In January 1946, at Camp Evans, an army research base a few kilometres inland from Belmar, engineers bounced a radar signal off the Moon and detected the echo for the first time. Project Diana, as it was called, marked the birth of radar astronomy and the space age, and the site is now home to a museum of communications history.
Belmar is a classic Jersey Shore beach town, with a wide sandy beach, a boardwalk and streets of wooden houses. The Shark River inlet, at the northern end of town, is busy with fishing boats and pleasure craft, and the marina is a good place to watch the boats come and go. In summer, the town is packed with young people, and the bars are loud.
This stop marks the start of a ride into the Jersey Highlands, a region of wooded ridges, lakes and twisting roads in the north of the state. Leaving early, before the traffic builds, is the best way to start the day.
For food, Belmar has diners, bakeries and seafood restaurants, and the boardwalk stands sell coffee, egg sandwiches and pork roll, a New Jersey breakfast meat that locals call Taylor ham in the north. The debate over the name is fierce, and visitors are advised not to take sides.
If you have time for a quick swim before setting off, the beach is wide and guarded in summer, though like most Jersey Shore towns Belmar charges a beach fee in season. Fuel is on Route 35 and Route 71, where an attendant will fill the tank while you finish your coffee.