PC's Adventures in Pictures

Also located in this park is a 15 Ton Anchor from the Aircraft Carrier USS Randolph.

CV-15.





Yeah, it's big !







Built in 1943-44 it was named after Payton Randolph, the President of the First Continental Congress.

It was reserviced twice and renumbered CVA-15 and CVS-15.
And it looks like they changed the decking pattern for one of those reservicings.

Here she is in 1962.



And here you can clearly see one of these anchors.



Looks small compared to the ship of course !

USS Randolph from Wikipedia.

And here is a great website, NavSource Online, showing the history of this Aircraft Carrier with pictures and some crew pictrues and manifests.
The ship was hit by a kamikaze on it's rear deck on March 11, 1945.

They also picked up Astronauts Gus Grissom and John Glenn during our early space program.

And here is one of it's anchors right here in New Jersey in Toms River in Huddy Park.



----------

SJT 291 Anchors A Weigh

Anchor from USS Randolph Aircraft Carrier @13

Also located here was this replica paddle boat.



Looks like they use it for touring and also dinner parties.



And of course, that is what the sign says !!!



They were loading food as we were standing there.

I thought this was being run by electric motor with that cable running to the back.



But someone said it looks like hydraulic.
Which makes more sense beings there are two lines and I did not see an electric motor on the paddle.

Across the river from the paddle boat I see a torpedo, which was another previous Tag.



That is the New Jersey South Submarine Veterans Memorial.

Found some information here about 3/4 of the way down.





Ready to move on.

River Lady

They have been doing this for 25 years.


And makes a distinction of being the only stern-wheeler in the state of New Jersey.

I found their history interesting too.

----------

SJT 400 Tommy Torpedo

New Jersey South Submarine Veterans Memorial, Torpedo @13

I had to put this in it's own post.





No, that's not really my attitude.
But I found it extremely funny none the less.

The problem is that most people have a poor attitude toward New Jersey and don't have any trouble speaking their mind about it.

The people of New Jersey have an attitude too.
Being stuck between New York City and Philadelphia we are usually considered a thruway and not a state.
The "Yeah, what exit?" joke!

If you should happen to be unfortunate enough to have to travel through the state you keep a mental list of do's and don'ts!
Keep the windows rolled up.
Don't stop.
Don't talk to anyone.
Get through as fast as you can and breath in as little toxic smoke as possible.
Just keep your eyes straight and ignore the people with drugs and guns on every corner.


So, does that describe it pretty well ?

Joe Piscopo started that whole "What Exit" joke.
He is apparently from New Jersey and wrote a song about his home state.
"Joe Piscopo's New Jersey Song"

We get no respect here in the Garden State.
Yes, we are known as the Garden State.

I had thought this went back to colonial times, but apparently only became our moniker in 1876 !!!! :huh
Found that here.



So that bumper sticker kind of gives people back what they think of us.
Even though we are not really that bad.



Well, most of us anyway !!!!!!

I have that bumper sticker on my car :)

and i mean it !

That was the first time I had seen that bumper sticker.

It still gives me a good laugh.

On to our lunch destination.



One of the guys from our church kept bragging about White Castle Hamburgers.



The rest of us weren't too sure.



They were small and the rest of us didn't see much between our buns!



I tried a size comparison.



Apparently started long before McDonald's the White Castle has not been as predominant as the Golden Arches.

I have never seen a commercial for White Castle, so maybe they needed their own clown or king character!

I was surprised that they reacted this fast !!!!



oser

I can not remember the last time I ate at a McD's or a Burger King.
So the experience was not very memorable on the food side of our stop.
We did have a good time making fun of our friend though!!!!

He took it well.
And he still tells me how I am going to be craving these things pretty soon.

I am still waiting !

They did have some nice stained glass windows!



Nice view !



We were trying to compare the size of our burgers to the older photographs.







We figured they are about the same size, or perhaps a little smaller ! :huh

We were concerned our friend would turn out looking like this if he ate too many more.



