Maurice River Bluffs Trail Map

Link to the Maurice River Trail Map
The Conservancy is off of Silver Run Road - best to try your gps.  I did get directions from where I live off the internet.

http://www.njhiking.com/nj-hiking-maps/maurice-river-bluffs/Maurice-Bluffs-Trail-Map.pdf

Mishap on the Maurice!

Yesterday, my friend Barbara Spector, and my dog Trixie and I found the Maurice River Conservancy and hiked the blue trail down over one of the bluffs along the river.  We had a great time, Barbara swimming in the river and Trixie fetching sticks, then, suddenly, my dog was whining and clawing at her muzzle.  Barbara is a trained animal shelter volunteer so she held her and opened her mouth and I felt around her teeth and under her tongue and at the end of her mouth near her throat.  We felt certain she had a piece of wood lodged in her mouth somewhere because she chews the sticks she fetches.  I found nothing, and she kept crying and clawing her muzzle so I though maybe it was in her throat.  I wanted to get her something to eat and see if she could swollow so we left the woods and headed to Wawa.  She seemed fine while she was walking but she kept salivating and from time to time, she'd drop to the gound and claw her muzzle again and whine.
In the car, outside the Wawa, I fed her a container of yoghurt which I thought might sooth her throat and take down whatever was stuck.  Failing that, I figured it was a trip to the emergency Vet and another $500 (been there done that before).
We could hear a clicking noise and Barb said she could see something in her mouth, so she held her head and opened her mouth again and suggested I try feeling the roof of her mouth.  There it was, an inch and a half of wood firmly lodged across the roof of her mouth.  I pulled it out and she was instantly better, but our hike was over for the day at Maurice River, anyway.
On the road, we felt recovered and decided to visit our old stand-by hiking spot Parvin State Park.  It was filled with happy families swimming and grilling fragrant foods and playing music.  What a great way for a family to vacation.  You don't need sto spend all that money to ride roller coasters - Nature is where it's at!
People were canoeing and kayaking and everyone was happy.
For really excellent information and pictures try this blog:  ( wish I had seen it before I went!
http://gonehikin.blogspot.com/2013/05/maurice-river-bluffs-nature-preserve-nj.html

18th C. Medicine Expert

Now here is a lady I'd like to hear speak again:  Nancy Webster.  I heard her in 2010 at the Hancock House Massacre Re-enactment, a very worthy event to attend.  I was trying to find out how to contact her because she was so extraordinary, I never forgot her.  All I could find so far (and great thanks to Alicia Bjornson for the info on her name which I had forgotton) was a short piece on another presentation she had done:

Bel Air's Hays House Museum Presents 'Medical Care in the 18th Century Quaker Community'

April 10, 2012

Visit the Hays House Museum in Bel Air Sunday at 1 p.m. and explore the health issues and illnesses that plagued 18th century women and children. Visitors will see a display of historic medical equipment and find out about herbal medicines, midwifery practices and Quaker contributions to medicine, surgery and dentistry. Your guide to the fascinating art and mystery of medical practices and theories of the time is Nancy Webster, a Past Masters history interpreter who has studied 18th century domestic life and Quaker material culture for more than 40 years.

 ________________________________________________________

So, this took place last year and the Hays House is in Bel Air, Maryland so I wouldn't have known about the presentation or been likely to attend at that distance, though she would have been worth the trip.  She was not only lively and colorful in her presentation, wh had such great gear - all kinds of authentic and genuine 18th century containers and implements.  I hope to be able to reach her at some point or find another place where she is presenting in THIS year 2013 or next 2014.  When I do, you'll hear from me.

The James and Ann Whitall House Speaker Series 2013

At the James and Ann Whitall House in Red Bank Battlefield, on August 7th from 5 to 7 p.m., Dr. David Barnes of the Univ. of Pa. will be presenting on the Yellow Fever epidemic followed by audience questions and answers and discussion.  Hope to see you there!  Call to reserve a spot.  I just did.

Also in the Speaker Series, on October 12 at 10:a.m. Ann Dhody from the Mutter Museum will present on mkdwifery.

