A Freeway Runs Through It

After taking a trip to Cape May with my Dad, we drove back to Pennsville, first taking Buckshutem Road from Laurel Lake, then getting on Rt. 49 in Bridgeton. We drove past the house we used to live in on Shiloh Pike (Rt. 49). This video combines both footage from that drive and a few old photos mixed in. Since the video is in Quicktime, the resolution is low, and it's hard to read the titles. First part of the video is Buckshutem Rd., also known as (Cumberland) County Rd. 670., which passes by the Millville Wildlife Management Area, beneath a canopy of trees. The abandon home is near Gouldtown, NJ, close to Bridgeton. It is from a photo I took in 2001. This town has an interesting history. Here's a link: "America's Oldest Negro Coummunity"   The next still is a picture of my Sister, Barbara, and I walking on a flooded Shiloh Pike near Barrett Run Road, when Barrett Run swelled after a rain storm. This was probably around 1974, or so. Next is our old hou...

I finally got it together to take another trip back East to visit my Dad, Wilmer. I took the train from Chicago to Philadelphia, then took New Jersey Transit to Pennsville, NJ. The bus stops near Cranberry Plaza, an old shopping center which is now home to the ubiquitous dollar store, among a few other local businesses. The department store that was once there now houses a mostly empty indoor flea market. When my Dad picked me up in his ridiculously huge station wagon, with the faux-wood side panels, I ran into Capriotti's sandwich shop and got a cheese steak sub, and got him an Italian, which is his favorite. My Dad's car in front of his apartment on Fort Sumter Rd. My dad lives in a run-down apartment complex with the seemingly ironic name Sunrise Gardens. It is home mostly to poor white folks living a marginal existence. My Dad is retired and lives on a fixed income. When I left he was totally broke. And that was on April 21st, he still had 'til May 3rd before he...

Just a warm up. Just got back from South Jersey and will be posting about it soon. Here's an older video of a trip past. Stay tuned!

I had some photos from my cell phone I tried to e-mail to my self. Well, don't have e-mail on my phone. You'll have to use your imagination. I include a link to The Beach House, however. The other day my friend, Jeff Kelly, and I met for a couple of beers at Mickey's Tavern.  I updated him on some of the  craziness that was going on in my life, which I won't go into here. Suffice it to say, sometimes one person can be like a tornado ripping through a trailer park in terms of the impact they can have on those around them. So, we had a couple pints of beer (I went for the Bell's Two Hearted, lots of hops, nice ABV), and a couple of greasy ruebens, the small thin slices of rye bread were soggy and the pastrami was chewy. Not impressed. The ruebens at the Harmony Bar are the way to go. After hanging out on the couch, appreciating the sunlight of the impending spring, Jeff asked if I wanted to check out this place called The Beach House on Lake Waubesa, in McFarland....

Wigwam Motel, Holbrook, AZ Driving into town from Interstate 40, which roughly parallels most of what remains of historic Route 66 in Arizona, it was obvious that Holbrook, AZ had seen better days. Lots of rundown budget motels with busted back-lit signs, advertising cheap rates: "2 X $18", a double for eighteen bucks. We get a room at the Wigwam Motel, with its concrete teepee shaped rooms, all of which have antique cars from the golden age of motoring, parked in front of them. This motel, Wigwam Village #6, I believe, was built around 1950, before the interstate was finished, after which interstate travel blew by Holbrook a couple miles north of old Route 66. Holbrook Rocks! A good place to buy rocks, if nothing else. H. thought it'd be a good idea to walk around and take photos of the rundown buildings and funky old signs. I had my doubts, knowing with our cameras that we would stand out as tourists, in a town where I hadn't seen any tourists on the street. W...

All those hours of work in the last two weeks has caught up with me. Now I'm sick or have allergies, and back to work tomorrow. Haven't felt like working on any thing. Here's a little something I wrote back in November 2005. I think I was visiting my Dad when my stepmother, Geri, was very ill (see the story below, "My Father"). Train Through Pennsylvania   Bare trees, back yards grown over with rusted cars and washing machines. the Three Mile Island cooling towers, gray silos against the cloudy sky. small towns, dilapidated houses along the tracks. glassless windows, peeling paint, collapsed porches. aluminum trailer parks. gray gravel, orange mud, pumpkins rotting in a field of brown stalks. Amish farmland succumbing to homogeneous subdivisions.

An amusement pier in winter, Wildwood, NJ Not a whole lot going on. Worked seven days last week. So, not a lot of time to work on this, or much else for that matter. My family and I used to go to Wildwood by the Sea when my sister and I were kids. It has a long boardwalk and a number of amusement piers, food stands, and stores selling cheesy t-shirts, kinda like Wisconsin Dells. As you can see in the photo, the beach is huge, I think almost a half mile from the boardwalk to the shoreline (well, maybe not that far). I kind of like going there during the off season when the scene is desolate. You can get really good deals on fudge and saltwater taffy. I hope to do a little piece on Holbrook, AZ soon. Old Route 66, the Wigwam Motel, rock shops selling petrified wood among other things. The town has certainly seen better days. Stay tuned.