Downtown Haddonfield

     Tuesday, June 25, 2024: It was un-Christmas day, and I decided to celebrate by spending a few hours in Downtown Haddonfield, Camden County, New Jersey. (June 25th is exactly six months after the previous Xmas and six months away from the next Xmas. I can’t stand those “Xmas in July” sales and TV specials. I guess some people can’t read a calendar.) Once I arrived in town, I noticed that scaffolding covered the Indian King Tavern, the most historic place in town. (I wrote about it in an earlier blog entry.) Nevertheless, the staff kept the building opened for tours. Because I have been there several times in the past, and it was lunchtime, I headed to the British Chip Shop, 146 Kings Highway East (856-364-0204). Opened six days a week, the public could experience a touch of the United Kingdom by eating British and some American foods while watching overseas sports on a big video screen, especially international football (what Americans call soccer). Different UK-themed pictures on the walls added to the atmosphere, and the service was efficient. Meanwhile, the food was very good, and the prices were moderate. This place could definitely dispel the myth of British food being lousy. Afterward, I walked around Haddonfield’s quaint-looking main street, Kings Highway, and browsed at the shops with its plethora of merchandise & food stores as well as other restaurants and a statue of Haddy the dinosaur. (In the 1800s, paleologists found many dinosaur bones nearby.) My favorite store was closed that day, but I’ve been to it many times before: the English Gardener Gift Shop, right across the street from the British Chip Shop. In the last several years, I have bought their imported British Xmas (plum) puddings and mincemeat pies during the holiday season. In addition to themed gifts and foods for certain holidays, this store sold a large amount of edible and non-edible items imported from the UK. For more shopping, there has been a Saturday morning farmers’ market in the warm weather, and Haddonfield plays host to special events throughout the year with its share of vendors!