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
Whimsical Art in New Jersey
By Linda Tancs
Named for an amusement park in Italy, Luna Parc is a hunting cabin-turned-art studio in Sandyston Township, New Jersey. The brainchild of eclectic artist Ricky Boscarino, the site features more than 100,000 items. The artist repurposes common objects like bread tabs, bowling balls and crutches to create madcap art; the front façade alone is as madcap as it gets, like a cartoon come to life. One of the most stunning rooms is the bathroom, where mosaic work is composed of more than 1 million pieces of glass. The venue is open to the public only certain times of the year.
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The Horn on Crawford Hill
By Linda Tancs
Recognized as a National Historic Landmark for its role in confirming the Big Bang theory of the creation of the universe, the Horn Antenna in Holmdel, New Jersey, is located on the former Nokia site on Crawford Hill (the highest elevation in Monmouth County). The story begins with the research work of two radio astronomers, Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson. While using this antenna in 1965, they discovered the cosmic microwave background radiation that permeates the universe, contributing evidence for the Big Bang theory. The antenna’s horn shape allowed for precise pointing that aided greatly in conducting radio astronomy observations. Although no longer in use, the site is open to the public.
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The Telephone Pole Farm
By Linda Tancs
A quirky yet iconic tourist attraction in Chester, New Jersey, the “telephone pole farm” on North Road hearkens back to the days when wooden telephone poles would be planted and tested for survival against the elements by comparing the effects of various chemical treatments. In this case, the outdoor laboratory site served one of the most famous research units in the world, Bell Labs. Today, the farm serves as a welcoming ambassador to the township’s Highlands Ridge Park, where you’ll find a portion of the Patriots’ Path, a multi-use trail system in Morris County.
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Where New Jersey Became a State
By Linda Tancs
New Jersey’s first state-owned historic site, Indian King Tavern Museum in downtown Haddonfield is where New Jersey completed its transition from colony to state. The year was 1777, and the newly formed New Jersey Legislature met in this public house and tavern to discuss matters of state, including changing the colony’s official designation. The tavern’s original owner named it “Indian King” in deference to Lenape Native Americans who had cared for the arriving European settlers. Open to the public, the site regularly hosts school tours and lectures.
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Old Phones in New Jersey
By Linda Tancs
Boasting eight streets, Vincentown is the archetypal small American town. Located in Burlington County, New Jersey, it features a building that housed the Vincentown-Tabernacle Telephone Company from 1911 until the company was bought out by New Jersey Bell in 1930. The unassuming clapboard structure also served as a millinery shop, a tinsmith’s shop and a plumber’s shop. Now it’s home to the Vincentown-Tabernacle Telephone Company & Museum, where early telephone equipment is on display, like a vintage black candlestick phone and a rotary gem.
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Billed as the Great North American Eclipse, a total solar eclipse will cross North America on April 8, 2024, passing over Mexico, the United States and Canada. The path of the eclipse begins in Mexico, entering the United States in Texas, and traveling through Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. The eclipse will enter Canada in Southern Ontario, and continue through Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Cape Breton. This will be the last time any solar eclipse will be visible within the United States until 2045.
Be prepared! So long as supplies last, you can purchase eclipse glasses and other accessories, like a phone app and photo filter, from American Paper Optics, a NASA-approved manufacturer. The link in the preceding sentence is an affiliate link, which means that if you click on the link and purchase merchandise from the page, then I may receive a small commission.
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New Jersey’s Field of Dreams
By Linda Tancs
Sitting atop a bluff above the Great Falls in Paterson, New Jersey, Hinchcliffe Stadium is one of the last remaining Negro Leagues stadiums in the United States. It’s the first National Historic Landmark honoring baseball and the only sporting venue within the boundary of a national historical park (Great Falls). Completed in 1932, the stadium seats 10,000 and has served as the home park for the New York Black Yankees, New York Cubans and, on occasion, the Newark Eagles. The venue is likely be reinvigorated as the New Jersey Jackals make it their new home park.
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Billed as the Great North American Eclipse, a total solar eclipse will cross North America on April 8, 2024, passing over Mexico, the United States and Canada. The path of the eclipse begins in Mexico, entering the United States in Texas, and traveling through Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. The eclipse will enter Canada in Southern Ontario, and continue through Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Cape Breton. This will be the last time any solar eclipse will be visible within the United States until 2045.
Be prepared! So long as supplies last, you can purchase eclipse glasses and other accessories, like a phone app and photo filter, from American Paper Optics, a NASA-approved manufacturer. The link in the preceding sentence is an affiliate link, which means that if you click on the link and purchase merchandise from the page, then I may receive a small commission.
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Hands-On at the Gristmill
By Linda Tancs
Historic Walnford is a 36-acre historic district at the heart of Crosswick Creek Park in Upper Freehold, New Jersey. Part of the Upper Freehold Historic Farmland Scenic Byway, the site is named for Richard Waln, a prosperous Quaker merchant who, as a pacifist, refused to take sides in the Revolutionary War. The picturesque setting features the large home built for the family in the 1770s, a working gristmill and several outbuildings, all showcasing over 200 years of social, technological and environmental history through the Waln family. You can go behind the scenes in the gristmill with a hands-on crack at mill maintenance on the first Saturday of the month from May through November.
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Billed as the Great North American Eclipse, a total solar eclipse will cross North America on April 8, 2024, passing over Mexico, the United States and Canada. The path of the eclipse begins in Mexico, entering the United States in Texas, and traveling through Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. The eclipse will enter Canada in Southern Ontario, and continue through Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Cape Breton. This will be the last time any solar eclipse will be visible within the United States until 2045.
Be prepared! So long as supplies last, you can purchase eclipse glasses and other accessories, like a phone app and photo filter, from American Paper Optics, a NASA-approved manufacturer. The link in the preceding sentence is an affiliate link, which means that if you click on the link and purchase merchandise from the page, then I may receive a small commission.
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A Place for Notables in Trenton
By Linda Tancs
Trenton’s Riverview Cemetery is on a bluff overlooking the Delaware River. Founded in 1858, it’s filled with several prominent New Jerseyans of the 19th and early 20th centuries, including governors, senators and Civil War veterans. Famous families are also represented, like the Roebling clan. John Roebling designed New York’s Brooklyn Bridge; his nephew Washington went down with the Titanic in 1912. The cemetery is listed on both the New Jersey and National Register of Historic Places.
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The Palace of Depression
By Linda Tancs
As far as quirky tourist attractions go, the Palace of Depression in Vineland, New Jersey, fills the bill. As its name suggests, the structure was completed following the Great Depression triggered by the stock market crash of 1929. As the story goes, a grifter built a palatial residence out of mud, concrete and junkyard debris. After he landed in jail, the property eventually fell into disrepair and was razed by the city. Years later a group of locals decided to rebuild it consistent with old photos, using recycled materials and relying on public donations. Today’s version is a museum offering tours.
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Surf’s Up in New Jersey
By Linda Tancs
Home to the New Jersey Surfing Hall of Fame, the New Jersey Surf Museum is also one of the largest museums on the East Coast dedicated to surfing. Over 50 surfboards are on display, along with clothing, memorabilia and other information on surf culture. The venue is located at Tuckerton Seaport.
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