 Call to reserve a spot as space is limited 856-853-5120

Hope to see you theere!  Happy Trails

ps.  Tomorrow and friend and I are off to Cruise the Maurice River with Captain Dave.  We'll be taking the 1 to 3 cruise preceeded by lunch at the vegan restaurant Wildflowers.  I'm bringing my binoculars because we ALWAYS see eagles! 

First Time EVER! Upstairs at Whitall House!

Today, the Whitall House is open for our monthly field day and for the first time ever, two of the upstairs rooms will be open to the public at 15 minute intervals.  Only 5 people at a time can go up due to egress issues and the fire marshall but if you can't get up, call for an appt. or visit during open days Thurs - Sun 1-4.

Also, a speakers series has been arranged at the Whitall House - great progress has been happening at our site::
Next - August 7th from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. David Barnes of the Univ of Penn will present on Yellow Fever, followed by audience Questions/Answers and Discussion.  The woman of the house Ann Whitall, died of yellow fever in the late 1790's at the age of 81. 
Oct. 2th from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., The Mutter Museum's Anna Dhody will be giving a presentation on midwifery followed by QA and Disc.  If you are a fan of Call the Midwife on Ch. 12, as I am. you won't want to miss this lecture!
Call 856-843-5120 to reserve a spot or e-mail jjanofsky@countyco.gloucester.nj.us

Hope to see you there!

Also, a quick Vegan/Vegetarian not:  At the historic Woodbury Train Station built in 1883, I had the most delicious veggie burger.  I'm more of a salad lover, generally, but this burger was noteworthy.  Also, I'm delighted to see every restaurant I patronize has now a robust and growing vegan/vegetarian list of items.
Noteworthy as well, The Ocean Cafe in Ocean City, on the boardwalk, excellent fresh food always and also a nice assortment of vegan/vegetarian selections.  Bon appetit!

Happy Trails,'
Jo Ann

Buzby's Chatsworth General Store

If you have never stopped by, do it now!  There is still time to meet Marilyn Schmidt.  Marilyn runs the store and is also a prolific writer and has self printed/bound and pubished many of her own works on the Pine Barrens.  She is currently working on a book on glass.  Marilyn was honored at last year's Lines on the Pines event.  She is a remarkable, charming and gracious woman.

Marilyn has finally come to the time in her life when she wants to make a permanent retirement.  She retired once before, then she bought the store and engaged in a whole new career supporting Pine Barrens artists and saving Pine Barrens history and lore (and recipes).

I love that store.  I have bought art, carved birds, tree ornaments, cranberry products such as fudge and chocolate covered cranberries, and many many other things - many of her books.

My sister told me the year I did my Christmas shopping there, it was her favorite gifts ever.  I bought all cranberry things fo rher - a cookbook, jams, chocolate covered cranberries, and at another place, some cranberry wine.

The store is charming and a great place to stop by after a long hike in the woods.

The store is up for sale, so if you are looking for a new career, Marilyn would also like to see someone open the cafe in ther again!

ContactBuzby's Chatsworthe General Store
P. O.l Box 607
First St. & Rt. 563
Chatsworth, NJ 08019-007
609-894-4415

Pine Barrens Press   Barnegat Light Press    Cheshire Cat Gifts
I believe hours are Wed. Thurs. Fri. and Sat., but call before you go to check.

Murphy's Book Loft, Mullica Hill

Have you seen the Lewis and Clark program on Channel 12 on Tuesday nights the past two weeks?  I've been reading Sacajewa, by Anna Lee Waldo.  It is an excellent historical novel - a most extensive portrait of a significant figure in our history and her people.  It goes very well with the course on new world explorers I've been taking at Camden County College, taught by Judy Okun.  She is a brilliant teacher who combines human history with weather history, geography, environmental and ecological concepts, and gives the most interesting comprehensive view of whatever subject she is teaching.  I've taken three courses with her.  She actually has a following.  Many people in her class say they will take whatever she teaches because she is so good.

