Trip to Tuckerton, NJ

Here we are lining up to board the bus for an all-day excursion to Tuckerton, NJ, probly the first Jersey shore resort town.

The seven-hour (!) stay in Tuckerton should have been only five hours. Not much to do in Tuckertoo.

Wandering around on my own, I made sure I had a good time.

Here's Captain Fred, skipper of the boat seven of us rode on to see the Tuckerton Creek before it dumps into the wide Atlantic.

Fred is 80 and said fishing has been very good to him. He chartered boats and took fishermen out to sea. Seafarers like Fred know where the good catches are.

All aboard, and thanks for steadying me, Cap'n Fred. The man above, from East Brunswick, his wife and two sons, are camping in their camper nearby.

 Captain Fred knew the swans and was surprised when the male honked angrily at him. I was not surprised, however, having been practically raped by one recently.

 Gliding by the shore homes with their boat decks.

I saw a for-sale sign that read "$269,000."

Not bad, but what if the crick rises and your home gets flooded. Tuckerton itself once disappeared under the sea but was rebuilt.

This couple lives in Hamilton, NJ, home of the Grounds for Sculpture, which they've never seen. I persuaded the woman she should see it. Her daughter just graduated high school and will go to school to become a pediatric nurse. She works at the Unemployment Office of NJ.

Her companion brought along a fly swatter and Off b/c of the horseflies that bit you painfully. Note that he's holding a wine glass.

This weekend was a wine-tasting festival in Tuckerton, which was one of the draws of our bus trip. I had a few sips of delicious blueberry wine and another fruit wine that was equally delicious. I abandoned my free wine glass on a table.

I asked Capn Fred to recommend a place to eat.

Dynasty Diner, he said.

Can I walk there, I asked.

Sure you can, it's down Route 9, past the red light, on the left.

I got this delicious breakfast and ate around 5 pm. Sunny-side eggs over corned-beef hash and home fries.

View from the window. Wore my Cleveland Injuns cap to help with the heat which was 10 degrees cooler than home in Willow Grove. The bill was $10, including tip!

Cathy Antener, owner of PineyPower.com - it's all about the Pine Barrens.

A publishing company read her website and asked if she'd write a book about the Pine Barrens. They called in November and she finished it in April, I believe. And took all the photos!

Photo taken at home base - the Seaport Museum - behind which they hosted vendors and some excellent bands.

This band was particularly good. The drummer is the main man. I met his nephew Mike while I was strolling the Boardwalk of Tuckerton. The drummer's day job is teaching math at several colleges including St Joe's in Philly.

This is a real wooden boat used by the Lenni-Lenape Indians who lived on the coastal lands of northeast America, including PA, before being chased across country, and ending up in Oklahoma, Wisconsin and Toronto.

Here's a photo from 1915 from Oklahoma:

When I walked upstairs in the Lighthouse this lovely plaster-of-Paris former Navy captain and I had a delightful conversation. 

He told me that I was in a re-creation of the original lighthouse which fell into the sea. In fact, the entire Tuckerton fell into the sea. 

It was rebuilt entirely.

 This is the unusual Boardwalk. Jeremy, one of the vendors, is photographing a bee on one of the flowers. He was selling handmade soap and I told him I have Goat Soap at home, courtesy of the Weinsteins. Baaah!

Jeremy's brother is a tattoo artist. Jeremy is an excellent photographer. He showed me many of em on his fancy camera.

What dyou do with the photos? I asked.

I keep em in my camera, he said.

Readying to leave Tuck and drive home. I sat in the front seat again, next to our leader Michele and the driver, Blaine Hagey, a third generation Hagey. Their buses are wonderful - comfy and w places to hold your cups.

Michele makes the trip fun. Our travel club is from the Fox Chase Library in the Rhawnhurst section of Philadelphia. Cost of trip was $55, which included bus fare and entry to wine festival. We had to wear a paper bracelet to show we paid.

Toward the end of the trip I used my SWISS ARMY KNIFE's scissors feature to cut it off.

Hoping to entertain us while on the bus, Michele put on a video of Ozzie and Harriet, and there was no way to shut the damn thing off.

I photographed these green sap-dripping pine cones - above - from the bus window. Have never seen em in their ripe form. 

At nite, we rode alongside a Sleepy's Mattress truck but the driver was wide awake, smoking a cigarette in the A/C cab.

Nicole leant me one of her Jodi Picoult novels, Perfect Match. A real page-turner.

Ah! the importance of a good book. In the car, I listen to How Starbucks Saved My Life. Very enjoyable.