A TRUE FRIEND - If you are like me and fall in love with PLACES, you will understand how happy I was today when a true friend volunteer to take me to visit a place I loved from the first moment I laid eyes on it: BAYSHORE DISCOVERY CENTER, in Bivalve, New Jersey.
At one time, Bivalve was a busy, wealthy, thriving community of oyster fishermen, and rich people's summer vacation homes. Hundreds of box cars rolled in and out of Bivalve each day carrying oysters to Philadelphia and New York. It was a golden harvest until the mid 1950's when a bacteria was brought in via bilge water in ships and infested the oysters and killed them. Almost overnight the devastation destroyed the oysters, the communities that built up around the harvest of them.
My dear friend and fellow history buff, Barbara Solem volunteered to drive me down to Bivalve to see the new exhibit, a temporary exhibit of relics brought up from shipwrecks along the coast. Some of the most interesting items pointed out to us by the tour guide were round bottom bottles designed to keep the corks wet by not standing upright on flat bottoms, and a ships telephone in almost pristine condition, giant lobster claws as large as baseball its, some beautiful china, cutlery and many other items of interest.
I didn't think I would ever get back to Bivalve because it is an hour and a half from my house and not many would be willing to go there. In the past, when I drove, I could persuade people to go with me but now that I can't drive that far (old car - 14 years old and 200,00 miles on her) it isn't possible for me to go to many of the far away places I once loved.
I was a tour guide at Bivalve for a couple of years till my car began to suffer from its old age and I didn't feel safe driving so far anymore.
BIVALVE is a kind of ghost town with a boardwalk and a series of old shops for sails, ships engines, a post office, a shucking shed and an oyster cafe among others. That's on the land side, on the water slide there are decks and we were able to sit at a table out there and eat the lunch we bought at a Wawa we passed when we hit the bottom of Route 55. It was so cool on the docks, a brisk breeze came in off the water and we sat beside the remains of the old masted schooner CASHIER which has been slowly and sadly sinking into the mud and disintegrating. The wheelhouse of the old Cashier was rescued, but sadly there was never enough money to dryadic the Cashier itself and make the necessary repairs which became or of a millions of dollars project of replacement than repair.
Fortunately, this being as Saturday, we did not run into shore traffic. The tour guide told us the traffic is mainly bad on Friday nights and Sunday nights. We hit one or two slow spots due to a flat tire repair in one lane, and a bottle neck where 55 forks and the left side becomes 322 to Denisville. The way home was entirely traffic free.
Something about the lonely, even ghostly quality of the place spoke into my heart and I became infatuated with that place. I read everything I could get my hands on about it. Many of my old entries are about books I read abut this most southerly part of New Jersey, the old SOUTH JERSEY magian the history one, not the new travel one, and many books like MAN, THE SEA AND INDUSTRY, andTHE MAURICE RIVER. I was captivated by the story of the old man who all his life wove the baskets they used by the thousands in the oyster industry. I saw a photo of him from the WPA days, sitting in front of his little one room house, weaving the baskets. For some years I tried to find one of those baskets to buy but no luck. When I found them on-line, they were too expensive.
As much love and happiness as I experienced there was also a feeling of sadness for the day when I was a volunteer there and got to go every week and spend time there. It made me aware of how trapped I have been during the pandemic, and even before, by my failing eyesight, bad knees, and old car. My roaming and adventurous days have come to an end and I miss them.
When I went there in the old days, I took all kinds of turns and side streets to explore the area, I roamed freely with hours of free time since I was retired and had no reason to hurry home, no dog waiting for dinner, no schedule to keep, such freedom, It was one of those times you think will never end but they do.
Much thanks to the generosity and friendly love that brought my friend Barbara Solem to volunteer to take me there and share the day with me. As we ate lunch on the dock, the cooly elegant Meerwald schooner came slowly gliding along like a swan. I took photos and after I rest up, I will post some here.
If you haven't been there, you should really go - you won't be sorry, and there are no crowds! But you must wear a mask! Entrance fee is $5 for seniors and $7 for general public. If you aren't vegan or vegetarian, you might want to have lunch on the docks with something from the oyster Cafe' which is what the family we saw visiting that day were doing. Other than that family lunching on the docks it was quiet there as I always remember it being, and peaceful. What a lovely day and a great friend to spend it with.
Barbara Solem is the author of three books on the history of the PineBarrens so we share a love of old places and history. Other places I miss dreadfully are Pakim Pond, and the Maurice River Bluffs where I used to hike and take Captain Dave's boat ride. "Those were the days, my friend I thought they'd never end..."
Happy Trails!
Jo Ann
wrightj45@yahoo.com
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