Enjoying my first Cherrystone Clams of the season on Sandy Hook Bay

Fresh and roasted Cherrystone Clams, above and below, were served at a buffet luncheon on Saturday at the New Jersey headquarters of the American Littoral Society.

At the annual Members Day, I filled a large paper plate with arugula and pasta salads, an inch-thick veggie burger and roasted clams, and washed down my lunch with cold beer.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

On Saturday, I enjoyed the sound of the waves breaking on shore and my first taste of fresh New Jersey clams washed down with cold beer.

This year, the American Littoral Society treated members to a big buffet lunch outside its headquarters in Highlands, N.J.

Besides fresh and roasted Cherrystone Clams, I loved an arugula salad with cherry tomatoes and a pasta salad with peas and sun-dried tomatoes.

Veggie burgers with all the fixings also were available for those who don't eat hamburgers and hot dogs. 

The lunch was the biggest ever served at a Members Day, so we didn't have room for our usual early dinner at The Fishery, a seafood restaurant on Route 35 in South Amboy.

Today, I found out The Fishery has closed. 

I ate my lunch on the porch of  America Littoral Society headquarters in Fort Hancock, overlooking Sandy Hook Bay.

I went back for seconds of the arugula salad, but they weren't available. 

Farfalle pasta with peas and sun-dried tomatoes.

The Sandy Hook Lighthouse.

Hospital Steward's Quarters at the old Fort Hancock, which was built in 1859 to defend New York Harbor.

Many of the old buildings housed officers.

An American Littoral Society pickup with shells that likely will be used in oyster restoration programs.