To all my friends and fellow fans of South Jersey history and Places to Go and Things To Do - Thanks for visiting with me this year. I hope I'll have even more interesting places to share with you next year! I wish all of you an safe, healthy, and happy New Year!
Happy Trails, Jo Ann
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Monday, December 30, 2013
Shop Locally Movement
Just this past couple of weeks, I had the opportunity to shop locally five times. I live in a place rich with small and local shopping venues and I wanted to mention some of them.
First of all, anyone who loves history, is no doubt, also hopeful and supportive of keeping our small towns alive. We have all seen the strangulation of small town shops by shopping malls and super cheap places like Wal-Mart and I'm not saying that we should not shop in malls or at Wal-Mart, certainly there are good reasons for going to all those places and I do. I shop at Boscovs and Target and many other big stores,
However, that said, there are opportunities to support small family owned businesses as well, and keeping our minds and eyes open to that is a good way to support keeping our small towns viable.
My favorite immediate go-to hardware store is and always has been 1.Carr's Hardware on Broadway in Gloucester City. They not only have everything I'm looking for in my, admittedly amateur repair efforts, they also have advice and they will order what you need if they don't have it. In addition, they will recommend workmen who can do those things beyond my ability. They are a very nice family and it is a pleasure to shop there and visit with them.
Once, a year ago, I had something wrong with my car. It stalled in the middle of driving, at red lights, under an assortment of situations that made it dangerous and mind-boggling. I took it to my former mechanic, to the Ford Dealer, and finally, my daughter was so worried she got in touch with a mechanic friend with whom she had gone to high school. He was partner in what was then a new shop. I took it to them and they resolved the situation immediately and at half the cost of one garage, and one third the cost of my fruitless visit to the Ford dealer. 2.Innovative Automotive on the corner of Market Street and Kings Highway, is a reliable and honest repair shop. I have been to them a few times since for various problems and I wanted to recommend them to everyone I know who has a car. (by the way, it was a crack in the black rubber intake L pipe.)
I had already spent over $2000 by the time I took it to them and was considering getting a new car. They fixed it for under $400.
As recently as last summer, I would drive almost an hour to South Jersey farm stands to buy my local honey which, as all honey users know, is the most healthful honey to buy. You want local bees and not adulterated or processed honey. After all that driving (which I did enjoy in terms of lovely landscape) I discovered that all the honey I bought at the farm markets down there, was also carried by 3.Vercchio's on the Brooklawn Circle (Route 130 in Brooklawn). That produce market is the picture of American BOUNTY! I love to go there and see all the brightly colored fruits and vegetables and find new and mysterious fruits to try (like persimmons). And they have local honey in a variety of flavors - Cranberry, Blueberry, Wild Flower to name my favorites. They are also famous for their prices. This year I was also able to buy Claxton's fruit cake, which may be a joke to the wider public, but it is a life-long favorite holiday treat to me.
Finally, after walking the dog at Big Timber Creek a couple of days ago, while my daughter was home visiting me from New York, we were headed to Collingswood to go to lunch and we drove along Atlantic Avenue in Audubon. We passed a charming corner cafe' called 4.Simply Soup and decided to eat there instead. We had the 1/2 sandwich and soup special lunch offer at $7.95. We had a delicious white bean and escarole soup, homemade, and white albacore tuna salad sandwich on rye. One of my chief small grumbles at eating out is TOO MUCH FOOD. I'm trying to watch my weight and, too often, I'm watching it go up! The half sandwich and cup of soup was perfect - just enough to leave you full and satisfied but not so much that you had to bag it or stuff yourself. I highly recommend this little cafe, and I may add it was very popular with the locals, as I saw both times that I went there. I liked it so much when I went with my daughter, that I returned with friends. They also have take-out and platters and desserts and an atm machine. You can call 856-546-3939 for more information or to order in quantity. Simply Soups, 301 E. Atlantic Ave., Audubon, NJ
Hope you had a happy Holiday so far, and I look forward to sharing tips for places to go and things to do in South Jersey in the New Year!! If you have a place you want to add, e-mail me at wrightj45@yahoo.com and I'll gladly pass along your recommendation.
In fact, a writer friend of mine recently had her book of poems printed and bound at 5.Belia's Copy Center in Woodbury on Broadway and she wanted it known that they did a wonderful job and were very helpful and patient with her in the process. I have had a great deal of work done there myself and also recommend them. They are, also, a family run local business.
Happy Trails, and SHOP LOCALLY!! Jo Ann
First of all, anyone who loves history, is no doubt, also hopeful and supportive of keeping our small towns alive. We have all seen the strangulation of small town shops by shopping malls and super cheap places like Wal-Mart and I'm not saying that we should not shop in malls or at Wal-Mart, certainly there are good reasons for going to all those places and I do. I shop at Boscovs and Target and many other big stores,
However, that said, there are opportunities to support small family owned businesses as well, and keeping our minds and eyes open to that is a good way to support keeping our small towns viable.
My favorite immediate go-to hardware store is and always has been 1.Carr's Hardware on Broadway in Gloucester City. They not only have everything I'm looking for in my, admittedly amateur repair efforts, they also have advice and they will order what you need if they don't have it. In addition, they will recommend workmen who can do those things beyond my ability. They are a very nice family and it is a pleasure to shop there and visit with them.
Once, a year ago, I had something wrong with my car. It stalled in the middle of driving, at red lights, under an assortment of situations that made it dangerous and mind-boggling. I took it to my former mechanic, to the Ford Dealer, and finally, my daughter was so worried she got in touch with a mechanic friend with whom she had gone to high school. He was partner in what was then a new shop. I took it to them and they resolved the situation immediately and at half the cost of one garage, and one third the cost of my fruitless visit to the Ford dealer. 2.Innovative Automotive on the corner of Market Street and Kings Highway, is a reliable and honest repair shop. I have been to them a few times since for various problems and I wanted to recommend them to everyone I know who has a car. (by the way, it was a crack in the black rubber intake L pipe.)
I had already spent over $2000 by the time I took it to them and was considering getting a new car. They fixed it for under $400.
As recently as last summer, I would drive almost an hour to South Jersey farm stands to buy my local honey which, as all honey users know, is the most healthful honey to buy. You want local bees and not adulterated or processed honey. After all that driving (which I did enjoy in terms of lovely landscape) I discovered that all the honey I bought at the farm markets down there, was also carried by 3.Vercchio's on the Brooklawn Circle (Route 130 in Brooklawn). That produce market is the picture of American BOUNTY! I love to go there and see all the brightly colored fruits and vegetables and find new and mysterious fruits to try (like persimmons). And they have local honey in a variety of flavors - Cranberry, Blueberry, Wild Flower to name my favorites. They are also famous for their prices. This year I was also able to buy Claxton's fruit cake, which may be a joke to the wider public, but it is a life-long favorite holiday treat to me.
Finally, after walking the dog at Big Timber Creek a couple of days ago, while my daughter was home visiting me from New York, we were headed to Collingswood to go to lunch and we drove along Atlantic Avenue in Audubon. We passed a charming corner cafe' called 4.Simply Soup and decided to eat there instead. We had the 1/2 sandwich and soup special lunch offer at $7.95. We had a delicious white bean and escarole soup, homemade, and white albacore tuna salad sandwich on rye. One of my chief small grumbles at eating out is TOO MUCH FOOD. I'm trying to watch my weight and, too often, I'm watching it go up! The half sandwich and cup of soup was perfect - just enough to leave you full and satisfied but not so much that you had to bag it or stuff yourself. I highly recommend this little cafe, and I may add it was very popular with the locals, as I saw both times that I went there. I liked it so much when I went with my daughter, that I returned with friends. They also have take-out and platters and desserts and an atm machine. You can call 856-546-3939 for more information or to order in quantity. Simply Soups, 301 E. Atlantic Ave., Audubon, NJ
Hope you had a happy Holiday so far, and I look forward to sharing tips for places to go and things to do in South Jersey in the New Year!! If you have a place you want to add, e-mail me at wrightj45@yahoo.com and I'll gladly pass along your recommendation.
In fact, a writer friend of mine recently had her book of poems printed and bound at 5.Belia's Copy Center in Woodbury on Broadway and she wanted it known that they did a wonderful job and were very helpful and patient with her in the process. I have had a great deal of work done there myself and also recommend them. They are, also, a family run local business.
Happy Trails, and SHOP LOCALLY!! Jo Ann
Monday, December 23, 2013
Contact
I'm admittedly remiss in responding to comments in a timely matter, so if you wish to reach me for discussion of posts or events, best to use my e-mail wrightj45@yahoo.com THANKS and Merry Christmas!
Jam-Packed December 2013
So sorry, I let my readers down on things to do the first 3 weeks of this month. That's because I was so busy putting up lights, decorating the tree, cleaning the house for guests, buying the gifts, then wrapping the gifts, then cleaning again, that I didn't get to do any of my usual candlelight tours (or my cards!). And as always, every day I am Big Timber Creek Dog Park walking my pal, Trixie. Actually, though, I volunteered at one candlelight event - as usual, I did an evening as a docent at the James and Ann Whitall House for their candlelight weekend, themed, 'A Soldier's Life' and enjoyed very much listening to our re-enactor soldier in Ann's Parlor. Wonderful Event!
Therefore, I apologise because I missed the Battle of Iron Works Hill, among many other things I enjoy. BUT there are still some places to go and things to see this month:
Smithville still has Victorian Christmas Candlelight Tours on December 27th and 29th. My daughter will be here with me for a week and maybe she and I will be able to go to that.
Historic Smithville Park, 803 Smithville Rd., Eastampton
and for tea dates call (856) 767-3159
One of the things I missed telling you about closer to the day that I actually attended was the Burlington County Historians' Roundtable which is a 'don't miss' event for those interested in South Jersey History. Run by Burlington County Historian, Joe Laufer, (with ehelp from Paul Schopp) it is a supreme model of what counties should do to promote their resources. This month the meeting was held at the Lyceum of History and Natural Science (formerly Mt. Holly Library) at 307 High St., Mount Holly, NJ. (Call for info.609-265-5858)
They have some things coming up worth noting. As you know my interests overlap in nature and history.
At the Lyceum, lecture series: Jan. 8 and 9 Migratory Waterfowl
Sat.,Jan 11, 9:30 a.m. Smithville Park - hike and tour Winter Ecology Happy Trails, Rails and Tails! Jo Ann
Therefore, I apologise because I missed the Battle of Iron Works Hill, among many other things I enjoy. BUT there are still some places to go and things to see this month:
Smithville still has Victorian Christmas Candlelight Tours on December 27th and 29th. My daughter will be here with me for a week and maybe she and I will be able to go to that.
Historic Smithville Park, 803 Smithville Rd., Eastampton
and for tea dates call (856) 767-3159
One of the things I missed telling you about closer to the day that I actually attended was the Burlington County Historians' Roundtable which is a 'don't miss' event for those interested in South Jersey History. Run by Burlington County Historian, Joe Laufer, (with ehelp from Paul Schopp) it is a supreme model of what counties should do to promote their resources. This month the meeting was held at the Lyceum of History and Natural Science (formerly Mt. Holly Library) at 307 High St., Mount Holly, NJ. (Call for info.609-265-5858)
They have some things coming up worth noting. As you know my interests overlap in nature and history.
At the Lyceum, lecture series: Jan. 8 and 9 Migratory Waterfowl
Sat.,Jan 11, 9:30 a.m. Smithville Park - hike and tour Winter Ecology Happy Trails, Rails and Tails! Jo Ann
Thursday, December 12, 2013
Book Review - It's Been a Long, Long Time, Marianne Lods
On one of my many enjoyable trips to Millville, I stopped, with a friend, in Bogart's Book Store and bought a book by a local author. The cover was appealing because it featured old black and white family photographs and I am a great fan of family history.
Today I finished the book and I can tell you I couldn't put the book down once I began to read it. Here is my review:
Just finished this book which I bought at Bogart's Book Store in Millville. The cover caught my eye as I, too, love family history and the images were intriguing. While reading this book, I found myself crying and hoping for the best for these people through all the adversity they had to face. My father served in the navy in WWII and it brought back memories of my parents' lives and memories of that period. I've promised to lend the book to a freind with realtives in the South Jersey area of the poultry farms of the Jewish families who left NYC for better opportunities. What a great story. We rarely hear about the ordinary people in the places where the big events of the War took place. I really wanted to know what happened when the family came to New Jersey!
As it turns out, after doing research, I found out that the author is a director of the administering board of the Glasstown Arts District. Here is information about that -http://www.glasstownartsdistrict.com/index.php
One of the best aspects to this reading adventure is to find out the story behind a family in an area I have explored so often and learned about from other sources. In aprticulary, I have read in Utopia, New Jersey, by Perdita Buchan, about the beginning of the poultry business for Jewish families in South Jersey in the towns such as Norma, Brotmanville, and Alliance. In fact, I attended a fascinating lecture by Ms. Buchan one summer at the Samuel Assiz Museum in a small synagog there.
Happy Trails, Happy Rails, and Happy Tales - Jo Ann
Today I finished the book and I can tell you I couldn't put the book down once I began to read it. Here is my review:
Just finished this book which I bought at Bogart's Book Store in Millville. The cover caught my eye as I, too, love family history and the images were intriguing. While reading this book, I found myself crying and hoping for the best for these people through all the adversity they had to face. My father served in the navy in WWII and it brought back memories of my parents' lives and memories of that period. I've promised to lend the book to a freind with realtives in the South Jersey area of the poultry farms of the Jewish families who left NYC for better opportunities. What a great story. We rarely hear about the ordinary people in the places where the big events of the War took place. I really wanted to know what happened when the family came to New Jersey!
As it turns out, after doing research, I found out that the author is a director of the administering board of the Glasstown Arts District. Here is information about that -http://www.glasstownartsdistrict.com/index.php
One of the best aspects to this reading adventure is to find out the story behind a family in an area I have explored so often and learned about from other sources. In aprticulary, I have read in Utopia, New Jersey, by Perdita Buchan, about the beginning of the poultry business for Jewish families in South Jersey in the towns such as Norma, Brotmanville, and Alliance. In fact, I attended a fascinating lecture by Ms. Buchan one summer at the Samuel Assiz Museum in a small synagog there.
Happy Trails, Happy Rails, and Happy Tales - Jo Ann
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Presentation on the Civilian Conservation Corps in SJ cancelled tonight
As you may remember, I posted some time back that I would be doing a presentation on teh CCC in South Jersey for the Salem County Genealogical Society tonight at Friends' Village in Woodstown. It has been cancelled due to dangerous conditions later in the evening. Although the snow has stopped, forecasters are calling for low temperatures and frozen roads after dark, so President Bonnie Beth Elswell decided to postpone the presentation until February or March.
Be careful, be safe, and if you don't have to travel, stay home and do those Christmas Cards (or put up the train platform)!
