Today, Monday, August 24, I spent a delightful day at Pakim Pond in Brendan Byrne Forest, hiking around the pond and admiring the cabins. However, what I wanted to write about today is my trip yesterday to the Gibbon House Museum in Greenwich.
To be honest, I never set out to go to Greenwich, in fact, I was headed to Aldine to photograph a log cabin I passed there once a long time ago. First I stopped for Moods Blueberry Pancakes at the Blue Plate Cafe in Mullica Hill, Yummmmmm!
I was traveling with a pal, Gail K. and I mentioned Greenwich and she had never been there so we set the gps (though I know the route by heart) and set off. What a glorious day for a drive in the country, though it was distressing to see how dry the corn fields were. Along with the cool mornings, the browning of the corn has been another signal that autumn, my favorite season, isn't far off. Through the fields and past the fine old farms we drove on the peaceful and mainly untraveled route 77 to Bridgeton, ver the little bridge, past the old church and cemetery, left turn, right turn and the long road to Greenwich.
We came in the back way which gave me a chance to take yet another photo of the Hicksite Quaker Meeting House, the Stone one room school, and the building that my have been the original school for African American children near Othello. We made an honoring nod to Ambury Hill and the Civil War veterans buried there, then on down Ye Greate Street to the Gibbon House.
Our tour guide, Andrew, a historian, member of the Cumberland County Historical Society and student at Rutger's Camden, my own 2nd alma mater, gave us a superb tour. He had the gift for the unusual fact, the interesting tidbit and avoiding the periol of the knowledgeable which is to tell more than the visitor may wish to hear. He had exactly the right amount of information and a warm and friendly delivery. I would say he was an OUTSTANDING tour guide.
All the upstairs rooms were open for this tour, so we saw the room devoted to the Ware Chair manufacture, the clothes from the Fithian ancestors, the toy room, the magnificent quilt collection, the Civil War Room and many things I haven't seen since my first museum tour many years ago. Often during the Open House tours, the upstairs is closed.
Tomorrow, I will add photos to this entry but now, I must rest as my long drive and hike have tuckered me out! I understand the museum is open Tuesday thrugh Sunday now, so you shoul go while you can. And ask about new findings in regard to my FAVORITE of all log cabins!
Happy Trails,
Jo Ann
Monday, August 24, 2015
Friday, August 14, 2015
Two Great Days of fun Things To Do - end of summer
Yesterday, Thursday, I drove to Ocean City and was delighted to find the Ocean City Historical Society Museum, located in the Library complex at 17th and Stimpson open for a visit. I LOVE this museum. There are period rooms and period clothes, maps and all kinds of interesting memorabilia. We had a warm and charming volunteer guide named Dorothy White who was perfect, in that she provided information in a very unobtrusive and delicate way so that you enjoyed her companionship. My favorite things from the past have always been the Sindia china and the stained glass window, but there were such beautiful dresses this time that I stood mesmerized thinking of the handiwork of the long ago seamstresses who made them.
http://www.oceancitylibrary.org/
Today, Friday, August, 14, I met two friends for lunch at Curtin's Wharf, a perfect day for it because it was balmy and breezy and not a batteringly, blisteringly hot day such as we have had recently. Today was 82 with no humidity and the outdoor ambience of the Wharf was delightful. We drove over to Burlington City afterwards to visit the Antique Emporium http://www.antiquesnj.com/
What I most wanted, I could not have but I SHOULD have taken a photo and I did not.
But here is an image from the internet. I had, since childhood thought of these tin toys as water wheels, but I realized they are ferris wheels! I have always loved them but t the antique emporium, they were $450 and $350! Way out of my spending bracket. So I just look at admire! What I did uy, however was a homemade one room school house. It was actually part of a village and I would have loved to have provided a home for this clever and painstakingly carefully made balsa wood project, but I have no space and my cats knock over everything, so I stopped at the schoolhouse because it will be my decorating motif for September, apples and one room schoolhouses. Also I bought two wooden apples, very handsome. The house was only $10 and the apples were $5 each.
