Took a cruise with my brother and our sons today. We got a late start and headed up hampton road at about 2:30.I have not been to the pines this time of year in awhile and was a little suprised at how open the woods were.
It was also very dry, my brother said that it rained a good bit last week but the forest seems to have absorbed it well. We hit some old spots , the sunken bridge north of Hampton furnace( we always called this the cranberry wash ) was in bad shape, missing planks and lots of trash in the area. We used to camp there when we were kids and the spot has lots of memories.
We then took a ride down to the railroad bridge over the Batsto. When we were kids we would use the bridge retaining walls as a shooting back stop. That was more than twenty years ago and the nails are still there. I found a hammer under the bridge that we would leave there to drive nails.The handle has rotted away and the head was rusted badly. Made me feel old. Our Dad would drop us off back in the woods with our gear and a .22 rifle for days when we 12 and 13. i have a daughter now who is 11 and I barley let her out of my sight; the world has changed. we then headed up to apple pie hill by way of friendship and charles wills' grave. It was getting late by then and the sun was being relieved for the day by a huge ,bright moon. The air was crisp and clear, nice and seasonable.
I was surprised at the huge clearing and the franklin parker reserve signs everywhere. We made it to the tower on our 15 year old memories just at sunset. The view is always a little suprising, so much wild surronded by so much urban ruin.
At the bottom of the tower my nephew found a wallet with $100. We called information and got hold of the guy and in the course of trying to find a spot to meet him we settled on the pic. Of course as long as you are going to the pic you might as well have some wings and few yings. the crabcake sandwich was fine also. After living in VA for 12 years the pic was a welcome taste of south Jersey. I miss the hospitality of south jersey and the easy going people. Some day I have to come home for good.
It was also very dry, my brother said that it rained a good bit last week but the forest seems to have absorbed it well. We hit some old spots , the sunken bridge north of Hampton furnace( we always called this the cranberry wash ) was in bad shape, missing planks and lots of trash in the area. We used to camp there when we were kids and the spot has lots of memories.
We then took a ride down to the railroad bridge over the Batsto. When we were kids we would use the bridge retaining walls as a shooting back stop. That was more than twenty years ago and the nails are still there. I found a hammer under the bridge that we would leave there to drive nails.The handle has rotted away and the head was rusted badly. Made me feel old. Our Dad would drop us off back in the woods with our gear and a .22 rifle for days when we 12 and 13. i have a daughter now who is 11 and I barley let her out of my sight; the world has changed. we then headed up to apple pie hill by way of friendship and charles wills' grave. It was getting late by then and the sun was being relieved for the day by a huge ,bright moon. The air was crisp and clear, nice and seasonable.
I was surprised at the huge clearing and the franklin parker reserve signs everywhere. We made it to the tower on our 15 year old memories just at sunset. The view is always a little suprising, so much wild surronded by so much urban ruin.
At the bottom of the tower my nephew found a wallet with $100. We called information and got hold of the guy and in the course of trying to find a spot to meet him we settled on the pic. Of course as long as you are going to the pic you might as well have some wings and few yings. the crabcake sandwich was fine also. After living in VA for 12 years the pic was a welcome taste of south Jersey. I miss the hospitality of south jersey and the easy going people. Some day I have to come home for good.
