Yesterday, my hiking pal Barbara Spector, my other hiking pal, Trixie the Lab, and I set off for Millville once again.
You may remember from the last Millville trip that Trixie got a piece of wood lodged in the roof of her mouth and we had to cut our Maurice River Bluffs hike short to get her taken care of. So we were eager to get back and really hike the bluffs. There are numerous trails, we had tried the relatively short blue trail and this time we took the red trail.
The red trail wound around the bluff tops and through the woods and finally we made our way down to a beach where a dozen or so family people were swimming and picnicing with their dogs. They were friendly and we chatted for awhile. Dogs are a great ice braker and people who have dogs seems to be friendlier than most. The woman who greeted us first told us to check out the World War II bunkers. We followed the trail to them and sure enough there were two enormous round bunkers and a ruin from some other structure that may have been gun emplacements. I couldn't fnd a door to the bunkers but broken plates rusted on the sides made me think there may have been ladders to a top where a drop down kind of door arrangement might have been. It made you ponder that period when our coast was in danger from invasion and the rivers leading from the Atlantic to the interior could have been used by the enemy to strike at our cities. There were emplacements at Red Bank Battlefield too, to defend the Delaware. And I visited a World War II tower at Cape May as well.
The hiking trail went up and down ravines and along the water meadows beside the Maurice River giving beautiful views. It was a super hike.
We had another delicious lunch at Wildflower Earthly Vegan Fare again, 501 N. High Street. This time we had the eggplant wraps and cole slaw. It was the best cole slaw I've ever eaten! Next, we visited Bogart's Book Store and I bought a family history memoir called "It's Been a Long Long Time" by Marianne Lods. It is the story of her search for family history and her mother's work in the Belgian Resistance. Her father served in the army during World War II. Since I do family history too and my father was also a vet, I thought it might be an interesting read, and I applaud her effort both to find her family history and to make a book and publish it!
We also strolled along the charming river walk in town. A kayak was gliding down the river and I was kicking myself for not having my camera in my pocket, but I did have it on the bluffs hike and so I can post a photo or two of the World War II bunkers.
This is a wonderful day trip that I recommend to anyone who likes the woods, history and small New Jersey towns. Have lunch, visit the books store, hike the bluffs and enjoy a marvelous day in Millville!
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