Safe Travels - Jo Ann
Be careful, be safe, and if you don't have to travel, stay home and do those Christmas Cards (or put up the train platform)!
Safe Travels - Jo Ann
Albert Horner Phography Exhibit
Albert Horner's photographs of the New Jersey Pinelands are on display right now:
Pinelands Exhibit
Event Dates: 12/1/2013 - 12/31/2013
Reception: 12/7/2013 2PM to 4PM
Location: Burlington County Library
609-267-9660
5 Pioneer Blvd
Westhampton NJ 08060
I am an artist and I worked at the University of the Arts for 22 years. All my life I have visited galleries and viewed painting, ceramic, sculpture and photography exhibits. These photographs by Albert Horner are the most beautiful I have ever seen. If you can possibly get ther to see them, you should. They are large, gorgeous, subtle and profoundly evocative of the soul of the pines.
Monday, December 9, 2013
The Old City Hall, Bordentown, NJ
Sorry for such a delay between postings, so many places to go, so many things to see - especially this time of year with the Historic House Tours and luncheons and dinners for us volunteers.
Today, I was supposed to go to a luncheon at the Gloucester County Historical Society Library, but my car on the fritz and, fortunately, the dinner for volunteers at the James and Ann Whitall House, Red Bank Battlefield, National Park, was postponed, or I would have had to cancel out of that as well.
The list of things I want to mention today are:
The Whitall House Candlelight Tour
Bordentown Model Railroad Show and the Old City Hall Restoration Project
The Burlington County Historians Roundetble at the Lyceum in Mount Holly
The First Snow - Timber Creek Dog Park
On Friday, December 6, I was a docent in the room usually known as Ann's Parlor. Our new director, Jennifer Janovsky has not only opened two upstairs rooms this year, but she has launched a number of interesting new events and themes. This year for the Candlelight tour, our theme was A Soldier's Life
and I was fortunate enough to share the room, not only with Patty Kehler, DAR member and docent, but with a guest, Tracy Fallon, a Re-enactor, not only for the Revolution, but also WWII. He was so knowledgeable and he and Patty offered historical details on the house, the War for Independence, George Washington, and numerous other interesting subjects. The hours flew by.
This must be the year of the model railroad, because displays have been held all over the place. So far I visited the Burlinton City Railroad Days display and the Bordentown exhibition at the Old City Hall, a wonderful building to visit in its own right. There were two floors of wonderful exhibitions of model railroad platforms. One woman model engineer reminded me to mention the John Bull in my blog. I think that platform was hers.
The John Bull was a British-built steam locamotive operated for the first time on September 15, 1831. It became the oldest operable steam locomotive in the world when the Smithsonian operated it in 1981. The John Bull was initially purchased by and operated for the The Camden and Amboy Railroad the first railroad in New Jersey where it was used extensively from 1833 until 1866.
My father, when he was a younger Ironworker, was part of the team that moved a locomotive to its site in the Smithsonian and we often visited it there and he talked about that historic job. I wonder now if it was the John Bull.
Anyhow, there was also a display called "Remembering Seaside" which is noteworthy for its unuusual display of ferris wheel, other rides and sandy platform. Everyone there was friendly, informative and the whole experience was enchanting.
In a side room where sweatshirts, tea shirts and train whistles (I wish I had bought one) were being sold, I met two volunteers in the Restoration Project for the building which is located at 11 Crosswicks Street in Bordentown. How I admire volunteers in the history community. Where would we be without their selfless devotion to rescuing and maintaining our cultural history. The Old City Hall boasts a Seth Thomas clock tower also in need of financial assistance. The clock is neighbor to a bell which has tolled continuously on the hour since the 1880's. There is a marvelous brochure on the Old City Hall available if you visit the model train exhibition, which I heartily recommend that you do!
This entry is long enough, so I'll save the rest for tomorrow!
Happy Trails! Happy Rails! Jo Ann
Today, I was supposed to go to a luncheon at the Gloucester County Historical Society Library, but my car on the fritz and, fortunately, the dinner for volunteers at the James and Ann Whitall House, Red Bank Battlefield, National Park, was postponed, or I would have had to cancel out of that as well.
The list of things I want to mention today are:
The Whitall House Candlelight Tour
Bordentown Model Railroad Show and the Old City Hall Restoration Project
The Burlington County Historians Roundetble at the Lyceum in Mount Holly
The First Snow - Timber Creek Dog Park
On Friday, December 6, I was a docent in the room usually known as Ann's Parlor. Our new director, Jennifer Janovsky has not only opened two upstairs rooms this year, but she has launched a number of interesting new events and themes. This year for the Candlelight tour, our theme was A Soldier's Life
and I was fortunate enough to share the room, not only with Patty Kehler, DAR member and docent, but with a guest, Tracy Fallon, a Re-enactor, not only for the Revolution, but also WWII. He was so knowledgeable and he and Patty offered historical details on the house, the War for Independence, George Washington, and numerous other interesting subjects. The hours flew by.
This must be the year of the model railroad, because displays have been held all over the place. So far I visited the Burlinton City Railroad Days display and the Bordentown exhibition at the Old City Hall, a wonderful building to visit in its own right. There were two floors of wonderful exhibitions of model railroad platforms. One woman model engineer reminded me to mention the John Bull in my blog. I think that platform was hers.
The John Bull was a British-built steam locamotive operated for the first time on September 15, 1831. It became the oldest operable steam locomotive in the world when the Smithsonian operated it in 1981. The John Bull was initially purchased by and operated for the The Camden and Amboy Railroad the first railroad in New Jersey where it was used extensively from 1833 until 1866.
My father, when he was a younger Ironworker, was part of the team that moved a locomotive to its site in the Smithsonian and we often visited it there and he talked about that historic job. I wonder now if it was the John Bull.
Anyhow, there was also a display called "Remembering Seaside" which is noteworthy for its unuusual display of ferris wheel, other rides and sandy platform. Everyone there was friendly, informative and the whole experience was enchanting.
In a side room where sweatshirts, tea shirts and train whistles (I wish I had bought one) were being sold, I met two volunteers in the Restoration Project for the building which is located at 11 Crosswicks Street in Bordentown. How I admire volunteers in the history community. Where would we be without their selfless devotion to rescuing and maintaining our cultural history. The Old City Hall boasts a Seth Thomas clock tower also in need of financial assistance. The clock is neighbor to a bell which has tolled continuously on the hour since the 1880's. There is a marvelous brochure on the Old City Hall available if you visit the model train exhibition, which I heartily recommend that you do!
This entry is long enough, so I'll save the rest for tomorrow!
Happy Trails! Happy Rails! Jo Ann
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
Franklin Parker Preserve, Burlington County - Great Hiking!
The Chatsworth Lake entrance to Franklin Parker Preserve is off 532, however I'm attaching the web address of the NJ Conservance so you can get better directions if you don't have a gps in your car or on your phone. As I didn't drive there myself, but was a passenger in my hiking buddy's car, I can't give you directions from my own experience. Here is the web address to find directions
http://www.njconservation.org/franklinparkerpreserve.htm
The hiking that we did, Barb Solem, Barb Spector and I, a couple of days ago, was all along the cranberry bogs and blueberry fields at the Parker Preserve. We started off with lunch at the Tabernacle Inn which I cannot praise highly enough. The food, every time I have been there, has been excellent and the service is warm, friendly and accommodating. Their buternut squash soup is the best I have ever tasted.
Hiking he Prserve is easy, there are flat, well maintained sandy roads bordered by the bogs which I believe are no longer in use and have been allowed to begin their return to their natural state. I understand there are owls to be seen but I didn't see any. This was strictly a dog and buddy hiking expedition, though both of the Barbaras are avid bird watchers and did recently see a Snowy Owl at 50 yards at the Forsythe.
We hiked for a good 2 hours or maybe 6 miles that day and tried two different entrances to the park. We were looking for beaver lodges which we heard from a wildlife photographer friend of Bab Solem's, could be seen there.
There are no end of preserves and aprks in which to hike in South Jersey, another thing I love about whre I live. As always if you want to talk to me via e-mail you can reach me at wrightj45@yahoo.com. Here is a list of other preserves from the web site above: I never knew about them before. Learn something new every single day! (Happy Trails! Jo Ann)
http://www.njconservation.org/franklinparkerpreserve.htm
The hiking that we did, Barb Solem, Barb Spector and I, a couple of days ago, was all along the cranberry bogs and blueberry fields at the Parker Preserve. We started off with lunch at the Tabernacle Inn which I cannot praise highly enough. The food, every time I have been there, has been excellent and the service is warm, friendly and accommodating. Their buternut squash soup is the best I have ever tasted.
Hiking he Prserve is easy, there are flat, well maintained sandy roads bordered by the bogs which I believe are no longer in use and have been allowed to begin their return to their natural state. I understand there are owls to be seen but I didn't see any. This was strictly a dog and buddy hiking expedition, though both of the Barbaras are avid bird watchers and did recently see a Snowy Owl at 50 yards at the Forsythe.
We hiked for a good 2 hours or maybe 6 miles that day and tried two different entrances to the park. We were looking for beaver lodges which we heard from a wildlife photographer friend of Bab Solem's, could be seen there.
There are no end of preserves and aprks in which to hike in South Jersey, another thing I love about whre I live. As always if you want to talk to me via e-mail you can reach me at wrightj45@yahoo.com. Here is a list of other preserves from the web site above: I never knew about them before. Learn something new every single day! (Happy Trails! Jo Ann)
- Apshawa Preserve
- Bear Creek Preserve
- Burden Hill Preserve
- Candace McKee Ashmun Preserve at Forked River Mtn
- Daniels Preserve
- Dorothy Preserve
- Drakestown Preserve
- Evert Trail Preserve
- Franklin Parker Preserve
- Lakes Bay Preserve
- Metedeconk Preserve
- Michael Huber Prairie Warbler Preserve
- Skyline Preserve
Friday, November 29, 2013
Thanksgiving Dinner at Tthe Olde Centerton Inn
It was delicious! It was like eating at Grandma's house, a traditional Thanksgiving dinner of turkey, stuffing, baked sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, succotash, and a tray of desserts including sample size pieces of pumpkin pie, cheesecake, brownie, and raspberry filled cookies . It was peaceful and the staff couldn't have been more hospitable and atentive. The Thanksgiving Feast (and it was!) cost only $22 per person plust tax and tip. It was worth every penny. And I must say it was evocative to be sitting and eating in a historic tavern that has fed the weary traveller for nearly 300 years right here in our own South Jersey. The Inn was built in 1732 and it is said that such Revolutionary War luminaries as the Marquis de Lafayette visited this old stagecoach inn.
Since we had arrived so early, my friend and I drove around the winter beautiful countryside and were pleased and surprised to find that Parvin State Park was right down the road which suggests to me an excellent day trip. You could hike at Parvin, the usual trail I take with hiking buddy Barb Spector, takes about an hour, so it is approximately 3 miles around Thundergust Lake, which will give you an appetitie for lunch at The Old Centerton Inn. Lunch is only served on Wednesday and Friday, so plan accordingly. For more information, here is the contact info from the business card (which lists the establishment date as 1706!!):
1136 Alm,ond Road, Pittsgrove, Nj 08318, 856-358-3201, 222.centertoninn.com
The innkeepers are Brian and Joanne oode
Happy Trails and Bon appetit! Jo Ann
ps. I used the city of Elmer for my gps, don't know if Pittsgrove works.
As always if you have questions or want to talk about any of this, contact me at
wrightj45@yahoo.com
Since we had arrived so early, my friend and I drove around the winter beautiful countryside and were pleased and surprised to find that Parvin State Park was right down the road which suggests to me an excellent day trip. You could hike at Parvin, the usual trail I take with hiking buddy Barb Spector, takes about an hour, so it is approximately 3 miles around Thundergust Lake, which will give you an appetitie for lunch at The Old Centerton Inn. Lunch is only served on Wednesday and Friday, so plan accordingly. For more information, here is the contact info from the business card (which lists the establishment date as 1706!!):
1136 Alm,ond Road, Pittsgrove, Nj 08318, 856-358-3201, 222.centertoninn.com
The innkeepers are Brian and Joanne oode
Happy Trails and Bon appetit! Jo Ann
ps. I used the city of Elmer for my gps, don't know if Pittsgrove works.
As always if you have questions or want to talk about any of this, contact me at
wrightj45@yahoo.com
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Model Railroad Update & more
Two items for today - I finished my model railroad set-up for this year. It is wacky and no serious model railroader would be able to look at it without a sneer. I must have 5 different sizes of soldiers, houses, animals and multiple periods from wood to plastic but it gives me a great deal of pleasure. Next I have to cover my oatmeal box tunnel with some rock paper that I wil print out off the computer.
My houses, people and soldiers are mostly from Germany circa 1970, bought when I lived there at Heilbronn Am Neckar, the wife of a then-soldier. I bought them at the Nurnburg Christmas Fair. I wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas in German but I realized I no longer remmeber how to spell Christmas in German: Frolihe Weinachten?
If you want to respond with proper German spelling, wrightj45@yahoo.com
Note: the Barrington Coffee House on Clements Bridge Rd. in Barrington, is open again under new management. I was just there last week on an unexpected additional Birthday celebration with an old yoga pal. We used to go to the Barrington Coffee House after our work-outs and yoga classes at the Royal Court Gym, but I am no longer at member of the gym and, for a time, the coffee house was closed. I wish them the best of luck for the future - it is a charming coffee shop and they had a delightful Christmas decoration with a village and train set in the window!!
I know, there is still Thanksgiving coming and I'm stepping on the toes of that holiday with Christmas talk- so be safe and happy on your holiday travels and check back in for a review of Thanksgiving at the Centerton Inn in Elmer, where I have reservations fo rmyself and a pal. I am a vegetarian but I'm sure I can find enough to eat on the side and if I get a turkey dinner, I'll bring home the turkey for my meat eating dog and most wonderful animal companion, Trixie the Labaraner.
Happy Trails and Rails - Jo Ann
My houses, people and soldiers are mostly from Germany circa 1970, bought when I lived there at Heilbronn Am Neckar, the wife of a then-soldier. I bought them at the Nurnburg Christmas Fair. I wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas in German but I realized I no longer remmeber how to spell Christmas in German: Frolihe Weinachten?
If you want to respond with proper German spelling, wrightj45@yahoo.com
Note: the Barrington Coffee House on Clements Bridge Rd. in Barrington, is open again under new management. I was just there last week on an unexpected additional Birthday celebration with an old yoga pal. We used to go to the Barrington Coffee House after our work-outs and yoga classes at the Royal Court Gym, but I am no longer at member of the gym and, for a time, the coffee house was closed. I wish them the best of luck for the future - it is a charming coffee shop and they had a delightful Christmas decoration with a village and train set in the window!!
