Sandy Hook in pictures

A YouTube collage of Sandy Hook, NJ footage and photos, put to music by composer/musician Herbie Hancock.

Sandy Hook: An ideal summer getaway

This is a great video about Sandy Hook that gives a wonderful overview of not only the park but the surrounding area. But, where it involves recent bridge construction, it pays to show up early and have a little patience where it involves traffic.

Highlands roadwork continues to plague residents

Highlands has been having a heck of a time, with the bridge destruction, reconstruction and vibrations from work and the traffic (the traffic has been especially terrible due to road closures).

Sandy Hook is a great attraction, but getting there has become as easy as the Cubs clinching the Pennant. Long lines of cars and motorcycles on Rt. 36, or moving through Rumson and, sometimes, all for nothng. I attempted the journey to Sandy Hook twice in the last month. But, by the time that I got to the entrance the park was full.

Courier Senior Staff Writer Alyssa Passeggio has a story about what is happening with bridge construction. Click on the headline to go to The Courier Online.

APP: Sandy Hook chapel could be rented

The Asbury Park Press has a great story today about Sandy Hook's chapel potentially being leased. The fact is that several of the buildings at Ft. Hancock have been left to rot as government bureaucrats tap dance about what to do next.

Anyone who wants to see some buildings that are falling apart along Officer's Row, as it was formerly known, can take the drive up Rt. 36 to just past the Highlands bridge and take a look for themselves.

As for the group "Save Sandy Hook," dedicated to seemingly let these buildings fall into piles of brick and mortar, I don't think their approach is sound. Something other than allowing Ft. Hancock to fall into ruins is probably a sound way to deal with this historic property.

Click on the headline to go to the story. The above pix are mine, from some months ago. It hasn't gotten any better since then, though.

Sandy Hook: A scenic hazardous area?

I was on Sandy Hook Saturday, and the view of the bay and the ocean was incredible, as always. The natural setting is great there and, at the Ft. Hancock Historic District, the buildings are still falling apart.

Along Officers' Row, and even throughout the entire fort, there are these historic and once-stately buildings (homes, administration offices, etc.) that were once obviously great places to live and work. Now these structures are almost all marked off as "Hazardous Areas." Stairs are falling in, windows are broken, railings are falling off, floors are broken through...you name it. The place is a wreck. This is not a great destination, given the fact that the place is one big hazardous area -- and why? Building maintenance.

I always see people over at Sandy Hook checking out the buildings, after all they are both historic and have a certain architectural style that is interesting. But they are also rundown shambles. When summer rolls around, this should be the last place for kids to be left unattended given the state of most of the structures in the area.

It's a shame. So much could be done with Ft. Hancock. All across the country, areas find ways to reverently treat their local history, while stimulating the local economy through tourism: Not in Monmouth County, though. In Monmouth, we'll let a place fall to pieces and slap a sign on it calling it a "historic district." Way to go!