Anyway, I went to Murphy's Book Loft after class to get a copy of a coffee table book on the Lewis and Clark Expedition that I thought I remembered seeing there a long time ago.  Also I wanted to see how it was developing now that it is under new management. 

Unfortunately, I couldn't find the book I wanted but, of course, I found three others that I wanted instead:
a handsome coffee table book called The West, by Geoffrey Ward, a paperback called The Uncommon Soldier in the Revolution, and Of Batsto and Bog Iron.  All of these came to a total of $15! 

Then I got a bargain desk chair at Belia copy center, which is THE BEST copy center there is.  They are fast, reliable and very reasonable on any of the many kinds of copying and spiral bound book copy work that I have done there.  They are located on Broad as you enter Woodbury from the north. The chair was $20.  This is a funny coincidence because I had been eyeing their desk chairs for a couple of years but they were too expensive at $69 to $99 (reasonable, I guess, but more than I wanted to spend).  The last time, I asked myself, "What would you WANT to spend on a desk chair?" and the answer came "$20" just like a wish answered, there appeared a dozen or so 2nd hand and nearly perfect desk chairs for $20 each, so I had to grab one while they still had them.  There is now only one left.

At Murphy's the woman at the resgister and I bemoaned the fate of books and book stores.  I don't want an e-reader  I don't want to read on an electronic device.  I want a book, preferably a hard bound book, and I want to underline and highlight and xerox pages, and put it in my bookshelf and get it again later, and maybe even lend it to someone who shares my interest.

I hope it is not the case that books and book stores become another one of those things that I look back on with nostalgia.  So, go to Murphy's and help them stay open.  They don't have as many books as they used to have and SADLY the monumental collection of magazine they had (which I LOVED) has gone into storage, but there is still enough there for a serious book lover to find a book to adopt.  Happy Shopping!
Jo Ann
The Loft of Mullica Hill 856-478-4928, 53 N. Main St., Mullica Hill, NJ 08042 the loft 53@gmail.com
www.murphysloftbooks.com

July 13 Carranza memorial & more

The Carranza memorial site is in the Wharton State Forest.  The Mexican Lindburgh crashed in 1928 on his return flight to Mexico in a sudden storm.  Many hikers have come across the monument and wondered about Emileo Carranza.  I saw a fabulous film made by a Rutgers filmmaker and lecturer named Emmons, at the Pineland Preservation Alliance sometime near the debut of the film in 2007.  Emmons received an aware for his film as he richly deserved. 

If you don't get the Courier Post, I can tell you that in the Sunday, July 14th issue, there was a color photo and a short piece about a commemorative ceremony on Saturday, July 13, the 85th anniversary of the young and heroic Mexican pilot's sudden crash in the Pinebarrens during a storm. 

Upcoming EVENT, this Sunday is the Whitall House monthly Field Day at which an upstairs room will be open for the first time.  The theme for the room will be Yellow Fever (which killed Ann Whitall) and midwifery.  If you are free you should drop by for this historic event.  Hundreds of people over the years have asked about the upstairs rooms, here is the first opportunity to see one of the upstairs rooms, beautifully furnished and staged for your visit. 

Best Swimming Hole in the Pines

First of all let me admit that no one could say that one swimming hole in the Pines is the BEST because it all depends on what the seeker deems to be the best attributes of a swimming hole - what are you looking for in a swimming hole? 

Today, however was the Most Perfect Pinelands Day I could have imagined.  My purpose today was to teach my Lab/Weimaraner Mix, Trixie Belden, how to swim.  I adopted her in January and I think she had little to no previous swimming experience and possibly no woods experience at all.  Needless to say that all changed the day she came to live with me.  We are in Big Timber Creek Dog Park every single day (only missed 6 in 7 months due to weather)  and at least once a week we are in the Pine woods, usually at Parvin State Park but also, we like Whitesbog, Atsion, and my personal favorite, the Cranberry Trail from Pakim Pond to the Ranger Station at Brendan Byrne State Forest (3 miles).

