October 6, Tuesday The only thing better than Tom’s hash & eggs for breakfast . . . is when the hash is home made from a brisket that has been smoked and cooked, sliced into cubes, with diced potatoes added! With that under our belts, we were ready to go exploring for the day. Our objective was to drive to Ocean Grove, 18 miles north of us, and again explore the town where my parents met 80 years ago. Three years ago when we visited it was rainy and cold . . .how much better it was this time around with sunshine and 70 degrees! In 1869 several Methodist ministers camped on New Jersey’s seashore and decided to build a permanent Christian camp meeting community and call it Ocean Grove. It started as a tent city, followed by a wooden auditorium, and in 1894 the Great Auditorium that now stands was finished. Originally built to seat 10,000 people it resulted in Ocean Grove being known as the “Queen of Religious Resorts.” The community’s land is still unincorporated and is still owned by the camp meeting association and leased to individual homeowners and businesses. It is the longest-active camp meeting site in the United States. Directly surrounding the Great Auditorium to this day is a tent city. The tents are put up seasonally April thru September and have permanent wooden foundations and a wooden shed on the back side that houses a kitchen and bathroom. During the winter months the shed stores the tent canvas. The last time we were here the tents were up in colorful magnificence, but it was just as interesting this time to see the tent frames, platforms, and sheds without the actual tents. A tent rents for $4,000-$6,000 per summer, and tents are booked 10 years in advance. Another unique feature of Ocean Grove is the Victorian architecture . . . street after street of “painted ladies;” the largest collection of Victorian homes in the entire country – all packed into only 0.372 square miles! We parked and walked some of the main streets that lead from the ocean, beach, and boardwalk to the Great Auditorium. Oh, if I could only peek through to 80 years ago when my parents met here! I did my best, comparing their picture on the front porch of their boarding house, to all the front porches up and down the main street. If this is not it, it is very close! We left Ocean Grove feeling like we had really experienced it, this time, like my parents did in 1940. On the return trip we took the ocean-side road while follows the barrier islands – it was 71 degrees and beautiful. We stopped at Shore Fresh Seafood Market/Restaurant to check over the local catch, and ended up eating fish sandwich and Lobster Roll on the outdoor patio. There was still a lot of lovely afternoon to enjoy our private little creek-side outlook at the campsite. Our Canadian Geese and Mallard Ducks are very entertaining, and are starting to have distinct personalities! We ate scallops (from the seafood market) and steak for dinner and planned our outing for tomorrow.
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October 2021
We don’t go camping any more . . . we go ‘streamin’ ! The “SIlvermine and His” is our 2018 25' Airstream Serenity with Salsa interior and front twin beds., and ‘streamin’ is the name we use to describe our adventures. Stream along as we document everything from weekend trips to longer summer excursions and full-blown vacations. You know what they say: if you’re not in an Airstream – you’re just camping!
Tom & Ella Brown |