3A and my last show wraps. Considering I was getting out at 8A two days prior, this wasn’t bad at all. A couple of hours sleep later, and it was off to the airport. Next stop, Newark, NJ…well, after the seemingly inevitable delays. This time it had to do with crosswinds in Newark that had all but shut down one runway. They still made for an interesting landing.
My flight was leaving from Concourse B. With plenty of time, I decided to walk. The walkway to Concourse A is full of sculptures and photos from Zimbabwe with African music playing. The walkway to Concourse B is a rainforest, complete with the sounds of chirping birds.
Entitled "Flight Paths," it's the vision of Chicago artist and professor Steve Waldeck. It covers four hundred and fifty feet of ceiling space at a cost of just over $4 million. You can check out his website here. For those of you who have never walked through, you can see more here.
Michael, my Lyft driver, was great and we had a nice chat on the drive to New Providence. The sun was already setting as we were getting close to town. It was the kind of sunset that was mostly a yellow band at the horizon. The few scattered clouds however, were a brilliant pink. The colors faded fairly quickly and it was all but over by the time I had checked into the Best Western.
So, when I went off to try and find some dinner, I left the big camera in the room. With all the rain they’ve had lately, the brook that cuts through the center of town was much higher than usual. In the fading light, I tried a few reflection shots. The plan was to come back in the daylight to try again. But, that didn't work out quite as planned.
Dinner was at a new place downtown called the Providence Bar and Kitchen. Nice enough place but it struck me as the kind of restaurant I’d take a date, not necessarily a casual spot for a quick bite and beer.
Monday January 7, 2019
With the day ahead of me, I decided to walk through a part of town I hadn’t visited in a long time, at least not on foot. I took the long way into downtown via Central Ave. Many of the small businesses have changed, but it still seemed so familiar. It still seems weird to see a deli in the spot where Harry's Mobile gas station used to stand. Springfield Ave. would bring me into downtown. Funny how different it all seems on foot as opposed to zipping by in a car. All the side streets got me thinking about the people I knew who lived down them.
Eventually, I came to the Methodist church. Across the street sits one of the two cemetery's in town and by far the most famous headstone. Rev. Walter Burrows was the church pastor until his death in 1869. It was broken even when I lived here.
Living in the deep south, encountering headstones from Civil War veterans is commonplace. Not so much from the Revolutionary War.
The photo from the previous evening was taken from the footbridge by the community pool. I did cut across the parking lot to try it again in the daylight. I just wasn't expecting the mostly stagnant water to be crusted over with ice.
If a small town could have an iconic building, that would be the Presbyterian Church, right in the heart of downtown. It's on the town seal, as well as the patches for the police and fire department. I even have a photo of it hanging in my home.
Around the corner sits a place called Colonial Appliance. As I walked by, it struck me that this was the former home of a small TV repair shop back in my day.
It's been a few years since I walked into the public library. Lord knows I spent enough time here in my youth. It's expanded a great deal, but some things never seem to change.
It was early afternoon at this point and I was thinking lunch. When I grew up here, we had three delis. Briganti's was close to our neighborhood. Avenue Deli is downtown. Directly across from the train station is Towne Deli. I hadn't eaten there in a very long time. While their Turkey Joe's are also quite good, if quickly reminded me why I generally buy them from Avenue Deli. There's just something about them.
Being a work night for my friends, we decided to meet a little earlier than usual. I was going to meet Jean at our usual spot, the Sterling Hotel at 5P. Everyone else would trickle in when they could. I was at the mercy of the NJ Transit schedule to get there. I’d be early, but planned to walk around for a while.
Right on time, the train arrived. Some passengers got off and five of us got on. We had just cleared the station platform when we stopped. All rail traffic between Murray Hill and Sterling was on hold. The conductor had no details. A few minutes later we were told it was “police activity on the tracks.” This was followed by, ”the cops are chasing someone.” The delay was perhaps twenty minutes and I arrived right on time.
Jean was already there as we chatted until everyone else started coming in. I find is humorous they always seem to put us at the same table.
Eric, a good friend since fourth grade, drove me back to the motel and we wound up talking about life for another half hour or so. All in all, a really great day.
Tuesday January 8, 2019
The promised rain started after I got in the night before, and was all but over when I awoke. It was still cold, damp and foggy. So, no last walk around town. The Murray Hill train station is a short walk from the motel. I had some time before my train, so I experimented with the conditions.
After a brief stop at Newark's Broad Street Station to change trains, it was off to the big city...
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