"Ain’t nobody on the road, ain’t nobody on the beach. The feeling in the air, the summer’s out of reach." – Don Henley
Where did it go – the time – the summer? Do you feel that summer has not started yet? Was it a blur to you? Are you sad that you missed it and that time is fleeting, at best? Has it all past you by? Did you get to hear those words, “Watch the Tram-Car Please”? Do you PINE for them now?
Snap out of it! It’s September, there’s still plenty to do. Local craziness abounds (if your ‘local’ is relatively close to South Jersey). Come to think of it there’re some pretty good crazy things happening in October too! Don’t believe me? Here’s the proof:
Downtown Millville: Antiques, Arts & Music Festival (http://millvillemerchants.com/news/visitors_participants.html) will be happening on Sunday, September 7th, 2008 on High Street in Millville, NJ. It will start at 10:00 AM. Music will be happening all day and about 100 different artists will be showing what they’ve got.
The Gloucester City 2008 Shamrock Festival (http://gloucestercityshamrockfestival.com/index.html) will be taking place on Saturday September 13th from 11:00 AM – 7:00 PM. There will be live Celtic bands all day including Birnam Wood (http://birnamwoodusa.com/index.htm). The Three Chicks and I caught one of their shows at cultural festival in Vineland about a year and a half ago and we’ve enjoyed them ever since. Hey – if you can’t share Irish drinking songs with your daughters – whom can you share them with? (Just kidding… sort of.)
The 2008 National Book Festival (http://www.loc.gov/bookfest/) is coming to the National Mall in Washington DC on September 27th, 2008. The day will be sponsored by the Library of Congress and “about 70 different authors” will be in attendance. It will happen between 3rd and 7th streets from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM. The festival is free and open to the public. (BTW, I plagiarized this paragraph from here: http://evilchickenscratch.blogspot.com/2008/08/2008-national-book-festival.html.
The 2008 New Jersey Lighthouse Challenge (http://www.njlhs.org/challenge/challenge.html) will get underway the weekend of October 18th and 19th. The challenge is to visit 13 lighthouses around the New Jersey peninsula from Tinicum in Paulsboro to Sandy Hook Light at Fort Hancock. I’ve always wanted to do the challenge but it just has not happened yet. Who knows, maybe this is the year?
The 25th Annual Cranberry Festival in Chatsworth (http://www.cranfest.org/festival.html) will be held on
October 18th & 19th from 9:00 – 4:00. If lighthouses aren’t doing it for you this weekend check out the Chatsworth Cranberry Festival. Here’s what their website has to say, “The Cranberry Festival is a celebration of New Jersey’s cranberry harvest, the 3rd largest in the United States, and offers a tribute to the Pine Barrens & Culture.” Admission is free but parking might cost you a fin.
The Legend Weekend (http://www.olddutchburyingground.org/) will be happening in Sleepy Hollow, New York just outside of New Jersey on the Hudson on October 27th and 28th, from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM. I believe that there is a reading of Washington Irving’s short story in the same church where Ichabod Crane held choir practice before being stalked by a certain Headless Hessian. Irving based several of the characters in “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” on actual residents of the town who are now occupants of the cemetery; so now too is Washington Irving. Perhaps the coolest way to see the cemetery would be during one of the nighttime Lantern Tours that begin on September 27th and run every Saturday until November 1st. Here are the gory details for what’s going on at Sleepy Hollow: http://www.sleepyhollowcemetery.org/PDF/sleepyhollowevents08-15-2008.pdf.
Fall Foliage; for here in New Jersey(http://www.state.nj.us/travel/feature_fall_foliage.html) and for parts near and for wherever you may roam (http://www.foliagenetwork.com/default.php). Take a look around, the days are growing shorter, the air is a little crisper and the leaves have started to change. Keep watching and you will see nature explode in color right before your eyes. But be warned, seasons don’t last long these days so enjoy whatever season you find yourself.
See you on the road, Gentle Reader.
2 comments:
what a nice commentary for NJ! and relatively free or inexpensive things to do!
I’m all about the relatively free and inexpensive things to do.
I should have added that the Philadelphia Art Museum is open for “free” on Sundays. I think we (the EC-5) are going to be checking out the armor section in the near future.
Post a Comment