I know, there is still Thanksgiving coming and I'm stepping on the toes of that holiday with Christmas talk- so be safe and happy on your holiday travels and check back in for a review of Thanksgiving at the Centerton Inn in Elmer, where I have reservations fo rmyself and a pal. I am a vegetarian but I'm sure I can find enough to eat on the side and if I get a turkey dinner, I'll bring home the turkey for my meat eating dog and most wonderful animal companion, Trixie the Labaraner.
Happy Trails and Rails - Jo Ann
Friday, November 22, 2013
I hit the 30,000 Mark Today!!!! Hip Hip Hooray!!!!
I am thrilled. Today I hit 30,000 viewers! Wow. I can hardly believe the power of the blog, but I do know it is fun. Thanks to everyone who visited and I hope I can always post items of interest and use! And thanks to BlogSpot for providing such a simple and practical format. Jo Ann
Christmas Shopping in Collingswood
Today, I was treated to what I presume will be the last of this year's birthday lunches! My friend Isabelle came over and we walked around Newton Creek Park, then Knight's Park, to get a good appetite for lunch at SaladWorks, Haddon Ave. in Collingswood, where, I am pleased to announce, Butternut Squash soup is back on the menu. It is the best butternut squash soup I have ever tasted and I've tasted dozens, in restaurants, home-made, canned and from specialty stores. Theirs is delectable and all my friends who've tried it agree on that.
Then we strolled down the avenue and checked out some shops we have missed. We haven't been to Collingwood much recently. I spend a lot of time at Timber Creek instead of walking Newton or Knight's because I like to let Trixie, my 'Labaraner' (half Lab half Weimaraner) off the leash. Several stores have opened up and two I want to mention especially are:
1. Frugal thrift & vintage. One of the things that used to draw me to Collingswood besides the parks, was a thrift store I LOVED: A Friend in Need. They closed and I did a clear-out/de-clutter at my house and mended my buying ways, so I haven't been back. Isabelle, however, had no such restrictions and she bought several clever and charming Christmas gifts: A Christmas tree candle, a great European puzzle, and some other things; I stopped paying attention to what she was buying because I saw so many things I wanted!
2. Next, we stopped at The Candy Jar, and Isabelle bought chocolates for her Thanksgiving Day Dinner (a dessert offering) and we were invited to try several other chocolate treats - my favorite was a white chocolate with crushed peppermint stick candy in it - it was teh very taste of Christmas morning. The shops were warm and inviting and had the feel of Christmas, as Collingswood does - that old quaint main street feeling, with people strolling cheerfully and the lights on, decorations in the windows and dusk falling on a gray November Day. And those chocolates - What a tasty treat to drop in a stocking, or bring as a hostess gift.
It was a delightful way to spend a day - you can't go wrong in Collingswood for places to visit and things to eat!
Happy Trails - Jo Ann
Oh yes:
The Candy Jar, 742 Haddon Ave. 856-833-1010, www.thecandyjarnj.com
Frugal Thrift & Vintage
740 Haddon Ave., Collingswood, NJ 08108 856-858-0700, info@frugalresale.com
www.FrugalResale.com
I really support re-cycle and re-sale and on that subject don't forget CamTech Computers for the best deal in refurbished laptops! I have been buying from them for years and have no complaints, only praise. I saw splendid laptops in their window for $199!!! What a great gift idea! And they stand behind what they sell. I've directed half a dozen people to them for laptops and all of them have been satisfied.
If you want to ask about the computer store, you can contact me by e-mail at: wrightj45@yahoo.com
Then we strolled down the avenue and checked out some shops we have missed. We haven't been to Collingwood much recently. I spend a lot of time at Timber Creek instead of walking Newton or Knight's because I like to let Trixie, my 'Labaraner' (half Lab half Weimaraner) off the leash. Several stores have opened up and two I want to mention especially are:
1. Frugal thrift & vintage. One of the things that used to draw me to Collingswood besides the parks, was a thrift store I LOVED: A Friend in Need. They closed and I did a clear-out/de-clutter at my house and mended my buying ways, so I haven't been back. Isabelle, however, had no such restrictions and she bought several clever and charming Christmas gifts: A Christmas tree candle, a great European puzzle, and some other things; I stopped paying attention to what she was buying because I saw so many things I wanted!
2. Next, we stopped at The Candy Jar, and Isabelle bought chocolates for her Thanksgiving Day Dinner (a dessert offering) and we were invited to try several other chocolate treats - my favorite was a white chocolate with crushed peppermint stick candy in it - it was teh very taste of Christmas morning. The shops were warm and inviting and had the feel of Christmas, as Collingswood does - that old quaint main street feeling, with people strolling cheerfully and the lights on, decorations in the windows and dusk falling on a gray November Day. And those chocolates - What a tasty treat to drop in a stocking, or bring as a hostess gift.
It was a delightful way to spend a day - you can't go wrong in Collingswood for places to visit and things to eat!
Happy Trails - Jo Ann
Oh yes:
The Candy Jar, 742 Haddon Ave. 856-833-1010, www.thecandyjarnj.com
Frugal Thrift & Vintage
740 Haddon Ave., Collingswood, NJ 08108 856-858-0700, info@frugalresale.com
www.FrugalResale.com
I really support re-cycle and re-sale and on that subject don't forget CamTech Computers for the best deal in refurbished laptops! I have been buying from them for years and have no complaints, only praise. I saw splendid laptops in their window for $199!!! What a great gift idea! And they stand behind what they sell. I've directed half a dozen people to them for laptops and all of them have been satisfied.
If you want to ask about the computer store, you can contact me by e-mail at: wrightj45@yahoo.com
Model Railroad News
The Patcong Valley Model Railroad Club will have its 29th Annual Open House through many dates in December, 2013 and January 2014. They are running them now, in November too, but the only date left this month is November 30th.
the location is Route 40 and Fir Avenue (1308 Harding Hwy) Richland, NJ. and they have website and email contacts at
www.patcongvalley.com
patcongrr@comcast.net
I've enver visited them before but will certainly do so now that I'm am working on my own 'N' gauge model platform
Their dates and times are 10 a.m. to 4pm November 30, Dec. 1,7,8,14,15and Jan. 4, 5, 11, 12, 18, 19 2014. There is no admission charge. The flyer says they are about 10 miles west of Mays Landing so that should help you figure out how far away they are. There flyer also says they have a coal country scenery display featuring 6 to 8 trains! I'm so excited to go and see them!
Happy Rails! Jo Ann
the location is Route 40 and Fir Avenue (1308 Harding Hwy) Richland, NJ. and they have website and email contacts at
www.patcongvalley.com
patcongrr@comcast.net
I've enver visited them before but will certainly do so now that I'm am working on my own 'N' gauge model platform
Their dates and times are 10 a.m. to 4pm November 30, Dec. 1,7,8,14,15and Jan. 4, 5, 11, 12, 18, 19 2014. There is no admission charge. The flyer says they are about 10 miles west of Mays Landing so that should help you figure out how far away they are. There flyer also says they have a coal country scenery display featuring 6 to 8 trains! I'm so excited to go and see them!
Happy Rails! Jo Ann
Monday, November 18, 2013
Upper Pittsgrove, Elmer, and Pittsgrove
Those towns and their founders were the subject of Bonnie Beth Elwell's talk at the last Salem County Genealogy Meeting at Friends Village in Woodstown. It was also a book signing for the Arcadia book Bonnie has written of the same name. There is an interesting write-up and some good photographs of the The Old Centerton Inn.
Many of you have no doubt passed the Centerton Inn on your ramblings throughout the South of New Jersey. I've eaten there a few times but it was years ago. After attending Bonnie's lecture, and discussing Thanksgiving plans with a friend, we decided to make reservations at the Centerton for dinner that day.
It was a toss up between the Centerton Inn and the Sugar Hill Inn, another historic house favorite in Mays Landing. The Thanksgiving holiday dinner is $22 and reservations are almost filled up. We had to take the 1:30 slot which is a bit early but that's okay. We might wander around Mullica Hill afterwards.
No doubt I'll be posting before Thanksgiving, but it's a good time to start listing things to be grateful for, health, friends, family, the good fortune to live in America and in this wonderful part of New Jersey, and to live in a time with so many technological and other kinds of innovations. I'm grateful for my car and the my washer and dryer to name just a few - let's not forget electricity and the new LED Christmas Lights - my sister forced me into a turn over away from my big bulb strands and into the new world of LED! And as it is going to get colder again starting tomorrow, I'm grateful for my heater!
Get your reservations if you are eating on your own this Thanksgiving (and not with family) and consider either of those two excellent restaurants if you are looking for a place!
Happy Trails, Rails and Meals, Jo Ann
Many of you have no doubt passed the Centerton Inn on your ramblings throughout the South of New Jersey. I've eaten there a few times but it was years ago. After attending Bonnie's lecture, and discussing Thanksgiving plans with a friend, we decided to make reservations at the Centerton for dinner that day.
It was a toss up between the Centerton Inn and the Sugar Hill Inn, another historic house favorite in Mays Landing. The Thanksgiving holiday dinner is $22 and reservations are almost filled up. We had to take the 1:30 slot which is a bit early but that's okay. We might wander around Mullica Hill afterwards.
No doubt I'll be posting before Thanksgiving, but it's a good time to start listing things to be grateful for, health, friends, family, the good fortune to live in America and in this wonderful part of New Jersey, and to live in a time with so many technological and other kinds of innovations. I'm grateful for my car and the my washer and dryer to name just a few - let's not forget electricity and the new LED Christmas Lights - my sister forced me into a turn over away from my big bulb strands and into the new world of LED! And as it is going to get colder again starting tomorrow, I'm grateful for my heater!
Get your reservations if you are eating on your own this Thanksgiving (and not with family) and consider either of those two excellent restaurants if you are looking for a place!
Happy Trails, Rails and Meals, Jo Ann
Sunday, November 17, 2013
Murphy's Book Loft is no more!
Yesterday, on a birthday lunch in Mullica Hill, I was showing my oldest friend (we've been pals since junior high school) my favoirite places in Mullica Hill. We visited the Red Mill Antiques and did some Christmas shopping, then had lunch at the Blue Plate - very good! They had many seasonal goodies to offer there. It was crowded, popular, and warm and cosy. Finally, on our way out of town, we dropped by Murphy's Book Loft only to find it closed, sold and empty. I had so much affection for that old book barn. For many years it was my first place to go when I was looking for a book. They had tried new management, but the new owner said it was mostly "a transition period." It is too hard for old book stores to compete in a market with Barnes and Nobles and amazon.com. I suppose if they do a brisk and clever on-line sales, they can keep their heads above water, but what do I know about business!
Anyhow, on a happier note, if you, too, love Mullica Hill, you may be interested in their 39th Annual Christmas House Tour which will be held Saturday, December 14th from 2:00 to 7:00 pm. It features historic houses and churches. Tikets are $8 in advance, $10 day of the tour. for more info go to www.mullicahill.com or call 856-223-5440. There will be carolers and live music all through town.
Happy Trails! Jo Ann
Anyhow, on a happier note, if you, too, love Mullica Hill, you may be interested in their 39th Annual Christmas House Tour which will be held Saturday, December 14th from 2:00 to 7:00 pm. It features historic houses and churches. Tikets are $8 in advance, $10 day of the tour. for more info go to www.mullicahill.com or call 856-223-5440. There will be carolers and live music all through town.
Happy Trails! Jo Ann
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Bonnie Beth Elwell Lecture on Pittsgrove, Elmer founding families
It was a treat to hear Bonnie Beth Elwell give a lecture on the founding families of the above named towns, Upper Pittsgrove, Elmer, and Pittsgrove. She is an astonishing young woman. She is president of the Salem County Genealogy Society and is now also Historian for Pittsgrove. Bonnie is in her twenties, but she has great maturity and a sincere appreciation for the experience and knowledge of the elders in her sphere.
Among the many families whose history and lineage she described were the Dares (of Daretown), Nelsons, Johnsons, Woods, and a dozen others. She also talked about how the names evolved over time as in Nelson from Nel's Son, a Scandinavian naming practice.
On sale at the lecture was the new Arcadia book on the above named towns, authored by Bonnie. Although I don't have family history in this area, mine are from the Big Timber Creek area, I always enjoy reading the work of a talented local historian and I look forward to reading this one. It is a birthday present I bought for myself - Today is my birthday, November 13, 2013.
Happy Trails (of all kinds including the trails we follow tracking ancestors back through the forest of the years!) Jo Ann
ps. I wanted to mention how exceedingly encouraged I am by the Arcadia project. It will be an invaluable resource for the future, on the small towns of America in these times of dwindling history (in terms of attention and money devoted to archival effort which has been held afloat by the devotion of an aging but valiant group of local historians.)
Among the many families whose history and lineage she described were the Dares (of Daretown), Nelsons, Johnsons, Woods, and a dozen others. She also talked about how the names evolved over time as in Nelson from Nel's Son, a Scandinavian naming practice.
On sale at the lecture was the new Arcadia book on the above named towns, authored by Bonnie. Although I don't have family history in this area, mine are from the Big Timber Creek area, I always enjoy reading the work of a talented local historian and I look forward to reading this one. It is a birthday present I bought for myself - Today is my birthday, November 13, 2013.
Happy Trails (of all kinds including the trails we follow tracking ancestors back through the forest of the years!) Jo Ann
ps. I wanted to mention how exceedingly encouraged I am by the Arcadia project. It will be an invaluable resource for the future, on the small towns of America in these times of dwindling history (in terms of attention and money devoted to archival effort which has been held afloat by the devotion of an aging but valiant group of local historians.)
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Railroad Days at Burlington City November 10, 2013
through a lucky accident, I put the wrong address in my gps and arrived at the Methodist Church on Farnsworth instead of the Episcopal Church on Prince Street. That gave me a visit with a LARGE scale train layout, very cheerful and full of holiday charm. The houses lit up and the train or the houses (I'm not sure which) played music box-like Christmas carols. There were quite a few people there, the women in the church kitchen setting up various foods which I would have loved to taste, but I was on a mission and didn't have time to linger.
As soon as I got straightened out on where the 'n' gauge train layou was, I got back in the car to drove to the Ep[iscopal church, Christ's Church, on Prince Street. At both church's perhaps a little more signage might have been helpful. I was wandering around both churches with other lost people trying to find the door to the displays amidst the many locked church doors.
It was worth the search, however, because the 'n' gauge display was IMPRESSIVE. The villages looked so real and the track layout was extensive, it filled half the church hall. Several sets of tracks were laid out and the engineers were busy setting their trains onto the tracks. I stayed long enough to see a few sets in motion which I must admit, gave my heart a little thrill! I spoke to one polite young man who told me he had been working on his trains since he was three years old! I convided that was getting my first 'n' gauge set for my birthday in a day or two. He wished me good luck.