You are what you eat !!!!!

White Castle

----------

White Castle, Toms River, NJ @13

I had not planned on stopping to do the Tag-O-Rama game while we were out.
But the South Jersey Tag was only about 2 miles from the White Castle.
I mentioned it and the guys said I was leading and they would follow.

Soooooo !!!!!



They humored me !

It was only a slight detour.

Nothing fancy and I did not want to take too much of our time taking pictures.





I had bought my truck from Pine Belt Chevy back in 2005, so the name was familiar to me.

They hold whatever function they can fit here.
Sporting events, like the local High School Basketball team games, concerts, trade shows, etc.
It only seats 3,208 people.

Wikipedia

Pine Belt official website.

----------

SJT 870 Piney Arena

Pine Belt Arena @13

Our next destination was Seaside Heights to see the Rollercoaster in the Atlantic Ocean at Casino Pier Amusements.

I had been told they were going to remove the Rollercoaster from the ocean due to local concerns.
When I dug further I come to find out they were supposed to be removing it after Prince William visited
the area the week before we were going to be here. And it was only supposed to take four days
to remove it.

We find a parking spot pretty close.
They are still working on cleaning the area up for the opening of the Shore Season, which began the following weekend of Memorial Day.



I see some of my friends from my last visit.





When we got to the beach we get a nice view.



Of where the Rollercoaster was.
It was directly ahead in the ocean.
It had been totally removed.

It was just to the left and rear of that white building.



Originally it was behind that white building before the pier collapsed.

The steel supports and the hole in the boardwalk are for the skyway cable ride that goes along the boardwalk.

You can see that the pier under the white building still looks unstable.
They were not doing any work on that section of the pier.
I am sure they will fix that before they put anything on top of it.

They were working on getting Casino Pier back together and putting rides up.



They had totally rebuilt almost all of the boardwalk.







The Arcade Building next to us.



And they totally repaved the road along the ocean here.



I also notice that they changed the color of the rook roofs from red to blue !



So with not much more to see here and some of us needed to get home.
And a slight threat of rain !
We got back on the bikes and took Route 35 north to Point Pleasant Beach to see what kind of devastation was still around.
Seaside Heights was pretty well rebuilt.
The further north we went the more it still looked like it did right after the storm last October.
Still a sad sight.

After parting ways as we passed my area the other fellas kept heading south.

I decided where I was going to drop the Southern Tag before I headed home.





This was a fire house at one time.
Now it is a sign company.



You can still see the fire siren to the left of the building on the pole.

The fire trucks are actually murals on the overhead doors.







All located in Pine Hill, NJ.



They even kept the Pine Hill name on the firetrucks in the murals.

Up the road in this picture is the Pine Hill Golf Club I posted on page 27.
They highest point in South Jersey.

And a couple of blocks away is the Pine Hill Diner I posted on page 78.

Artcraft Sign Studios, Inc.

I looked at their Photo Gallery and I have seen their signs around quite a bit in my travels !

----------

SJT 871 Faux Fire Engines

Artcraft Sign Studio, Inc. @13

I thought these purple fields near me were pretty nice looking so I stopped there on my way home too.



OK, they were much more impressive in person !

Honest !

There were two fields like this.
The one above, and the one below.
They are about 2 miles apart.







So those are my purple fields.

On Memorial Day Weekend we actually did something I whole heartedly try to avoid.

We road close to a summer people magnet called "The Jersey Shore" ! :huh



The reasons I decided to do this on this particular day were:
1. This was in Cap May County but on the Western side along the Delaware Bay
and not on the Atlantic Ocean side, which is where most of the people go.

2. We came here after church on Sunday so most of the people who were going to the shore were already here.
As long as we were out of there before sunset the traffic should not be to bad going home.
Then again, a lot of people were staying overnight for Memorial Day on Monday so traffic should still not be that bad going home.