Before I left Burlington, I stopped to take a photo of the James Fennimore Cooper birthplace and the Captain Lawrence of "Don't Give Up the Ship" fame. I checked on the internet to see if James Fennimore Cooper was related to the Cooper family founders of Camden and ancestors of Ann Whitall of Red Bank Battlefield and he is indeed a descendant of this trunk of Coopers. I am reading a handsome hard-bound early library edition of the three novels: The Pioneers, Deerslayer, The Prairie, from which The Last of the Mohicans was adapted. I saw the Danield Day Lewis recent version of the movie a week or two ago and it has been on my mind ever since.
Happy Trails!
Jo Ann
http://www.oceancitylibrary.org/
Today, Friday, August, 14, I met two friends for lunch at Curtin's Wharf, a perfect day for it because it was balmy and breezy and not a batteringly, blisteringly hot day such as we have had recently. Today was 82 with no humidity and the outdoor ambience of the Wharf was delightful. We drove over to Burlington City afterwards to visit the Antique Emporium http://www.antiquesnj.com/
What I most wanted, I could not have but I SHOULD have taken a photo and I did not.
But here is an image from the internet. I had, since childhood thought of these tin toys as water wheels, but I realized they are ferris wheels! I have always loved them but t the antique emporium, they were $450 and $350! Way out of my spending bracket. So I just look at admire! What I did uy, however was a homemade one room school house. It was actually part of a village and I would have loved to have provided a home for this clever and painstakingly carefully made balsa wood project, but I have no space and my cats knock over everything, so I stopped at the schoolhouse because it will be my decorating motif for September, apples and one room schoolhouses. Also I bought two wooden apples, very handsome. The house was only $10 and the apples were $5 each. Before I left Burlington, I stopped to take a photo of the James Fennimore Cooper birthplace and the Captain Lawrence of "Don't Give Up the Ship" fame. I checked on the internet to see if James Fennimore Cooper was related to the Cooper family founders of Camden and ancestors of Ann Whitall of Red Bank Battlefield and he is indeed a descendant of this trunk of Coopers. I am reading a handsome hard-bound early library edition of the three novels: The Pioneers, Deerslayer, The Prairie, from which The Last of the Mohicans was adapted. I saw the Danield Day Lewis recent version of the movie a week or two ago and it has been on my mind ever since.
Happy Trails!
Jo Ann
Tuesday, August 4, 2015
History on Your Hometown Corner and a movie sparks a memory: Log Houses
1. Today, I went to my bank, Bank of America, on the corner of Monmouth and Broadway in Gloucester City, NJ. I have gone to a bank on this corner for decades, and for a decade or two before that, on the other corner of the intersection. The names of the banks of changed several times over the years. I went there because I taught school in Gloucester City, and back in the old days, we had paper checks that we cashed at the bank and deposited to our accounts. Now, don't misunderstand me, I have no regret over direct deposit. I LOVE IT! And I adore ATM. I cannot tell you how many times I was somewhere away from home and out of cash after bank hours, like at the seashore. These improvements have vastly improved my banking experience.
Anyhow, today, while I was transacting business with the accounts manager, he mentioned that there had been an old school on the corner before the bank was built. I remembered the old neighborhood schools, the Broadway School, the Highland Park School and my personal favorite, the Brown Street School, but the Monmouth Street School burned down before I graduated from high school. It burned in 1960. The accounts manager was kind enough to find a photo of the old school for me. The photos he gave me had originally been part of a "Then and Now" Series in the Courier Post.
2. Last night I was watching an old favorite movie of mine, The Last of the Mohicans, which has made me cry for about 50 years or more. The author of the book, James Fennimore Cooper, lived at 457 High St. in Burlington City, NJ, and I have visited his home which is a museum many times over the years. It is also adjacent to the Capt. James Lawrence House. To visit either of these houses or the fascinating Burlington City Historical Museum housed in the Corson Poley Library behind the houses, go to this website:
http://www.burlingtoncountyhistoricalsociety.org/index.php/plan-your-visit/
or call
For more on that topic, check out this site on the Nothnagle Log Cabin:
http://www.nj.com/gloucester-county/index.ssf/2014/10/six_things_you_might_not_know_about_the_oldest_log_cabin_in_the_united_states_new_jerseys_nothnagle.html
Nothnagle Cabin
Today I dried my tears over the death of the two youngest characters in The Last of the Mohicans and threw off my sorrow by hiking around Pakim Pond twice, so beautiful and visiting the cabins. I thought I might like to rent one for my birthday, but no dogs allowed, so NO.
