New Jersey Baby Boomer

As we get ready to celebrate the birthday of our Nation, only a few days after Canada celebrated their birthday, I began to think back to things that I learned in history.  When in school, I actually hated history classes, sad, I know…I think it was more because of the way it was taught than anything. A teacher who makes history come alive is a great teacher indeed, if you are left with a text book with an overwhelming number of words and a few pictures, and no intrigue in what is written, it is to me, boring.

So this boomer, over the years, has gained a great love for history in my own way.  It started out innocently as a love for historical novels…history mixed in with a bit of drama, romance, and other things that made it more interesting to read.  Then great movies that portray events in history, then stumbling on museums and historic spots while traveling, and finally, the internet provides an endless resource for researching the history of anything.

Little things intrigue me, like when a light goes on because you realize that the name of a bridge has historical significance. I remember when they built the Verrazano Narrows Bridge that reaches from New Jersey to Staten Island, NY.  I didn’t give it much thought at the time…it made it easier to visit some relatives and it was REALLY big was all that registered to me as a child.  As is often the case, New York gets most of the focus, and New Jersey is kind of in the background when it comes to this bridge…ie. the New York Marathon, NY this, and NY that.

The bridge itself is named after the Italian explorer, Giovanni da Verrazzano, who came and explored the NEW YORK coast under commission by France. But he also explored the New Jersey coast in the early 1600’s.  So just as his exploration reached from New York to New Jersey, so does the bridge.

Thomas Edison & the Stock Market

New Jersey Women - Ann Morrow Lindbergh

New Jersey Women - Clara Barton

New Jersey Men - Death, Duel & Weehawken, NJ

It would be a beautiful day to be down at the jersey shore today and it’s a beautiful day here as well, so for now I’ll settle for sitting on my deck watching the children play in the lake.

The picture below is taken on the beach at Lavalette, a sunrise shot, as I’ve said before, my favorite times to be on the beach are when the sun is rising and when the sun is setting…or a full moon is over the ocean.  When walking along the beach, in many areas you can walk through a few different towns or boroughs, such is the case with Lavalette.

You can find a lot of information on the Borough of Lavalette at the official website for the borough.

Here is a link to the Jersey Shore Tourist Map where you can zoom in to locations you might want to visit.

See you at the beach!

Navasink Twin Lights

Cape May and Wildwood News

Jersey Shore: Ocean Grove

The Jersey Shore (1st post)

With the warm weather here, and the baseball season well under way, many in New Jersey are practicing their swing in backyards, baseball fields and batting cages throughout the State. I enjoy watching neighbors tossing baseballs to their children as they prepare them for their weekend games, it brings back great memories of sitting and watching my own now-grown children practice and play.

I was looking at a site that offers batting cages and saw that they can be purchased and set up wherever there is space for them, either indoors or outdoors. They have a great automated pitching feature that is coin-operated, so this can be a nice way to make some money.

There are batting cages available in New Jersey, I “googled” “New Jersey batting cages” and found some, but also was able to see areas that didn’t have them. This may be a nice side-business or more for someone during these challenging economic times. You can order online and have all that you need shipped to you, and it looks like, from my visit to masterpitch.com, you receive great instructions on how to set everything up. The creator of the system has been around for a long time and has great experience to back up the product offered.

Enjoy the baseball season this year! Who are you routing for?

This week I went through our stack of mail, and came across a nice guide to water conservation with many tips on ways that you can conserve water.  It also included information about kits that you can purchase at greatly reduced prices to help conserve water in the home and while caring for your lawns and gardens.

I purchased the deluxe water-saving kit for $15 and the outdoor landscape kit for $7, a total of $22 and expect that with the savings on water usage and energy, the kits will pay for themselves.  They contained water conserving massage shower heads, sink nozzles, things to put in the toilet tank to reduce water qantity, kit to test to make sure your toilet isn’t leaking, water-conserving garden sprayer, parts to mend hose leaks, water rainfall measure, something to test the level of moisture in the soil, and more…quite a nice deal!

I don’t know how long this is available, and there are a few other States included, visit waterconservationproducts.com and see for yourself, and remember to conserve water.  I shared some tips at another blog, “Baby Boomer Penny Pincher“.

I was browsing New Jersey topics today, and read an article about the comeback that the Bald Eagle is making in New Jersey.  We often watch large birds circle in the sky and wonder if one is an eagle…are more accustomed to seeing them when we travel to Maine, but apparently, they are indeed finding their way into the Garden State.

The following video was interesting…it always bothers me just a bit when they take the animals from their nests and do all the things that they do to study and research, must be terribly unsettling for the animal, but that is the way it is, and is done for good reason.

Have any of you seen our Nation’s symbolic bird, the bald eagle, where you are?

Other NJ Wildlife Posts You Might Like:

New Jersey State Bird, the Cute Little Goldfinch

A Visit By a Young Bear

Turkeys and Peacocks at New Jersey Ecology Center in Wyckoff, NJ

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

The “Jersey Shore beach Vacation” season will be starting at the end of this month, a favorite time of year for those of us that love the beach.  There’s hardly a place in NJ that isn’t within a reasonable distance from one of our beautiful beaches.  We are in the very northernmost part of New Jersey, but have made trips down to Wildwood, NJ which is at the bottom of the state, and is always worth the trip!

If you are planning a vacation or trip to the Jersey Shore this year, and will be near Wildwood, New Jersey, please do plan to attend one or more of the FREE concerts offered at Morey’s Piers taking place from June through August. Many of the top Radio Disney artists will be performing. Morey’s Piers is a fun place for the whole family, if you are in need of a place to stay, this link will provide you with some Wildwood New Jersey motels in the area.

You’ll find more information at any of the fun links in this post.

In my internet travels today I was introduced to a site unlike any I had seen before. I know there are a lot of charity sites, but this one was focused on providing help to classrooms and students. If you visit this Online Charity link you can visit this site, and see a list of school classrooms that you can donate to, with specific requests.

While there I decided to do a search on “New Jersey” and found quite a few requests for donations in classrooms in my home State. I liked doing that because I know the area, and can vouch for the fact that the schools are in needy areas. You may want to do the same.

It’s a unique concept to me, and something worth looking into especially now with school budgets being among many things that will feel the economic crunch.