September 11, 2023

September 11, 2023

We checked out of our Philadelphia hotel and drove across the Delaware River into New Jersey. After an hour we reached Atlantic County Park. This is one site of the Great Egg Harbor Scenic and Recreational River. Great Egg is a lazy river that drains the wetlands that cover a huge portion of southern New Jersey. Oddly this park unit overlaps the Pinelands National Reserve, the first designated reserve in the US. It was known as the Pine Barrens because the acidic, sandy soil made farming difficult. Instead early settlers used the abundant sand for the nation's first glassworks. The Mason Jar was invented here. Another resource, Bog Iron, fed smelters.

To learn more about the area we walked two miles along a boardwalk trail that winds through this forested wetland. Great Egg Harbor was named after the many waterfowl eggs found here and is supposed to be a great birding area. We only saw one bird.

Back on the road, we stopped at a gas station and learned that New Jersey is the last state requiring an attendant to pump gas. Apparently it is safer for this young kid to fill my tank than me. We then stopped at a grocery store to buy granola for me and wine for Aimee. We learn that in New Jersey, wine and beer can only be purchased in liquor stores. Why is it that everyone who gets elected to government is driven to make rules to impose their will on the public.

Aimee mentioned that many of the rangers we met on this trip have talked about vacationing ‘at the shore’. That is the Jersey Shore I presume. We are pretty close so we follow the Great Egg River to its mouth just south of Atlantic City.

Driving north along the shore we followed Ventnor and Atlantic Avenues, passing the cute neighborhood of Marven Gardens. We found Free Parking streetside right next to the Jail. We walked the Boardwalk for about a mile. Aimee suggested that life is like a board game. I am beginning to see her point.

Today is 9/11 and we stumbled upon a ceremony commemorating that horrific event. The local firemen draped a huge flag between two Ladder Fire Trucks in the stage background.

We are hungry so we popped in the Tropicana Casino, bet (and quickly lost) two dollars and then had a much needed Caesar Salad lunch.

We spend the rest of the afternoon driving across New Jersey crossing back over the Delaware River and then south to the Delaware capital of Dover. There we check into our nicest hotel yet, a casino hotel. Strangely our room overlooks the Dover Motor Speedway. This would probably be a cool place to stay when a Nascar event is happening.