Good moaning, everyone!

I’ve got a wedding to attend this afternoon, so I’m northbound from Smithville to Smithtown! Marriage is scary, and so is the Jersey coast, so for that reason, I’m going to visit some haunted sites between here and there to discover just what is scarier than marriage! First, though, it’s time for breakfast!

After my search for the Jersey Devil ran cold, I spent the night in the town of Smithville and the morning indulging in a heaping stack of blueberry pancakes at the Smithville Bakery! This charming little village got its start in 1787 as a stagecoach stop and inn, and it has since grown into a lovely shopping and dining area!

With my belly full of pancakes, I strolled across the bridge over Lake Meone, which connects old Smithville to the Village Greene. The ducks and geese were waking up on the calm water, and at the south end, an old water wheel waited for someone to get it spinning again!

On the other side, a carousel waited for the first children to come and play, while just beyond stood the National Registered 1885 apothecary of Dr. John Lewis Lane. This little cottage was built 21 miles away in Manahawkin, but after being sold and repurposed as a telephone company, post office, and Girl Scout lodge, it got bought by the Smithville Inn and moved all the way down here, where it now resides as a jewelry store!

Anyway, having charged up my brightness reserves, I headed north to begin my spooky adventure. Having no luck finding the Jersey Devil at Leeds Point, I decided to try a particularly unusual part of the Pine Barrens, known as the pygmy pine plains!

Within the Warren Grove up in Ocean County, there lies a honeycomb of sandy roads criss-crossing among some unusual pine trees. What makes them so unusual? These pitch pines are a lot smaller than the towering trees found in the rest of the Barrens! It’s not fully understood how that happened, but there are lots of theories!

Firstly, the sandy soil doesn’t have a lot of nutrients to feed giant pine trees. Plus, the elevation is a little higher here than in the rest of the Barrens. Then, you factor in other forces of nature, like how the winds here are often stronger, and fires are more common. Did you know that, like sequoias, the cones from these trees will only open when they’re heated? This, I was sure, would be the perfect place for a Jersey Devil, especially one with big wings that would otherwise get tangled in tree branches, to hide out!

Sure enough, I found a mysterious hoofed track in the sand! There was a whole trail of them, leading in and out of the undergrowth! The Jersey Devil has often been described as having hooves, but I couldn’t remember if they were solid or cloven. The tracks seemed fresh enough. Maybe I was on the right trail!

I clambered up into one of the pygmy pines for a better look, but one of the problems with pygmy pines is that they’re not very tall! From my vantage point, I saw lots of other trees, but no Jersey Devil. I called out, “Are you there?” but no one answered. With two hours standing between me in New Jersey and the wedding on Long Island, I couldn’t wait any longer for screeches on the wind.

I made it across state lines and to the wedding with plenty of time to spare. I was very glad to see my friends so happy! The schedule was a little odd, though, since it was Ramadan and some of the guests couldn’t eat until after sunset. That put a five-hour gap between wedding and reception, so I headed out into the heat in search of more spooky spots! My first stop was the famed Mt. Misery Road!

This area was never officially called Mount Misery, but because of its poor soil for farming and its rugged terrain that broke a lot of wagon wheels, that became its unofficial nickname. There used to be an asylum here in the mid 18th century that burned down when a patient set fire to her room. The legend has it that her ghost, and the ghosts of many other patients, still walk this road at night. Even during the day, there was a certain spookiness to the road, even though it borders a nice suburban neighborhood and a horse camp!

Not far away, in the town of Amityville, a different kind of haunting lives on in the whispers of folklore! In this house, on November 13, 1974, Ron DeFeo, Jr. murdered his entire family, claiming after many different stories, that voices had made him do it. Just over a year later, George and Kathy Lutz bought the home but only stayed there about a month. They left so soon, they claimed, because of the horrifying voices, the green ooze leaking from the walls, and an eerie pig-like creature that stared at them through a window!

That was just about enough spook factor for me! I needed to find somewhere to take full advantage of the remaining daylight to collect my nerves. What better place to brighten things up than Fire Island?

I took a stroll down the boardwalk toward the Fire Island Lighthouse. Surely, a lighthouse would be the best place to burn away the dark stories. After all, there were lots of people here enjoying the beaches and the serenity of gently swaying reeds, catching the evening sunlight on all sides of the boardwalk. But then I got to the lighthouse.

Completed in 1826, the Fire Island Lighthouse was one of the first sights of land that new arrivals saw on their way to New York Harbor and Ellis Island. It is also haunted by the ghost of one of its caretakers! When the first lighthouse had to be demolished and rebuilt in 1857, the caretaker was staying in a small shed nearby. The winter was so cold that his daughters grew ill and died. Distraught, the caretaker hanged himself, and his ghost is still seen opening and closing doors around the lighthouse site!

So my trip to Fire Island didn’t soothe my nerves as much as I’d hoped, and I ended up going right to the reception with a chill in my bones. However, when there’s lots of good food, happy people, and fun dance music, the shivers just slithered away! Long Island may be haunted, but so long as folks are starting new lives and new journeys together here, there’s no reason to be afraid!

Scare ya later!

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Total Ground Covered: 505.8 mi (810.8 km)

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