Absecon,
New
Jersey
September 12,
2003. We
left Atlantic City and headed back to Absecon, where we had
spent the previous night in a motel. Gloria contacted
Jim's sister, Helen, who had gone to Philadelphia to see her
granddaughter in a play. Helen was then in a train, on her way
back to Absecon, but she had gotten delayed, then the train was
late, so the planned arrival time of 2:30 was out the window.
According to the schedule on the
train platform, it was actually due in at 3:06, but it was
looking like it wouldn't get in until around 4:30 or so.
You have to understand something about Jim's sister: She
was late to her own wedding, so such a person would not be
expected to have much of a grasp of time in relationship to the
rest of the world.
It was finally decided for us to
head for Helen's condo in Waretown, New Jersey, about 40 miles
up the road. Helen gave Gloria the directions, and in
about an hour or so we arrived, and found the key in a seckert
place, so we could get in, cuz we was going to spend a couple of
nights there.
Photo #1 shows Helen's condo...it
is the right half of the building.
Photo #2 shows a view of the
condos from the end of the pier in back.
Photo #3 shows another pier that
runs along the beach for a couple hundred feet.
Photo #4 shows all the cool boats
that the neighbors own, but Helen doesn't have a boat.
Sparky's
Photo Album of Helen's Condo |
1. Helen's Condo on right side
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2. View of back of condos
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3. View of pier behind condos
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4. Neighbors' boats
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Helen got there about 6:00, and
her lifelong friend Norma was with her. Jim remembers
Norma from many years ago, when she used to babysit him and his
younger sister, Sharon. After a short discussion, they all
headed out for a steak house somewhere around the corner and
down the street, in the next town.
In fact, everywhere Helen has
lived in that area is always "Around the corner and down
the street," or "Down the street and around 4 or 5
corners," and if you aren't careful, or even if you are careful,
you'll often wind up in the next county, or back in the
neighbor's garage without reaching your destination.
Come to think of it, everywhere
east of Kansas City seems to have those same
characteristics. It must be the excess of trees and lack
of mountains to use for navigation aids.
September 13,
2003. We
all got up early and got out the map, plus two more maps of
the area and headed for the McDonald's for breakfast. We only jest got a little bit lost, but did eventually get back to
the condo before lunch time.
After lunch Helen took us to see
some of the sights around the area, which included lots of roads
and lots of corners, and an old hardware store that was so full
of merchandise that everybuddy was bumping into each
other. They probably had everything ever made in there,
but it was so packed in that things were hard to find.
They also had an upstairs that me
and Sniffy went to check out, but it was reel scary up there cuz
it was even more packed with stuff, and when even the family rat
gets nervous, it's time to leave! But not before Helen
bought an old fashioned coffee pot that you put on the top of an
old wood or coal powered cook stove, and it cooks you some
coffee in about 3 hours if you reely pour on the coal.
Helen and her husband Al have a
home in another little town named Richfield Springs, in Upstate
New York, and it is also located "Down the street and
around several curves and corners," and we ran out of time,
so we didn't get to see it this time. Richfield Springs
doesn't have a website, but you ken jest click on the Cooperstown
website cuz it's nearby, and they have a lot of interesting
museums there.
After all the sightseeing we
headed for another mysterious town named Little Egg Harbor, in
New Jersey. That's where Jim's sister Sharon lives with
her cat named Esther. Sniffy took an immediate liking to
Esther the cat, and got his picture took with her and Sharon.
To find out more about Little
Egg Harbor Township, click here, but don't expect
a lot of exciting things to do and see.
We went to dinner at another
restaurant that is located just up the street, around 2 corners
and 3 curves, but I forgot the name of it. The food was
great, though, according to everybuddy that ate there.
Sparky's
Photo Album of Helen and the Others |
1. Jim, Norma & Helen |
2. Helen, Jim, Sparky & Hiram |
3. Sharon, Esther the Cat & Sniffy |
4. Esther the cat with Sniffy the rat |
We won't get to go to Helen's
condo anymore, though, cuz she sold it and will be moving her
stuff out of it pretty soon. I think it was too easy to
find, so she'll probably look for another one pretty soon, one
that is reely hard to find, like one that is "Up the
street, around 5 curves, down another street, around 4 corners,
across the bridge, around 2 more corners, then stop and ask for
directions to find out the rest of the way there."
That's the kind of house she
likes.
Go on to the next page for our
New York adventures, cuz that's where we headed the next
morning.
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