The dog days of summer bring endless balmy nights and I find my thoughts wandering down the road.
And no one rules the road like The Boss.
At my home in South Jersey I’m just a stone’s throw from the White Horse Pike and I find myself itching to hit the highway to chase storms and dreams along my own personal Thunder Road heading to Atlantic City. Continue reading
It’s summertime! And what comes to mind more than…yup, uh-huh…graveyards!
It might be the summer doldrums for refined film buffs — and if you consider yourself party to such self-inflicted snobbery, then pray your city has been one of the selected cities for Winter’s Bone’s limited release – it’s killer good and the perfect antithesis to summer movie hell. Meanwhile every girl and woman you know is lining up for tonight’s midnight showing and about to go crazy over the latest in the Twilight Saga…dun dun dun…Eclipse! Can you hear Bonnie Tyler now? Turn around…
So, in the most tenuous of ties to the Total Eclipse of the Box Office, I have decided to post a hodge-podge collection of my daylight graveyard photography. Some of these photos have been posted before in travel logs and some have never before seen the light of day. The cemeteries visited span the states of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and New York.
Ga’head, ladies, use your imagination and picture your favorite vampire or werewolf hunk amidst the trees and the stones. Or better yet…don’t. Continue reading
In the Deep South of Faulkner Country it might be the Light in August that casts an inspirational glow, but in the Northeast nothing compares to the light in September. On my annual daytrip out to Batsto Village, I was struck by how the light changed and undulated under the shade of the trees and passing cloud cover, casting an aura over the scenery that really only could’ve been appreciated with a continuously tracking camera that would capture all the nuances. It’s times like these when I realize the limitations of the snapshot…but that’s not to say I didn’t capture as many of those moments and changes of light as I could. Some of the photos around Batsto may appear as remakes or re-imaginings of shots from last year’s visit, but I also stopped at an ancient cemetery along Route 542 that boasted graves as far back as the mid-1800’s, and another picturesque graveyard in Hammonton along the White Horse Pike where new images were found. Continue reading
With a friend visiting from out of town, we decided to kill some time by taking a short drive down to Batsto Village for a casual hike on a beautiful day. Driving down the White Horse Pike through Hammonton, the “Blueberry Capital of the World” sign was impossible not to notice. When I mentioned there were some wineries in the area, my friend began to wonder if they made blueberry wine. Right on cue, the unassuming and nicely appointed Tomasello Winery appeared up on the left. Lo and behold, Tomasello Winery is famous for their fruit wines, including, of course, a very tasty blueberry wine. The winery offers free wine tasting, a helpful and personable staff, and very affordable locally made wine. I highly recommend it, and being a mere thirty minutes from my neck of the woods, I’ll be sure to return. I left the winery with a bottle of their signature blueberry wine and a bottle of their vintage port. For more, visit: http://www.tomasellowinery.com/
Just a bit further down the White Horse Pike from the winery, we made a left onto Route 542 towards Batsto Village. South Jersey often gets a bad wrap for its lack of scenery, but this is a beautiful stretch of well maintained farmland on the edge of the Pine Barrens that rivals any of the best “country drives.” Nestled in the heart of Wharton State Forest, Batsto Village offers hiking trails, a beautiful lake, and historic buildings (including an old sawmill) left over from its days of iron and glass making during the 19th century. For more, visit: http://www.batstovillage.org/
Below are some photos I captured while walking through Batsto Village: Continue reading
**This post is frequently being updated with new entries and hot spots as they are discovered. Scroll down and look for the ** to find the latest updates.
This post was last updated on 04-03-10.
The current featured entry, Ariana, appears in blue.
____________________________________________________________________________
GREAT PHILADELPHIA RESTAURANTS:
A struggling novelist need not be a starving writer. We all have to eat. Apart from the history and culture, my favorite thing about Philadelphia is the world renowned and ever-changing sea of fine restaurants. Philly is far more than just Geno’s Steaks.