3. It is a nice ride!

4. We wanted an excuse to stop at a friends house on the way home !

The Tag was that water tower in the distance.
The fella who dropped this was on his last leg of an 11,000 trip around the United States !

He had gotten my Faux Fire Engines Tag and then ridden down here almost as far south as you can get in NJ.
And this was not even close to being on his way home either !
He does live in New Jersey though.
I kind of figured he was trying to round his mileage out !


To our left, on this fortunately not to busy at the moment road, is a lot of marsh area, or Wetlands, as they like to call it.
This is looking East.



To our right there was a little stream in the Wetlands, which you can not really see in the bottom of the picture where the dead brown stuff is.
Off in the distance is the Delaware Bay, which is not visible.



I road down closer to the Water Tower because I had to get some closeups, of course!



It says "Home Of The Best Sunsets".



Which came from a grade school students contest for what to paint on their nice new water tower.



The tower is in Lower Township.
Don't call them Cape May. That is a sore spot for them!







I decided to get some pictures of the other side while I was here.





The reason for their Slogan becomes clear when you take one of the side roads headed West.



Open beach and no land in sight.

This is along the western side of the peninsula known as Cape May County.
Just north of Sunset Beach I posted with the Concrete Ship and Fire Control Tower.
Which is why Sunset Beach gets its name also, although that is in Cape May.
pgs.: 32, 80

I was surprised there were no people around on this nice wide beach.
Just a bunch of seagulls, who I was surprised were not over at the Boardwalk in Wildwood trying to steal peoples food !



But as sparse as the people were here they still do advertising !!!



Lower Township, NJ

Interesting information on Wikipedia.
They apparently keep giving land up to form other towns and then getting it back when they do not do well !

There was controversy about the slogan on the tower because it does not say anything about Lower Township!

The other side has LTMUA, but the name is not spelled out anywhere on the tower.
They do not want to be confused with "Cape May", NJ.

And adding the name to the tower now would cost thousands of dollars !!! $$$ !!!

Oh well.
Maybe they should just get on of those planes to fly around with a banner spelling it out for the tourists !!!



----------
SJT 872 Home Of The Best Sunsets

Lower Township Water Tower @13

I am not really sure how to break this stop up.

I have quite a lot of pictures ! Imagine that ! ?

I'll do the Tag first.

We wanted to do something for Memorial Day and remember those who fought for our freedoms.

So I looked up for something interesting not too far away, that had not been done before.

So we wound up here.



Doesn't look so bad does it?



Or does it?

I found this man's grave in what is called the Old Camden Cemetery.

In, yes, Camden, NJ.

This gentleman, William B. Robertson, was a Colonel and lead troops in the major battles of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville during the Civil War.



The ornamentation at the top is from the 24th New Jersey.



Beings it was in Camden I figured not too many people would want to leave their bikes like I did.
So I gave this angle from the gate.
Colonel Robertson's grave marker is next to that dead tree.



And if anyone should happen to go there after dark (YEAH RIGHT !!!!!!!) they could use this interesting grave by the entrance to prove they were there.



There is no sign posting the name of this cemetery anywhere !



I also left a note in the fence for verification purposes, if needed.

Nothing fancy, just "PC's New Tag"



So creative ain't I?

This is the entrance gate.



Well, there is a gate off of the road behind the cemetery but it is smaller and not kept up as well.

This one looked safe !

Colonial William B. Robertson's Grave.

Information from the same website, HistoricCamdenCounty.com, about the Old Camden Cemetery.

Here is a posting on Find-A-Grave about some of his military career and a picture of him and one I assume of his wife.

----------

SJT 872 Forgotten CW Vets

Colonel William B. Robertson, Old Camden Cemetery @13

So for the rest of the cemetery lets start here.

There is what looks like what use to be a road/path through the cemetery so
I walked to what seemed like the center and took pictures towards each corner.

