From blueberries to bikes.......

Hammonton, NJ is nicknamed the 'Blueberry Capital of the World' but there are farms in other towns here where they are grown too. Every summer we eat lots and lots and lots of them. Blueberries are rich in anti-oxidants and very good for you. So if you don't have a farm nearby to pick fresh, get to a market and buy a pint, or two, or TEN and eat in BLISS.

Every year hubby tries to get atleast a basic summer garden planted. Some years he put in zucchini or maybe eggplant, or cucumbers but he always has a bountiful harvest of tomatoes and peppers! The first batch is ready! Jersey tomatoes are THEE BEST!! Aside from just putting them in salads, they are great stewed, and made into sauce (gravy, for the Italians), and just sliced for sandwiches.

Who doesn't like a mater sammich with toast and mayo??!!

This picture certainly doesn't show it, but lately Greta has been a friendly girl. I still wouldn't pick her up to try and cuddle as I'm sure she'd hunk off a piece of my arm or rip a vein open. But I do try to give her treats, hoping she'll remember my kindnesses and not go psycho kitty on us while we sleep.

Hub's schedule changed on Sunday and he ended up having half the day free. It was our son's birthday, but he slept overnight at a friends and wasn't needing pick up until right before we left for his birthday dinner.

Soooo........ we planned a little getaway. New Jersey might be crowded and noisy and full of traffic and too many shopping centers but there are really neat places to go just for the day to get away from all that if one desires. The Pine Barrens is one of those places. In total, it covers 1.1 million acres of coastal plain across Southern New Jersey. In about 115,000 acres of the Pine Barrens is the Wharton State Forest and within that state park, is historic, Batsto Village. Right down the road from the Village is an old church that is still serving the community.

There used to be a tombstone in the adjacent graveyard that read:
Reader, behold. As you pass by,
As you are now, so once was I,
As I am now, so you must be,
Prepare for death and follow me.

It was at the grave of John Lynch, a young man that died in 1808. The original headstone was stolen, replaced, and stolen again. So we didn't get to see it on this trip. A few of the headstones are reeeeeallllyyyy old.

This one is from 1797, headstone of a young man of 19 years old.

Along the side of the church is an old piece of a bridge. We used to drive back there but it's been barracaded so we had to park in the dirt lot at the church and walk back to get to a little beach we used to visit often. As we wandered down the sandy path, we enjoyed the view of the pine and cedar trees and saw a few wild blueberry bushes and young oaks.

After only about 15 minutes we arrived at a spot that we enjoy alot. The Wading River is a tributary of the Mullica River. Does it look like tea bags were soaking in the water?? Because there is a naturally high iron content in the soil combined with acids and tannins that are leached from cedar trees, the water is naturally deep reddish-brown. Yes, okay, I DO enhance most of my photos, enriching the colors, adding hazes, etc. However, this water really is pretty dark.

The water where we hang out is fairly shallow but canoes and kayaks do manage to get through. It's a nice day trip for those activities if you are so inclined.

I prefer to just chill out in the mineral and organically rich water. Maybe because I am anemic and need all the iron I can get, it felt WONDERFUL to just relax and feel the current flowing by. I didn't alter this photo so you could get a better look at the water.

After our swim we walked back through the woods and then went for a ride on hubby's motorcycle. We stopped at the Village for a little bit and walked around the visitor center.

His bike is a Suzuki Boulevard. It's a nice cruiser. Motorcycle riding is a little bit out of my comfort zone sometimes. Batsto was nice, but areas closer to home are very congested and that can make me a little nervous. That's probably one of the main reasons why I cannot take even the first step to get my motorcycle license. It is a sort of fantasy of mine though. Something about a woman on a bike is very cool. But New Jersey is hard enough to navigate in a CAR so I'll just continue to dream about it for now. And besides, that studded seat on the back of honey's cruiser is for his #1 Biker Babe. ;)