Tuckerton Seaport

      Friday, December 30, 2022: After visiting the New Jersey Maritime Museum in Beach Haven, I headed toward another nautical attraction in Ocean County: Tuckerton Seaport, 120 West Main Street, Tuckerton (609-296-8868). During the 1960s and ‘70s, my family and I used to go fishing and crabbing along the inlets near the bay in Tuckerton. Years later, this museum & reproduced seaport opened in the early years of the 21st century. The date above had been the first time I’ve been in this area for years. Therefore, the first place I headed to was the lighthouse in this mock seaport village. Inside, the ground floor displayed exhibit areas by way of texts, pictures, and exhibit items covering such subjects as the Lenni-Lenape Native-Americans, movers & shakers from Tuckerton’s past, local industries from the past, and so forth. On the upper floor, the staff presented temporary exhibit themes. When I was there I saw Christmas trees and other holiday decorations dating back through the 20th century. As for the village itself, I walked along a boardwalk surrounding a creek, and this boardwalk included entering different small buildings that presented the businesses one would have found in a typical seaport village. In each of them, texts, pictures, and historic items gave more details of each place: fishery, hotel, and surfing, as well as hunting, livestock—with live goats and sheep nearby, decoy carving, oystering, clamming, a folk life center, etc. I found it a fascinating place!