Salem Historical Society

     Thursday, October 28, 2021: It’s been 20 years since I’ve been to Salem, Salem County, New Jersey, and I visited the same place that I saw back then: Salem County Historical Society, 83 Market Street (856-935-5004). Here in a building from the 1700s in a few different rooms on two floors, I looked at decorative arts and furniture from the 18th-, 19th-, and 20th-century, as well as items from the local Native Americans—the Lenni-Lenapes; a special room honoring the late Salem Oak that died on June 6, 2019 (It was estimated to be over 500 years old.); and a room displaying textiles in clothing and samplers. In addition, I also saw a few rooms with furnishings from the 1700s, work equipment from the different trades practiced in the last few centuries, and glassware. Most of the upstairs rooms showed pictures, texts, and exhibits honoring those who lived in Salem County. Overall, this place was packed with information about Salem County!     

Lapp's Dutch Market

     Thursday, October 28, 2021: It was another day and another daytrip to Salem County, New Jersey! This time we went to a market that didn’t look like much on the outside, but inside, it was a different story. Lapp’s Dutch Market, 23 North Virginia Avenue (Route 130), Penns Grove (856-299-4224) had quite a variety of stuff: different meats that were fresh, processed, and cooked; baked goods; and canned foods; as well as jarred foods; snack foods; etc. Besides local products, I also noticed foods from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and some food from Canada. This store has been in business for over 25 years. Therefore, they must be doing something right.   

Parvin State Park

 

     Wednesday, October 27, 2021: Once we were on the road again after being at Jersey Farm Market in Salem County, New Jersey, we stopped at out final destination: Parvin State Park, 701 Almond Road, Pittsgrove (856-358-8616). In the 1960s and ‘70s, my family camped here a few times. This time, however, after we stopped at the main office to pick up some literature, we had a picnic lunch near Parvin Lake. This lake looked pretty much the same as it did when I used to swim there as a child! In addition to camping, swimming, and picnicking, Parvin offered nine trails for hiking, and one of those trails was an equestrian trail. Other activities this park offered were boating and canoeing, as well as fishing and hunting. I also noticed a few playgrounds. After our picnic, we drove through different areas of this state park, and it brought back a few memories to me.  

Jersey Farm Market

     Wednesday, October 27, 2021: After we saw Finns Point Lighthouse, Salem County, New Jersey, we stopped at (Graham’s) Jersey Farm Market, US-40, Carney’s Point (856-299-2021). This farm market wasn’t big or fancy, but they had a good selection of produce, and for the time of year I was there, lots of pumpkins, apples, potatoes, and a few other vegetables and fruits. (They close from November until spring.) It all looked fresh and reasonable in price! I also noticed chickens walking around this market.  

Finns Point Lighthouse

 

     Wednesday, October 27, 2021: On this day trip I chose to visit the attractions in Salem County, New Jersey, and the first place I went to was in Supawna Meadows National Wildlife Refuse: Finns Point Lighthouse, Fort Mott & Lighthouse Roads, Pennsville (609-463-0994). This 1876 lighthouse looked similar to the one at Paulsboro, NJ, and it too was a rear-range lighthouse. While the inside of this lighthouse wasn’t open, I viewed the outside and read nearby signs informing me about the history of Finns Point Lighthouse and about the flora & fauna of Supawna Refuse. In the area was also Ft. Mott State Park and its attractions. Therefore, this could be a full day in itself! 

Antique Marketplace

      Thursday, October 21, 2021: After seeing Egg Harbor City and while still in Atlantic County, New Jersey, we drove through downtown Hammonton, NJ, on Bellevue Avenue or 12th Street. Unlike Egg Harbor City, Hammonton has had a livelier downtown with many kinds of businesses: service, restaurants, and retail. One of those retail businesses was the Antique Marketplace, 109 12th Street, Hammonton (609-567-1889). With two floors of antiques & collectables, this place looked like a crowded decorative arts museum, except that this art was for sale. Just about anything from the past that you could imagine was here: furniture, household items, and artworks, as well as clothing, jewelry, reading materials, records, CDs, etc. Seeing was believing! There was something here for almost everybody. Anyway, this visit completed my visits to Atlantic County, and I proved that there has been more to see in Atlantic County than Atlantic City. 

Angelo's Farm Market

      Thursday, October 21, 2021: Many times I’ve been past downtown Egg Harbor City, Atlantic County, New Jersey, but I have never stopped there once until the date above. To tell the truth, we drove down Egg Harbor City’s main street, Philadelphia Avenue. While there were a few retail businesses, most of the businesses were service orientated along with a few restaurants. Anyway, I liked the parking along this street because it wasn’t parallel parking. Nevertheless, once we were back on Route 30, we stopped at Angelo’s Farm Market, 5600 White Horse Pike (Route 30), Egg Harbor City (609-965-0919). Here, I noticed plenty of produce, some jarred foods, and some baked goods, as well as honey, flowers, and shrubs. It all looked so colorful and fresh!   

Carmen's Farm Market

      Thursday, October 14, 2021: After being at Estell Manor Park, I made a stop at Carmen’s Farm Market, 6181 E. Black Horse Pike, Mays Landing (Atlantic County), New Jersey (609-625-2596). Although I’ve been to bigger farm markets, this place had a very good selection of produce and jarred foods, especially honey! They also sold farm and garden supplies, but their specialty was flowers. In several greenhouses, I noticed many different flowers in many different colors. Therefore, this place made for a pleasant stop.   

