Along the "Jersey Shore", and More....

This astounding flight took place on Sunday, August 3, 2008, and this entry features the most pictures I've ever posted...24 in all.

The day was predicted to be a bit cooler than the previous sweltering days, drier and also a bit breezy with winds around 10 & gusting to about 18 mph. Dad and I arrived at the airport and yes, the winds were blowing from the north, though not as strong as predicted since it was still early in the morning. I departed runway 31 which is the airport's crosswind runway for just such times when the wind is blowing as it was today.

Upon climbing I turned left and proceeded on a course which took us south, just west of Trenton-Mercer airport and along the Delaware river. We over-flew a closed airport once known as "3M". It was a company airport, though public at one time, but I did not shoot any updated photos on this flight. The air was somewhat choppy, and I knew this would hinder my ability to shoot nearly still aerial photos, yet the majority of the ones I shot turned out just fine. It was at this point where we intersected the Delaware river, then turned southwest and headed directly towards the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. We had always wanted to shoot pictures of the Adventure Aquarium located in Camden, New Jersey....

....along with the Battleship "New Jersey" which is only a hop, skip and a jump south of this attraction:

To do this, though, meant I would be flying very close by to Philadelphia International airport's airspace, and it was suggested by some friendly folks at our home-base airport that I call approach control. I did just that, but when I made the call I was instructed to contact the tower instead. Wow, I thought, that's a fairly important call to make to a busy tower that is already talking to the airliners and such. Anyway, I made the call, told them what my intentions were and was given a code to enter in my transponder which allowed them to see exactly where I was at all times. Perfect, I thought, and Dad flew a few circles around these two attractions as I snapped away, acquiring many photos of the Philadelphia skyline:

After our photo flight of this area, I called the tower once again to tell them we were exiting the area. A pleasant "Thank You" was exchanged, and we were now on our way to destinations southeast of this area. Around the Clementon, New Jersey area, there is a large train depot where the majority of the trains coming out of Philadelpia turn-around for the journey back to the city....

....just like the New Jersey Transit trains do in Bay Head, NJ. And just south of this depot, still in Clementon, there exists a small but bustling amusement park called Clementon Park. This park has a rich history, and new for 2008 is an addition to their their water park Splash World, which is rather colorful:

After Dad flew one circle around the park so I could snap some pictures, we continued southeast bound and headed directly to Millville, which could eventually be seen in the distance thanks to a large lake that exists northwest of the town. We wanted to check on the progress of the New Jersey Motorsports Park that I previously photographed. Some landscaping was complete, as well as the paving of the multitude of tracks present, but not much action except a handful of cars making laps. Below is the southern most track with the airport and large lake north of Millville in the distance:



Continuing, we made a bee-line towards the southern peninsula of New Jersey, where Cape May resides at the tip. The Cape May county airport is just north of town and we landed there for fuel and our standard fare, namely, our picnic lunch. Fuel was EXPENSIVE @ $5.95 per gallon, though many other airports in the area are in the low 5's. Anyway, a nice stop though the wind was strong but steady from the west at about 15 mph.

After about an hour, we departed to the west then turned 180 degrees and flew directly towards the "Jersey Shore". The Wildwoods was our point of entry as we began flying north along Jersey's "Gold Coast". We were commenting how Wildwood's beach is wider than any other beach along the Jersey Shore. Take a look at the picture below, then imagine you wanting to grab a hot dog and soda. Then think how long and how much walking it would take you. Yup, the beach is THAT wide, and note in the picture how tiny the people are compared to the distance you have to walk from beach to boardwalk:


Flying north, we flew along the beaches of Stone Harbor, Avalon and Sea Isle City, then I shot a picture of a packed beach at Ocean City:


Ocean City has the distinct advantage (as far as pilots are concerned) of having its own airport only a few blocks from the beach. Atlantic City used to have a small airport called Bader, but this was recently closed. Upon approaching this gambling mecca, we decided to fly just west of the city and over the marshes. Below is a picture of a solar/wind power generating station and is used solely for powering some of Atlantic City, or so I've read:


Brigantine was now to our east, and was once home to a very distinct Haunted Castle that stood prominently on the beach back in the 1970's. We were now approaching the ruins of a decrepit and abandoned fertilizer factory (or so we were told) in the middle of a river inlet:


This factory was just west of a rather large sandbar that acted like an island resort for a select few boats. Smack dab in the middle of an inlet, boats would pull up to this sandbar and enjoy their private island, as seen below:


Further to the north and still over the marshes, we crossed the boundaries of lower Barnegat Bay with Long Beach Island to the east. Crossing Route 72, I shot a picture a little further of the Barnegat Inlet with the Lighthouse in view at the lower right of the photo:


Now, talk about a private dwelling on your very own, mosquito and black fly infested marsh island in the middle of Barnegat Bay. Well, this is what we have here:


Further along we come to Island Beach State Park and Tice's shoal, where boats gather to anchor and ride their dingies to the beach access road. But today was unlike any summer day that we've experienced in the past, because Tice's shoal looked like a mall parking lot at Christmas. From a distance, the shoreline looks impressive, but the gathering of boats, though, is nothing to write home about:


But, get a bit closer and look what we have here. "Hey, watch that anchor". "Hey, watch my wake". "Hey, steer clear of those jet skiers and don't run over those folks in their dingy"....You get the idea. Look how packed this area really was:


Below you can see the beach access road, and another view of the madness that day at Tice's shoal:


It was at Seaside Park that we traversed the shoreline and were now flying over the Atlantic Ocean and along the shoreline at about 1,000 feet. To our left was Seaside Heights and their two amusement areas; Funtown Pier and Casino Pier. It was still a bit bumpy up there so that's what all the shaking is about. Further north once again and around the Point Pleasant area, there was a gathering of boats that was actually more impressive than Tice's shoal. It was an area we had not noticed previously, and the boats were packed tighter than a can of sardines, with only one entrance/exit to this area:


See what I mean....Now this is a party area if I ever saw one:


Passing the larger shore towns of Asbury Park and Long Branch, we could now see Sandy Hook in the distance. Below are some folks enjoying their Sunday on the beach at this norther peninsula of the "Jersey Shore", though not many folks were actually in the water:


Flying along the beach, I was now about to turn left as we flew around the tip of Sandy Hook, as seen here:


Looking back, we could now see the entire peninsula (Sandy Hook) and the shoreline where we just came from. It was a very pretty sight, especially with the rich, blue ocean, the blue sky and the puffy clouds that stopped abruptly once they reached the Atlantic Ocean:


Flying back south now along Sandy Hook, I shot a picture of one of many concrete military installations that are present:


Turning to the west, the Atlantic Highlands were now to our left (south) and we could see Keansburg Amusement Park ahead with its yellow, dirt-looking beach:


After passing this area, we climbed to about 2,500 feet and proceeded on course to our home-base airport, over-flying the Raritan river and towns such as New Brunswick, Manville and Somerville. Just crossing into Hunterdon county, we noticed an interesting Corn Maze and decided to shoot a picture of it:


Yup, CORNFUSION (though in the maze, the "R" is backwards - Get it...."CONFUSION"). Try following the maze when you enlarge the picture. It actually works and looks like a lot of fun. Hey, no printing this picture and cheating :)

Finally, a landing was made back home with another stop for fuel before we parked for the day. I hope you have enjoyed this pictorial journey throughout southern New Jersey and along our fascinating shoreline that we are blessed with.

Stay tuned for many more Pictorial/Video journeys and Thanks once again for flying along with Dad and I !!!