Touring The Twin Lighthouses

The Twin Lighthouses is an historical landmark just off of Sandy Hook, NJ. For over 120 years it was a guide to navigators entering the lower New York Harbor, and is now a museum. There’s an interesting historical display next to a gift shop, and then you can climb up one of the light towers and enjoy the view.

In a separate building is one of the nine-foot-diameter Fresnel lenses assemblies that supplied the light. This is one of those great examples of industrial design where it’s so beautifully executed and of such a perfectly symmetric shape that it becomes a work of art in itself. It took the light supplied by just three 500-watt bulbs, and focused it into a beam visible all the way to the horizon.

We found the display a little disappointing in that there is this gridwork of steel and glass around it, so you can’t get an unobstructed view. Nevertheless, an impressive piece of engineering.

Climb the narrow (and low, I hit my head coming down) spiral staircase and you come out to the balcony. We were there on a clear day, and could see well beyond the Verrazano Narrows Bridge.

After dinner on Sunday, we learned that we were just a short drive from Bon Jovi’s house. Who knew? The kids were impressed; the grownups less so. Also, a group of dolphins were summering in the coves and bays inside the peninsula. This we didn’t hear about until after dark, so there wasn’t much point in going to look. But I digress.

The lighthouses are built 200 feet above sea level on the Atlantic Highlands, one of the highest spots on the east coast.