ABOUT THIS ISLAND

     What do you picture when you hear the word "island"?  A relatively big chunk of land, maybe accessible only by ship or plane?  Maybe palm trees swaying in the breeze?  Well, that describes the tropics, or sub-tropics, and this planet is blessed with many of those. 

      But here in the temperate zone many of the coastlines are dotted with islands that hardly seem separate from the mainland, connected as they are by marshes and wetlands.

     Yet some are heavily built up as are the mainland they are close to. Outstanding example, in Southern New Jersey, is Atlantic City (36 million annual visitors), with its famous hotels and boardwalk, on Absecon Island.

     Here, where your jewelry is made, on Long Beach Island, you get a totally different picture.  In fact, along all of New Jersey’s 127 miles of desirable seashore coastline, this island is different from the rest.  It’s farthest off the mainland....about 6 miles....with the real look and feel of "out to sea".  Then there’s the shape....18 miles long but only a few blocks wide!  Lots of lovely homes and clusters of colorful shops but, no buildings over three stories tall!!!   Picture that in a popular resort almost three hours’ drive from New York City!!!  Rare and wonderful!

     Our dunes, real dunes, unblemished by boardwalks, undulate the entire 18 miles and are dotted with swaying dune grasses and other native vegetation.  Beautiful!  And can you picture standing on the bay shore looking west over miles of bay water to the mainland and seeing no tall buildings whatsoever?  That distant landscape is mostly trees and clusters of homes. Beside many small residential towns and farmlands, southern New Jersey is fortunate to have many protected lands such as state forests and wildlife preserves. 

     You may wonder how an island so far from the mainland may be reached.  There is one (yes only one!) causeway consisting of a chain of four small bridges that touch down on tiny islands in Barnegat Bay.  It's quite a scenic drive from which you can see the Barnegat Lighthouse rising majestically from its beautifully wooded State Park at the northern tip of the island. This is one of those lighthouses still open for climbing and it’s popular for its panoramic views.

     Long Beach Island is a peaceful and friendly place to live (and create!) year-round, and a festival for art-lovers and relaxation-seekers in summer.  These inviting words from the Chamber of Commerce are only a drop in the bucket:

        "Discover a magical island with an eastern shore featuring eighteen miles of silver-sand beaches embracing the rolling Atlantic.  On the west, boat berths and bathing beaches border open bay waters, with plenty of room to sail.  Across the bay, pristine pinelands....laced with navigable lagoons and meandering streams, peppered with lakes and marshland, teeming with waterfowl and wildlife.
        There's swimming, skiing, sailing, surfing and scuba diving.  Canoeing and camping, crabbing and clamming.  Hunting in season.  Fishing almost year 'round.  Musical theater and movie theaters.  Free summer concerts under the stars weekly. Spectacular sunsets nightly, also free of charge.  Classes in arts and craft for adults and children.  Super shops with everything from antiques to zucchini."

     A good description? Check it out at Discover Southern NJ Ocean and while at that site, if you’d enjoy colorful photos of all we’ve described and more, visit "Images by Sandra Anton, View Galleries".   You would be warmly welcomed here!

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