Vacation Activities on a Dime: Jersey Shore For the Birds!

Summertime on the Jersey Shore brings with it a variety of activities the entire family can experience together. The majority include packing up the kids and heading down the Garden State Parkway to Belmar or Pt. Pleasant. Both destinations offer the sun, sand, and signature New Jersey people watching opportunities. The boardwalks cater to the ring tossing, water gun shoot’n, frog bouncing skill sets. The smells of pizza and funnelcakes reach you as soon as the water from the foot shower hits your ankles. And there aren’t many things more refreshing than a cocktail after a long day’s work of doing nothing.

If you’re planning a Jersey Shore vacation or just got back from one, take a minute and think about the expenses incurred. Although this article is about financial responsibilities and we’re focusing on saving money, look at the time in traffic (gas) and on lines too. Also, take into account the morale cost of vacation redundancy. Now consider if you and your perennial group of friends and family would enjoy something different from the norm, but still involves relaxing in your beach chair with a cool beverage and making up a variety of games to play while focusing on the “eye spy”.

Far from the more popular Jersey Shore destinations, Sandy Hook is off exit 117, 16 miles north of Belmar and 25 miles north of Pt. Pleasant. After saving on gas and tolls, you and your vacationers can will enjoy the secluded and tranquil beach, reminiscent to the North Carolina’s Outer Banks. And if you are looking for throngs of people, you will be disappointed. The largest populations are not of the flip flop wearing, 3 kid tote’n, minivan driving kind.

In recent years bird watching has been an underground Sandy Hook phenomenon that few have really appreciated. Far from the crowds, The Sandy Hook Bird Observatory has counted more than 340 species of birds around the peninsula. Making up games to spot certain species is a great way to get the whole family involved. Here are just a few of the more interesting types you may encounter.

	BROWN PELICAN. Of the seven species of pelicans in the world, the brown pelican is the only dark one, according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. It’s also the only pelican that dives into the water to catch its food - a very cool site! And when a brown pelican drains water from its bill after a dive, gulls often try to steal fish from its pouch and occasionally perch on its head or back and reach in
	LAUGHING GULL. This gull is the one you hear making laughing sounds all the time. Laughing gulls are very recognizable. They’re so noisy that people can’t help but to see them, and in the summer they have a black head so they look very impressive.
	PIPING PLOVER. The piping plover, an endangered species in New Jersey, nests on beaches and is difficult to see. That’s because it is small — the size of a robin — and its coloring and eggs blend in well with sand and broken pieces of shells, according to the state Department of Environmental Protection Web site. Only 129 pairs of piping plovers were reported on New Jersey beaches last year, up from 116 in 2006, a biologist has said.
	LEAST TERNS. The endangered least tern, the smallest tern in North America, nests alongside piping plovers. It has a sulfur-yellow bill, a black cap, white underparts and a gray upper body, wings and forked tail, according to a fact sheet on the state Department of Environmental Protection Web site.
	GREAT EGRET.The great egret is a large white marsh bird that will be hanging around any of the coastal ponds in the summertime. Look for these on the bay side of Sandy Hook. The great egret, a large heron, has a top size of 37 to 41 inches and a wingspan of 52 to 57 inches, according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. It has long, black legs and feet and a long yellow bill. It flies with its neck pulled back in an S-curve, the Web site says.