I was very impressed by the Nicholas Gibbon House when I took a tour one Saturday afternoon. There were no large crowds to deal with and the parking is perfect with plenty of room to move around. The grounds are beautifully landscaped with all sorts of seasonal flowers surrounding the house. When I visited I thought I was mistaken and it was someone’s home. There was a lot of care put into both the exterior and interior of this home.
Nicolas Gibbon was a local merchant who moved to Greenwich in 1730 and continued to live here until the 1760’s. The tour guide explained to me that the townspeople would not let him…
I visited the East Point Lighthouse on a glorious sunny day when there was no wind in the forcast and it made for an excellent visit to this lighthouse right by the sea. I noticed that on almost all sides, there were man-made barriers to protect the lighthouse grounds from erosion.
The grounds were a combination of dunes with beach grass, rocks and tiger lillys all over the property to give it a colorful look. There were misty breezes from the water that felt so good as it got hotter that day. The property is pretty contained and there is parking all around the building but the lots are small.
This unique historic site is at the bottom of a very steep hill so be careful.
The house has some fun special events that are free to the public but please take your time traveling to the house as it is dark in the park as the seasons change and it can be dangerous going down the hill if you drive too fast.
I took my first trip down to the Kearney House in Alpine, NJ and was able to walk the grounds, visit the Alpine Landing and see the amazing views of New York and of the Hudson River. This spot gives you breathtaking views upstream of the surrounding Hudson River.
The house was closed but the vegetable gardens were full of late Fall produce and the gardens could have used some weeding. I will have to wait until the house opens up again.
I recently visited the Kearny House of their Fall event “Punch & Pie at Mrs. Kearny’s Tavern”. That was an interesting night. First let me say that it is pitch black in that park. The Alpine Basin…
The Atlantic County Historical Society at 907 Shore Avenue
The Atlantic County Historical Society
I recently visited the historical sites of Somers Point and took my time to tour the Atlantic County Historical Society, which tells the story of life in Atlantic County from the beginnings to today with a major concentration the early history of the County with the Native American Lenape Indians and into the late 1700’s and 1800’s with the founding of the town, the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, shipbuilding, fishing and the start of the Victorian Age. Each floor has interesting displays that sometimes have been over-decorated with too many objects.
When you walk in the door, you enter the library where people study the history of the town and…
The Somers Point Historical Society at 745 Shore Road
I visited Somers Point, NJ recently to see the historical shore town and explore their small museums. The Somers Point Historical Society differs from its neighbor down the road, the Atlantic County Historical Society in that its concentration is on the Town of Somers Point and not the entire county.
The Somers Point Historical Society started in 1987 as part of the “Save City Hall” campaign to save the historic City Hall building. The plan was to highlight the history of Somers Point and its place in the community and to save some of the older buildings in the town.
The City Hall was saved and it was renovated for the new library. The…
The Somers Mansion is the oldest home in Atlantic County NJ and was home to five generations of the Somers family. The old mansion looks over The Great Egg Harbor.
The Somers Mansion at 1000 Shore Road in Somers Point, NJ.
I visited the Somers Mansion, the three story former home to five generations of the Somers Family. The mansion sits on a buff overlooking the bay and the bridge to the barrier island where Ocean City is located. The original part of the house was built in 1725 and in 1920 the last family members moved from the home and deeded it to the town. The modern additions of the home have been stripped off so you see the original house.
The historic marker of the home when it was donated by the family
I have to say that I was very disappointed with the condition of both the house and…
Old Broad Street Presbyterian Church at 54 West Avenue
When I was traveling to Salem and Cumberland Counties to visit historical sites, this was the last one on my list the first day of exploring. The Old Broad Street Presbyterian Church sits in the middle of a declining downtown in Bridgeton, NJ like a ghost of its former self. This graceful and elegant church is not used much anymore and sits like a majestic building overlooking a city that has passed it by.
The church was built in 1792 for the growing Presbyterian congregation who was living in Bridgetown as it was called at the time. The brick walls and roof were completed but…
The Greenwich Tea Burning Monument in Greenwich, NJ
I am a firm believer in that you learn something new everyday and on a recent trip to visit historical sites of Southern New Jersey I came across this one in a guide book. I never even knew this monument existed let alone that we had our own version of the Boston Tea Party right here in New Jersey. It really showed me the significance of the Revolutionary War and how people from the past fought for the freedoms that we have today.
On the night of December 22nd, 1774 forty people from the community took possession of tea chests and piling them together burnt them in protest of the Tea Tax that had been imposed…
If you blink your eye, you will pass this bridge along the Alloway Creek just outside of Alloway, NJ, a sleepy little town just outside the County seat of Salem, NJ. What may seem like just a bridge with an historical marker once held a big place in the history of the Revolutionary War for this part of New Jersey. This was once a major travel and transport point during the area’s heyday of the farming industry in the early part of the country’s history, supplying food for the Philadelphia and lower New Jersey area.
Today the Alloway Creek is used more for fishing and recreation from I saw the afternoon I visited the site but once upon…
I know that I can be quite the traditionalist and like to keep up events that have been successful. I also like to build on them and see them grow over time.
The old Engine One Barbecue that we used to have after every Meeting/Drill night in June started as just a small dinner one night when we wanted to barbecue hamburgers and hot dogs after our drill. Members of our company were joined by other members from other companies enjoyed themselves and it was mentioned at our next department meeting. Some members complained that we didn’t invite them (they were more than happy to come to the drill night). So the next year we sent out invitations for the barbecue that would be after the drill/meeting night.
Firefighter Justin Watrel, Barbecue Chairman, June 2022 Hasbrouck Heights Fire Department Meeting night
For the next eleven summers, we continued the tradition and it grew over time and the menu began to vary. We went from simple hamburgers and hot dogs we morphed into creative salads, baked ziti and doctored up Baked Beans with things like black strap molasses, maple syrup hot sauce and cured bacon.
Homemade Baked Ziti and Potato Salad
I got even more creative with the desserts. I used to order an ice cream cake with a fire engine on it but no one would eat it. So I changed it around and did more traditional desserts like cake cookies, brownies and rice crispy treats. I even experimented with desserts that are traditional to a barbecue like watermelon and apple pie but they were not as popular.
Me preparing for dinner in 2017
As time went on, members would bring their family to the event and many of our old timers and their wives were invited so that they could meet up together again. We were averaging 50 to 60 people at every barbecue so it was hard to judge who to cook for that evening.
Our senior members with their wives at the 2015 barbecue
COVID affected the event just after we merged the department in 2019 and we stopped the event for two years. It was nice for me when the department voted to bring the barbecue dinner back at the May Department meeting. It gave me a chance to put my Hyatt banquet skills back and dig back into my culinary skills.
Setting up snacks and drinks at the barbecue
The menu was kept simple since it was just the department members after the June Department Meeting. We grilled hamburgers, hot dogs and Italian Sausage. For the sides, I made a homemade Baked Ziti, a Red Bliss Potato Salad with Bacon and Baked Beans with all sorts of chips and popcorn and for dessert I made traditional dessert of various flavored Cake Cookies, Brownies and Rice Cripsy Treats. Those Rice Cripsy Treats really disappeared.
What I liked about the barbecue was the compliments from the other guys on the department and what a good time they had. It was nice to bring this comradre back after this long spell of COVID. As usual, I want to thank Firefighter Bernie Valente for helping with all the barbecuing and for being our grill master.
Firefighter and Grill Master Bernie Valente
It’s good to make a group of firemen happy!
Firefighter Justin Watrel setting up the homemade desserts of brownies, cookies and rice crispy treats
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