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...