Estell Manor

      Thursday, October 14, 2021: Because it was a nice day, weather wise, I decided to visit Estell Manor Park, 109 State Highway 50, Estell Manor (Atlantic County), New Jersey (609-625-1897). The first place I saw was the Warren B. Fox Nature Center. Inside, from floor to ceiling, I noticed many kinds of displays of taxidermy animals from tiny insects to a black bear, as well as different animal bones and exhibits from plants, especially samples of tree bark. In addition, I looked at a diorama of many kinds of birds and a few mammals! Meanwhile, I saw displays of pictures and texts explaining more about the flora & fauna from NJ, the USA, and the world. Another area showed pictures and texts about the former industries that were once here: a glassworks from the early 1800s and a munitions plant from World War I. After around 70 years of abandonment, nature reclaimed the area. Nowadays, it has belonged to the Atlantic County Parks system. After I left the Nature Center, I picnicked nearby on the grounds. Nevertheless, there has been a lot more to do here than visiting the Nature Center and picnicking: There were around 27 miles of trails, and some of those trails were for walking, biking, horseback riding, or driving. Along areas of the park you could see the ruins of the glassworks. Other activities included areas to practice different sports, two playgrounds, and a lake that offered its own activities such as fishing and boating. As if that were not enough, this park also had a campground. From what I saw, there was something to keep many people interested. 

Plainsboro Preserve

      Saturday, October 9, 2021: After seeing Cranbury, New Jersey, and while I was still in Middlesex County, we drove a few miles over to the Plainsboro Preserve, 80 Scotts Corner Road, Plainsboro (609-897-9400). This preserve contained around five miles of trails and has been home to over 150 species of birds, over ten kinds of rare plants, and other flora & fauna. When I was there, I visited their environmental center first and saw two creatures in tanks: a box turtle and a corn snake. In the library with its collection of nature books, I also looked at displays of taxidermy birds and a few mammals as well as wood-carved birds. A conference room in the back exhibited photos of birds and insects. Meanwhile throughout the building, pictures and texts helped explain the surrounding area better. Outside, I walked through some of the grounds and glanced at Lake McCormack. All in all, I received a touch of nature! This also completed my places to visit in both Middlesex County and the Gateway counties of NJ. 

Cranbury

      Saturday, October 9, 2021: European settlers have been living in the area that has been currently the town of Cranbury (Middlesex County), New Jersey, since the 1680s, and in 1997, Cranbury celebrated its 300th anniversary. On the date above, I visited the downtown area known as “the Village of Cranbury.” Here, I noticed several buildings along Main Street that dated from the 18th-, 19th-, and 20th-century. Although many of the retail businesses have closed due to covid-19, the town did have service businesses, restaurants, and a few retail businesses. Two of them that attracted me were a comic book store & collectables, and my favorite, Market on Main, 17 Main Street (609-409-2000). This somewhat upscale food store sold mostly Greek-styled foods and especially baked goods. I bought some of those baked goods, and later, had a picnic at nearby Village Park. This park offered places to take part in different sports, a playground, and a dirt hill, as well as a picnic area, places to walk, and a lake. Overall, Cranbury has been a pretty town to spend a few hours!  

Capclave 2021

      Friday, October 1, 2021: Wow! Capclave 2021 would be the first science fiction convention (SF con) that I attended since Philcon 2019. The Washington, DC, Science Fiction Society (WSFS) played host to this SF con, and they held it at the Rockville Hilton, 1750 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland, for three days. Capclave has been a smaller SF con compared to other local SF cons such as Philcon and Balticon, etc. They mainly focused on writing short stories and most of their panels usually had to do with writing, but they also presented some panels & lectures on science, an area for playing games, author readings, and so on. For the SF con’s first day, I mainly hung out at the Con Suite where I could talk with other SF fans while masked. This hospitality suite also offered soft drinks and snacks. 

     Saturday, October 2, 2021: My days of going to different events and panels have been pretty much over, but I attended one panel: Softening Up Hard SF. Here the panelists, David Walton, Alan Smale, Kristin Janz, Jack Campbell, and Martin Berman-Gorvine wondered how to write the science in SF stories so that those who only had high school science could understand it. Another subject that they discussed was about stories that were once thought of as hard SF, but nowadays, would be thought of as soft SF or science fantasy. They also suggested putting scientific explanations in scattered parts of the story rather than in one long section. Overall, while the science had to be mostly correct, character and plot development has also been important. After this, I spent most of the day hanging around the sitting area and watched the SF con go by. (Yes, I do meet a lot of SF fans that way.) 

     On Saturday night I listened to a lecture that mostly went over my head, The Quantum Internet: Hype Or The Next Step? John Ashmead explained what quantum Internet was, if we needed it or not, the pros & cons of it, and so forth. I could follow some of it, but much of it was confusing to me. He used PowerPoint in his presentation to aid in his talk, and I’m sure some people got it better than I did.  For the next few hours, I was doing what I did during the day: sitting by and watching the SF con go by as well as talking to a few SF fans. 

     Sunday, October 3, 2021: After more hanging around, I went to the Dealers’ Room and bought a T-shirt. There were 15 vendors, and 12 of them sold reading materials of books, magazines, and fanzines. The rest sold jewelry, games, and T-shirts. After this, I went home. It was what I expected in a smaller SF con, and a good place for me to get back into the SF con world.