Happy Trails!
Jo Ann
ps. Here is movie info on the Last of the Mohcans
A number of films have been based on the lengthy book, making various cuts, compressions, and changes. The American adaptations include:
Anyhow, today, while I was transacting business with the accounts manager, he mentioned that there had been an old school on the corner before the bank was built. I remembered the old neighborhood schools, the Broadway School, the Highland Park School and my personal favorite, the Brown Street School, but the Monmouth Street School burned down before I graduated from high school. It burned in 1960. The accounts manager was kind enough to find a photo of the old school for me. The photos he gave me had originally been part of a "Then and Now" Series in the Courier Post.
2. Last night I was watching an old favorite movie of mine, The Last of the Mohicans, which has made me cry for about 50 years or more. The author of the book, James Fennimore Cooper, lived at 457 High St. in Burlington City, NJ, and I have visited his home which is a museum many times over the years. It is also adjacent to the Capt. James Lawrence House. To visit either of these houses or the fascinating Burlington City Historical Museum housed in the Corson Poley Library behind the houses, go to this website:
http://www.burlingtoncountyhistoricalsociety.org/index.php/plan-your-visit/
or call
Phone:(609) 386-4773
All my life, possibly as a result of loving Lincoln Logs, I have had a passion for log houses and have written several blog entries
A number of films have been based on the lengthy book, making various cuts, compressions, and changes. The American adaptations include:
A number of films have been based on the lengthy book, making various cuts, compressions, and changes. The American adaptations include:
- a 1912 version starring James Cruze,
- The Last of the Mohicans (1920), starring Wallace Beery;
- The Last of the Mohicans (1932), a serial version starring Harry Carey;
- The Last of the Mohicans (1936) starring Randolph Scott and Bruce Cabot;
- Last of the Redmen (1947) starring Jon Hall and Michael O'Shea;
- The Iroquois Trail (1950) starring George Montgomery
- Last of the Mohicans (1963) starring Jack Taylor. Jose Marco, Luis Induni and Daniel Martin;
- The Last of the Mohicans (1992), starring Daniel Day-Lewis.
What I may not have mentioned is that I was fortunate enough to find a fascinating study of log house in America called THE LOG CABIN IN AMERICA. from Pioneer Days to the Present by C. A. Weslager. It almost made me miss the end of the movie because I got so caught up in reading the chapter on Southern NJ log cabins. The Rank Log Cabin used to be called he oldest Swedish log cabin in America until it was discovered that the type of notching for the connection of the logs was a Finnish tradition, not a Swedish style. The settlement of the Finns is a long forgotten fact of South Jersey history. Since Finns have a tradition of burning old cabins when they build new ones, there are few really old cabins of Finnish construction left in the world.
For more on that topic, check out this site on the Nothnagle Log Cabin:
http://www.nj.com/gloucester-county/index.ssf/2014/10/six_things_you_might_not_know_about_the_oldest_log_cabin_in_the_united_states_new_jerseys_nothnagle.html
Nothnagle Cabin
Today I dried my tears over the death of the two youngest characters in The Last of the Mohicans and threw off my sorrow by hiking around Pakim Pond twice, so beautiful and visiting the cabins. I thought I might like to rent one for my birthday, but no dogs allowed, so NO.
Happy Trails!
Jo Ann
ps. Here is movie info on the Last of the Mohcans
A number of films have been based on the lengthy book, making various cuts, compressions, and changes. The American adaptations include:
- a 1912 version starring James Cruze,
- The Last of the Mohicans (1920), starring Wallace Beery;
- The Last of the Mohicans (1932), a serial version starring Harry Carey;
- The Last of the Mohicans (1936) starring Randolph Scott and Bruce Cabot;
- Last of the Redmen (1947) starring Jon Hall and Michael O'Shea;
- The Iroquois Trail (1950) starring George Montgomery
- Last of the Mohicans (1963) starring Jack Taylor. Jose Marco, Luis Induni and Daniel Martin;
- The Last of the Mohicans (1992), starring Daniel Day-Lewis.