It became apparent with the warm weather that Trixie, despite her breeding, could not swim;  that is, she probably can swim but doesn't know that she can.  So, I decided that when the weather was right, and with the help of a friend, I would take her to a Pines pond, lake or river and show her that she can do it.
We started off today at Pakim Pond and by chance there was a guitarist there - YES, it is true - he was, to quote Joni Mitchell "Playing real good for Freeeee" and he was playing my favorite song, Neil Young's "Harvest Moon."  So we listened while we had our picnic lunch looking at the beautiful Pakim Pond, my personal vote for prettiest pond in the Pines.  Then, already dressed in our swim suits, my volunteer buddy, Barb Spector, and I walked into the black black water of Pakim Pond with our unwilling dog friend, Trixie.  She will go out to her elbows and no farther, despite the examples of other dogs, and coaxing, and toys.  So I picked her up at her upper torso and walked her on her hind legs out into deeper water - my waist height and her back height, and when I let her down, she did indeed do a clumsy splashing dog paddle back to the beach, where she then carefully avoided me for some time. Trixie's first swimming lesson.
We repeated this unsatisfying experiment several times and then decided to find cleaner water, Pakim Pond (posted NO SWIMMING ALLOWED) smelled bad like rotting vegetation.
On our way to Batsto, we drove through Chatsworth and found that Buzby's General Store was open.  I like to stop there when I can and chat with Marilyn Schmidt, writer, storekeeper, and Pinelands entrepreneur extraordinaire.  More on that tomorrow.  I'll stop here by saying that I did buy the cranberry fudge with walnuts in it - there's goes the diet AGAIN.

We took 563 and stopped next at Harrisonville Lake (water hole #2) which was too crowded and I feared there might be some who would complain about swimming with a splashing and shaking-the-water-off dog, so we went further down the road to the Hawkins Road and Godfrey Bridge boat launch into the Wading River.  Here the sand was clean and the fast running water was sweet smelling and cool but Trixie still did not want to swim.  I coaxed her out with treats, and forced her out on her hind legs again and kept her out in the moving stream with her leash while kayakers and canoeists looked at me wonderingly.  I found myself explaining over and over again that I was teaching my dog to swim, and over and over people insisted "dogs already know how to swim." (Trixie's second swimming lesson)

This was the perfect spot - not too crowded, shallow, clean and the people were friendly.
The highlight for Trixie, though short lived, was when she found chicken bones and crab shells in the crook of a tree, but other humans ratted her out and I took her away before she could get a bone stuck in her throat or intenstines, and dragged her out into the water again. 

Did she have a good time (I"m not sure).  Did I?  YES!  I loved this day.  It was my idea of the perfect day.
It reminded me of those long gone days of my teen years when we would pile into the car of one of the two boys in the neighborhood who were resourceful and clever enough to learn auto mechanics so they could buy and fix an old wreck.  We would drive out into the Pines and find a quarry or a swimming hole and hang out there all day.  It was a dream of mine that with retirement, I would learn once again, how to "hang out" for a day, just lounge around in a summer dream.  If I'd had a picnic chair to sit in the river at the Wading River put-in spot at Godfreys Bridge, today, I would have been able to do that.  And I could have tied the dog's leash to the chair and she could have sat out there too.

Do you have a favorite swimming hole?  Tell me about it and I'll list them wrightj45@yahoo.com
I didn't forget Atsion Lake, I was only talking about free and off limits spots today.  There are several at Batsto, but the day ran out before w could get there.  Wel'll go back.  Trixie still doesn't know how to swim.

12 Revolutionary Events in Our part of the state of New Jersey

As most people who are interested in the Revolutionary War are well aware, though New England and Valley Forge have become famous for Revoltionary War events, our state was what many call The Cockpit of the Revolution.  Literally hundreds of battles and skirmishes took place in South Jersey.   But this should't be a competition.  There is more than enough history to be shared by everyone.  I jsut wish a greater light shown on the suffering and courage of the people of our state in this crucial period of our history.  I'm going to write an essay with a brief description of the events in the folowing list, but to celebrate  today, 4th of July 2013, I'm beginning by posting this list of a dozen historic Revolutionary War sites and events:

