Johnson Park

 

Wednesday, April 7, 2021: Again, this was another place that I wrote about visiting virtually last year: Johnson Park, Johnson Park Road, Piscataway (732-745-3900). On the date above, however, I visited it in person. This 473-acre park contained picnic areas, playgrounds, and places to practice different sports, as well as a chance to observe nature, a replica of an 18th-century village, and a small zoo. After having a picnic lunch, I headed to the zoo first. Here, along an area of single and double chain-link fences, I looked at different farm and wild animals: chickens, guinea fowl, ring-nicked doves, ducks, geese, pigs, goats, alpacas, deer, horses, and a few other animals. The best part about this zoo was that it was free, and as a result, I saw a few families also looking at these animals. Later, it took a short drive, but I visited another section of this park: East Jersey Old Town Village. The collection of mostly reconstructed buildings resembled a village from the mid-1700s. Although these buildings stayed closed due to covid-19, I still enjoyed seeing the exteriors around the village green. Some of those buildings included a barracks, a tavern, and a blacksmith shop, as well as a wheelwright shop, a school house, a church, different houses, and an herb garden. During normal times, re-enactors demonstrated their trades, and other volunteers dressed as soldiers who did drills or played the fife and drums. Overall, this park made for a good outing no matter how active you wanted to be or if you just wanted to relax!