No walk for me yesterday because we left the house early for our road trip. We decided to drive up to northern New Jersey where Ken and I both grew up and take a look around. We hadn't been there in I forget how many years, but it has been a long time. We didn't want to go up the turnpike and the parkway so we headed up through Pennsylvania.
We have passed the York barbell man so many times over the years driving through York, Pa and I finally took a picture of him.
There was a lot of stop and go traffic with a lot of road work being done along the way, but we were in no hurry and didn't mind all that much. Lots of crazy drivers out there who seemed to be out driving in a world of their own and just drifting along the roads.
One of the main reasons for us to drive up to NJ was to have a chili dog at an old hangout of ours from years ago. They just don't make chili dogs anywhere else as good as here.
Ken had his first job here as a kid. He was the French fry guy. A meal that is not very healthy but once in a while you just have to indulge.
We spent the day driving around going to all the old places we remember and taking pictures.
This is the house in Hawthorne, NJ, I lived in as a little girl from when I was 4 to until half way through the third grade.
Passed by my old school which I walked up the hill to every morning and ran down every afternoon.
This is the back of the school and that HUGE rock that we used to play on has sure shrunk A LOT!! : ) My old school appears to be getting some work done on it.
In the third grade I moved to Waldwick, NJ which is about 5 miles north and I lived there until I got married and moved away. The house looks NOTHING like it did when I lived there.
Here is the lake next to my house that I used to play around. That too looks smaller than I remember and looks none too clean either.
This dam at one end is one I walked across many times even though my mom warned me not too. That too doesn't look too clean. Notice the cans floating there.
We drove around and looked at Ken's memories too. He needs his own blog for them. : )
When it was supper time we went to a favorite pizza place of mine that I thought had the best pizza in the world. Kinchley's, and it has been around since 1937. Their pizza has very thin crust.
Here's our pizza. It was good but not as good as I remember it. It is a lot like a Ledo's pizza only not square.
I took lots of pictures and it was hard to limit it to these. : ) We were planning on spending the night someone up there but after seeing all the places, we decided to just go on back home. As nice as it was to see all the old places again it was also a bit depressing. Seeing so much change and a lot of it all just seemed old and run down now. I'm happy for my memories and I guess it is true that you can never go back home. Things are always different.
On the way home we passed through a couple of thunder storms with the rain coming down in torrents. I don't think I'd ever been in a car with it raining so hard. Luckily the storms passed quickly and since it was late not many cars were on the road.
We got home 1:45 and I don't think you will guess what we did. Had a bowl of ice cream!!
So ended our day.
I slept in till 7:30 this morning and never did make it out the door for my morning walk. I'll just have to make up the miles in the days to come.
Don't know what the rest of the day will bring but I plan on enjoying it.
May you have a good day too.
Happyone : )
I'm always fascinated by the way memory diffuses fact.
~ Diane Sawyer
12 comments:
Your trip 'home' looks quite enjoyable. We lived in York the first year we were married. And we also lived in NJ for two years in the 80s while Dick worked in Manhattan.
Glad you *went home.* :-) Even if it was a bit depressing.
Sometimes we drive by, where we lived. These being 2 small towns, just east of here. One of the homes he lived in, has been torn down, and that's always a *downer.*
The home I grew up in (just one, the whole time), looks different, but well taken care of. Which makes me feel good.
Gentle hugs...
Home is never like we remember it, is it Karen? My old home place has changed so much that I don't recognize it at all.. I can't even take a picture of it...
BUT--we also had the best chili dogs in town at Carmines... I'll show you my age. I would order two chili buns (no dog--just chili) and a coke for a QUARTER back then....
Thanks for sharing some of your memories with us... I've been back a few times --but it is depressing.
Hugs,
Betsy
No matter what you do, you always make it sound like fun, Karen. Even being in the car in a pouring rain...your blog always brightens my day.
Nothing like a little trip down memory lane, although as they say, "you can't go home again." Glad it was a fun day for you. Art
Well you did it and that's the important thing. The rest of us are already where we grew up. :D
Good point about a blog for Ken. We talked about that briefly a couple of years ago when we met in Naples, remember?
We also talked about childhood memories and how diffused they are.
Things are always changing. I would recognize your Hawthorne house but I would not recognize your Waldwick house it has changed so much from what I remember it. The pictures were great. I did not recognize the place where you stopped for hot dogs. What town is that in?
Well you have just shown me an area of the country that I have not been to. So, I'm glad to see pictures of it all. I do know what you mean about places changing and looking kind of depressing. I had that same thought the last time we drove around the area I grew up in Michigan. Not the way I remembered it at all.
Hope you enjoy your ice cream.
I love your roadtrips! You'll have new pictures to go along with the old ones now. New memories. Once again, you and Ken are so lucky to have each other to explore and have adventures.
OH my, I have done something similar at times. I grew up around the MD /DC line so it was not such a distance to check it out. And I had the same feelings. Things looked smaller than I remembered them, and run down and it was fun but I preferred my memories.
I think going back home is always bitter-sweet. The house I grew up in has been completely remodeled and looks nothing like I remember. My first school has been converted into condos. I don't know if or when I'll go back again.
You are so lucky to go back and visit your childhood home(s). Being a military brat, my brother, my sister and parents moved across the country, back and forth, every 2-4 years. I am the oldest of three. We always lived in military housing furnished with furniture by the military. We attended schools on base, except when we lived in Alaska, they base was small (300 families), that we were bussed to the local community off base for our education. Looks like your journey met your need to revisit, although somewhat disappointing it appears. At least you return home with the knowledge of what has changed, some for the better, some not so much.
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