The group presenting at Christ's Church were the New Jersey Southern, Inc. P.O.Box 41, Collingswood, NJ 08108
njsntrak@gmail.com
Whose members are: "dedicated to furthering the hobby of N-Scale model railroading through educational activities, community involvement and public displays. " They use "N-TRAK international standards of moduclar N scale model railroading."
Needless to say, my idea set-up won't be approved by most model railroad fans, as the houses I plan to use are German wooden village pieces I bought in Heilbronn, Germany in 1970 while I was married to a serviceman stationed there. Actually, I'm not sure if I bought them in the town where I lived or at the Nuremburg Christmas Fair, but anyhow, they are the houses, animals, soldiers and fences I plan to put on my train lay-out. They are, at least, tiny, and probably nearly the perfect scale.
I'm picking up my platform today at 3:00. This is Tuesday, November 12th and tomorrow is my birthday, so I hope to have the morning tomorrow to start the layout and the whole month to add to it. I'd like to paint the alps on a backboard. It will be a simple lay-out, of course.
I haven't given up on my list of things to do and places to go and will resume in a couple of blogs from now.
Meanwhile, I started with small towns, so let me just put a list starting with1. Burlington City, which is delightful to walk around and has an extensive antiques emporium, 2.Bordentown, (charming old book store), 3.Mullical Hill, my favorite Murphy's book Barn and an antique Mill also very extensive, 4.Collingswood for many parks lovely to walk in - Knight's Park and the Knight Collings House, Newton Creek and Cooper River, plus you can drive straight down Haddon ave, cross ounder 130 and go to the Camden County Historical Society behind the hospital. 5.Woodstown has a candle-light tour night and a couple small and charming restaurants and a Quaker Meeting house. 6.Chatsworth has Buzby's store which is still in operation thought up for sale, so hurry over for Christmas Shopping. 7.Greenwich is worth the long drive (an hour from me) and has a beautiful street of 18th century houses, a great historical society, a museum, and friendly people. 8.Woodbury has the museum and the historical Society Library right behind it. They also have a free brochure for a self-guided walking tour which I have done with friends. 9.Remember Millville and the Wildflower's vegetarian restaurant, the Arts District, the many hiking trails and river walk, 10.Haddonfield has a great coffee shop - Jersy Java, the historic Indian King Tavern, and a delightful main street to stroll and a quaint store that features products from the United Kingdom, always a good spot for Christmas shopping! That's all for now folks!
Happy Rails and Trails!
Jo Ann
As soon as I got straightened out on where the 'n' gauge train layou was, I got back in the car to drove to the Ep[iscopal church, Christ's Church, on Prince Street. At both church's perhaps a little more signage might have been helpful. I was wandering around both churches with other lost people trying to find the door to the displays amidst the many locked church doors.
It was worth the search, however, because the 'n' gauge display was IMPRESSIVE. The villages looked so real and the track layout was extensive, it filled half the church hall. Several sets of tracks were laid out and the engineers were busy setting their trains onto the tracks. I stayed long enough to see a few sets in motion which I must admit, gave my heart a little thrill! I spoke to one polite young man who told me he had been working on his trains since he was three years old! I convided that was getting my first 'n' gauge set for my birthday in a day or two. He wished me good luck.
The group presenting at Christ's Church were the New Jersey Southern, Inc. P.O.Box 41, Collingswood, NJ 08108
njsntrak@gmail.com
Whose members are: "dedicated to furthering the hobby of N-Scale model railroading through educational activities, community involvement and public displays. " They use "N-TRAK international standards of moduclar N scale model railroading."
Needless to say, my idea set-up won't be approved by most model railroad fans, as the houses I plan to use are German wooden village pieces I bought in Heilbronn, Germany in 1970 while I was married to a serviceman stationed there. Actually, I'm not sure if I bought them in the town where I lived or at the Nuremburg Christmas Fair, but anyhow, they are the houses, animals, soldiers and fences I plan to put on my train lay-out. They are, at least, tiny, and probably nearly the perfect scale.
I'm picking up my platform today at 3:00. This is Tuesday, November 12th and tomorrow is my birthday, so I hope to have the morning tomorrow to start the layout and the whole month to add to it. I'd like to paint the alps on a backboard. It will be a simple lay-out, of course.
I haven't given up on my list of things to do and places to go and will resume in a couple of blogs from now.
Meanwhile, I started with small towns, so let me just put a list starting with1. Burlington City, which is delightful to walk around and has an extensive antiques emporium, 2.Bordentown, (charming old book store), 3.Mullical Hill, my favorite Murphy's book Barn and an antique Mill also very extensive, 4.Collingswood for many parks lovely to walk in - Knight's Park and the Knight Collings House, Newton Creek and Cooper River, plus you can drive straight down Haddon ave, cross ounder 130 and go to the Camden County Historical Society behind the hospital. 5.Woodstown has a candle-light tour night and a couple small and charming restaurants and a Quaker Meeting house. 6.Chatsworth has Buzby's store which is still in operation thought up for sale, so hurry over for Christmas Shopping. 7.Greenwich is worth the long drive (an hour from me) and has a beautiful street of 18th century houses, a great historical society, a museum, and friendly people. 8.Woodbury has the museum and the historical Society Library right behind it. They also have a free brochure for a self-guided walking tour which I have done with friends. 9.Remember Millville and the Wildflower's vegetarian restaurant, the Arts District, the many hiking trails and river walk, 10.Haddonfield has a great coffee shop - Jersy Java, the historic Indian King Tavern, and a delightful main street to stroll and a quaint store that features products from the United Kingdom, always a good spot for Christmas shopping! That's all for now folks!
Happy Rails and Trails!
Jo Ann
Monday, November 11, 2013
Railroad Days in Bordentown
Yesterday, Sunday, November10th, I drove to Bordentown to see the train displays. First I visited the Methodist church on Farnsworth, where they had large trains on a charming display platform. There were lots of people and it was very cheerful. The giant trains ran around villages glittering with snow sparkles and lit from within and playing music box carols!
However, I had misread the notice about the Railroad Days in Bordentown and I thought it was going to be 'N' gauge which is the gauge of the set I am picking up today (hopefully) at Mac's Trains on Black Horse Pike for my birthday which is November 13th. I asked around and found out the 'N' gauge display was at Christ's Church, Episcopal, on Prince Street.
It was only a couple of blocks away, easily a walking distance, though I drove. Next year, I will plan to spend the day and have lunch in town and walk to all the display sites. Christ's Church was a beautiful church with a lovely old cemetery behind it, and, a ravine with a train rail beside it. There was a very extensive 'n' gauge set up there and some friendly young men, one in his late teens, I think, who told me he'd be working on trains since he was 3 years old! The church itself brought back memories of my childhood pent in Episcopal churches on both sides of the rive. My mother was a devout church woman and we were all often in the church kitchens setting up for functions.
I was both impressed and inspired by the train displays. Naturally I took some photos but my dog is agitating for her walk, so I'll post the pictures when I get back in a couple of hours. Railroad Days in Bordentown was an EXCELLENT idea and a charming marketing tool to bring visitors into an old historic town.
Happy RAILS! Jo Ann
However, I had misread the notice about the Railroad Days in Bordentown and I thought it was going to be 'N' gauge which is the gauge of the set I am picking up today (hopefully) at Mac's Trains on Black Horse Pike for my birthday which is November 13th. I asked around and found out the 'N' gauge display was at Christ's Church, Episcopal, on Prince Street.
It was only a couple of blocks away, easily a walking distance, though I drove. Next year, I will plan to spend the day and have lunch in town and walk to all the display sites. Christ's Church was a beautiful church with a lovely old cemetery behind it, and, a ravine with a train rail beside it. There was a very extensive 'n' gauge set up there and some friendly young men, one in his late teens, I think, who told me he'd be working on trains since he was 3 years old! The church itself brought back memories of my childhood pent in Episcopal churches on both sides of the rive. My mother was a devout church woman and we were all often in the church kitchens setting up for functions.
I was both impressed and inspired by the train displays. Naturally I took some photos but my dog is agitating for her walk, so I'll post the pictures when I get back in a couple of hours. Railroad Days in Bordentown was an EXCELLENT idea and a charming marketing tool to bring visitors into an old historic town.
Happy RAILS! Jo Ann
Friday, November 8, 2013
More Model Trains News!
Stopped by Mac's Trains today to check on my rail platform for my 'N' gauge railroad set up.
My rail platform will be ready on Monday, just in time for my birthday which is on Wednesday.
Meanwhile here is another event where you can see model railroads and the link below where you can find more information on SJ model railroad events.
My sister said something is happening in Swedesboro, too, but I haven't found that yet. When I do, I'll let you know!
Happy Rails! Jo Ann
MODEL TRAINS AT TWO LOCATIONS
FREE model train displays will be open to the public 10 am to 4 pm Saturday, November 9th, and 12 to 4 pm Sunday, November 10th, 2013. See model trains operating in realistically detailed scenery at the N scale NTRAK display by New Jersey Southern (NJS) at Christ Church of Bordentown (ccbtown.com) at 130 Prince Street, Bordentown. Catch the holiday spirit with large whimsical G gauge trains and decorations on display by South Eastern Pennsylvania Garden Railroad Society (SEPGRS) at First Presbyterian Church of Bordentown at 420 Farnsworth Avenue, Bordentown.
https://www.courierpostonline.com/article/20131031/GETPUBLISHED/310310306/
My rail platform will be ready on Monday, just in time for my birthday which is on Wednesday.
Meanwhile here is another event where you can see model railroads and the link below where you can find more information on SJ model railroad events.
My sister said something is happening in Swedesboro, too, but I haven't found that yet. When I do, I'll let you know!
Happy Rails! Jo Ann
MODEL TRAINS AT TWO LOCATIONS
FREE model train displays will be open to the public 10 am to 4 pm Saturday, November 9th, and 12 to 4 pm Sunday, November 10th, 2013. See model trains operating in realistically detailed scenery at the N scale NTRAK display by New Jersey Southern (NJS) at Christ Church of Bordentown (ccbtown.com) at 130 Prince Street, Bordentown. Catch the holiday spirit with large whimsical G gauge trains and decorations on display by South Eastern Pennsylvania Garden Railroad Society (SEPGRS) at First Presbyterian Church of Bordentown at 420 Farnsworth Avenue, Bordentown.
https://www.courierpostonline.com/article/20131031/GETPUBLISHED/310310306/
Thursday, November 7, 2013
Places To Go Things To Do
AS mentioned in a previous post, after I retired, I compiled a list of 32 places to go and things to do that I offered my retiring teacher friends who thought they might not know what to do with themselves after retirement. I recently met just such a teacher at a terrible movie I saw at what is now called Carmike (used to be Rave Cinema, used to be the Ritz at Voorhees). I decided to reprise the list and add to it. I will post 10 a day, perhaps in categories rather than locations. All are in New Jersey, most within an hour's drive and most free (except of course for lunch or dinner or a movie).
This is from the old list and some things have changed, so I will amend:
This is from the old list and some things have changed, so I will amend:
1.Weekly movie at Carmike (formerly Showcase at the Ritz, Voorhees) (lunch at Coffee Works (same shopping center), Olive Garden (turn at the light before the Eagle Plaza or google it), dinner Bankok City -( the best little restaurant and the lunch special is unbeatable at $8 for appetizer, soup or salad and entree' the food is great and the atmosphere serene)'
2.HIKING: I was in the Outdoor Club of SJ for years but quit some time ago. I walk every day at Big Timber Creek now as the Outdoor Club hikes were a bit to long for me. I do 3 miles, they averaged 6. For nice shorter walks try Collingswood, Newton Creek and Knights Park, or Haddon Lake Park, or my favorite the Big Timber Creek Park with many birdle paths in the woods. For you more athletic hikers, the OCSH has hikes three or more times a week plus special events seasonally
and kayak trips, OCSJ has a website with info on all events
For additional hike ideas check my back topics for Maurice River Bluffs, Peeks Preserve, the Cranberry Trail and others.
Special Events/Excursions
3. North: Lambertville
– the flea market on Sunday, hiking the canal tow path, lunch in town,
quaint galleries, museums, bookstores, Washington’s
Crossing Park – great hiking historic places
incl. a historic ferry house
4.Middle area: Burlington City,
hiking around the town, quaint restaurants, river walk, Bordentown – site of
one room school house (Burl. Hist. Soc. runs a one room school tour in
Sept.)
5.Mount Holly with lunch at the Robin's Nest.
6.Flea Market (spring through autumn recommended)
at Columbus - near Rt. 206
7.Camden County Collingswood, lots of great parks (3 parks from 1 ½ mi. to 4 mi. walking paths), little restaurants, (10 min. from me) always something fun going on such as the October Book Festival or the summer classic car show.
8.Camden County Historical Society (behind Lady of Lourdes Hospital off Haddon Ave. in Camden) check out their web site for info on hours and exhibits - a great museum and Pomona House, plus genealogical library
9.Haddonfield: Indian King Tavern visit and walk the main street.
some good hiking parks and ponds, but I'm not really familiar with them, one comes off the Cooper River, accessible via Kings Hwy.
10.Audubon, Haddon
Heights – a 3 mile park
with free concerts all summer at the outdoor amphitheater. Check out Camden
County Parks website.
11.Cooper
River – 4 mile hike,
concerts all summer, poetry, jazz and art at the Hopkins House
Well that's 11 for today, and I'll do 10 more each time I post. Next, perhaps small towns!
Happy Trails!
Jo Ann
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
Spread Eagle Tavern is no more
As I do not drink alcohol, I was only in the Spread Eagle Tavern once and that was to buy a six pack for my visiting father who did drink alcohol. Other members of my family, however, had been in the Spread Eagle, mainly when the family was gathered at my home for a family get-together. In fact, my father liked to joke that the Spread Eagle was the only bar he was ever "kicked out of forever." He never knew exactly what it was that he did, but it was back in the days when the bar was run by an elderly woman who was known to be somewhat 'touchy.' It may have been that my father, or my brother, Joe, both of whom have had serious hearing losses due to military service, my father in the navy in World War II, followed by a career as an ironworker (both things very damaging to the hearing) and my brother from his service as a marine in Vietnam. Their hearing loss makes them speak in loud voices.
Generally, however both, were cheery and generous men.
My father passed away two years ago. I would have called him on the phone today to tell him that the Spread Eagle had been demolished, and he would have told me again how it was the only bar he'd ever been kicked out of 'forever!' We would have had a good laugh over it.
Although I did search over the internet, I couldn't find any background information on when the Spread Eagle was built, but I did find a facebook page with a sad goodbye from the most recent owner, Jack Cain. When the elderly woman who kicked out my father and brother died, she left the bar to Jack. Apparently, it fell on hard times because I saw that the a division of taxation attempted (unsuccessfully) to sell the property a year ago.
