APerfectDay

On Friday, a friend and I took a delightful boat ride on the Maurice River down to the Mauricetown Bridge from the Millville Port at Ware Street.
We saw ospreys and eagles both nesting and perching and enjoyed the lovely view of the river banks including the Millville Bluffs.  We passed the historic Burcham Farm house also and the long dyke that preserves the farm land from the reach of the river. 
There were about two dozen people on the boat and all were equally awed by the view of our national symbol, the eagle.  The captain provided several photo albums of historic Millville along with his interesting commentary.
Because it was "Seniors Friday" the boat ride only cost $10.  It departed at 1:00 p.m. and returned at 3:00 p.m.  Call ahead to reserve your seat (856) 327-1530, Captain Dave Scherer. 
The perfect day was made even more wonderful by a delicious lunch at Wilflower Earthly Vegan FAre at 501N. High Street in the Arts District.  We had grilled vegetable wraps, black bean soup with carrots in it, and for dessert, blueberry cheesecake. 
Tomorrow, for Father's Day, I'll be joining my cousin Patty in Cape May to tour the World War II Watch Tower now a memorial to veterans of that war.  We think it is a fit way to spend Father's Day as my father, her uncle, was a Navy man and veteran of the war.  He served in troop transports in both the North Atlantic and the South Pacific.  The last book he was reading before he died a year ago was The Battle for Tassaferongo; he had been there.  I'll let you know about the Watch Tower after I visit.

"We Shall Fight on the Beaches"

Since the commemoration a couple of weeks ago of D-Day, June 6, 1944, I have been watching a series of documentaries on the 2nd World War featured on Verizon On Demand - History Channel, Smithsonian and Military Channel.  A 4 part series on Smithsonian, called Apocalypse, is excellent with never before seen color film footage.  This Sunday, I'll be going to the World War 2 Look-out tower at Cape May with my cousin Patty who made a donation towards its restoration in honor of my father who served in the US Navy in both the North Atlantic and the South Pacific.  I will write again after I have visited the memorial.

This is NJersey's last restorable Look-ut tower from the war period according to the web site.
http://www.capemaymac.org/content/subpage_main.aspx?id=2030

In the maintime, I'll be taking a boat ride on the Maurice River out of Millville and I'll let you know about that as well.

Tomorrow is the first meeting of teh Museum Club of the Bayshore Discovery Project. 

More on all of these events afterwards.  Enjoy exploring our wonderul state in this cool and refreshing weather.  See you on the trail or on the water!  Jo Ann

Excellent link

A good buddy of mine from the parks, a walking and dog pal named Terry recommended this web site and I just visited it.  It is excellent!  Try it out -
http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/
Let me know what you think!  Jo Ann

Where's the river?

On June 5, which is now, in my schedule, State Parks Tuesday, Barb Spector, my dedicated State Parks Program buddy and Blizzard my white Lab, set off for Jackson New Jersey for the Forest Resource Education Center in Jackson, NJ.  We have finished all the State Parks in South Jersey and are now exploring those in Central Jersey.  This turned out to be one of the simpler parks to find and we were greeted by a beautiful education center and a friendly State Park guide who gave us a brief overview of the trails and the center. 

Inside the circular main room there is a tree, decorated with preserved animals such as squirrels, owls, and at the ground level, a fox, and other small ground mammals.  It is an impressive sight, even to someone like me who finds taxidermied animals sad.  The living ones are so magical, when dead and stuffed, they just seem like dead furniture

After a look around, we headed out to the trails.  One in particular interested me an "overlook" that promised a view of Tom's River.  We hiked the white trail, the blue trail and any other trail that looked trod upon.  We found lovely vistas, seating areas for comtemplation of the forest beauty, and a cheery little stream, but had to return to the education center to inquire where we were going wrong in finding the overlook over the Tom's River.  Kindly, our guide explained that the small stream was the Tom's River at this location near where it starts.  What a surprise to a Delaware, Maurice and Mullica River habitue like myself.  That was the most notable thing at this park to me other than the above listed attractions.  We also stopped by an irrigation pond and passed through the tree planting area. 

Note:  If you go, pass the tree planting "office" area, and continue up the dirt road to find the education center.  It is my habit to call to make sure dogs are welcome before I go to a State Park, so far they have always been welcomed, and I generally ask (after several unexpected detours at other parks) if there is anything I should know about locating the visitor's center.  The same kind guide told me to follow the road past the office and over the bridge to the education center.  There isn't a sign.  I would strongly recommend this visit to anyone who likes the woods and I would suggest you bring a picnic lunch.
Happy Trails!

Go To It!

GO TO-June 2nd - Bay Day at Bivalve.  Set your gps for Port Norris and head on down to Bivalve for the annual festival of Bay Day!  I'll be working at the museum from 1-3 but it will be open for many other hours, of course, and lots of other activities and pleasures to enjoy. 

On Memorial Day, two friends and I took the sail on the A. J. Meerwald out to the Bay and up the river.  It was breezy and delightful.  Next planned excursion will be to the East Point Lighthouse.  I feel a lighthouses of the NJ seacoast series coming up!

GO TO-Tuckerton Seaport & Baymen's Museum My latest ramblings around the historic places of South Jersey have taken me to the Tuckerton Seaport where my friends and I had a copious and delicious lunch at SoJo and enjoyed the surf board show at the museum.  We climbed the lighthouse and looked out over the expanse of  more than 2 dozen buildings devoted to describing seaport life.  We visited the decoy carver, too, and several other buildings.  I plan to go back because there is so much to see there, one trip is never enough.  This is my third trip. 

GO TO-June 18 - 19th Annual Baymen's Seafood and Music Festival 11 - to 5:00 p.m. the title says it all.  Listed as one of "Top 10 NJ Outdoor Festivals" by Nj Countryside Magazine.  Presented by Jersey Shore Folklife Center. It is held at the Tuckerton Seaport of course!

GO TO-Gloucester County Historical Society Museum 58 North Broad Street, Woodbury, NJ 08096
856-848-8531 - STITCHED THROUGH TIME:  A LEGACY OF QUILTS - Part 1
30 plus quilts are featured.  Mon, Wed. Fri. 1 to 4, $5 Adult, also last Sunday of the month from 2-5.