Jersey Girl".

We finished up at Finn's Point, and by now, we were all ready to just go home. It was a CHALLENGE!

I hope to get some pictures up in the next week or two, if time permits.

Oh, before I forget, yes, that probably was my Jeep. Did it look like this?:

Dave,

This year's weather was not the best we had. We never really got any rain on Sunday, just a few drops, but it never got Sunny either.

Based on the weather in Trenton on Saturday I'd say Saturday at the Lighthouses was no picnic either.

We had great weather the previous two years so, we were do for a not so good one.

I think most people had a good time and the numbers I've seen show an increase over last year so that's a positive thing. I tlaked to our Vice President when I was delivering the paperwork, etc and all the Lights seeme dto hav elarger numbers from last year.

We got a lot of nice comments from people- they liked the cards with the Picture on the front and the Lighthouse info on the back. I'd scan if for you, but neither I or Esther kept one for ourselves. Volunteers are supposed to get a complete set sometime in the near future.

Maybe Shirin or someone who did the Challenge can do it.

Dennis

Larry,

Glad you had a good time.

Here's are a couple of interesting facts about that Ben Affleck / Jennifer Lopez movie "Jersey Girl"

The movie is set in Highlands, NJ (where Twin lights is), but because there are some warehouses that have been converted to movie sets in South Jersey (thank Bruce Willis and others for this- he's origianlly from Pennsville, NJ) and it was easier to be based in Philadelphia they scouted the Tinicum Lighouse to stand in for the one up north.

The members of the Tinicum Lighthouse society were invited to participate in an all night dusk to dawn filming for the holiday scene in the film. that's why there were still Christmas Lights on the lighthouse.

See you in NJ next year- maybe you'll have better weather.

Dennis

I'll be sure to add a scan here once I get my complete set if no one else posts a picture of it. Those who had previously attended the challenge raved about the card set. We had a display of the sets from all 3 years and by far the cards from this year stood out as a clear winner.

I guess our weather was better up north on Sunday than where you were Dennis. As long as we were out in the sun we didn't need a jacket. Saturday was a different story. I'm still not sure how people stood out in the cold wind for up to 2 hours waiting for their tours.

shirin

Shirin,

I was just in shortsleeves Challenge shirt until about 4 and then I put on a long sleeve Chamois shirt.

We had seversl peopl complain about the wait at Sandy hook and other places. I tried to explain that you were making the tour as short as possible- it takes 5 minutes up, 5 down and you need 5 up there for some to be ready to go down (like me).

It justs proves the old dictum- you can't please everybody. Most comments were positive- they really liked the cards, wanteds to buy extra complete sets.

The only negative comment about the cards was related to the plastic sheets- nobody had any left, you could only put 9 cards in them, you needed two cards of each one to display them- but even those ngative comments were quickly added to by the same person that the cards were great.

I'm looking forward to next year's already. I hope I'm able to do more troughtout the year in the planning stages.

I also am looking forward to doing the MD Challenge. I know between you and Dave (and others) that we'll be kept up to speed on that.

Dennis

Anyway to get a set of cards, Dennis and Shirin?
please,
Bob

Bob,

The Volunteers sets of cards have to be distributed first. I passed on the suggestion made about making sets available, but it will have to wait for the distribution of the Volunteers sets, if it happens at all.

When the dust settles there may be some available, but it's hard to say for sure.

Dennis

How deep is your wallet, Bob???????

Selling complete extra sets could be an interesting fund raiser for the NJLHS, but that would take away from the "you had to be there to get them" exclusivity of having the cards.

Dave

Dave,

It may just be a moot point- there may be none available to do so.

One reason people wanted the second set was to be able to display the cards with both sides showing- one side has the picture and the other has some facts about the light, such as date built, height, etc.

I have passed along a suggestion that covers both aspects of your thought- incorporate the aspects of the Long Island Chapter of USLHS website, that is to have the capability of buying things using Paypal and make available a set of Lighthouse Cards that include all of the Lighthouses in NJ so as to make it different from the Challenge Set along with not including the 12th card the completion of the challenge Card.

Of course, this is all idle speculation at this point.

Dennis

Dennis - the PayPal idea would be great for all of the extra t-shirts from the Challenge as well. From an email I just received it looks like the NJLHS is ready to keep selling shirts while the idea is hot and not wait for the next board meeting.

Our biggest complaint at the hook was the wait for the tours. I just explained that at least we were doing 15 minute tours instead of the 30 minutes and that calmed a bunch of people down. And I completely understand their frustration. Sandy Hook was the only lighthouse I didn't climb out of the 11 during the first year of the challenge. I was disappointed but then again I've now more than made up for missing that one climb.

shirin

Shirin,

There isn't any other viable alternative due to the size and construction of Sandy Hook.

You can't have people coming down and going up at the same time and the Lantern room is just so big.

15 minutes is the bare minimum to get the most people in and out. People understood last year when we explained it to them, except for the few that just would not no matter what you tried.

Many understood when it was explained that the Challenge was more to get them interested and give them exposure to the Lighthouses so they could come back at another time and enjoy them more intensely.

It goes back to you can't please everybody, so you try for the maximum and explain to the rest and hope for the best.

Dennis

Contined at this thread:

http://www.lighthousekeepers.com/cgi-bin/forumscgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=15;t=000558