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.