The only other thing I found was a revi"ew that called it a "dive with a bad bathroom." I didn't use the bathroom and most bars seem like dives to me since I don't drink and have no prior habit of the 'congenial watering hole' in my personal experience. Anyhow, it was sad to see the demolishing. We've lost the Harwan Theater and the Spread Eagle in the past few years.
Happy Trails, Jo Ann
ps. I may stop in at the Borough Hall and see what I can find out about the history of the Spread Eagle, so this subject may stay open.
Generally, however both, were cheery and generous men.
My father passed away two years ago. I would have called him on the phone today to tell him that the Spread Eagle had been demolished, and he would have told me again how it was the only bar he'd ever been kicked out of 'forever!' We would have had a good laugh over it.
Although I did search over the internet, I couldn't find any background information on when the Spread Eagle was built, but I did find a facebook page with a sad goodbye from the most recent owner, Jack Cain. When the elderly woman who kicked out my father and brother died, she left the bar to Jack. Apparently, it fell on hard times because I saw that the a division of taxation attempted (unsuccessfully) to sell the property a year ago.
The only other thing I found was a revi"ew that called it a "dive with a bad bathroom." I didn't use the bathroom and most bars seem like dives to me since I don't drink and have no prior habit of the 'congenial watering hole' in my personal experience. Anyhow, it was sad to see the demolishing. We've lost the Harwan Theater and the Spread Eagle in the past few years.
Happy Trails, Jo Ann
ps. I may stop in at the Borough Hall and see what I can find out about the history of the Spread Eagle, so this subject may stay open.
Back to Mac's Trains
While cruising around South Jersey on the multitude of errands in the ordinary life, I stopped by Mac's Trains, on the Black Horse Pike, today to see how my platform is coming along. If you missed my earlier post on Mac's Trains, here is a quick re-cap. Each day when I drive to Big Timber Creek to the dog park, to walk my brown Lab Trixie, I pass a little store front with a man seated outside and windows filled with trains. As I have always been a big train fan, I decided this year to buy myself a train set and set up a platform. Inside the shop, I had settled on what I now know is an "N" gauge engine because I live in a very small bungalow and the platform must be small enough to fit on a large table desk in my den. Mac was very kind about offering to help me with the platform (in the nailing down the tracks department) and I agreed to buy my trains from him. I'm very excited about this.
Next I had to buy a sheet of 1/2 inch plywood and paint it, which my sister helped me to do. Every hobby is expensive and ALWAYS more expensive than you ever dreamed at the outset When did plywood get to cost so much? But perhaps it was my error and I bought a sheet that was especially choice. It was $40!!! When the clerk asked if I wanted the rest of the pieces, I said, "You bet I do!" I'm not sure what I'll do with them, but at $40, you know I'll find something.
My sister painted the wood for me which was good because she used spray paint which I imagine is better if you are nailing down train tracks. Last week, I dropped off the platform wood at Mac's. To end this, let me say that I'll pick up my platform this weekend and my trains at Mac's and when I have it assempled here a week later, I'll take a photo and post it.
So, once more, if you are looking for trains, try Mac's Trains at 304 N. Black Horse Pike, Runnemede, NJ 08078, phone # 856-939-0350 at the shop, and 856-725-5479 cell phone.
Happy Rails! Jo Ann
.
Next I had to buy a sheet of 1/2 inch plywood and paint it, which my sister helped me to do. Every hobby is expensive and ALWAYS more expensive than you ever dreamed at the outset When did plywood get to cost so much? But perhaps it was my error and I bought a sheet that was especially choice. It was $40!!! When the clerk asked if I wanted the rest of the pieces, I said, "You bet I do!" I'm not sure what I'll do with them, but at $40, you know I'll find something.
My sister painted the wood for me which was good because she used spray paint which I imagine is better if you are nailing down train tracks. Last week, I dropped off the platform wood at Mac's. To end this, let me say that I'll pick up my platform this weekend and my trains at Mac's and when I have it assempled here a week later, I'll take a photo and post it.
So, once more, if you are looking for trains, try Mac's Trains at 304 N. Black Horse Pike, Runnemede, NJ 08078, phone # 856-939-0350 at the shop, and 856-725-5479 cell phone.
Happy Rails! Jo Ann
.
Monday, November 4, 2013
Salem Co. Genealogical Society Lecture
Sorry, this is copied straight off their web site, but I wanted to let you know and I also wanted to get it right. I really enjoy these lectures at Friends' Village and I admire Bonny Beth Elwell very much, so this is one to catch if you can:
"The Genealogical Society of Salem County will host a program, “The Families of Upper Pittsgrove, Elmer, and Pittsgrove,” presented by Bonny Beth Elwell on Tuesday, Nov. 12, at 7 p.m. at the Friends Village Auditorium.
After the presentation, the speaker will have copies for sale of her newly-released local history book, Upper Pittsgrove, Elmer, and Pittsgrove, and an opportunity for book signing.
The presentation will include an overview of some of the original families of the region, based on the speaker’s research for her book. Upper Pittsgrove, Elmer, and Pittsgrove surveys the history of this region of Salem County, which has a rich three-century heritage dating back to the late 1600s.
Here, descendants of the original British, Dutch, French, and German colonists still live in the small villages and surrounding farmland that their ancestors cultivated.
Elwell is descended from some of the first settlers of Upper Pittsgrove, Elmer and Pittsgrove, and her family has lived in the region for more than 300 years. As her interest in genealogy grew, she became fascinated with the history of her homeland.
After writing a family history narrative, she became very involved with local history. She has served as president of the Genealogical Society of Salem County for three years, as well as writing the “Ancestors’ Attic” column of genealogical/historical articles in the Elmer Times. She was recently appointed as Upper Pittsgrove historian, and she is excited to do all she can to preserve the history of the region.
For more information about this free event, contact Elwell at genealogicalsocietysalemcounty@gmail.com or 609-670-0407"
The web site where I got this information is:
http://www.nj.com/salem/index.ssf/2013/10/genealogical_society_of_salem_county_to_host_program_on_families_of_upper_pittsgrove_elmer_and_pitts.html
"The Genealogical Society of Salem County will host a program, “The Families of Upper Pittsgrove, Elmer, and Pittsgrove,” presented by Bonny Beth Elwell on Tuesday, Nov. 12, at 7 p.m. at the Friends Village Auditorium.
After the presentation, the speaker will have copies for sale of her newly-released local history book, Upper Pittsgrove, Elmer, and Pittsgrove, and an opportunity for book signing.
The presentation will include an overview of some of the original families of the region, based on the speaker’s research for her book. Upper Pittsgrove, Elmer, and Pittsgrove surveys the history of this region of Salem County, which has a rich three-century heritage dating back to the late 1600s.
Here, descendants of the original British, Dutch, French, and German colonists still live in the small villages and surrounding farmland that their ancestors cultivated.
Elwell is descended from some of the first settlers of Upper Pittsgrove, Elmer and Pittsgrove, and her family has lived in the region for more than 300 years. As her interest in genealogy grew, she became fascinated with the history of her homeland.
After writing a family history narrative, she became very involved with local history. She has served as president of the Genealogical Society of Salem County for three years, as well as writing the “Ancestors’ Attic” column of genealogical/historical articles in the Elmer Times. She was recently appointed as Upper Pittsgrove historian, and she is excited to do all she can to preserve the history of the region.
For more information about this free event, contact Elwell at genealogicalsocietysalemcounty@gmail.com or 609-670-0407"
The web site where I got this information is:
http://www.nj.com/salem/index.ssf/2013/10/genealogical_society_of_salem_county_to_host_program_on_families_of_upper_pittsgrove_elmer_and_pitts.html
Six Candlelight Tours for December 2013
The Nov/Dec issue of AAA's magazine SJ First has a two page article on Historic House Tours for the Holiday season. They listed 5 events and I can add another. In fact, I'll list my historic house first:
1.A Soldier's Life - December 6 and 7, Whitall House Red Bank Battlefield, National Park, NJ.
I couldn't give a more updated web site for you to check into, but here is their Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/whitallhouse
When I get more information, I'll post it here.
2.Woodstown, also Friday, Dec. 6th
www.woodstownbycandlelight.org
I've done this one before and really enjoyed it. I only went once, last year, but it is their 37th!
3.Salem "Yuletide Tour" Dec. 7 from 1 to 6pm
www.salemcitynj.com
Never took this one but I would like to. I LOVE Salem!
4.Greenwich has it's 45th on Sunday Dec. 8th and I go to this one EVERY YEAR and so do a number of the other docents at the Whitall House, as well as other friends of mine from other areas. We love this one.
Call 856-455-8580
5.Haddon Heights has done this for 29 years and features 5 homes. The hours are noon to 3:30 and in the evening on the same day, Dec. 6 from 6:30 to 10:00. Call 856-547-7132 for information.
I haven't ever done this one and as you can see, you can't do them all because they all seem to fall on the same weekend!
6. Mullica Hill Sat. Dec. 14 (hooray - someone broke out of the weekend pile up!) This one is in its 38th year and features many homes, churches, entertainment and crafts! Visit www.mullicahill.com for more info. This price for this one is $10. Some of the others have fees as well, and some may call for advance registration so it is best to check before you go.
Hope to see you under the twinkling lights at one of these events! I'll be working (as a volunteer at Whitall House, and visiting Greenwich, and possibly making Mullica Hill too.
Happy Trails and Happy Holidays! Jo Ann
1.A Soldier's Life - December 6 and 7, Whitall House Red Bank Battlefield, National Park, NJ.
I couldn't give a more updated web site for you to check into, but here is their Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/whitallhouse
When I get more information, I'll post it here.
2.Woodstown, also Friday, Dec. 6th
www.woodstownbycandlelight.org
I've done this one before and really enjoyed it. I only went once, last year, but it is their 37th!
3.Salem "Yuletide Tour" Dec. 7 from 1 to 6pm
www.salemcitynj.com
Never took this one but I would like to. I LOVE Salem!
4.Greenwich has it's 45th on Sunday Dec. 8th and I go to this one EVERY YEAR and so do a number of the other docents at the Whitall House, as well as other friends of mine from other areas. We love this one.
Call 856-455-8580
5.Haddon Heights has done this for 29 years and features 5 homes. The hours are noon to 3:30 and in the evening on the same day, Dec. 6 from 6:30 to 10:00. Call 856-547-7132 for information.
I haven't ever done this one and as you can see, you can't do them all because they all seem to fall on the same weekend!
6. Mullica Hill Sat. Dec. 14 (hooray - someone broke out of the weekend pile up!) This one is in its 38th year and features many homes, churches, entertainment and crafts! Visit www.mullicahill.com for more info. This price for this one is $10. Some of the others have fees as well, and some may call for advance registration so it is best to check before you go.
Hope to see you under the twinkling lights at one of these events! I'll be working (as a volunteer at Whitall House, and visiting Greenwich, and possibly making Mullica Hill too.
Happy Trails and Happy Holidays! Jo Ann
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Peek's Preserve & more...
Well, we found it, and you can too! Set your gps for millville, stay on 47 through the town, until you cross over 49. One and a half miles past that, just outside the city, you'll see the sign for Peek's Preserve on the right and a small parking lot. There is a nice little walking trail and a boardwalk overlook with a pretty view of the marshland along the Maurice River. There is also a 'field office' where you can get a brochure and trail map (which you don't really need) and there is a clean visitor's bathroom beside the parking lot.
My hiking buddy and I were a bit confused at two contrasting signs. One said this was a wildlife refuge, the other said it was hunting by permit. I don't know about you, but I thought 'REFUGE' meant no hunting. The ranger in the field office said it was okay, it was only bow hunting by permit. Well, just because it is quieter than bullets, bow hunting does not, to my mind, fit in the idea of REFUGE and as a hiker, I don't find it comforting. He gave us the usual talk on overpopulation of deer.
Nonetheless it is a nice little appetizer trail to a bigger hike at Maurice River Bluffs, which I have written about before. You go back into town, cross over the river (I think it may be 49) take the left after the WAWA, which I think is 555 and a left on Silver Run Rd. My sketchy directions however, can and should be supplemented by a trip on the internet via google to the site on the Maurice River Bluffs, which also offers a trail map for the bluffs - a BEAUTIFUL hike! We like about 3 miles or a hour, so the two together work well and don't forget lunch at Wildflowers. We had a delicious acorn squash soup.
Peek's Preserve offered about 1 and a half miles. You can get in a good hour at the bluffs with, again, the World War II bunkers and other interesting sites, and some beaches for picnics.
On a different topic:
A friend and fellow volunteer at Red Bank sent us this link to an article about our re-enactment at Red Bank Battlefield, just passed this last Sunday, if you'd like to read about it, here's the link:
http://www.nj.com/gloucester-county/index.ssf/2013/10/national_park_recreates_history_at_red_bank_battlefield.html#incart_river
If that doesn't work, (as I see it isn't in html format) try taking the first part and using that by cut and paste by itself.
Happy Trails!
Jo Ann
And don't forget you can always contact me at
wrightj45@yahho.com
pss. Thanks to all those who have sent comments. I find them very interesting and encouragine!
My hiking buddy and I were a bit confused at two contrasting signs. One said this was a wildlife refuge, the other said it was hunting by permit. I don't know about you, but I thought 'REFUGE' meant no hunting. The ranger in the field office said it was okay, it was only bow hunting by permit. Well, just because it is quieter than bullets, bow hunting does not, to my mind, fit in the idea of REFUGE and as a hiker, I don't find it comforting. He gave us the usual talk on overpopulation of deer.
Nonetheless it is a nice little appetizer trail to a bigger hike at Maurice River Bluffs, which I have written about before. You go back into town, cross over the river (I think it may be 49) take the left after the WAWA, which I think is 555 and a left on Silver Run Rd. My sketchy directions however, can and should be supplemented by a trip on the internet via google to the site on the Maurice River Bluffs, which also offers a trail map for the bluffs - a BEAUTIFUL hike! We like about 3 miles or a hour, so the two together work well and don't forget lunch at Wildflowers. We had a delicious acorn squash soup.
Peek's Preserve offered about 1 and a half miles. You can get in a good hour at the bluffs with, again, the World War II bunkers and other interesting sites, and some beaches for picnics.
On a different topic:
A friend and fellow volunteer at Red Bank sent us this link to an article about our re-enactment at Red Bank Battlefield, just passed this last Sunday, if you'd like to read about it, here's the link:
http://www.nj.com/gloucester-county/index.ssf/2013/10/national_park_recreates_history_at_red_bank_battlefield.html#incart_river
If that doesn't work, (as I see it isn't in html format) try taking the first part and using that by cut and paste by itself.
Happy Trails!
Jo Ann
And don't forget you can always contact me at
wrightj45@yahho.com
pss. Thanks to all those who have sent comments. I find them very interesting and encouragine!
Monday, October 28, 2013
Good Site Review Whitall House, Red Bank Battlefield, and more...
