On Sunday we headed down to the Pine Barrens in southern New Jersey and visited the Batsto Historical Village. The village was built around the iron industry in the late 18th and early 19th century. When the ironworks was abandoned for more profitable iron in Pennsylvania, it became a glass blowing village for a few years. Then Joseph Wharton, a Philadelphia businessman, bought it in 1876, fixed up the main house and built it up as an agricultural area. Today it is a fun place to visit for both history and nature lovers.
The top photo, with the roof and chimney, is of the village store. I took the store photo with the sepia setting on my camera. The bottom one is of some storage building in the village.
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We haven’t gone on many trips this summer, as it has been quite hot, other than to the pool. Here’s dinner at the Longstreet Farm in Holmdel, New Jersey as it may have been in the 1890’s. Looks like they are having ham, asparagus, grapes, lemons and — is that challah?— a twisted bread, served on delicate blue china. We are planning to go on a family trip today.
For more Summer Stock photos, visit Robin’s Around the Island:
This family of birds was living in the rafters at the Longstreet Farm in Holmdel, New Jersey.
My daughter had the opportunity to milk a cow at the farm. On the left is that cow’s calf, whose birth helped the cow be a plentiful nurser.
In local sad news, the mama of the guinea pigs we adopted for the summer has died. We buried her in our backyard. In the words of my veterinarian friend, she was “geriatric” (over four years old). The guinea pigs’ original owner comforted me over the phone, saying, I was afraid this might happen. I think I was more upset than my daughter. My daughter noticed that I’ve been checking on the remaining two a lot, and she said I’m glad you don’t fret over me like that.
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In memory of Bobbie (click to read Michelle’s memorable post about her dear friend):
I loved this t-shirt that was for sale in a store next to the Asbury Park Conventional Hall. The New Jersey books look worth a scan, too.
Aw, shucks, we missed the wrestling.
The boardwalk was all decked out with American flags.
If you like these fireworks, you can see more on last week’s Skywatch post. And here’s the pre-fireworks beach scene.
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Here’s the scene a few hours before the fireworks on the 4th of July at Asbury Park beach on the New Jersey shore. It was a great place to people watch. We had been sitting in the area where there are white nets shown in the picture, but then some policemen nicely kicked us off that part of the beach because the fireworks were going to be there. It was worth the hot drive down to the shore, the waiting around in a crowded area, and the annoyance of needing to move our stuff for the 15 minutes of fireworks. See a few of the fireworks on my Skywatch post.
Sky Watch Friday is a photo meme with photos of sunrises, sunsets, blue skies, gray skies, pink skies, orange skies, fireworks skies and any other kind of sky posted by bloggers all over the planet.
We enjoyed spending the evening of July 4th on the beach of Asbury Park, New Jersey. Asbury Park was a fancy place to visit in the early twentieth century; in the late twentieth century, it took a severe downturn. Recently, it has been revived, with restaurants, shops, arcades and theater. One of the famous landmarks in Asbury Park is the Stone Pony, where Bruce Springsteen used to play. My husband, who grew up near Asbury Park, said we were a few blocks away from the Stone Pony.
This sky faces west. The silhouette of a building is the theater. The sky in the top photo with the green shell faces northeast. Both sky photos were taken within about ten minutes of each other. My husband and daughter went for a ride on the lit up Ferris wheel while my son and I held a spot on the beach.
Ah, the sky now turns red.
Finally, the part we were waiting for as we sat on a corner of the beach: the fireworks.
More Asbury Park Fourth of July photos here.
This ad with the red Target symbols and red lipstick lips on a building near Times Square next to a red brick building in New York City was just screaming “Use me for Ruby Tuesday, why don’t you?” I’ll let you tell me what you see and what impressions it makes for you.
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My daughter and I went window shopping in Deal, New Jersey (all the stores were closed at the time – it was a Sunday night – not that we would have bought anything, anyway) a few weeks ago. We had eaten at the local kosher Chinese Japanese restaurant. You would not catch me wearing any of these shoes. Mine are much closer to the ground.
Here is my daughter striking a pose in front of a children’s clothing shop.
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You won’t catch me on this amusement ride at the fair to support local sports in North Brunswick, New Jersey (off Route 1). My daughter and her friend thought it hilarious that even my 13 year old would not be allowed on this ride – the sign said 14 or above.
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Here’s how some of the plots at Rutgers Gardens looked in early May. I expect in one month those piles of dirt will be showing flowers and/or vegetables.
I like how they didn’t just put up a gate; this doorway with a sun is a welcoming feature.
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