This is the NorthWest corner where Colonel William B. Robertson is buried.
There are 135 Civil War Veterans buried in this cemetery and it appeared most of them were buried in this section.
It boarders Mount Ephraim Avenue.

The tree in the center of the picture in the background is where Colonel Robertson is located. (just over my wife's head!)



This is the NorthEast corner.
Seemed to be and older section with private burials.
This is a more narrow section as a Salvation Army building, which you can see on the left, has land next to the cemetery.
The cemetery is not square for some reason.
This is along Haddon Avenue.
I'll be honest, I have ridden down here several times on Haddon Avenue and never noticed this was a cemetery!



This is the SouthEast corner.
Probably the most historically significant section.
However, most of the oldest grave markers are not visible for one reason or another.
On the corner of Haddon Avenue and Mount Vernon Street was built the New Newton Quaker Meeting House in 1801.
Which is said to be the first church built in Camden.
Which I found odd because I know Camden, under the name of Coopers Ferry, had been here for some time back into the late 1600's.

I assumed the church was located near that clump of trees in the back right.



This is the SouthWest section.
Along Mount Ephraim Avenue and Mount Vernon Street.
Also seemed to be for more private burials, but more recent then the rest of the cemetery.



I must say here, that this cemetery has had a lot of vandalism over the years.
From some of the pictures taken in 2004 I saw on the link you could see A LOT more grave markers then I could see in 2013.

So sad the vandalism that has gone on here.
Hardly any grave markers are still upright.

So here are some grave markers I found in each section.


NorthWest

I noticed the name Robertson on this marker.
I am sure they must be related to Colonel Robertson as it was pretty close to his grave.
I could not find any information about his wife or family on the internet.



This is David J. Painter.

He was also in the 24th NJ.

If you notice after the 24th it says U.S.C.T., which stands for United States Colored Troops.
Because of people like him who served with distinction cemeteries like this who legally
barred the internment of blacks, caused people to rethink their former prejudices.



Going UP!



Many places were overgrown like this.
Probably protected them though.




NorthEast

MY MOTHER AND BROTHER








SouthEast

This is the oldest section and any grave marker I could see in the far corner pretty much looked like this.





Away from the trees there were some still standing.



I thought this one had a date in the 1700's but is hard to read in the picture.



Stokes is a familiar name in my area where Stokes Road runs through Medford, NJ.




SouthWest



Interesting gnarly old tree that someone probably planted as a sapling years ago inside a family plot.





Records show there are up to 11,000 people buried here in the Old Camden Cemetery.

Original records from the Quaker Meeting House show 139 people buried in the oldest section. The SouthEast section.

The city started using this cemetery in 1836 and named it Camden Cemetery.
It was used until the 1940's.

This is the surrounding area of Old Camden Cemetery.

In front along Mount Ephraim Avenue are railroad tracks and behind that somewhere is I-676, where
the billboards are, which leads to the Ben Franklin Bridge into Philadelphia, off to the right.

This is the PATCO High Speed Line that runs from Lindenwald, NJ to Philadelphia, PA.





Behind that is a set of tracks for freight.





This is Mount Ephraim Avenue looking North.

Note the lady on the right selling clothes off of the fence of Old Camden Cemetery.



She started setting up as we were looking around.



Along the north side of the cemetery is the Salvation Army behind the overgrown cemetery fence.
No pictures of the overgrown fence ! Sorry !!!

This is the other end of the cemetery along Haddon Avenue.



I am sure you noticed the building in the background with the unique paint scheme!





The right side had been painted over for some reason.



This is along the south side of the cemetery along Mount Vernon Street.



I have no idea ! Perhaps those Myans were Macho !

I don't think he is a Myan !!!









I don't know what this was, but it looked like a giant rubber termite !

Why anyone would make a giant rubber termite is beyond me !

And I wasn't going to touch it to find out !!!



Poor old tree looked like it had been used as a BBQ.
You can see some of the Salvation Army building in the background.



