21 counties in 3 days: the jersey tour!
day three: ocean, atlantic, cape may, cumberland, salem, gloucester, camden, burlington, mercer, warren, and sussex
by carol van houten
originally published
october 18, 2004
Day Three, and eleven counties to go! Yikes! Luckily we stayed overnight at the lovely and affordable Manchester Inn, in Ocean Grove. Without a reservation. Wow I love the Jersey Shore off-season. Starting in Monmouth County rather than Hudson does make South Jersey a little more approachable. Ocean Grove looks so pretty in the morning light, I had to take one more shot...
We had exactly 6 seconds for a peaceful moment on the beach, at which point John escorted me to the car. We were on the road by 9:30! Thank goodness the Manchester Inn included a truly fantastic breakfast with the room. First stop, of course, Ocean County.
The Point Pleasant boardwalk. What can you say? It's a Jersey landmark. Isn't it? It should be.
Look at that ocean!! Look at how lucky we New Jerseyans are! OK we gotta go inland now. Sorry.
I'm sure it will surprise no one that for Atlantic County we did NOT go to Atlantic City, since I detest Atlantic City and have already written on that topic. In fact I wanted to go to Brigantine for Atlantic County, but we were already feeling the press of time upon us, and ten counties looming before us. So in a moment truly inspired by luck, we wound up in Linwood. Above is their Masonic Temple.
Linwood Historical Society, above, and Linwood Market, below.
I literally picked a street at random and found all three of these quaint buildings to photograph. You can see how surprises await you in so many Jersey towns. Now it's time to hit the Parkway. Could it really be a Jersey tour without spending some time on the Garden State Parkway?
No traffic, you'll notice.
Here is another great moving car shot by John of the Beesleys Point Plant, as we cross Great Egg Harbor into Cape May County.
Technically this shot could have served as evidence that we were in Cape May County, but John's rule was that we must actually GET OUT of the car in each county to photograph something. No time to drive all the way to the National Historic Landmark town of Cape May, so unfortunately we had to settle for this:
Woodbine water tower, which if you can't read it says, "Woodbine: Gateway to the Jersey Cape." I was feeling very disappointed that this was going to be the picture that represented all of wonderful Cape May County, and once again the powers that be cut me a break, and we found this beautiful little church.
Belleplain Methodist Church, Cape May County. Sayonara, Cape May. Here comes Cumberland.
Cumberland County is... vast. And empty! And we were getting hungry... I had heard of historic Mauricetown, so we decided to investigate and look for lunch.
We didn't find any lunch there. They do have some truly beautiful Victorian houses, though.
Here is the detail from a stained glass window in the Mauricetown Methodist Church:
But now we were really hungry. But it's really, really empty down there. When in South Jersey... where you gonna go? I think you know the answer...
This was my first experience with ordering subs via a "touch screen" system. They were excellent though. Really hit the spot. They gave us the strength to continue on to Salem County, Rodeo Capital of the East Coast.
Unfortunately the Cowtown Rodeo only operates from May to September, so we just missed it. They have been going strong for 90-plus years. It is a professional rodeo, riders come from all over the country to compete.
I'd really like to get down there to see the rodeo. It's just so far from, you know, North Jersey.
Luckily for me, the stores that sell rodeo gear were open. I bought a beautiful pair of black men's Laredo boots at Zane Western Apparel, on Route 40 East in Woodstown. The young lady working there was so wonderful and friendly. Should you ever be in this neighborhood, I strongly recommend a visit. By the way, if it's not already obvious, Woodstown is now my favorite South Jersey town. They had all these scarecrows decorating downtown for Halloween.
And, naturally, this being rodeo country, they had cows.
I probably don't have to tell you that I really threw us off our time by meandering in Woodstown, buying boots. Not to mention that we sort of got lost for a little while on Route 45, going south instead of north. Hard to imagine, right? There's no natural landmarks down there... (and by natural landmarks, you know I mean something like the looming Goldman Sachs tower in Jersey City, or the Cogeneration Plant in Linden...)
Eventually we made it to quaint little Mullica Hill, Gloucester County. Here is a little more of downtown Mullica Hill:
A town, and county, I'm sure I would have appreciated more if we had spent more than 45 seconds there. My apologies to Gloucester.
Having curved around the bottom of the state, it was time to head north. Route 130 to Camden County. Right away you feel like you're back in civilization again. For one thing, there's other cars on the road. Honestly, we probably drove for an hour in Cumberland without seeing another car. Unfortunately Route 130 is not exactly scenic. That's why I was pretty happy when we found this little park.
Cooper River Park, in Camden County.
Unfortunately for Burlington County, it also had to be photographed from Route 130. Here's an example of my desperation in trying to meet our goal:
Yep, it's a picture of the Burlington County Times garage, taken from a Walgreens parking lot. I know, it's sad. But I held out hope, and Burlington County came through for me.
In the form of a farm, just south of Bordentown.
For these I was definitely trespassing. But our bigger worry... the sun draws low... and Carol has no tripod... and three counties to go, two of which are very far away...
Mercer County foliage, Township of Hopewell. Mercer County, home of some very historic and beautiful towns, like Princeton and Lawrenceville. But we way did not have time for those places. Instead, I can only offer you sunset in a field off Route 31.
Well, there it is. The sun is now officially down, and we are pretty far from Warren County. It's quite a conundrum. Golly, it sure is a good thing we have friends in Warren County! Who graciously will let us in without calling ahead! Thank God for Doug and Martha!
Flowers on Martha's front steps.
Here is their charming living room. Does your house look this good when unexpected maniac friends show up uninvited?
Patches, Queen of Warren County, agreed to sit for this shot. I realize, taking pictures inside is really cheating, in a sense. But I believe this gracious home and its truly good-sport owners embody all that is worth embracing in Warren County. Thanks, friends. Can't stay and crash your dinner (though we'd LOVE to) because there's just one more county to conquer.
Was ever there a more welcoming door at the end of a long journey? What a high note to end on, when we discovered the Lockwood Tavern in Byram Township, Sussex County. Established 1807. Totally fantastic and friendly waitress. Also it's in a basement with stone walls. Thank you, Sussex County, for delivering a great dinner.
So there you have it, 21 counties in 3 days. It was exhausting but fun. And if you make the trek, I recommend not planning too much. I never would have found Linwood or Mullica Hill or that farm in Bordentown or the Lockwood Tavern if I had planned it. Happy trails!!
--cvh
Day One: Hudson, Essex, Passaic, and Bergen
Day Two: Morris, Somerset, Hunterdon, Union, Middlesex, and Monmouth
Day Three: Ocean, Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland, Salem, Gloucester, Camden, Burlington, Mercer, Warren, and Sussex
--cvh
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