Saturday, August 1, 2015
PlacesToGoThingsToDo: Pakim Pond
Today, around 11:00 a.m., I was on my way to visit a friend in Sewell, when I drover over an overpass over Rt. 42, the highway to the shore. It was a log-jam, not moving, and cars were spilling off onto the exits all around my town which is bordered by Black Horse Pike to the North, 42 to the South, Rt. 130 to the West and 295 to the East. I decided to call my friend and cancel and go to Pakim Pond instead. I'm happy to report that Rt. 70 (which can also become blocked) was not crowded, and the drive to the circle where you pick up Rt. 72 which fast, sane, and peaceful. My dog and I listened to NPR enroute.
There was a great gardening show, "You Bet Your Garden" and they talked about a subject dear to my heart. So many conventional thinkers are slaves to the green grass lawn, when there are many attractive and more natural and more appropriate alternatives. A caller was trying to rid his shady, sandy, yard of wild violets. He had poisoned everything, the dandelions, the buttercups, but he wasn't able to kill the wild violets. The gardener subjected that since his shady, sandy yard was in no way appropriate for a green grass lawn, he should embrace what grew there and was both beautiful and edible instead! I didn't know the wild violet was edible but I wanted some for my shady and sandy backyard which is a natural woodlands landscape style, as is my front. I have things that survival well without human intervention in the kind of environent natural to my property, sandy, shady, and dry (I don't waste water). I have holly shrubs, rose of sharon, day lillies, Chinese money plant, lily of the valley and many other fragrant and beautiful plants. Which brings me to my "places to go" segment:
On Friday, two friends and I were trying to think of a fun place to go that was not the seashore, due to traffic conditions, and we decided to go to Peddler's Village in Pa. I had never been there before. Now I am not a big shopper, though I do like to browse craft stores and get ideas for things to make. After about 6 stores, I sad on benches under shady trees and enjoyed the marvelous landscaping, and I mean GORGEOUS! The flowers were in full abundant glory, and the arrangements around special and beautiful trees were simply magnificent. Peddler's Village itself is much like Smithville, near the seashore, but the landscaping alone is well worth a visit. Sit in the white gazebo and let the flowers entertain you!
On the subject of beauty, the stained glass windows at the Train Depot Cafe in Woodbury have long enchanted me. My father did stained glass work and I have always admired it though it is too hard for my hand strength or my interest and too dependent on machinery for my personal preference. That's why I love painting - just a brush, paints and the canvas. Anyhow, I finally asked the folks at the cafe where the stained glass came from, and it was The Iron Buttterfly, which I browsed on-line. Simply stunning art-work in glass.
Today, my dog Trixie and I enjoyed two walks around Pakim Pond in Brendan Byrne State Forest. It was COOL and peaceful and always utterly magical in beauty. I met some people there who offered my dog water and me a sandwich which I didn't take because I had already eaten lunch, but their generosity and hospitality was warming and inspiring. I praised them for their good sense in coming to the woods instead of trying to wade through the mass of cars on the way to the shore. They told me they were from the shore and escaping the crowds!
On another subject, have you seen the tv show ALONE? My sister called me and I binge watched all 7 episodes last night. Ten men are stranded on the shores of a wilderness area of Alaska and challenged to remain as long as they could, till the last man, with their choice of ten items to help them survive. They seam to have chosen, ax, saw, knife, tarp, rope, pots, fishing nets, and were also burdened with camera recording equipment. If they remain, they win $500,000. By the episode where I fell asleep, only two men were left. What would be on your list of must have items to survive in the wilderness of the Pacific Northwest? I chose ax, rain suit, first aid kit, sack of oatmeal with dried berries, scout cook-kit, rope, tarp, knife, mospito net, firestarter flint, book of edible plants and mushrooms, That's eleven, I know. I couldn't decide which one to jettison. Anyhow, it reminded me of the first settlers and what they were up against, and an abiding interest of mine, log cabins. One, Lucas, was in the process of building a log cabin, when he stopped and built a canoe instead. I was so disappointed. If I were in the North and it was late fall, I'd get a log cabin ready asap. It reminded me of the very early Swedish cabins, outside of Swedesboro, near Salem, and down in Greenwich. They are short but sturdy and built to withstand snow and time.
