Island Vibes For Life... The image is nice. The imagination conjures up images of a warm tropical land surrounded edged by beautiful beaches with snow white sand, palm trees with coconuts, the clearest celadon waters, and of course the most beautiful sunsets the eye has ever seen! You know, purple and red, and yellow and on fire! After-all, that is what "Island Vibes" are about, right? Bermuda, Bahama, come on pretty mama, Key Largo, Montego, baby why don't we go? Jamaica. Off the Florida Keys...you know the song, and you've been to the places, and we love them. Follow me along on my trip, and check out some of the sights from the photos and make sure you click on the links to learn more about the areas that I explored during this trip!
How we all envision "Island Vibes For Life"
As you will see in this little blog, not all Islands are tropical! The other week IV4L and a friend from Puerto Rico took a trip from the lush green golf course and subdivision laden area of the "Garden State" across the Raritan Bay under the Verrazano Bridge and visited the concrete jungle of Manhattan Island. Yes, that's right! You've probably never thought much about it, but "Manhattan Island" is just that, and island, and here is the IV4L story about that trip. We hope you enjoy!
The day was a beautiful fall day in late October. There was a crispness in the air and a brisk wind when I went to the Sandy Hook Unit of Gateway National Recreation Area to pick up my traveling partner for the day, Kim, a friend and seasonal Park Ranger who works for the National Park Service. We met near the Sandy Hook Lighthouse, and Kim greeted me with her wide smile and excited demeanor. Kim is always such a pleasant person to hang out with, and I knew today would not prove to be an exception.
I picked Kim up, and we headed into Atlantic Highlands, NJ. Our first stop was a little 'pick me up' at the local Starbucks. There we could plan our "Island Vibes day trip" as we has a couple hours to kill before the Seastreak Ferry departed for Manhattan Island. For our plan we decided to go visit a few sights, walk around town, and make sure we had some real "New York Pizza"! The day was going to be great!
The first stop of the day. Time to get some "Go Juice!"
After hanging out at the Starbucks for an hour or so, looking and planning, we headed down to the bayside at Atlantic Highlands to make sure we got a good parking spot and some tickets for the noon ferry. Parking was plentiful, and free. the tickets were fairly inexpensive for a round trip hourlong ferry ride to New York and back at $48.00 round trip per person. The Seastreak Ferry is more of a commuter ferry from NJ to NYC as opposed to a tourist ferry, so there are better rates to be had if one were to commute on the regular. The wind was whipping up off the bay, making the otherwise comfortable day just a little bit cool and the outside waiting area just a little bit uncomfortable, but soon enough the ferry arrived and we headed on board.
The Seastreak Office in Atlantic Highlands NJ, and the arrival of the ferry.
Soon we were off, racing across the Raitan Bay on the Seastreak Ferry with about an hour of travel time from port to port there was plenty of time to relax and take in the sites from the top deck of the ferry.
As we were leaving you could see all the sailboats and other watercraft of the Atlantic Highlands Marina, and we made our way out of the man made bay and into the bigger waters of the Raritan. On our right off in the distance we could see the Sandy Hook spit where our journey began, You could make out the lighthouse at Sandy Hook, the oldest continuously operating lighthouse in the United States along with the old Officer's Housing on what used to be Fort Hancock which is now part of Gateway National Recreation Area.
The Old Officer's Quarters and the Sandy Hook Lighthouse off in the distance at Gateway National Recreation Area
We continued past the Romer Shoal lighthouse on our starboard (right side). Interesting fact, it was built in 1898 and marks the Swash channel to Sandy Hook. On our port side and off our stern (the rear of the ferry) was the 2 mile long pier of the Naval Weapons Station Earle, complete with three ships docked loading weapons for some overseas operation. Next up on our Port side we passed the West Bank Lighthouse, built in 1901 and no longer in use and under private ownership. - That makes three light houses in under an hour!