Yesterday we had our biggest event of the year at the Whitall House, Red Bank Battleifield. It was the Batttle of Red Bank Re-enactment, a very impressive affair if you are interested in history, the Revolution, South Jersey History or re-enactment.
I worked as docent in the surgery room of the house but had to leave early due to a head-cold.
One of the Whitall Descendant branches, Russ Worthington's family, comes to visit us from time to time and they were there yesterday. We keep in touch via e-mail and he sent me this site that he has put up about the house. It is very interesting and I wanted to pass it along:
http://worthy2be.wordpress.com/2012/09/17/the-whitall-house/
Today, a hiking buddy and I are going to find Peek's Preserve outside of Millville; we heard of it through our boat trips with Capt. Dave on the Maurice River and today we are going to actually walk the trail. I will let you know about it after I return from it. We are hoping it has gotten cold enough to force the ticks and chiggers into retreat as my hiking buddy was down with Lymes and has stayed out of the woods for the past couple of months.
Happy Trails!
Jo Ann
I worked as docent in the surgery room of the house but had to leave early due to a head-cold.
One of the Whitall Descendant branches, Russ Worthington's family, comes to visit us from time to time and they were there yesterday. We keep in touch via e-mail and he sent me this site that he has put up about the house. It is very interesting and I wanted to pass it along:
http://worthy2be.wordpress.com/2012/09/17/the-whitall-house/
Today, a hiking buddy and I are going to find Peek's Preserve outside of Millville; we heard of it through our boat trips with Capt. Dave on the Maurice River and today we are going to actually walk the trail. I will let you know about it after I return from it. We are hoping it has gotten cold enough to force the ticks and chiggers into retreat as my hiking buddy was down with Lymes and has stayed out of the woods for the past couple of months.
Happy Trails!
Jo Ann
Friday, October 25, 2013
EVENT & More
EVENT - This Sunday, October 27, 2013, don't miss the annual Re-enactment of the Battle of Red Bank at National Park, (not the Red Bank up north - OUR Red Bank on the Delaware!) Forgive me, those of you who are familiar with our South Jersey historic sites. You'd be surprised how many people think the Battle of Red Bank took place in Red Bank, up north. Anyhow, the Whitall house will be open for tours beginnning at 10:00 a.m. and there will be two periods of re-enactment complete with cannons roaring and rifles firing. I'll be giving tours in the room we call the Surgery, where we talk about Revolutionary Era medicine and the wounded of Red Bank. Hope to see you there! For more info:
100 County Road 642 National Park, NJ 08063
MORE: I think I mentioned in a blog some time ago that when I was a child, my Uncle Yock (Joseph Frederick Young) worked at the Ocean City Post Office as a mail sorter. Whenever he had postals with no addresses, he would put our family's address which was on Warnock Street, in South Philadelphia at that time (the late 1940's and early 1950's). That began my life-long interest in postcards and in mail related things such as stamps. I sold my stamp collection in the 1980's in one of my 19 moves. You will let go of a lot of treasure when you move often. Like an over burdened pack mule, you just can't carry one more thing up the mountain.
Anyhow, a coincident event was that I learned you could send a letter to a Chamber of Commerce at almost any city in the USA and you'd get a response, usually a large manila envelope with maps, brochuresand other interesting things, including once, a pen pal. To a child between the ages of 5 and 12, this was incredible power. You could travel the country by brochure, and that's just what I did. My parents were kind enough to allow me to tack up a huge map of the USA above my 'vanity' and they supplied me with stamps and I wrote to states as far away as Alaska and Texas.
Recently, I wrote an essay on that for my writers' club, Riverton Writers, and as an experiment, I wrote to St. Louis, Missouri Chamber of Commerce, to see if they were still there and still sent stuff, sixty years after my original experiement in this age of the internet. Today, in the mail, I got another large manila envelope with a glossy tour magazine, map and brochures to that city. I chose that city because I had just finished reading Undaunted Courage, about the Lewis and Clark expedition. In fact, Merriweather Lewis had just committed suicide at the end of the book, a day or two after I sent off to the Chamber of Commerce.
If you, too, have been a Lewis and Clark fan, and if you have wondered if he had been murdered or killed himself, and I have wavered between those two possibilities many times over the years when each new decade another essay came along purporting to prove one theory or another. I am convinced it was suicide and let that be a lesson to us all to maintain balanced lives and not overextend ourselves, especially if we have a family history of depression. My family history, fortunately is more riddled by enthusiasm that depression. We go up but rarely come down.
Write to a Chamber of Commerce of your choice and let me know what happens:
wrightj45@yahoo.com
I love to get stuff in the mail, don't you?
Happy Trails and Happy Mails, Jo Ann
100 County Road 642 National Park, NJ 08063
MORE: I think I mentioned in a blog some time ago that when I was a child, my Uncle Yock (Joseph Frederick Young) worked at the Ocean City Post Office as a mail sorter. Whenever he had postals with no addresses, he would put our family's address which was on Warnock Street, in South Philadelphia at that time (the late 1940's and early 1950's). That began my life-long interest in postcards and in mail related things such as stamps. I sold my stamp collection in the 1980's in one of my 19 moves. You will let go of a lot of treasure when you move often. Like an over burdened pack mule, you just can't carry one more thing up the mountain.
Anyhow, a coincident event was that I learned you could send a letter to a Chamber of Commerce at almost any city in the USA and you'd get a response, usually a large manila envelope with maps, brochuresand other interesting things, including once, a pen pal. To a child between the ages of 5 and 12, this was incredible power. You could travel the country by brochure, and that's just what I did. My parents were kind enough to allow me to tack up a huge map of the USA above my 'vanity' and they supplied me with stamps and I wrote to states as far away as Alaska and Texas.
Recently, I wrote an essay on that for my writers' club, Riverton Writers, and as an experiment, I wrote to St. Louis, Missouri Chamber of Commerce, to see if they were still there and still sent stuff, sixty years after my original experiement in this age of the internet. Today, in the mail, I got another large manila envelope with a glossy tour magazine, map and brochures to that city. I chose that city because I had just finished reading Undaunted Courage, about the Lewis and Clark expedition. In fact, Merriweather Lewis had just committed suicide at the end of the book, a day or two after I sent off to the Chamber of Commerce.
If you, too, have been a Lewis and Clark fan, and if you have wondered if he had been murdered or killed himself, and I have wavered between those two possibilities many times over the years when each new decade another essay came along purporting to prove one theory or another. I am convinced it was suicide and let that be a lesson to us all to maintain balanced lives and not overextend ourselves, especially if we have a family history of depression. My family history, fortunately is more riddled by enthusiasm that depression. We go up but rarely come down.
Write to a Chamber of Commerce of your choice and let me know what happens:
wrightj45@yahoo.com
I love to get stuff in the mail, don't you?
Happy Trails and Happy Mails, Jo Ann
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Lecture at the Library
A lecture will be given on "Hidden History in South Jersey" tomorrow night, Wednesday Oct 23 at 7:00 p.m. at the Cherry Hill Library. I've heard this author speak before, recently actually at the Ocean Co. Historical Society. He spoke about Harriet Tubman in Cape May. His is very personable and his lectures are fun and interesting. Hope to see you there!
Happy Trails, Jo Ann
To confirm call Phone - 856.667.0300
Happy Trails, Jo Ann
To confirm call Phone - 856.667.0300
Monday, October 21, 2013
Model Trains continued
There will be a model train show at the Burlington County Massonic Lodge, November 2 from 9:a.m. to 3 p.m.. The address is 2308 Mt. Holly Rd., Burlington Twp., NJ.
I will try to get there but I have a post-50th Reunion breakfast in Maple Shade that day. It may break up early enough to leave time to go over and if it does, I'll be happy to stop in and see the trains.
Even though the train museum is closed at Jim Thorpe, there is still the train ride and the train station, though I'm not sure when the train stops running. I know it is seasonal. My family always loved to take train rides, short though they usually were. We took several in W.Va. where my parents lived before they passed away and several in Pennsylvania like the Strasbourg Train ride. It is a fun thing to do especially this time of year.
A friend told me on the phone that there is a huge train display at a place called Roadside America. Don't know much about that but I'll look itup.
Okay, here's the link
http://www.roadsideamericainc.com/
And it is open September through the winter daily and costs about $7. It looks pretty far, though. They say they are about 40 miles from a few places that are over an hour from here, Gettysburg and Harrisburg, so I would guess it must be a 2 hour drive. For now, I think I'll stick with Burlington.
Happy Trails (If you want to take the train ride at Jim Thorpe, here is the info copied from their website. They warn you to call ahead, especially on weekdays, to make sure the train is open and running.
Jo Ann
I will try to get there but I have a post-50th Reunion breakfast in Maple Shade that day. It may break up early enough to leave time to go over and if it does, I'll be happy to stop in and see the trains.
Even though the train museum is closed at Jim Thorpe, there is still the train ride and the train station, though I'm not sure when the train stops running. I know it is seasonal. My family always loved to take train rides, short though they usually were. We took several in W.Va. where my parents lived before they passed away and several in Pennsylvania like the Strasbourg Train ride. It is a fun thing to do especially this time of year.
A friend told me on the phone that there is a huge train display at a place called Roadside America. Don't know much about that but I'll look itup.
Okay, here's the link
http://www.roadsideamericainc.com/
And it is open September through the winter daily and costs about $7. It looks pretty far, though. They say they are about 40 miles from a few places that are over an hour from here, Gettysburg and Harrisburg, so I would guess it must be a 2 hour drive. For now, I think I'll stick with Burlington.
Happy Trails (If you want to take the train ride at Jim Thorpe, here is the info copied from their website. They warn you to call ahead, especially on weekdays, to make sure the train is open and running.
Jo Ann
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the entire family for a spectacular one-hour train ride into the
beautiful Lehigh Gorge State Park. From the comfort of our historic
1920's era open window coaches, you can witness the grand sights
available only by train. Mountain vistas, trackside streams and flowing
rivers, and fellow adventurers enjoying hiking, biking and white water
rafting are just a few of the visual delights waiting for you on the
Lehigh Gorge Scenic Railway.
|
Former Central RR of New Jersey Train Station, Jim Thorpe, PA, 18229
570-325-8485 |
Saturday, October 19, 2013
Dinah Won't You Blow Your Horn! More train stuff
Bad News model train afficianados! I don't know how many of you ever visited the Model Train exhibit at Jim Thorpe, Pa., but I did and it was MAGNIFICENT! It even had a nighttime display where all the lights went down and the houses and trains lit up. I loved it! So I was planning to visit again this fall now that I'm to become the proud owner of an "N" gauge train set of my own, but the Train Exhibit is no more.
As of January 2012, they closed their doors forever. I'm glad I did get to see it at least once, but I'm heartbroken that I will never see it again. Anyone know of any other model train exhibits? My e-mail is wrightj45@yahoo.com
If I don't hear of any others, I'll ask at Mac's Trains. He probably knows where they are.
Jo Ann
As of January 2012, they closed their doors forever. I'm glad I did get to see it at least once, but I'm heartbroken that I will never see it again. Anyone know of any other model train exhibits? My e-mail is wrightj45@yahoo.com
If I don't hear of any others, I'll ask at Mac's Trains. He probably knows where they are.
Jo Ann
The Magic of Model Trains
Mac's Trains
Every day when I drive to Big Timber Creek to walk my dog, Trixie Belden, I pass a small store-front shop with trains and models in boxes and bins out front. I always mean to stop by because since childhood I have been a big fan of model trains, though from a distance..
When I was growing up in South Philadelphia in the 1950's, my father bought trains for my brother, two years younger than I am. Now, don't get me wrong, my brother loved the trains, but I adored them from afar not just because they were for him, but because they made an entire small world. We had the really big platform that you can imagine a gifted carpenter and an iron-worker such as my father was, would make. It took the major part of the living room with a tree to the ceiling. We had tunnels and mountains, lakes and a village, a skating pond and a great number of lead figures walking, skating, waiting in the train station.
The hosues were that glittering pasteboard type made in "occupied Japan" with waxed paper windows and a hole in the botttom so you cluld put Christmas lights in them and they would glow.
The magic of it all just entranced me. The sets grew as the years went by and my other brother, Neal, got his set. The trains would cross one another with heart-stopping speed. Truth be told, I never ASKED for a set, I simply privately loved them because I knew they weren't for girls. That doesn't mean that I, in any way scorned my dolls. I loved them too, it was just the power of those trains was magnetic. They raced around the track in all their weighty metal complexity. Once in awhile, I was allowed to drive the trains from the control box and that was an awesome responsibility. .
Adding to the magic was the tradition of the time and place, of putting everything up in one night after the children were put to bed. Armed with hammers, nails, industrial staplers, and my Godfather, Neal Schmidt, my mother's cooking and a case of beer, they would stay up all night to perform the magic every year on Christmas Eve and when we awoke on Christmas morning, there would be this entire tiny world and the whistle blowing train. Under the platform were the gifts, robots and trucks for my brother Joe, dolls and books and tea sets for me.
Eventually my father gave the train sets to my brothers who, less sentimental than I am, and into which category most people would belong, my brothers sold their train sets.
Well, you can't hold on to everything, as I have grown to understand myself.
Back to today, Saturday, October 17, on the way home from the Big Timber Creek dog park, I decided to pull over and drop in at the little train shop. Mac, the proprietor, gave me a tour and it was impressive. He had stacked platforms to allow him to display several kinds of train sets, Lionel and others, which I am too train ignormant to be able to name. The top set in a 3 tiered shelving area were enormous. But the star of the show to me was the middle set, just like the ones I knew growing up except this one not only blew a whistle and had smoke coming out the stack, but there were voices coming out of it giving orders to the train engineer. As much as I loved it, it is far too large for my house.
The little 'N' gauge, however looked just right and I'm going to buy it for myself for Christmas this year (or maybe even for my birthday which is in November. Mac kindly offered to help me with securing the tracks to a sheet of wood when I'm ready to buy my set. I'm so excited! In return, I told him I'd blog about his shop.
Mac's Trains
Buy Sell Trade
304 N. Black Horse Pike
Runnemede, NJ 08078
cell 856-725-5479
shop 856-939-0350
I can't wait to get started. I think I'll leave mine up the whole first year and simply change the landscape to match the season. I could have spring, then little boats on the pond in the summer, and snow in the winter.
Train Postcards
On another but relatd topic, as I mentioned before, I collect postcards and have been sending 30 of them to my daughter for her birthday. Recently, almost as if a prediction, I came across three train postcards, which I rarely to never see. Two of them are the Mount Royal train station, one a train passing through at Mount Royal and the other is a color postal of a train in the mountains in Pennsylvania.
I hope a new obsession isn't rooting itself in my heart. There is just too much to learn and know to get too deep into the model train hobby at this point in my life, though one 'N' gauge set seems modest enough.
