the rix mix

Bumped up from 4/27 comments. For six years unbeknownst to each other Jill from Brilliant At Breakfast & I lived about a ten minute walk apart in Linden NJ but on opposite sides of US Route One. She was next to Linden Airport, which in addition to many small planes also hosted helicopters & an occasional blimp. I was on a dead end street by a park, but we heard the same 18 wheeler trucks roaring through at 3 am. She may have been living there when a nearby chemical plant blew up, a spectacular, frightening event. She was from the quiet tree lined streets of Westfield, I was from the quiet tree-lined Roselle Park, so that part of Linden was no doubt a rather strange place for both of us.

I lived in Linden from 1978 to 1984, on a little street called Harding Avenue, off of South Stiles Street, in a building owned by the owner by the fuel oil company next door, who seemed to own the entire block. It was a nice little neighborhood, a block from Linden Airport, within practically spitting distance from the tank farms, and I could see the Exxon flare stacks from my living room window.

That part of Jersey really IS pretty ugly, for the most part.

Bob, do you by any chance remember a restaurant called the Drop Zone in Roselle? This was the weirdest restaurant ever. It was run by a WWII fanatic, it was laid out like a military mess hall, and they played Frank Sinatra music all the time. Salad was served in metal bowls like you've seen in movies about Army mess halls, and the food was sort of mediocre-to-passable red sauce Italian.

The other lore I remember from my stays in that part of Jersey (I grew up in Westfield) were the nice little bar at the Cranford Hotel, where you could go with a date and have a drink in front of a roaring real fireplace; Big Stash's; some dance hall that was frequented by Portuguese guys from Carteret; and the hot roast beef sandwiches we used to eat on cold winter days at the Exxon station at the corner of Route 1 and South Stiles Street where I used to work on weekends. posted by Jill

The dance hall I don't know. What was with those Portuguese guys? Big Stash's in Linden is popular for kielbasa, goulash, & generously portioned deli sandwiches.

I went to the Drop Zone once & only once. The owner would play the National Anthem & expect everyone to stand up & salute. A lawyer who was eating there sued him over it & lost. There were plenty of better inexpensive spaghetti & antipasto joints; Tep's in Rahway (now seafood), one in Cranford that turned into The Office, & of course Spirito's in Peterstown, still there & smoke-free for the first time since 1492.

Cranford Hotel had a rep as a pleasant meat rack for suburban singles. Only hung out there a few times. My brother & I were late returning for the evening session of my father's wake in Elizabeth because we decided to drive over to Stash's for pastrami on rye, & a couple beers in his honor (Dad appreciated Stash's) & the place was a bit crowded.

When I went back to college in 1990 I used to study at the Wendy's on Wood Ave. in the afternoon. For some reason they played classical music over the speakers, it was never busy. I'd get a burger & iced tea from the value menu. Be there for several hours & nobody bothered me. posted by Bob

Labels: Linden NJ