Naval Weapons Station Earle, The West Bank Light, and the Romer Light
Past the Romer Light we continued, under the mighty Verrazano Bridge, a little less colorful than the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco with it's sea foam green but it is 4,719 feet (1438.35 m) longer and with it's double roadways a little more than 100,000 more vehicles traverse the span daily.
The Verrazano connects another island, Staten Island to Brooklyn. The base of the Verrazano is flanked by Fort Hamilton on our starboard side and Fort Wadsworth on our port side. Fort Wadsworth houses another lighthouse, and is also a part of Golden Gate National Recreation Area while Fort Hamilton is still used by the US Army as the local HQ for the US Army Garrison New York. Beyond the Verrazano Bridge one can begin to see our destination, Manhattan Island!
As we approached the Verrazano Bridge and off to our port side a large Container ship was headed towards the port in Bayonne New Jersey. I always make sure I sit on the right side of the plane when flying out of Newark so I can look out the window and see the port with Manhattan Island across the river. It always makes for some great and interesting views!
Coming up to the Verrazano bridge with a container ship and a sailing catamaran sharing the channel. Fort Wadsworth, and the Fort Wadsworth light are on our starboard side.
Continuing along, off to the port side one begins to glimpse the port at Bayonne and the docking are for the Staten Island Ferry with all the Iconic Orange boats going to and fro. Ahead one can just start to make out the corroded green hue of the Statue of Liberty as she stands watch over New York Harbor. Off to our starboard side are many docks in Brooklyn, New York.
The Seastreak Ferry thus far has been a fun and exciting experience! An "off the beaten path" kind of experience that most tourists would not even think of giving a shot. As stated earlier, after figuring parking in Manhattan, and tolls, and gas, travel time and everything else in between, the Seastreak is well worth the trip!
We streak past barges, boats and other ferries, we begin to slow down so we can navigate the traffic on the river and this gives us an opportunity to take a couple of good photos of the Statue of Liberty! Also we get a great shot of something else that is totally New York, a trash barge! I suppose it is going to NJ. Another amazing thing to kind of think about. How is all of the trash on Manhattan Island disposed of? I am sure a google search would reveal that.
What's the difference between the trash and single people in New York City who are dating? The trash gets taken out! (HA HA.. just a joke)
After the Statue of Liberty and the infamous NYC trash barge we head up the east river towards the Brooklyn Bridge. By now, Manhattan Island is fully on our Starboard side and the Borough of Brooklyn is on our port side. Our speed increases once again as we head past Pier 16 which houses the South Street Seaport Museum towards the famous Brooklyn Bridge.
Based at the South Street Seaport Museum are several ships for the ship enthusiast! Ships currently docked there are the United States Lightship "Ambrose", the Schooner "Lettie G. Howard"(Currently in Lake Erie in Erie Pa offering Tourist Sailing), the Schooner "Pioneer"(Soon to offer Tourist Sailing in Ny Harbor in 2025), the tugboat "W.O. Decker" One of the last Wooden tugboats (Offering trips along the East River in 2025) , and the beautiful tall ship and freighter "Wavertree"! All of this is just a short taxi ride from the ferry dock, or a moderate walk down the East River.
For me and Kim, however, we decided to head up 34th street and try our luck at finding a miracle or at least finding Macy's Department Store. Too bad for us it was still too early to visit Santa!
Kim and I continued up 34th street past many sights. You know, important places like "Thai Food Near Me" ( In case you needed to find it on a google search) and of course we stumbled into "The Grand Canyon" aptly named because the road which the Grand Canyon is situated on goes straight for many blocks and is uninterupted by turns causing it to look much like a canyon of buildings. However, unlike the Grand Canyon of the west, if you stumble into this Grand Canyon you have to watch out for cars and people more than falling off of cliffs. Or at least that is the story I am telling. Honestly though, there was a Mexican restaurant there on 3rd Ave named "the Grand Canyon" where Kim and I had some delicious tacos!