Sunday, April 27, 2014
Manasquan nJ
Sunday, April 13, 2014
Manasquan NJ
Carlson's Corner
In honor of Facebook friending my cousin Randy, who I haven't seen since we were teens, & only saw once or twice a year anyway. My sister, named for his mom & a favorite of his dad, had a close relationship with them, if not with Randy.
The only thing I envied about Randy was that they had a beachfront cottage in Manasquan, nothing fancy (actually, they had two, rented out the other one), nice musty odor beachfront houses acquire. The envy pretty much went away after my grandmother retired to Atlantic City & between staying with her & our annual week vacation, I was spending nearly a month at the shore every year, including a week after Easter. Manasquan didn't have much action & you couldn't just stroll across the inlet to Point Pleasant Beach boardwalk.
In honor of Facebook friending my cousin Randy, who I haven't seen since we were teens, & only saw once or twice a year anyway. My sister, named for his mom & a favorite of his dad, had a close relationship with them, if not with Randy.
The only thing I envied about Randy was that they had a beachfront cottage in Manasquan, nothing fancy (actually, they had two, rented out the other one), nice musty odor beachfront houses acquire. The envy pretty much went away after my grandmother retired to Atlantic City & between staying with her & our annual week vacation, I was spending nearly a month at the shore every year, including a week after Easter. Manasquan didn't have much action & you couldn't just stroll across the inlet to Point Pleasant Beach boardwalk.
Labels: boardwalks, jersey shore, postcard
Sunday, April 06, 2014
Atlantic City NJ
Sunday, March 23, 2014
Atlantic City NJ
Sunday, March 16, 2014
Rio Grande NJ
Polly's Motel
(On the mainland across from Wildwood)
Labels: boardwalks, jersey shore, motel hotel, postcard, Wildwoods NJ
Sunday, March 09, 2014
Cape May City NJ
Sunday, February 23, 2014
Somers Point NJ
Sunday, February 16, 2014
Brielle NJ
Sunday, February 09, 2014
Long Branch NJ
Sunday, February 02, 2014
Wildwood NJ
Sunday, January 26, 2014
Keansburg NJ
Keansburg is a town with an amusement park on Raritan Bay. The park is owned by one family, with many attractions leased to sub-contractors. It was nearly destroyed altogether by Hurricane Sandy. But it is coming back to life. The Keansburg boardwalk was wrecked by a storm in 1960 & never replaced (although there's a sort of nature boardwalk). It's considered a boardwalk town. I began visiting Keansburg in the early 90's (lived there for one miserable winter month in the 70's, I don't hold that against the place). In 1995 the Gelhaus family, which had sold the property twenty years earlier, repurchased it, & the amusement park began a resurgence. It's a working class amusement park, the ancient rides beloved & inexpensive (I have not been there since Sandy). It had a legendary little dark ride, Spook House, more whiplash than scary. One of the oldest dark rides in America. I read it was being rebuilt, but we'll have to wait & see if it retains its funkiness.
Labels: boardwalks, jersey shore, postcard
Sunday, January 19, 2014
Wildwood NJ
Binn's Motor Lodge & Restaurant
Labels: boardwalks, jersey shore, motel hotel, postcard, Somers Point NJ, Wildwoods NJ
Sunday, January 12, 2014
Ventnor NJ
Ventnor boardwalk
Ventnor is small, middle class town directly south of Atlantic City. Its boardwalk is an extension of the Atlantic City boardwalk. Postcard probably from sixties or seventies.
Labels: Atlantic City, boardwalks, jersey shore, postcard
Friday, January 03, 2014
A summer story
One July long ago my girlfriend's large family (7 kids, she was the teenage oldest) went in with some other relatives (more kids) on a week rental around Lavalette. I wrangled a few days off from work later in the week & told Karen I'd be down late the night before. When I arrived, nearly all the kids were tucked away all over the house, grownups sitting outside in beach chairs, drinking beer & munching pretzels, quietly chatting. Karen & I went over to the Seaside boardwalk for awhile, then took a walk on the beach. I unrolled my sleeping bag on the vacant porch & went to sleep.
I was awakened at dawn by whispering, a little kid asking, "Who is he?" Another answering, "He's Karen's boyfriend, ssshhh." I opened up my eyes, five children standing around me in a circle staring down at me. I muttered, "Beat it," they went away & I went back to sleep.
I was awakened at dawn by whispering, a little kid asking, "Who is he?" Another answering, "He's Karen's boyfriend, ssshhh." I opened up my eyes, five children standing around me in a circle staring down at me. I muttered, "Beat it," they went away & I went back to sleep.
Labels: boardwalks, growing up, jersey shore, Karen Battell
Sunday, December 15, 2013
Atlantic City NJ
Sunday, November 17, 2013
Barnegat Light NJ
Labels: Civil War Sesquicentennia, jersey shore, postcard
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
Hurricane Sandy one year later
I posted this on the afternoon of 10/29/12
Early reports & photos from Cape May County are alarming. Coastal communities are already underwater, & the main storm surge & most dangerous high tide aren't due until evening. Coastal flooding in north Jersey has occurred at levels associated with the height of noreasterns. Sandy projected to come ashore south of Atlantic City. My live cam links have been going down one after another, the remaining working sites apparently so busy I can't get on to them with my slow internet service. More wind than rain here in Elizabeth. The heavy rain is only about 20 miles south now. Jersey has had many bad storms over the past fifty years, but none with the devastating tidal surges of the March '62 storm. The tide comes in, stays in, & structures that could withstand a fast-moving storm are battered into rubble,Whatever I was expecting - & I was expecting a very bad storm - it was worse than I imagined. I was briefly outside walking around that evening. Then the brunt of it hit. I thought my windows would blow in. The power went out. It was long scary night. There wasn't much serious damage in my neighborhood, thank heavens. The day after the storm, while thousands picked through the rubble of ruined homes & businesses, my neighbors were raking wet leaves.
Labels: Elizabeth NJ, in the news, jersey shore, weather
Sunday, October 27, 2013
Bradley Beach NJ
Sunday, October 20, 2013
Bradley Beach NJ
Sunday, October 06, 2013
Atlantic City NJ
Rolling Rock Beer sign framed by The Traymore Hotel
Labels: Atlantic City, boardwalks, jersey shore, motel hotel, postcard