1.  The Tea Burning in Greenwich 1774
2.  The Battle of Red Bank ( which includes in the context of the fight for the Delaware River, the taking of     Billingsport.
3.  Pivateers in the Pines and the beginning of the end for Benedict Arnold
4.  The Battle of Chestnut Neck 1778
5.  Cornwallis in Woodbury 1777
6.  The Battle of Quinton's Bridge 1778
7.  The Massacre at Hancock's Tavern 1778
8.  The Hessians at White hill, Fieldsboro 1778
9.  The Battle of Iron Works Hill, 1778
10.The Battle of Gloucester Towne starring the Marquis de Lafayette 1777
11.The Indian King Tavern and Statehood 1777
12.Mad Anthony Wane's Cattle Drive from Salem County to Valley Forge winter '77/78

Now I'm off to walk the dog before the parade starts in my town.  When I have time, later, I'll finish a short essay describing the above, all of which are sites I have visited and you can too!  Another fun thing to do in South Jersey, especially in July to get in the spirit to celebrate the 4th.  I have always wanted to write that pamphlet length short description.  Enjoy the holiday and Happy Trails!  Jo Ann

A Fun Thing for the 4th

I'm so glad to be able to post again.  Sadly, my computer got straightened out too late to post about the Joseph Bonaparte lecture, but I'm still in time to post this notice from the Indian King Tavern in Haddonfield:

HIP, HIP, HUZZAH!

 

SEE YOU ON THE 4TH OF JULY. 

 

THE DOORS OF THE INDIAN KING TAVERN WILL BE OPEN TO THE PUBLIC FROM

9 A.M. TO 3 P.M.

 

PUBLIC READING OF THE DECLARATION AT 9:30A.M.

 

I used to be a volunteer docent at the Indian King Tavern but I put all but the Whitall House and Gloucester County Historical Society Library aside to focus on my health   I had gotten so busy with all my 6 historic sites and volunteer work that I no longer did the daily walking, shopping for vegetables and fruits and salad preparation that I had done previously to maintain a healthy weight and physical fitness.  Now, I'm back to a nearly vegan diety, a yoga class, and half a day hiking in the woods with my dog Trixie every day, and a longer big woods hike once a week.  I'm feeling much better but I do miss my old friends and the beautiful old houses.  So, now, I just go as a visitor.

No walk today, we were all set and then the rain came down!  I thought of going anyway but the dog park is a sea of mud when we get a lot of rain.

My little house was hand built in the 1940's by a single man.  It is a small bungalow with one room for each purpose - one bedroom, a kitchen, living room, attic for storage, and a back room that I added that was alternately a  bedroom for my daughter, an office, a studio, and now is a guest room.  The house is all one floor (except the storage attic and the bathroom size basement which houses the heater, washer and dryer), but I have a lovely large yard.  The yard is pie shaped with a small triangular front and a back that borders 5 other yards. I have 18 big old trees, several maples, several pines I planted from root balled Christmas trees which survived, and lots of hollies and junipers.  I was born in 1945, at the end of the war and the house was built 2 years later, so we are almost the same age.  Both of these events, have, naturally given me some interest in World War Ii and that whole era.  

We used to have a World War Ii encampment in the summer at the Whitall House, but something happened, I think it involved money.  That was a lot of fun.

Well, glad to be back talking to you and glad my daughter was able to solve this vexing problem.  In case you missed the previous post- The problem was internet explorer, my browser.  Now I have Mozilla Firefox. 

By the way, one other thing about my house.  It was built on a landfill over a small stream, perhaps a tributary of Newton (which is nearby) or Timber Creek (also nearby).  When we get a lot of rain, the stream comes back to life in the basement.  Twice now, the sump pump that shifts it out of the basement and back to the underground rivers, has gone bad and I have been flooded.  This time, a new plumber came along and replaced it while some natural phenomena kept the water seeping out via the well where the dead sump pump once lived, so I didn't flood.

I have enlarged my text in case you, like me, are wearing reading glasses and struggling with the small type.

Happy trails!  Jo Ann