First stop..Northern NJ, to visit the family
All kidding aside, first stop was to my home town. Typical North jersey suburb. about 14 miles west of NYC...thought this picture was typical, isn't it fabulous?
Went out for cappuccino and cannoli with my friend...this flyer was on the table. The walls had pictures of the cafe owner posing with Joe Pesci...gotta love it. Entertainment of the highest quality, you can't make this stuff up.
After spending a few days immersed in my past and freshening up my NJ accent (what accent, I TAWK like everyone else heah), I drove north to my brother's house in Orange County NY. So beautiful..can you believe 45 minutes north of NYC. Amazing, it's like another world!View from NY/NJ boarder. Not one refinery to be seen!
While visiting, my bro and I decided to go tooling around the countryside to find some of our old childhood haunts. We came across the infamous Gingerbread Castle in Hamburg, NJ. No longer operational, rumoured to be haunted (of course), it was once a major attraction in the area. Ahhhh Roadside America at it's finest.
We poked around the castle for a bit, till we got creeped out..then headed to a beautiful spot called Lake Gerard. My parents, the suburbanites.."belonged" to this little bit of heaven for the summers. We all piled into the Rambler and drove about an hour to get away from the heat and humidity,into the mountain air.. I am so glad the state of NJ has deemed this a preserve.
We poked around the castle for a bit, till we got creeped out..then headed to a beautiful spot called Lake Gerard. My parents, the suburbanites.."belonged" to this little bit of heaven for the summers. We all piled into the Rambler and drove about an hour to get away from the heat and humidity,into the mountain air.. I am so glad the state of NJ has deemed this a preserve.
Check out this bit of nostalgia:
little leelee on the wall at Lake Gerard circa 1963
After a couple of nights with my family, I headed over to Highland Lakes, NJ to visit my girlfriend. She lives in another "Lake Community"
Still considered a suburb of NY, who would think? check out the wildlife
Yes those are BEARS in front of my girlfriend house in NJ..YES, NJ!!!!!
We were standing on her deck...YES IN NJ!!!!!!!!!!
We were standing on her deck...YES IN NJ!!!!!!!!!!
But alas, all good things must come to an end and my 8 day vacation finally came to a close. I had a marvelous time on my own, visiting those I hold dear, soaking up some local color and generally came home feeling rested and refreshed.
Thanks for taking the time to look at a few of my photos.
4 comments:
Leelee, I really enjoyed the pictures. I want to take the time to comment on them in greater detail. Will do so when I get the chance. Thanks for sharing.
thanks P!
Random thoughts you have inspired ...
1) Jersey vacation - no longer an oxymoron, thanks to your reverence for the place and photographic evidence to back it up.
2) I haven't been able to get into "The Sopranos" due to my "life schedule". But I always thought "Sopranos" was a silly name; something a man momentarily becomes when he takes a shot "down there, if you catch my drift.
3) I used to have a pool like that one. Also, the 3-story home behind it, with the 3-back porches is cool. I could see owning one, and overcharging family members for rent on the other 2 units.
4) "Dusty Rizzo" (All the Hits! All the Stars!) was my radio name in Detroit. Just thought you'd want to know.
5) The next pic was reassuring that Jersey does have nice, unspoiled areas. Why, this looks too undisturbed to even be a mob dumping ground!
6) The castle looks visit-worthy. Not too campy. Humpty Dumpty is a bit much. But I suppose he's needed for the toddlers.
7) The now and then Leelee pix are REALLY neat. You sure have held up well, Must be a whole lot of clean livin'. But where's your cape? Did you lose it? Ohhhh, we can't have nice things ...
8) That sure is a large number of bears. People must turn up missing all the time. The cubbies are cute. It must be a challenge just getting to and from the car each day.
Thanks for sharing. If I ever go somewhere someday, I try to do likewise.
P, thanks so much for your critique..as always I value your opinion..
I had a fun time "going back"..honestly I feel like I miss it again..it took me many years to get used to living in FLA..and although I say I would never go back to Jersey..part of me will always want to. You can take the girl out of Jersey, but you can't take the jersey out of the girl.
Oh and yeah...clean living has helped me "hold up" Lord knows if I had continued on the trajectory of the 70's 80's I was on, I would no doubt have some tell tale "miles" on me by now..whew!! Those were the days my friend!
Thanks for stopping by!
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