Happy Trails! Can't You hear the whistle blowing?
Hope to see you at Mac's Trains one of these days! It is just in time for Christmas.
As it happens, I didn't have my camera with me but I'll go back and take some photos to post SOON!
And I'll post a pic of my new train set when I get it set up.
Every day when I drive to Big Timber Creek to walk my dog, Trixie Belden, I pass a small store-front shop with trains and models in boxes and bins out front. I always mean to stop by because since childhood I have been a big fan of model trains, though from a distance..
When I was growing up in South Philadelphia in the 1950's, my father bought trains for my brother, two years younger than I am. Now, don't get me wrong, my brother loved the trains, but I adored them from afar not just because they were for him, but because they made an entire small world. We had the really big platform that you can imagine a gifted carpenter and an iron-worker such as my father was, would make. It took the major part of the living room with a tree to the ceiling. We had tunnels and mountains, lakes and a village, a skating pond and a great number of lead figures walking, skating, waiting in the train station.
The hosues were that glittering pasteboard type made in "occupied Japan" with waxed paper windows and a hole in the botttom so you cluld put Christmas lights in them and they would glow.
The magic of it all just entranced me. The sets grew as the years went by and my other brother, Neal, got his set. The trains would cross one another with heart-stopping speed. Truth be told, I never ASKED for a set, I simply privately loved them because I knew they weren't for girls. That doesn't mean that I, in any way scorned my dolls. I loved them too, it was just the power of those trains was magnetic. They raced around the track in all their weighty metal complexity. Once in awhile, I was allowed to drive the trains from the control box and that was an awesome responsibility. .
Adding to the magic was the tradition of the time and place, of putting everything up in one night after the children were put to bed. Armed with hammers, nails, industrial staplers, and my Godfather, Neal Schmidt, my mother's cooking and a case of beer, they would stay up all night to perform the magic every year on Christmas Eve and when we awoke on Christmas morning, there would be this entire tiny world and the whistle blowing train. Under the platform were the gifts, robots and trucks for my brother Joe, dolls and books and tea sets for me.
Eventually my father gave the train sets to my brothers who, less sentimental than I am, and into which category most people would belong, my brothers sold their train sets.
Well, you can't hold on to everything, as I have grown to understand myself.
Back to today, Saturday, October 17, on the way home from the Big Timber Creek dog park, I decided to pull over and drop in at the little train shop. Mac, the proprietor, gave me a tour and it was impressive. He had stacked platforms to allow him to display several kinds of train sets, Lionel and others, which I am too train ignormant to be able to name. The top set in a 3 tiered shelving area were enormous. But the star of the show to me was the middle set, just like the ones I knew growing up except this one not only blew a whistle and had smoke coming out the stack, but there were voices coming out of it giving orders to the train engineer. As much as I loved it, it is far too large for my house.
The little 'N' gauge, however looked just right and I'm going to buy it for myself for Christmas this year (or maybe even for my birthday which is in November. Mac kindly offered to help me with securing the tracks to a sheet of wood when I'm ready to buy my set. I'm so excited! In return, I told him I'd blog about his shop.
Mac's Trains
Buy Sell Trade
304 N. Black Horse Pike
Runnemede, NJ 08078
cell 856-725-5479
shop 856-939-0350
I can't wait to get started. I think I'll leave mine up the whole first year and simply change the landscape to match the season. I could have spring, then little boats on the pond in the summer, and snow in the winter.
Train Postcards
On another but relatd topic, as I mentioned before, I collect postcards and have been sending 30 of them to my daughter for her birthday. Recently, almost as if a prediction, I came across three train postcards, which I rarely to never see. Two of them are the Mount Royal train station, one a train passing through at Mount Royal and the other is a color postal of a train in the mountains in Pennsylvania.
I hope a new obsession isn't rooting itself in my heart. There is just too much to learn and know to get too deep into the model train hobby at this point in my life, though one 'N' gauge set seems modest enough.
Happy Trails! Can't You hear the whistle blowing?
Hope to see you at Mac's Trains one of these days! It is just in time for Christmas.
As it happens, I didn't have my camera with me but I'll go back and take some photos to post SOON!
And I'll post a pic of my new train set when I get it set up.
Friday, October 18, 2013
Upcoming Event-Fossils at Inversand
This was just in my e-mail and I will certainly try to attend:
The Gloucester County Chapter of The Archaeological Society of New Jersey will meet
The Gloucester County Chapter of The Archaeological Society of New Jersey will meet
November 6th, Wednesday 6:00 P.M. at the West Deptford Public Library, 420 Crown Point
Road, Thorofare, New Jersey.
Our program title, Inversand "Dig", will be presented by Dr. Ken Lacovara from Drexel University.
This seminar will be about the fossils found at the Inversand Site located in Gloucester County.
All are welcome to share interest in this educational evening.
Thursday, October 10, 2013
Speaker and 'steps'-upcoming events
A speaker from the Mutter Museum will be at the Whitall House at Red Bank Battlefield to speak on 18th century medicine on Saturday 10/12/13 morning at 10:00.
To return the favor to our 'Mother City' Philadelphia, let me share with you this excellent web site and an event they are having later that same day in Phila. - a ceremony to install a plaque to commemmorate the steps on the waterfront directly ordered by William Penn.
http://hiddencityphila.org/2013/10/honoring-william-penns-steps-at-last/
Harry K. author of the web site "Hidden City" is a fine speaker and a brilliant and devoted historian of Philadelphia. I have his book on the watefront and have taken a course at Camden County College on that subject after being inspired by his lecture and book. Having been born in Philadelphia and raised there before moving to New Jersey for the rest of my life, I feel a kinship with that noble birthplace of American history.
I will be at the Whitall Hosue lecture, but must return home after that and will not be able to attend the waterfront dedication. Later that day is my 50th High School Reunion! Hard to beliee it was 50 years ago that I graduated from Merchantville High School (so long ago that it isn't a high school anymore).
If you have any questions or comments on any of this write me at - wrightj45@yahoo.com
Tomorrow evening I'll be at the Oaklyn Ritz Theater for August in Osage County. I'll write a review after the show but it'll be too late for you to see it because I believe it is the last night of the play. Anyhow the Ritz deserves a little essay too being a historic theater and one of the very few left still standing and operating.
Happy Trails! Jo Ann
To return the favor to our 'Mother City' Philadelphia, let me share with you this excellent web site and an event they are having later that same day in Phila. - a ceremony to install a plaque to commemmorate the steps on the waterfront directly ordered by William Penn.
http://hiddencityphila.org/2013/10/honoring-william-penns-steps-at-last/
Harry K. author of the web site "Hidden City" is a fine speaker and a brilliant and devoted historian of Philadelphia. I have his book on the watefront and have taken a course at Camden County College on that subject after being inspired by his lecture and book. Having been born in Philadelphia and raised there before moving to New Jersey for the rest of my life, I feel a kinship with that noble birthplace of American history.
I will be at the Whitall Hosue lecture, but must return home after that and will not be able to attend the waterfront dedication. Later that day is my 50th High School Reunion! Hard to beliee it was 50 years ago that I graduated from Merchantville High School (so long ago that it isn't a high school anymore).
If you have any questions or comments on any of this write me at - wrightj45@yahoo.com
Tomorrow evening I'll be at the Oaklyn Ritz Theater for August in Osage County. I'll write a review after the show but it'll be too late for you to see it because I believe it is the last night of the play. Anyhow the Ritz deserves a little essay too being a historic theater and one of the very few left still standing and operating.
Happy Trails! Jo Ann
Sunday, October 6, 2013
My favorite cemeteries and why
My four favorite cemeteries are Eglington in Mount Royal, the Newton Friends Burial Ground near the old train station in West Collingswood, The Stranger's Burial Ground in West Deptford and the Mount Vernon Street Cemetery in Camden.
Only one of these is a favorite for aesthetic reasons and that would be Eglington, the oldest still functioning cemetery in the United States, begun in 1776 by John Eglington whose family plot is near the Kings Highway entrance at Mount Royal. It is a beautiful and evocative place, nice to walk in and visit.
Whoops, I lied, I have another which I CANNOT leave out Harleigh Cemetary in Camden.
Old Quaker Burial Ground.
1. Collingswood
The first Quakers in the area settled along Newton Creek in what is now Collingswood. A house of one of the founders, Thackara, is still standing and still occupied with brick work on the roof that says
1754. The Quakers were there in the late 1600's and they had a burial ground near their original meeting house which is now gone and replaced by a train station. The railroad is very important in the
directions. The railroad runs parallel to the White Horse Pike on the West Collingswood side of town. Collings Ave. intersects it. If you take Collings Ave, cross over White Horse pike and cross over the
railroad track. On the right is a small refurbished one room school called the Champion School dating to 1812, but originally called the Union School. To the left is Lynne Ave. and an old train station.
The grassy area runs paralel to the train tracks. At the back corner next to the Newton Creek is the oldest burial ground with stones embedded in a concrete fence and the oldest broken stones thrown into
the center. One of the Quakers was married to a non-member and they wouldn't allow her to be buried there so he started another burial next door, the Sloan family burial ground. There is a plaque that tells the story.
Next to that is the Revolutionary Burial ground filled with members of both the Thackara family and and the Sloans. And that leads back to the Train station.
Now on the other side of the railroad is an apartment complex on Eldridge Ave. (which crosses over to both sides of the railroad.) On Eldridge is the old Thackara house.
When the Quakers moved, they went to the Camden area and built the Newton Meeting which is still there. It is near the bridge approach on the Rutgers side,
I remember seeing it but I can't place it accurately in my mental map now. They wanted to take their burial stones but the local historians wouldn't permit it and that is why they are still in Collingswood.
The Strangers Burial Ground in Deptford and the Ashbook in Glendora are both sites where dead Hessian soldiers were interred after teh Battle of Red Bank, where 300 to 400 of them fell in a 40 minute period in a failed attempt to take Fort Mercer. I visit them because I feel sorry for those young men dead in a foreign place with their families never knowing what happened or where they were and never able to visit their graves. Since I have Hessian ancestors from the 1840's not the Revolutionary Period, I sometimes feel a 'kinship' duty to visit with them.
Harleigh I love because it is majestic and a gem of a setting. Also it is where my favorite poet, is buried, Walt Whitman of course, and right behind it is the Camden County Historical Socity and Pomona Hall - home place of the Cooper family founders of the Camden area.
I'm posting this because it is Halloween and the time to consider the other side of this world.
Happy Trails and if you know of a cemetery I should visit, let me know and I'll go!
wrightj45@yahoo.com
ps. Don't forget to visit Hoag Levins article on the Camden County Historical Society and Museum Site - it is excellent!
pss. One of these days I've got to get to the National Cemetery in Beverly, NJ because my Grandmother Lyons is buried there.
Only one of these is a favorite for aesthetic reasons and that would be Eglington, the oldest still functioning cemetery in the United States, begun in 1776 by John Eglington whose family plot is near the Kings Highway entrance at Mount Royal. It is a beautiful and evocative place, nice to walk in and visit.
Whoops, I lied, I have another which I CANNOT leave out Harleigh Cemetary in Camden.
Old Quaker Burial Ground.
1. Collingswood
The first Quakers in the area settled along Newton Creek in what is now Collingswood. A house of one of the founders, Thackara, is still standing and still occupied with brick work on the roof that says
1754. The Quakers were there in the late 1600's and they had a burial ground near their original meeting house which is now gone and replaced by a train station. The railroad is very important in the
directions. The railroad runs parallel to the White Horse Pike on the West Collingswood side of town. Collings Ave. intersects it. If you take Collings Ave, cross over White Horse pike and cross over the
railroad track. On the right is a small refurbished one room school called the Champion School dating to 1812, but originally called the Union School. To the left is Lynne Ave. and an old train station.
The grassy area runs paralel to the train tracks. At the back corner next to the Newton Creek is the oldest burial ground with stones embedded in a concrete fence and the oldest broken stones thrown into
the center. One of the Quakers was married to a non-member and they wouldn't allow her to be buried there so he started another burial next door, the Sloan family burial ground. There is a plaque that tells the story.
Next to that is the Revolutionary Burial ground filled with members of both the Thackara family and and the Sloans. And that leads back to the Train station.
Now on the other side of the railroad is an apartment complex on Eldridge Ave. (which crosses over to both sides of the railroad.) On Eldridge is the old Thackara house.
When the Quakers moved, they went to the Camden area and built the Newton Meeting which is still there. It is near the bridge approach on the Rutgers side,
I remember seeing it but I can't place it accurately in my mental map now. They wanted to take their burial stones but the local historians wouldn't permit it and that is why they are still in Collingswood.
The Strangers Burial Ground in Deptford and the Ashbook in Glendora are both sites where dead Hessian soldiers were interred after teh Battle of Red Bank, where 300 to 400 of them fell in a 40 minute period in a failed attempt to take Fort Mercer. I visit them because I feel sorry for those young men dead in a foreign place with their families never knowing what happened or where they were and never able to visit their graves. Since I have Hessian ancestors from the 1840's not the Revolutionary Period, I sometimes feel a 'kinship' duty to visit with them.
Harleigh I love because it is majestic and a gem of a setting. Also it is where my favorite poet, is buried, Walt Whitman of course, and right behind it is the Camden County Historical Socity and Pomona Hall - home place of the Cooper family founders of the Camden area.
I'm posting this because it is Halloween and the time to consider the other side of this world.
Happy Trails and if you know of a cemetery I should visit, let me know and I'll go!
wrightj45@yahoo.com
ps. Don't forget to visit Hoag Levins article on the Camden County Historical Society and Museum Site - it is excellent!
pss. One of these days I've got to get to the National Cemetery in Beverly, NJ because my Grandmother Lyons is buried there.
Saturday, October 5, 2013
Hidden History of South Jersey Revisted and Expanded
I just got word that Cherry Hill Library will host a lecture on Hiden History of South Jersey, so the author who spoke today at Cape May County Historic Society Museum is doubtless the speaker, and if you missed him today, you can hear him:
October 23rd, Lower Level Conference Center 1:00 p.m. and I just checked YES it is Gordon Bond
Contact: Cherry Hill Historical Commission 856-488-7886
The last lecture I attended was FASCINATING - Cherry Hill: Looking Below the Surface (of Cherry Hill)
Hope to see you there - Happy Trails! Jo Ann
October 23rd, Lower Level Conference Center 1:00 p.m. and I just checked YES it is Gordon Bond
Contact: Cherry Hill Historical Commission 856-488-7886
The last lecture I attended was FASCINATING - Cherry Hill: Looking Below the Surface (of Cherry Hill)
Hope to see you there - Happy Trails! Jo Ann
Cape May County Museum Lunch and Lectures
Today I enjoyed two excellent lectures at the Cape May Co. Museum:
Dorothy Stanaities did her excellent piece "Remember The Ladies" which focused on women of the Am. Rev. period. She is vivacious, entertaining, and has all her information down pat - a great treat.
