Help Clean OUR Beaches!

Here is a link with information about the 2010 NJ beach cleanups.  Every year, before and after the beach season, NJ sweeps its beaches clean.  Help out!

  Here are a few links I found to music concerts in New Jersey

• Fun New Jersey
• Coast to Coast Tickets
• Free Summer Concerts

Summer Festivals

    I dug around and found some festivals going on in southern Jersey this semester:

• Spring Camp Jam in the Pines
• Highland Park Street Fair and Craft Show
• Cape May Boardwalk Craft Show
• Juried Art and Craft Show Atlantic City Outlets
• Promenade Art Show
• Long Beach Island Festival of the Arts
• Collingswood Crafts and Fine Art Festival
• Monmouth County Fine Arts Festival

Atlantic City

    After looking over the map I literally just made, it occured to me I haven’t really been to the Jersey shore since starting this blog.  And coincidences be damned, a friend just called me up wondering if I wanted to take a trip to Atlantic City where a mutual friend of ours, a girl I haven’t seen in years, is having her 21st birthday party.  So of course I said “hell yea” and told him to pick me up on the way.  Anyhows, check back in a week or so for some pictures and stories of drunken escapades in New Jersey’s finest municipality.

Map of Places I’ve Been

    I’ve been all around southern New Jersey these past couple of months, taking trips to all sorts of different destinations that it is beginning to become a task keeping track of where I have been.  So to help visualize exactly where and what I’ve seen I’ve put together an interactive map:

Grounds For Sculpture

    I went to visit the Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton the other day and instantly fell in love with the place.  I had never been to a sculpture park prior to this but woah, if you’re looking for a place to trip, show up here on a sunny day; the sculptures are that transportive, especially sitting among the grass and trees.

    The Grounds for Sculpture is located on what used to be the New Jersey Fair Grounds in Hamilton.  The park currently has three exhibitions going on, all of which conclude April, 18.

1. Albert Paley: Dialogue with Steel
2. Jacobo de la Serna: Reflections on Traditions
3. Flo Perkins: The Common as Uncommon

    Something I found interesting about the sculptures was that each one had a tag on it which said whether or not you could touch it.  The whole time I was there I kept hearing kids yelling, “Daddy it’s green! We can touch it!”  Green tags meant touching was allowed; red tags, hands off.  Of course, every tag of every color said no touching.

    There are plenty of statues of people in various positions around the park.  One such sculpture called “Employee Shower” is of a woman taking a shower.  Just thought I’d let parents know before walking their little ones over there.

    A couple hints for your visit to the Sculpture Grounds: wear junky sneakers because to see all the sculptures you need to walk around in grass and dirt and such; always stray off the trail- that’s where a lot of the sculptures are.

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Burlington

  Burlington, established as a municipality in 1677, became the grounds for the first european settlement in New Jersey circa 1624.  And after 333 years Burlington continues to preserve an old world feel.  I had stopped in Burlington to check out the Promenade Walk which is a one mile stretch of path along the banks of the Delaware, but as I was walking the cobbled sidewalk from my car to the river, past the quaint “shoppes” and cafes and restaurants, I decided Burlington was my new favorite city and that I would have to return for a more extensive tour of the area.

A view of Bristol, PA from the New Jersey side of the Delaware.

Here are a couple pictures of the Promenade.

 

This is the Burlington-Bristol Bridge, connecting, you guessed it, Burlington, NJ to Bristol, PA.

This is the Doane Academy, part of the New Jersey Women’s Heritage Trail.  The trail weaves around New Jersey stopping at places that have to do with women of NJ.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pinelands Commission

    The New Jersey Pinelands Commission is responsible for the protection of the 1.1 million acre Pinelands National Reserve in southern New Jersey.  When a municipality inside the reserve wants to develop land, an application must be sent in and reviewed by the Pinelands Commission. 

    The Pinelands became a National Reserve in 1978 under the National  Parks and Recreation Act of that year.  The reason for it becoming a reserve is the abundance of endangered species unique to the area and the 17 trillion gallon Kirkwood-Cohansey Aquifier.

    I got to talk with Joel Mott from the Pinelands Commission yesterday afternoon.  Mott’s been working as a public programs specialist at the Commission for the past seven years.  He is the guy who is in charge of setting up public events such as the Summer Speaker Series which starts in June (I’ll have more information on the Series as it gets closer) and awareness education programs in schools.  Mott’s also the go to guy for all information concerning the Pinelands, which is why I’m glad to have had the chance to chat with him.  Before he worked for the Pinelands Commission Mott was a park ranger in Gettysburg and at the Big Hole National Battlefield in Montana.

    In the following video Mott uses a map of the New Jersey Pinelands to describe the Pinelands Protection Plan.  This plan determines the location and extent of development throughout the Pinelands.

Long Bridge Park

    I visited the Long Bridge Park in Hainesport Township last week, just after the huge rainstorm. Accordingly, many of the trails were underwater, whether by an inch or completely inundated varied by the section of trail.
    Long Bridge is great for bringing small children whose little legs tire out rather easily. None of the four trails are longer than 3/4 mile. All the trails add up to roughly 2-1/2 miles.
    All four trails offer places to sit and eat or places for bird watching and fishing. Bikes and all terrain vehicles are also allowed on the trails which are mostly flat, but horse riding is prohibited.
    The park, for the most part, is set far enough from development to allow a more sincere appreciation of nature, just don’t expect to be free from the distant din of the highway. Part of the yellow trail borders backyards as well.
    Again, Long Bridge is a great place to bring the little kids for an afternoon. The trails are easy and the playground almost enticed me to ride the slide for old times sake.

St. Patrick’s Day!

Here is a list of St. Patrick’s Day parades around South Jersey:

• Atlantic City
• Belmar
• Mt. Holly
• North Wildwood
• Robbinsville
• Seaside Heights
• Trenton

For a complete list of St. Patrick’s Day festivities check out this website dedicated to nothing but the celebration of all things Irish!