Off across Mount Vernon Street it looks like they tore down some brick buildings.



That is the side where the Quaker Meeting House was located, where Macho Myans is.
It is said that the old Meeting House was torn down to build a toilet factory,
which these buildings, and the Macho Myan building seemed to be a part of.

The entrance gate off of Mount Ephraim Avenue.



At the foot of this grave it says AT REST.



So not everything looked so bleak !

What a nice bunch of photos! I have a 1990 PC800 named Red Rogue and a 1998 named Red Demon. They both have around 30,000 miles on them now.

Thanks Oldone.

Amazing how many pictures I can take in a cemetery !

The surroundings are quite interesting but I am cautious if people are around.
I don't want to take pictures of a crime going down in Camden and I wind up getting shot ! :huh



Red Rogue
Red Demon

Sounds adventurous !

Looking forward to your next ride report on another one of those Great Lakes.

While in Camden I stopped at an old motel sign I had wanted to use for a Tag, but someone beat me to it.









I was amazed at the pictures because it looks like the lights are on for some reason!

Well, the ones that are left anyway!





The motel has been gone since the early 1990's.

It is said to have been built just after World War II.

It apparently went down hill with the city it was built in!



There is sparse information about what was here except for one picture that looks like it is from the 1970's.



Found on this website.

Between the trees on the ground you can see a red white and blue sign.
It says "Welcome to New Jersey" to those coming off the Ben Franklin Bridge.



Always good to know where the hospital is in Camden !!!



There was no one around on Memorial Day for some reason.

You can see straight into Philadelphia, PA.
The little bluish buildings in the background.
William Penn is visible too ! Above the white car silhouetted on the building behind him.



AGLOW



----------

SJT 830 Towne Park Notel

Towne-Park Motel sign @13

Next stop.

REXY'S



I must say, we have had a lot of rain the past several months.

We even had a tropical storm already.
So riding is spotty.

Now, in July, it is too hot to ride !

Nah, never too hot to ride is it?

Anyway, back to Rexy's.



Named after the original owner, well, his nickname from WWI anyway,
this place opened in 1943 by a family who came to South Jersey from
South Philadelphia (South Philly as it is called around here).

The opposite side of the building.







I took this picture as we approached from the other side of the Black Horse Pike.





Rexy's played a big part in the Philadelphia Flyers history.
The Flyers were founded in 1967 as an expansion team and they came to Roxy's for meals and a place to get away.

The team came here after their 1974 Stanley Cup Finals win !

Some great history. Read more here.

Rexy's Restaurant & Bar website, which does not seem to be working properly.

----------

SJT 874 Rexy's Rextaurant

Rexy's Restaurant & Bar @13

We went from Rexy's to Roxy !



Another old theater.
This one in Glassboro.





As hot as it was it was refreshing to see a snowflake !!!













It is nice to see that they continue to try and revitalize these old theaters.





So perhaps the sun has not set on them after all !



Glassboro Theatre started out as Roxy Theatre in 1928 or 1929.

cinema treasures website

Closed sometime in the 1970's and has been vacant ever since.

Here is a YouTube video showing some of the inside as it stands now.
Pretty sad.

Originally built for vaudeville and movies it had a 750 seat auditorium.

----------

SJT Roxy Glass

Glassboro Theatre @13

For our church ride in June we went to Lancaster, PA.

One of the nicest rides I think I have been on.
The scenery was great and the roads were nice.

Here is some scenery along the way to Lancaster.



Amish plowing their field.







Passed several horse and buggies on the way.



Took this picture when we were here in March in the "Vehicle".



A group of at least 10 CanAms road by.



I think they were CanAms.
They looked a little shorter then I remember.

Kind of looks like a squished PC don't it ?

Farms Farms everywhere !!!











We road by Strassburg Railroad and across the street is the Pennsylvania Railroad Museum.



Good Humor truck outside of the museum.



Next post is where we stopped.