Happy Trails!
Jo Ann
ps. I'll add photos tomorrow
There was a great gardening show, "You Bet Your Garden" and they talked about a subject dear to my heart. So many conventional thinkers are slaves to the green grass lawn, when there are many attractive and more natural and more appropriate alternatives. A caller was trying to rid his shady, sandy, yard of wild violets. He had poisoned everything, the dandelions, the buttercups, but he wasn't able to kill the wild violets. The gardener subjected that since his shady, sandy yard was in no way appropriate for a green grass lawn, he should embrace what grew there and was both beautiful and edible instead! I didn't know the wild violet was edible but I wanted some for my shady and sandy backyard which is a natural woodlands landscape style, as is my front. I have things that survival well without human intervention in the kind of environent natural to my property, sandy, shady, and dry (I don't waste water). I have holly shrubs, rose of sharon, day lillies, Chinese money plant, lily of the valley and many other fragrant and beautiful plants. Which brings me to my "places to go" segment:
On Friday, two friends and I were trying to think of a fun place to go that was not the seashore, due to traffic conditions, and we decided to go to Peddler's Village in Pa. I had never been there before. Now I am not a big shopper, though I do like to browse craft stores and get ideas for things to make. After about 6 stores, I sad on benches under shady trees and enjoyed the marvelous landscaping, and I mean GORGEOUS! The flowers were in full abundant glory, and the arrangements around special and beautiful trees were simply magnificent. Peddler's Village itself is much like Smithville, near the seashore, but the landscaping alone is well worth a visit. Sit in the white gazebo and let the flowers entertain you!
On the subject of beauty, the stained glass windows at the Train Depot Cafe in Woodbury have long enchanted me. My father did stained glass work and I have always admired it though it is too hard for my hand strength or my interest and too dependent on machinery for my personal preference. That's why I love painting - just a brush, paints and the canvas. Anyhow, I finally asked the folks at the cafe where the stained glass came from, and it was The Iron Buttterfly, which I browsed on-line. Simply stunning art-work in glass.
Today, my dog Trixie and I enjoyed two walks around Pakim Pond in Brendan Byrne State Forest. It was COOL and peaceful and always utterly magical in beauty. I met some people there who offered my dog water and me a sandwich which I didn't take because I had already eaten lunch, but their generosity and hospitality was warming and inspiring. I praised them for their good sense in coming to the woods instead of trying to wade through the mass of cars on the way to the shore. They told me they were from the shore and escaping the crowds!
On another subject, have you seen the tv show ALONE? My sister called me and I binge watched all 7 episodes last night. Ten men are stranded on the shores of a wilderness area of Alaska and challenged to remain as long as they could, till the last man, with their choice of ten items to help them survive. They seam to have chosen, ax, saw, knife, tarp, rope, pots, fishing nets, and were also burdened with camera recording equipment. If they remain, they win $500,000. By the episode where I fell asleep, only two men were left. What would be on your list of must have items to survive in the wilderness of the Pacific Northwest? I chose ax, rain suit, first aid kit, sack of oatmeal with dried berries, scout cook-kit, rope, tarp, knife, mospito net, firestarter flint, book of edible plants and mushrooms, That's eleven, I know. I couldn't decide which one to jettison. Anyhow, it reminded me of the first settlers and what they were up against, and an abiding interest of mine, log cabins. One, Lucas, was in the process of building a log cabin, when he stopped and built a canoe instead. I was so disappointed. If I were in the North and it was late fall, I'd get a log cabin ready asap. It reminded me of the very early Swedish cabins, outside of Swedesboro, near Salem, and down in Greenwich. They are short but sturdy and built to withstand snow and time.
Happy Trails!
Jo Ann
ps. I'll add photos tomorrow
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