Day nine - there's a place off ocean avenue

Started off early today to catch the first ferry to Sandy Hook, New Jersey. Had our last oh-so-delicious New York bagel then headed to the Brooklyn Bridge... To find it closed for construction! Not knowing another bike accessible way to get to the island, Marie almost convinced me to ride on the car part of the Manhattan Bridge. I decided I was uncomfortable at the last minute and we hunted for a sneaky way across the Brooklyn Bridge only to find a Manhattan Bridge bike lane. Whew.
The ferry was nice but brief and being bulky, bag laden bike folk we took up the bow and were able to offload first.
The rest of our day was pretty much spent riding along the beautiful, sandy shore (on ocean ave) of New Jersey in the sun. Maybe too much sun as we both ended up with a bit of heat rash.
We stopped for lunch at Surf Tacos which was quite tasty. Marie got yet another sticker for her water bottle that is quickly running out of available space.
Decided that since we were so close we might as well check out where the infamous show took place, headed to Seaside Heights and saw some overly tan people walking down the boardwalk followed by cameras and cops. Saw a lot of overly tan people honestly.

It is amazing how many people see you loaded down with bike gear, recognize that you are on a tour and strike up a conversation. As we were headed out of the grocery store toward 11 more miles of biking to an overly priced campsite riddled with sun overexposure, we ran into some such people. They, without hesitation, offered to put us up for the evening and for the third time we ended up with a place to sleep and fantastic company for the evening. Right off the beach. Do not think of the Jersey shore as only Guido stereotypes, there is a diverse community, some of whom are friendly, welcoming folk. Thank you so much Lindsey and Peri! It is even their six year anniversary today. The bike touring community is absolutely amazing and we are totally grateful to be a part of it.
R
PS bike tour tip: you can lock your bike up outside a grocery store and bring all of your junk inside IN A SHOPPING CART! No one need wait outside or carry anything! Brilliant, thanks Cooper.