Travelrific® Travel Journal
Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!Archive for new jersey
Ye Greate Street
By Linda Tancs
Ye Greate Street sounds more like a Shakespearean-inspired thoroughfare in jolly olde England than a main street in The Garden State, yet that’s exactly what you’ll find in Greenwich, New Jersey. Tucked in Cumberland County, this historic Delaware Bay community is anchored by the colonial and Victorian charms of Ye Greate Street. Its quiet country roads are perfect for bald eagle and bird watching. You also won’t want to miss Gibbon House (a mansion modeled after a London townhouse), the Tea Party Monument (marking a protest on British tea taxes in 1774) and the Cumberland County Prehistorical Museum, featuring artifacts of Native American life in the area as well as fossil collections.
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A Temple of Entertainment in New Jersey
By Linda Tancs
Movie palaces arose during the early 20th century, ornate temples of entertainment that offered a respite from the trials and tribulations of everyday life, particularly during the Great Depression. One of the those palaces is the Loew’s Jersey Theatre in Jersey City, New Jersey, which opened in 1929. This landmark theatre is one of the last surviving movie palaces of a bygone era, having survived the threat of demolition thanks to a band of concerned citizens. Now home of the annual Golden Door International Film Festival, the theatre has evolved into an arts center for stage and screen shows as well as private functions.
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Historic Garden Opens to Public
By Linda Tancs
Clematis tibetana, Abelia chinensis and Cyclamen–these are the September blooms awaiting your visit at historic Greenwood Gardens. Less than an hour’s drive from New York City, the gardens are located in Short Hills, New Jersey. The former private estate of businessmen Joseph P. Day and Peter P. Blanchard, Jr., New Jersey’s newest public garden sports enough allées, meandering paths, and flowering terraces to excite any garden lover.
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This Old House
By Linda Tancs
Ye Olde Yellow Meeting House is the oldest Baptist church building in New Jersey, located in Upper Freehold Township. The building dates to the 1700s and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. Though no longer used for worship services, the grounds are open to the public during daylight hours. Revolutionary War-era veterans abound in the cemetery; their weathered, delicate stones tell tales of gallantry and sacrifice. Consider the tombstone of Upper Freehold Township native Brig. Gen. Elisha Lawrence, whose marker reads: “A stranger to all ambition but that of being useful, he was twice vice president of New Jersey for several years presiding judge of the pleas, and after a series of faithful and gallant services in the Revolutionary War he was appointed by his county brigadier general of the Monmouth militia of the surveyed blazing line when wars loud conflict racked the brain. Now sheltered in the realms divine he treads heavens ever-peaceful plan lead on by softer, mercy’s mildest ray while fellow warriors hail him on his way.” You can visit this colonial town and others nearby via the Upper Freehold Historic Farmland Byway.
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Liberty Bells
By Linda Tancs
Fans of shows like Downton Abbey surely wonder what life was truly like above or below stairs. At Liberty Hall in Union, New Jersey you can quench your curiosity. Built in 1772, the mansion was home to New Jersey’s first governor and later occupied by members of the Kean political family. Like any dynasty, their needs were met by the ringing of a servant’s bell. Open through November 2013, the exhibition “Ring for Service: The Role of Servants in a Country House” welcomes visitors to all four floors of the family estate. The house museum is located on Morris Avenue at Kean University.
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The Spirit of the Jerseys
By Linda Tancs
New Jersey’s State History Fair, the only statewide event where visitors can experience five centuries of the state’s history in one place, is taking place on 11 May at Washington Crossing State Park in Titusville from 11 am to 5 pm. Activities include military encampments and displays covering the Revolutionary War, Civil War, and both world wars. You’ll enjoy period music and crafts, living history demonstrations and exhibits by historical societies and museums. If you (or your kids) think history is boring, then check out the historic character portrayals that will bring the past to life. The cast includes Molly Pitcher (who followed her husband through Revolutionary War battles), George Washington and British General William Howe.
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The Little Airport That Could
By Linda Tancs
Can you name a place where such luminaries as Amelia Earhart, General James Doolittle, several U.S. Presidents, Elton John, Diana Ross, Harrison Ford and Shania Twain would have gathered (not all at the same time, of course)? The answer is Trenton Mercer Airport in Trenton, New Jersey. Opened in 1929, the county airport averages 100,000 take-offs and landings each year, including flights to Florida. Its illustrious history includes a role in the production of the WWII Avenger torpedo bomber. Less than five minutes from the terminal building, the parking facilities are reasonably priced. The parking lot can be accessed from either airport entrance (Scotch Road or Bear Tavern Road) directly in front of the terminal.
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World’s Largest Model Railroad
By Linda Tancs
Located in Flemington, New Jersey, Northlandz is home to the world’s largest model railroad according to Guinness World Records, boasting up to 100 trains traveling on eight miles of track, 40-foot bridges, huge canyons, and thousands of buildings nestled among cities and villages. You’ll need at least two hours to tour the 16-acre site, which includes a 94-room dollhouse and over 200 dolls. There’s nothing small scale about this family attraction.
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Celebrate At a Refuge Near You
By Linda Tancs
It’s National Wildlife Refuge Week, and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service wants you to celebrate at a refuge near you. You’ll find an open house this week at the Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge on the Big Island in Hawaii. Take a guided bird hike or a tour of the greenhouse where native plants are being propagated. Among the lower 48, why not join the staff at New Jersey’s Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge for a sunset nature walk to view the migrating ducks. As the poet William Wordsworth so aptly put it, “Come forth into the light of things, Let Nature be your teacher.”
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90 Million Years in 9 Minutes
By Linda Tancs
90 million years: that’s how many years are represented in the latest animatronic dinosaur park, located in Secaucus, New Jersey. Nine minutes: that’s how long it takes to get there from New York City. The dinosaur park recently unveiled 31 robotic dinosaurs for the exhibit, Field Station: Dinosaurs. Dinosaurs from the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods hover over (and under) the tree line, including New Jersey’s own Hadrosaurus foulkii. Sounds like dino might to me.
2016 update: Field Station has relocated to Overpeck Park in Leonia, New Jersey.
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