Tuesday, July 13, 2021

June Roadtrip, Day 19...Two Sculpture Parks

 Day 19

Saturday, June 19

   One thing I learned from these roadtrips is to try and avoid early commitments.  Sure, there are times you really need to be up and out at first light.  But, if you don't need to, why do it?  With that in mind, I booked my afternoon's adventure at 2P.  With plenty of time to get there, I checked out and went for a walk.  Just for kicks, I left the camera in the car and just used the new phone.  

     Crossing South Street and headed up Marion Avenue, I crossed the bridge over Salt Brook.  The way the story goes, during the Revolutionary War, the local citizens dumped their salt into the water to keep it out of the hand of the advancing British military.  It wasn't always this overgrown.  As kids, some of us would take our bikes down and ride them through the water.


   This was all smaller, single family homes back then.  They're still there on one end of the street.  Now it's new townhomes starting at just $569K.  


    

       Just up the street is a building I never knew much about when I lived here.  We just knew it as the Paca Club.  It was used for big meetings, wedding receptions and the annual high school band fundraiser.  Those were always fun.  I just never knew the background.

    The William Paca Club was first organized during the great depression and served as both a social club and a civic organization.  The Club helped those having trouble getting by, as well as assisting those trying to work their way through the citizenship process.  
     The club is named after William Paca, a Maryland delegate to the Continental Congress, and signer of the Declaration of Independence.  He would eventually be elected as a two term governor of Maryland, the country's first Italian American governor.  
     At one point, this was the old town hall.  Having a Wealth Management company in the building somehow seemed wrong.

   I really liked this idea.  But, the bin did appear to be empty.

     After another visit to Avenue Deli, it was time to head back towards the motel.  I passed the latest creation of Shelley Parriott.  Her public art isn't just color, it's sound, too.  Some of her pieces even have an attached rubber mallet to create that sound.  When she gets her website back up, you'll be able to see more here.
     
    




It was time to head out.  There was one more stop to make, and I was passing
by anyway.  A few years ago, I stopped into the Watchung Reservation for a walk along Surprise Lake.  Little did I know there was work being done on the far end and the entire lake had been drained.  It really felt strange walking across the lake bottom.  The work is finished and the lake flooded yet again.  Nice to see everything back to normal, at least here.
        
     

The new and improved dam...                                                                           
                                                                      


It was time to go.  I was headed to Trenton, the state capital.  I spent two nights
there for one reason only, it's a part of the state I had never visited.  My only regret, the 
Trenton Thunder were on the road.  The Thunder came to New Jersey in 1980 as minor 
league team for the Chicago White Sox.  Since then, their affiliation has changed to the 
Detroit Tigers, Boston Red Sox and more recently the New York Yankees.  Now they're 
   a part of the new MLB Draft League.  You can read more about the draft league here.
 
A few years ago, I was headed out of my old home town and driving the same route
down I-295.  As I drove by a random exit, I saw a gigantic tooth on the side of the road.
Figuring this had to be something, I went back.  Not only was there the big tooth, but also 
a giant sized couple in period costume dancing, as well as King Lear.  I didn't  have the 
time to investigate further.  On this trip, I made the time.                                                           
    It's all part of sculptor and philanthropist Seward Johnson's vision of making art accessible and informal.  He bought forty-two acres of the old state fairgrounds and opened to the public in  1992, calling his sculpture garden, Grounds For Sculpture.  Your $18 ticket gets you in the gate.  From there, you're on your own.  I spent two hours wandering the       grounds and would have stayed longer.  But, the idea of a sculpture garden in the rain didn't hold the same sense of wonder.                                                                                                 

Right by the front gate...                                                                                                        
                                                                      

King Lear was also one of the former roadside sculptures I saw a few years ago....
                             

As were the dancing couple...  Both are Seward John's creations.                                                                   




It's not just the sculptures, it's the curves and lines of the grounds...

Some of the sculptures are definitely a bit more abstract...                                                  



I didn't notice the chimney the first time I saw this.                                      




                   


       I didn't notice this at first, but something humorous is going on here...                 

Note the boats in the background.  This guy is painting the scene...       


While himself being painted...                                                                      


Take a few steps back...                                                                                             


Another few steps back...                                                                                        


      Continue up the path and you come to Seward Johnson's three dimensional take on Renoir's painting, "Luncheon of the Boating Party."   Here's the original.                                                                              


And Seward's take on it...                                                                              

These four aren't visible in the original picture.  That's Seward himself seated on the 
left, along with fellow sculptors Bill Barrett, Red Grooms and Andrew Pitynski.                  

The website artsology.com did a deeper dive into the comparison of the two.  You can 
that here.                                                                                                                                     



Seen along the lakeshore...                                                                                                







          Seward's "Pondering the Benefits of Exercise"                                                              
                                                         

Seward tried to expand the grounds at one point.  He reached buyout deals with 
every home owner on the other side of the lake, except one.  Thus, the deal fell through.
That homeowner was immortalized.  That's the house...                                                             


Wandering the grounds...                                                                              












 Loved the detail of the discarded cell phone and Physics textbook...                                         
                   

                


Approaching the Peacock Cafe...                                                                                



When the rain started to splatter, I ducked into an indoor exhibit of Bruce Beasley's work.


   When it became clear the rain wasn't going to clear, I started working my way out towards the car.  On a nice day, or if I had an umbrella, I would have kept exploring...                       

                          





Instead, I went off to explore yet another local brewery.  This time it was the Tindall 
Road Brewing Company in Bordentown.                                                                              
 

      Other than chips and pretzels, they don't do food, though the two beers I tried were quite good.  I wound up chatting with a guy who was practically beaming.  His                    granddaughter was setting up her guitar and keyboard.  It was her first gig as a paid               musician.  It was obvious she was really nervous, but the crowd liked her and she did really well.  I dropped a few bucks in her tip jar on the way out.                                                      

    It was time to head out and find the motel.  I was staying at a place called the MHO Hotel here in Bordentown.  It's an older place showing signs of its age.  But, the room was clean and comfortable, with decent wifi.  On trips like this, I really don't ask for much more.     
   Dinner was at the Chickie's and Pete's next door.  The menu was pretty much as expected. But, I did end up having a great conversation with a long haul truck driver my age.  He's happy the economy is coming back, and thus more work.  But, he's mentally so ready to retire.                                                                                                                                 
                                         




                                                              
  

                                                                                                                              

                                              
                                                 
                  



















































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