The Long Way Home

While Neil Armstrong is My Uncle.. takes place in Massapequa, New York, it was written in New Jersey. That's where I live. One of the best things about the Jersey shore is the sea, of course. I took these pics during the 20 mile drive from work to home. Normally, I travel up and down the Garden State, but when I slow down and take the back roads, here's what I see.



This is Huddy Park, across the street from the library in Toms River. On Wednesdays in the summer they have a farmers market. They also have events like the annual "Wooden Boat Fesitval" and the "Art and Music Festival". Btw, I was standing on this bridge, when I got "the call".



I'm heading south now near Beachwood.



Here's the town of Ocean Gate.The population is about 2000, but I bet it swells to more than that in the summer. For a quiet walk, nothing beats the boardwalk in this town.


I love the eerie feeling of this place. Driving by, all you see are hundreds of these skeletons of electric poles in a marshland. It's a wildlife refuge, but obviously it was something else at one time.



Still moving south, I found a new store called the Hippie House. Wish they were there when I was researching 1969. I'll be searching the place for something to bring to my school visits.


This is the main street in my home town. You know you live in a small town when the local supermarket is described as "the keystone store". But there are lots of cool places here, such as Hope Hypnosis. Hypnotherapist Mary Silvernail has done seminars at our library.





I'm home! If I walk 100 yards from my front door, here's what I see.

Most days, I take the Parkway and hardly notice. But I think I'm gonna take the long way home more often.