Category Archives: Travels with Maria

Blogging from the road.

Autumn 2018 Trip Postcards: The Deserted Village of Feltville

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On our way to Vermont on Sunday morning, Penny and I stopped at the Watchung Reservation, a Union County park. Among the dozens of miles of hiking trails in the relatively small but heavily wooded park is the deserted village of Feltsville. It seemed like a good place for Penny to burn off energy before our long drive and I really do love a nice walk in the woods.

We avoided the townsite for a while by following a random series of paths that eventually looped back to a cemetery that predated the town. Then we hiked up to the town, back to the damsite along the creek, and through the woods a little more. I figure we walked about two miles on that gorgeous morning.

The only original headstone in the old cemetery.

This 242 year old headstone is the only original stone in the small cemetery near the townsite.

Townsite building.

One of the few surviving buildings from Feltville, an 1800s mill town. (Side note: this is a great example of the perspective distortion I’ve noticed with the iPhone Xs’s wide angle view.)

Stone wall.

This stone wall and some of the foundation is all that remains of the three story mill building.

Creek in the woods.

This creek, dammed upstream in two places, provided power and water for the mill and town.

Mushrooms growing in a tree stump.

The obligatory mushroom photo.

Autumn 2018 Trip Postcards: View of Manhattan from Sandy Hook

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If you know anything about east coast geography, you might know that the north end of the Jersey Shore ends at a sandy hook of land called, appropriately, Sandy Hook. This is part of the Gateway National Park, which has several locations in the New York Metro area.

The north end of this hook of land has a bunch of interesting ruins dating back to World War II, an active Coast Guard facility, beach access, and an observation platform built primarily for birders that overlooks the marsh land near the beaches. That platform also offers a great look back toward Manhattan.

Today is a beautiful day and pretty darn clear. Here’s what I saw when I climbed up the platform to chat with the birders there.

View of Manhattan.

The view of Manhattan from the observation platform at Sandy Hook.

Autumn 2018 Trip Postcards: Sandy Hook Lighthouse

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Back in New Jersey for the weekend. My brother, who has to work today, suggested going down to the park at Sandy Hook. So that’s where I am. Penny and I are exploring the area this morning, checking out the beaches and the ruins.

Here’s the lighthouse, which is nearly 200 years old. I was fortunate enough to join a Boy Scout group for a visit to the top.

The Lighthouse at Sandy Hook.

Autumn 2018 Trip Postcards: The Lincoln Memorial

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As I reported in my previous post, I took a scooter from the air and space Museum to the Lincoln Memorial, a distance of about a mile and a half. It was just too hot to make the walk. When I arrived, I parked the scooter near some rental bicycles and ended my rental. The total cost was about $4 — cheaper and faster than a Lyft and a lot more fun. I’d definitely do it again.

I’ve only been to Washington DC twice before this trip – at least that’s all I can remember – once as a kid with my family and once about 25 years ago with my future wasband. I know that I visited the Lincoln Memorial on at least one of those trips. Still, I really wanted to go back and see it again.

It was, as you might imagine, relatively crowded with a lot of people sitting in the shade on the steps leading up to the famous statue. I went inside for a look and a photo.

Statue of Abraham Lincoln.

I managed to crop out the heads of the other people standing around the statue.

In case you’ve never been there, from Lincoln’s seat, he looks out towards the World War II Memorial and the Washington Monument beyond it. The Washington Monument blocks his view of the Capitol which is lined up perfectly behind it.

View from Lincoln Memorial.

Here’s what Lincoln sees from his seat. The Capitol dome is hidden by the Washington Monument.

The giant room that he’s in has wings on either side. I went to the north side where the text of his second inaugural address have been carved into the wall. I read it. He had been inaugurated during wartime and you could really understand, from the speech, how heavy his heart was about our divided nation. I wonder how he’d feel about today’s situation.

Afterwards, I spent some time sitting on the steps of the building with my back in one of the cool, deep groves in one of the columns there. I charted with an older couple from Minnesota who were sitting nearby. It was the wife that pointed out the text carved into the pavement nearby — the place where Martin Luther King Jr. made his famous speech all those years ago. Someone had spilled water on it.