Finally a perfect day for a motorcycle, after too long of a break: blame it on a rainy summer.
And we ride through the beautiful jersey countryside – our destination is Grounds for Sculpture.
Where we can always find a quiet spot for an uninterrupted conversation:

Or a secluded trail for a magical walk:

After moving back to jersey from MA we often bitch about how it was all scenic there and not enough worthy outdoor destinations here. Which of course is not true. In fact this weekend we hit two places in one day – Apple Pie Hill followed by the lunch at the excellent burger place in Belmar called Boom and then a walk along the beach. The weather was terribly windy and cold but this contributed to the grand colors of water and skies. And nothing could beat the atmosphere of deserted for winter beachtown.

Apple Pie Hill is a local destination of sorts. There is an abandoned fire tower from which you could see endless Pinelands and even Philly. We learned about this place a year ago and since then tried to find it couple of times. Finally yesterday equipped with the GPS and precise long/lat of the destination we made it.

The weather was very windy and cold. I started to climb stairs and in the middle almost decided to turn back, it was that scary,

but it would have been a shame to miss the view from the top.

We were lucky to have the place all to our own so had time to enjoy unobstructed 360-degree panoramic view from every possible angle.

Sunny though chilly day at Sandy Hook; the place is spectacular in any season and from every vista.

This became a tradition – we make a ride to GFS every season. Since our last visit in July they added quite a few new sculptures, Day Dream by the prolific Seward Johnson is one of them, a playful riff on Matisse’s dancers.

Last Sun the weather was good and after looking at several possible destinations we decided on Long Beach Island, Nice ride – about 50 miles (one way) of low traffic country roads through famous NJ Pine Barrens – a free aromatherapy session for those lucky ones on motorcycles. Once you get to the bridge there is a sudden change of scenery – a long and slow ride (almost like a stroll) through an off-season resort town: a solitary jogger, an old lady with a dog, closed restaurants, empty stylish beach houses occasionally decorated with For Rent or For Sale signs… Until you reach the Barnegat Lighthouse – the place is jumping: there are boats all over the water and the pier is quite crowded.

I make a futile attempt to capture a fragile beauty of a beach flora.

A short but delightful trail swinging through Barnegat Lighthouse State Park – alas just one of the last remnants of maritime forest in the area.

… On the way back make sure to stop by Wawa at the intersection of  routes 70 and 539/530 to hang up with other riders, compliment their bikes and let them admire yours…

Two days dedicated to curvy country roads and the art of glass!

On Sat our destination was Grounds for Sculpture. Though we go there every month the place never ceases to delight. And this time we also had a pleasure of an exhibition of glass sculptures by Richard Jolley.

We also revisited Martin Kremer’s interesting Infusion (scroll down for images) – incidentally in April we happened to attend an opening of the show with the artist in presence.

On Sun we had a ride to New Hope.

On Main Str N there is an excellent high-end american crafts shop. Actually make it two: Topeo Gallery that features exclusively glass while a newly opened Topeo South offers quite a few interesting mixed media works. Both are well worth visiting.

We chose Grounds for Sculpture as a destination for our first spring ride (last year it was to New Hope/Lambertville). Of course, i’ve heard about the Rat’s restaurant before and a sculpture garden around but i never expected to find a collection comparable to DeCorbova (which we usually visit couple of times during the year) or even Storm King Arts Center (went last year).

The weather was perfect, around 65F and sunny, and all bikers of NJ were out riding, us of course including. It really felt like a big motorcycle event especially around Batsto Historic Village that we happened to choose as a destination.

The ride on route 539 and then from GSP exit 56 to Batsto is a like an intensive session of aromatherapy – miles and miles of pristine pine woods.

Batsto Village is a nice place to stroll:

And in  summer you could do some kayaking here:

And as we discovered only after the ride, Green Bank Inn nearby is a favorite local hangout.

Thanks to the weather for giving us a chance for a final ride of the year. Of course the destination was New Hope – the bikers capital of PA and NJ.

First stop at Trenton’s Harley shop: marveled at Black Rod, a slick elegant bike, reminds you of panthera (those sufficiently intrigued, read on – This bike casts its spell via sophistication not grunt). But we’re faithful to The Bike:

and it takes us to New Hope.

While passing the bridge connecting Lambertville and New Hope, we noticed these huge fishes, really what are they?

other nice views from the bridge, like this:

or this:

and of course being in bikers town and all, a mandatory picture from the back seat:

leaving now but we’ll be back next year!