October, 2018, Day 17, A Day in the Hood

Day 17 Sunday October 28

      Last January, I met my friend Suzanne in Summit for coffee and we had a great time.  So, we decided to do it again.  Fortunately, this time it wasn’t eight degrees.  We agreed to meet across fro the train station, by the Starbucks.

      But, we didn’t go inside.  Instead, we went across the street to a place called Boxwood Coffee.  We got caught up on things and decided to take a walk.  Two blocks away is the monthly farmer’s market.  There were stands selling fruits and vegetables, crafts and baked goods.   

      Afterwards we just walked up Springfield Avenue, the main road through downtown.  Suzanne asked if I wanted to check out Eli Manning’s place since it was just a few blocks away.  I said sure. The Giants were in Washington for a game.  

       Eventually, we worked our way back to my car and said out good-byes.  

       The original plan was to have lunch with my best bud from fourth grade, Eric.  But, he would up working a lot later than expected.  He texted me at 9A and had just arrived home.  Eric works as an emergency room nurse and volunteers as an EMT.  So, I completely understood.
        Suddenly I had the afternoon with no plans.

       New Providence was having an autumn street festival and had barricaded most of downtown.  I grabbed my camera and walked up the street.  

     NP was always a quiet, suburban town.  Heavy duty police vehicles just seemed out of place.

    There are these scarecrows on most of the lamp posts.  Some are from local businesses. 

     In one of the booths I met Matt and Kim Green, the owners of Untied Brewery, New Providence's own microbrewery, set to open in January.  When I was a kid, the town was dry.  The first liquor license was only issued a few years ago.  Now you can get beer at the local diner.  There's a nice place downtown with alcohol and a bar and grill set to open soon in the spot that once was Burger Express, Burger King, Chen's Chinese and the Dim Sum Villa.

 But, I never expected our own craft brewery.  

     The plan is to open in Januaryand offer between ten and fourteen unique beers every day.  And yes, I even bought a t-shirt. 

       I realize this was less than two weeks from election day, but found it humorous how many politicians I met.  Some even wanted to talk after I told them I live in Georgia.  I would up having a long conversation about the Abrams/Kemp race for Governor and the usual shenanigans.   

       There are certain things you take for granted living in a heavily italian part of New Jersey.  Italian sausage is one of them!

      The band Fish Eyed Blues were playing and sounded pretty good.

     With the festival starting to wind down, I slipped into a coffee shop and wound up in front of the Chief of Police in line.  We had a nice chat as the line slowly inched forward.  We chatted about how much the town has changed. He told me about a couple of places I needed to check out before I left town.

      I talked with my friend Ann and we agree to meet for dinner at a place called the Echo Tap and Grill in Mountainside.  It’s close to Echo Lake and right on Route 22.  It’s also about equidistant between us.

      Ann had to work in the morning, so we said our good-byes and called it a day around 10P.  

October, 2018 Day 18-23 The Rest of the Journey

Day 18 Monday 10/29/18

       The only thing on tap today was the drive to Mom’s house in Maryland.  My good friend Andrea wasn’t able to join us Saturday night.  So, the deal was, I’d text her Monday morning and we would try and meet for coffee.

      There’s a new Embassy Suites hotel in Berkeley Heights, right off Diamond Hill Road.  Just off the lobby sits a Starbucks.  We decided to meet there.  Their seating area has one larger room, and one smaller room around the corner.  It was nice to have that smaller room to ourselves.  There are conversations with friends that are light and full of laughs.  There are conversations where you just want to catch up.  Then there are those deep, heavy conversations.  Two hours later, we shared a long hug and said our good-byes.  Andrea showed me the easy way to I-78 west which brought be to Hwy 206 south to Trenton. 

      I had never gone this way.  I could have done without all the traffic lights, but I  did drive by the governor’s mansion.  From there it was all interstate the entire way.
     Leaving New Jersey...

Crossing into Delaware.  Note the leaden sky...

But, as soon as I crossed into Maryland...

Monday-Saturday

     As some of you know, my Mom is in the process of trying to downsize.  So, we did some sorting and took a few loads of stuff to places like the Salvation Army, and basically just tried to get things done.  But, we also had a lot of good, quality time together.  And yes, I did find myself bringing home some stuff from the house.
   On the dry days, I also took my camera out to photograph her neighborhood.

Saturday, November 3, 2018

    Door to door from Mom's house, it's 675 miles.  It makes for a long day in the car.  So, I was packed up and pulling out at 7:30A.  The sky was this amazing shade of blue in the developing light.  Mom found it humorous that I grabbed my camera and stood in the middle of the street to shoot this.  Imagine the trees being darker, but the sky being a lighter blue. 

     As for the drive, it was relatively painless.  But, it does seem to feel longer and longer every time.

As expected, the trip ended as it began...mired in Atlanta traffic.....

     There's just something about a roadtrip.  But when it's all over, there's something to be said for being home.  The car never left the garage on Sunday.  Of course I'm already thinking about the next one.     I

Dave 11/18



PS:  This is it for scheduled time off for the year.  My next scheduled adventure is in April.  The plan is to head back to Clarksdale, Mississippi for the annual Juke Joint Festival. I met my friend Tracey there two years ago and we've decided to do it again.  Ordinarily that would simply be a long weekend.  But, all I've seen of Arkansas is Little Rock and all I've seen of Missouri is along Route 66.  So, I've tacked on two weeks and think I'll poke around this area of the country a bit.

PPS: Phone Update.  I did some research on replacements for my phone and didn't realize just how much the new ones go for.  Crazy.  This morning, I spent some time playing menu roulette and being transferred around on the phone by the folks at first Boost Mobile and then Lg.  Part of my monthly fee includes insurance on the phone.  So, I talked with the insurance folks.  For a $50 fee, they're sending me a replacement phone.  It's not the latest and greatest.  But, I'm okay with that for now.   So, hopefully, by the end of the week I'll be good to go with my old number.  I just wish I could have recovered some of the photos.  Some of my favorites made it into travelogues.  Others are just lost forever.