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Local NJ Scenic View of NYC: All The Hype Without the Hike



Last night, my little (Audrey) and I were laying in bed at 2 a.m. We were wide awake, spitballing thoughts and ideas back and forth on what we should do when we wake up. I'm sure it was the boxed wine talking, but somehow, we decided we needed to go to Amsterdam, or maybe horseback riding, or better yet, go on hike.

**Cue Google search**: Cute places to go hiking near me


Results popped up and we took turns scrolling and plugging in the addresses into our GPS. Suddenly, driving an hour up north to walk in dirt at the crack of dawn sounded less appealing at 3 a.m. than it did at 2.

Then, I came across a location that was only 21 minutes from my school house (Long Branch) called "Mount Mitchell Scenic Overlook." I swiped through Yelp and Google Images to find that not only do they offer a breathtaking view of the NYC skyline, but it is also a 9/11 Memorial park. How did I never know this existed out of the 4 years I lived here?

photos taken from TripAdvisor

Audrey and I squealed with excitement and quickly passed out.

And as fast as we fell asleep, 7 a.m. arrived faster.

With crusts still in our eyes and yawns pouring out of our mouths, we opened up my blinds to check the weather. No rain, crap, so we are really doing this.

Together, Audrey and I are quite clumsy and directionally challenged but we put on our Nikes and hopped in the car.

It only took one road to get there-- we took Ocean Avenue until we couldn't go anymore and swirled up a hill to arrive at the lookout...which in hindsight defeated the purpose of a hike...but now we know for next time.

It's beautiful and comfortable in cloudy 60s weather like today, but we cannot wait to go back when we have a sunny-and-75 kind-of day. We will meet you there for lunch, sound good?



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