Gordon Bond did a lecture on Harriet Tubman that was very good indeed. It was from his book The Hidden History of South Jersey From the Capitol to the Shore. He, also, gave an excellent and informative talk. We had lunch under the trees on the grounds and the summer, seashore breeze blew under clear skies and leaves just beginning to be burnished by the retreating sun. It was a splendid day in every way.
I have bought Bond's book and can't wait to read it but I am falling behind being a slow reader and I'm only 1/3 through Undaunted Courage, the Lewis and Clark Expedition, so you won't bet a review for a long tim.
Book of Ages is next in line, the story of Benjamin Franklin's sister Jane Mecom.
I'm just now wading through the armload of newlsetters, newspapers, brochures and flyers that I took from the CMCMuseum and if I see anything of special interest you'll see it here tomorrow. I would have told you about this earlier, but I didn't know too far ahead of time where I was going or what was happening there - I only knew I was going to the seashore with a friend.
Dorothy Stanaities did her excellent piece "Remember The Ladies" which focused on women of the Am. Rev. period. She is vivacious, entertaining, and has all her information down pat - a great treat.
Gordon Bond did a lecture on Harriet Tubman that was very good indeed. It was from his book The Hidden History of South Jersey From the Capitol to the Shore. He, also, gave an excellent and informative talk. We had lunch under the trees on the grounds and the summer, seashore breeze blew under clear skies and leaves just beginning to be burnished by the retreating sun. It was a splendid day in every way.
I have bought Bond's book and can't wait to read it but I am falling behind being a slow reader and I'm only 1/3 through Undaunted Courage, the Lewis and Clark Expedition, so you won't bet a review for a long tim.
Book of Ages is next in line, the story of Benjamin Franklin's sister Jane Mecom.
I'm just now wading through the armload of newlsetters, newspapers, brochures and flyers that I took from the CMCMuseum and if I see anything of special interest you'll see it here tomorrow. I would have told you about this earlier, but I didn't know too far ahead of time where I was going or what was happening there - I only knew I was going to the seashore with a friend.
Thursday, October 3, 2013
Sites of interest
You may already be signed up for these web sites or you may not have heard of them, so I'm sharing them with you. First is a newly updated Revolutionary war site of great interest and, I think, well done. Perhaps it grew out of the recent series of meetings on this topic which I wish I could have attended. However, my sister is currently without a car and I have to drive her to work four or five days a week and my travels have been somewhat curtailed. Family first!
Site #1
http://www.revolutionarynj.org/place/red-bank-battlefield-park-nhl/
In season with the month of Halloween and recognition of the world of the dead, here is a GREAT cemetery essay. I have visited all the cemeteries in this excellent essay by Hoag Levins and it did give puase to think not only of our mortality and our forebears, but also about the preservation of their last resting places.
site #2
http://historiccamdencounty.com/ccnews81.shtml
Also check out thei home page of the Camden County Historical Society - always interesting
http://cchsnj.com/
Also I regularly receive and read e-mail digests from (site #3) Ghost Towns of Southern New Jersey. In today's digest there was a note of this upcoming event:
Monday, October 7, 2013, 8:00 PM at the
Bud Duble Senior Center
33 Cooper Folly Road
Atco, NJ 08004 (Across from Winslow Township Middle School and
next to the library)
I'll write more later and post some photos from Pennsbury and Red Dragon Canoe Club, but I've got to get the dog over to the Big Timber Creek Dog Park now. We are entranced by the beauty of the autumn weather.
Happy Trails!
Jo Ann
wrightj45@yahoo.com
ps. Feel free to add to the list of sites by e-mailing your favorites to me and I'll post them
Site #1
http://www.revolutionarynj.org/place/red-bank-battlefield-park-nhl/
In season with the month of Halloween and recognition of the world of the dead, here is a GREAT cemetery essay. I have visited all the cemeteries in this excellent essay by Hoag Levins and it did give puase to think not only of our mortality and our forebears, but also about the preservation of their last resting places.
site #2
http://historiccamdencounty.com/ccnews81.shtml
Also check out thei home page of the Camden County Historical Society - always interesting
http://cchsnj.com/
Also I regularly receive and read e-mail digests from (site #3) Ghost Towns of Southern New Jersey. In today's digest there was a note of this upcoming event:
Monday, October 7, 2013, 8:00 PM at the
Bud Duble Senior Center
33 Cooper Folly Road
Atco, NJ 08004 (Across from Winslow Township Middle School and
next to the library)
I'll write more later and post some photos from Pennsbury and Red Dragon Canoe Club, but I've got to get the dog over to the Big Timber Creek Dog Park now. We are entranced by the beauty of the autumn weather.
Happy Trails!
Jo Ann
wrightj45@yahoo.com
ps. Feel free to add to the list of sites by e-mailing your favorites to me and I'll post them
Thursday, September 26, 2013
Pennsbury Manor
To understand New Jersey history a littel better, sometimes you have to cross the river. The Whitall History Readers' Book Club took a field trip this week to Pennsbury Manor, just outside of Bristol, Pa.
For information contactwww.pennsburymanor.org
Pennsbury is open from August to December 2013. Our tour guide had been a military history man until he came to Pennsbury Manor, so knowing that we were from Red Bank Battlefield, we established an instant raport. He was one of thos extraordinary docents who can tell just how much information to offer. Since we are all sincere and enthusiastic history researchers, we were interested in EVERYTHING he had to tell us about the complex and fascinating William Penn.
There are 14 sites to visit at Pennsbury Manor including a museum with a gift shop. The house tour was very interesting.
If you ar driving and have a gps, the address is 400 Pennsbury Memorial Rd., Morriville, Pa. 19057,
phone 215-946-0400
My personal favorites were the Brew House in the kitchen outbuilding, where there were many tools I have never seen before including a 'hatchell' of which I have been curious because I have a special interest in fibers. It has been my hope to someday learn spinning and weaving, and I have already tried knitting. It seems magical to me that people learned how to turn a stiff fibrous grassy plant into flax fiber and then into yarn on a spindle and finally into linen. What a laborious process! The flax was harvested, most likely by scythe, then soaked, then 'hatchelled' then stripped though a tool the name of which I have forgotten, then the fibers were spun and the spindle, when full went to the weaver. My generation of chldren like many before me, were raised on fairytells that involved princesses making weaving deals with jealous and cunning little people with magic powers to turn straw into gold. They got their fingers pricked on spinning wheels and all sorts of adventures ensued. Natrurally, I always wanted to see spinning wheels.
We had lunch at nearby Bristol at the King George Tavern located at 102 Radcliffe St. The King George is the oldest continuously operating tavern in the COUNTRY. It was built in 1765 and was the headquarters of General Cadwalader during the Revolution. Among the predictable tavern fair food choices there are delicious vegetarian options available. I had potato soup and a hummus and avocado wrap both of which were delicious.
Bristol itself, boasts 50 historic sites on a self-guided tour brochure available at the King George Tavern. We didn't have time on this trip, but if you start out early and have a whole day available to you, the places on the list look interesting.
For information contactwww.pennsburymanor.org
Pennsbury is open from August to December 2013. Our tour guide had been a military history man until he came to Pennsbury Manor, so knowing that we were from Red Bank Battlefield, we established an instant raport. He was one of thos extraordinary docents who can tell just how much information to offer. Since we are all sincere and enthusiastic history researchers, we were interested in EVERYTHING he had to tell us about the complex and fascinating William Penn.
There are 14 sites to visit at Pennsbury Manor including a museum with a gift shop. The house tour was very interesting.
If you ar driving and have a gps, the address is 400 Pennsbury Memorial Rd., Morriville, Pa. 19057,
phone 215-946-0400
My personal favorites were the Brew House in the kitchen outbuilding, where there were many tools I have never seen before including a 'hatchell' of which I have been curious because I have a special interest in fibers. It has been my hope to someday learn spinning and weaving, and I have already tried knitting. It seems magical to me that people learned how to turn a stiff fibrous grassy plant into flax fiber and then into yarn on a spindle and finally into linen. What a laborious process! The flax was harvested, most likely by scythe, then soaked, then 'hatchelled' then stripped though a tool the name of which I have forgotten, then the fibers were spun and the spindle, when full went to the weaver. My generation of chldren like many before me, were raised on fairytells that involved princesses making weaving deals with jealous and cunning little people with magic powers to turn straw into gold. They got their fingers pricked on spinning wheels and all sorts of adventures ensued. Natrurally, I always wanted to see spinning wheels.
We had lunch at nearby Bristol at the King George Tavern located at 102 Radcliffe St. The King George is the oldest continuously operating tavern in the COUNTRY. It was built in 1765 and was the headquarters of General Cadwalader during the Revolution. Among the predictable tavern fair food choices there are delicious vegetarian options available. I had potato soup and a hummus and avocado wrap both of which were delicious.
Bristol itself, boasts 50 historic sites on a self-guided tour brochure available at the King George Tavern. We didn't have time on this trip, but if you start out early and have a whole day available to you, the places on the list look interesting.
Thursday, September 19, 2013
Two things to do this weekend September 21/22, 2013
On Saturday, you can attend the Burlington County Historians' Roundtable at the historic Red Dragon Canoe Club, located 221 Edgewater Ave., Edgewater Park, NJ 609-387-9817. The original Red Dragon Canoe Club was founded in 1883 by Woodward Norgrave. They moved to the building they now inhabit in 1925. That's a hundred and thirteen years of operation! Pretty commendable.
On Sunday the 22, we have Field Day at the Whitall House, Red Bank Battlefield, National Park, NJ. If you haven't seen the upstairs yet, come early and take a tour. It is Soldiers Weekend - a new event and I'll have to see what that means. I'll be on duty from 12:30 to 3:00 probably in the museum room.
My Weimaraner Lab Mix, Trixie, and I spent the morning at the Big Timber Creek Dog Park which was gorgeous - what absolutely intoxicating weather! If you have any cobwebs in your head, go hike the trails at the BTCDP and let the fresh air of the woodland trails blow them away. You don't need a dog to hike the bridle paths. Coming from the Camden direction on the Black Horse Pike, make a left onto Chews Landing Road, then in 20 miles another left into the drive of the clearly marked park.
If you do have a dog, I recommend you go early, as on weekends the park gets crowded in good weather.
I've finished the 1300 page novel Sacajewea, very well researched and now I've begun Undaunted Courage, about the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
Happy Trails! Jo Ann
On Sunday the 22, we have Field Day at the Whitall House, Red Bank Battlefield, National Park, NJ. If you haven't seen the upstairs yet, come early and take a tour. It is Soldiers Weekend - a new event and I'll have to see what that means. I'll be on duty from 12:30 to 3:00 probably in the museum room.
My Weimaraner Lab Mix, Trixie, and I spent the morning at the Big Timber Creek Dog Park which was gorgeous - what absolutely intoxicating weather! If you have any cobwebs in your head, go hike the trails at the BTCDP and let the fresh air of the woodland trails blow them away. You don't need a dog to hike the bridle paths. Coming from the Camden direction on the Black Horse Pike, make a left onto Chews Landing Road, then in 20 miles another left into the drive of the clearly marked park.
If you do have a dog, I recommend you go early, as on weekends the park gets crowded in good weather.
I've finished the 1300 page novel Sacajewea, very well researched and now I've begun Undaunted Courage, about the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
Happy Trails! Jo Ann
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
#10 and final note on the CCC in New Jersey Plus GSoSC
A fellow history buff told me about this letter written by a veteran of teh CCC, called "It's a Great Life" by Robert L. Miller. Find the letter at this link (copy and paste):
http://new deal.feri.org/ccc/ccc009.htm
It really sums of the experience of the CCC from an insider and makes me wish we had a such a program today for our out of work young people. At the end of the poignant letter he writes "I enrolled as a boy, unsteady, groping, unsure. I wanted something but could not describe it or discover a means for attaining it. Then I discovered what it was I was seeking. It was the right to call myself a man. My life at camp had given me that right, and I shall be ever grateful to President Roosevelt and the CCC.
WANT TO KNOW MORE?
Middlesex County Cultural and Heritage Commission presents:
GOT WORK? New Deal/WPA in New Jersey Lecture Series
Sunday, Sept. 29, 2013 1:30 and again at 3:00 plus
Kathleen Duxbury discussing the CCC Sunday, Nov. 3, 2013 at 2:00 p.m.
East Jersey Olde Towne Village, 1050 River Rd., Piscataway, NJ (free - but registration required by mail at above address)
Last night I went to the Salem Co. Genealogical Society Lecture series, the first of the year (with Harry Schaeffer, a fellow docent at the Whitall House Red Bank Battlefield) where Jim Schulte presented on 350 years of New Jersey history.
The audience is very historically well educated and interested. He divided us into groups and gave us a large sheet of oak tag and a marker. Then we were given a couple of minutes to write down historical sites or events or figures for each letter of the alphabet. After each letter, we shared what we had written. Needless to say with such an audience, there were many new and very interesting items. It was so much fun. Often at the many courses and lectures I attend, a presenter lectures and all around the room, you see heads dropping. This time, everyone was fully engaged and having a ball. I think most of us learned something new.
Happy History!
http://new deal.feri.org/ccc/ccc009.htm
It really sums of the experience of the CCC from an insider and makes me wish we had a such a program today for our out of work young people. At the end of the poignant letter he writes "I enrolled as a boy, unsteady, groping, unsure. I wanted something but could not describe it or discover a means for attaining it. Then I discovered what it was I was seeking. It was the right to call myself a man. My life at camp had given me that right, and I shall be ever grateful to President Roosevelt and the CCC.
WANT TO KNOW MORE?
Middlesex County Cultural and Heritage Commission presents:
GOT WORK? New Deal/WPA in New Jersey Lecture Series
Sunday, Sept. 29, 2013 1:30 and again at 3:00 plus
Kathleen Duxbury discussing the CCC Sunday, Nov. 3, 2013 at 2:00 p.m.
East Jersey Olde Towne Village, 1050 River Rd., Piscataway, NJ (free - but registration required by mail at above address)
Last night I went to the Salem Co. Genealogical Society Lecture series, the first of the year (with Harry Schaeffer, a fellow docent at the Whitall House Red Bank Battlefield) where Jim Schulte presented on 350 years of New Jersey history.
The audience is very historically well educated and interested. He divided us into groups and gave us a large sheet of oak tag and a marker. Then we were given a couple of minutes to write down historical sites or events or figures for each letter of the alphabet. After each letter, we shared what we had written. Needless to say with such an audience, there were many new and very interesting items. It was so much fun. Often at the many courses and lectures I attend, a presenter lectures and all around the room, you see heads dropping. This time, everyone was fully engaged and having a ball. I think most of us learned something new.
Happy History!
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