the [beach] of sand and fog

view of seagull's nest restaurant from our spot.

sandy hook is one of the popular beaches of the jersey shore located up north, where we got to go yesterday despite the cloudy weather. the sky was grey that we knew it was going to rain at any moment, but that didn't stop us from getting the most out of our little beach picnic.

you pay a parking fee of $10 (half if you're with a senior citizen), and you get to choose which part of the beach to stay in, it being divided into "areas" (A-G i believe). it wasn't a sunny day so there weren't much people to compete with for spots on the beach. there are no cottages or tables so you have to bring your own chairs or mats. we planted our old, tattered beach umbrella on the sand and laid out our native beach mat and enjoyed our KFC lunch.


we sat in the middle of two lifeguard stations, with a small white boat parked close to our right. the waves were pretty rough for swimming, and the waters were dark and carried abundant seaweeds as long as feather boas, looking like they were violently uprooted from the bottom of the sea. they make funky wigs, though. only smelly.

it was hazy for the most part of the afternoon, with only brief streaks of sunshine peeking out of the clouds a few times. surprisingly, my sister and i did get a little tan. the waters were too hostile for swimming, though. it will toss you back and forth like a piece of twig. even while you're just sitting on a shallow part, the waves will come crashing to you and drag your buttocks all the way to the shore. i swear, it pushed me so hard i fell flat on my back at least twice.

standing on the wet sand feels like burying your feet in quicksand, because your feet literally sinks in the sand everytime the waters splash into the shore. after about two minutes, the sand is ankle-high around your legs.

there are more sea pebbles than sea shells along this beach. but given the rough waves, it's a challenge to actually pluck them off the sand.

there's supposed to be a nude beach at another part of sandy hook called gunnison beach, but we didn't get to check it out. unfortunately.