July 28, 2023

Lucy The Elephant – America’s Oldest Roadside Attraction

Remember I said that we came up the East Coast for two major events? Well, I sort of forgot that there was a third must do we had to attend to.

That third item was to go see Lucy The Elephant in Margate, NJ. Ms. Barbara said that if we were in NJ there was no way we were leaving without seeing it. Thus, early Friday morning the three of us – Ms. Barbara, Jarrett our grandson, and myself – made the trip to the Jersey Shore to view Lucy in all her glory.

A few quick facts about Lucy:

Constructed of wood and tin, the six story elephant was designed by James V. Lafferty, Jr. in 1881 as a way of attracting potential buyers to lots he wished to sell in South Atlantic City. He would take them up to the howdah and show them the various lots that were for sale.

Lucy, according to a pamphlet about her, is constructed of: a million pieces of timber; 8,560 ribs; 200 kegs of nails, four tons of bolt; and, is covered with 12,000 square feet of tin.

Lucy has seventeen widows, a skylight, and two glass eyes.

The body is 38 feet long and 80 feet in circumference; the head is 16 feet long and 48 feet in circumference. The ears are 17 feet long and 10 feet wide. It is estimated that each weighs 2,000 pounds.

The tusks are 22 feet long; tail 26 feet and glass window eyes are 18 inches in diameter. The legs are 22 feet long and 10 feet in diameter.

Standing tall since 1881 Lucy has had various owners, been moved once to where she now stands and has undergone a complete restoration in the 70’s. She has also been in used in various ways.

Up in her belly there is a large multipurpose room that has been used as a tavern, an apartment, a guest cottage and so many other things. Today, you can even rent it for a special occasion of your own. However, you might think twice about that for the simple reason that. . .

You ascend to the room on a spiral staircase in my leg, and you descent back down on another spiral staircase in another leg. It’s an interesting trip no matter what direction you are going.

From the large room in her belly another spiral staircase takes you up to the

howdah where you get a nice view of the Jersey Shore.

So that you have it, Lucy the World’s Largest Elephant, America’s oldest roadside attraction and a National Historic Landmark.

Thanks again for spending some time with us.  It’s always great to be able to share our story with family and friends. Comments? Feel free to share them with me. And always remember, cherish every moment of every day that God gives you and live those moments to the fullest.

July 25, 2023

Surprise (Sort Of) Baby Shower For The Expectant Mother

Two big family events were behind our trip up the East Coast. The first was the wedding of our daughter Amanda.

The second was the Surprise Baby Shower for Joanna, my son Adam’s other half. However, we later learned that it really wasn’t a surprise. The cat got out of the bag a few weeks ago but the two of them – Adam and Joanna – played their part well acting totally surprised. Surprise or not it was a fantastic time for the two of them.

Family and friends came from hither and yon for the occasion. I believe we earned the coveted long distance award since we had traveled just a bit over 1,000 miles to attend.

The big surprise was that it almost didn’t happen. At the last minute, Joanna’s mother (in the wheelchair) ended up in the hospital the night before. Thankfully, what brought her there wasn’t serious enough to keep her, and an hour before the appointed time for the shower she was released and sent home. Wew!

The front table was over flowing with gifts from one end to the other.

The happy couple began the wonderful process of opening gifts

From beginning to end it was a wonderful evening full of love and laughter and a good time for all.

So, our mission has been accomplished and therefore next Monday we’ll begin the trek back home. We’ll stop here and there for some sightseeing but not for long. As of now we have a few sights we want to see in this area and some good friends we want to spend some time with.

We consider ourselves so blessed to have been able to celebrate these two occasions in our children’s lives. I mean, isn’t it nice to be retired and able to take your house wherever you want to go whenever you need to. Life is good.

Thanks again for spending some time with us.  It’s always great to be able to share our story with family and friends. Comments? Feel free to share them with me. And always remember, cherish every moment of every day that God gives you and live those moments to the fullest. 

July 24, 2023

Into The Belly Of The Beast – Moving On To New Jersey

The time had come. No more putting it off, We were due in New Jersey so it was time to get on the road,

Yet, somehow, sometime the day before I remember turning the whole trip over to God. With the result that I slept soundly the night before. Moreover, when I awoke I was no longer trembling in fear over what may happen in terms of traffic on this leg of our trip,

Since it was only a four hour trip we were in no rush to leave inasmuch as we couldn’t check in before 2 pm. Come early and they informed us we would be charged $4 for each hour we checked in early. Wonderful.

On or about 10 am we were rolling. The first surprise was the lack of traffic on Route 70 East. This would be replayed over and over again on the entire trip. The only minor hold up we had was getting on to the Delaware Memorial Bridge. Thus, we were at our fuel stop in NJ at 1 pm which meant we were only 30 minutes from the campground. Time to kill.

After a couple of hot dogs and some drinks we had killed enough time that we could take it on home.

Butterfly Camping Resort was our destination. This is the very first campground we stayed in when we began our RV odyssey over 5 years ago. And not a thing has changed. It is still a good campground, not excellent, but good but portraying itself as a resort. Now, I like some of my readers I’m sure have been in resorts. You find paved roads that are easy to navigate. You find landscaped grounds that are in immaculate condition. You find paved site pads that are level or darn close to it. Not here. You have hard packed, rutted and narrow dirt roads. You have sties that are sand and not even close to level. You are in a forest with trees everywhere. And speaking of sand, it gets in everything. One more thing, they require you to pay in cash or they hit you with a 4% service charge for a credit card. OK, I’m finished with my rant.

This is our site, our home for the until next Monday. It is considered a pull-through, it is all sand and unlevel side to side, and front to back. Oh, I’m so glad I had all the leveling jacks rebuilt before our trip last year.

Yup, we are in the middle of a forest. You’re lucky if you can find a small break in the trees to see the sky overhead. Ah well, this is life on the road. Your take what you get, and when you are given lemons you make lemonade. The bottom line is, we consider ourselves so blessed to be able to make this trip to be with family for two major events. The first was the wedding and the second goes off tonight. Yes, God Is Good All The Time

Thanks again for spending some time with us.  It’s always great to be able to share our story with family and friends. Comments? Feel free to share them with me. And always remember, cherish every moment of every day that God gives you and live those moments to the fullest. 

July 22, 2023

3:33 pm

Wedding Bells Are Going to Chime

Two major events brought us up the East Coast. Were it not for these two events we never would have come this way. I may be crazy, but I’m not a lunatic and driving on the eastern seaboard is definitely for lunatic’s. The traffic, congestion, and the poor roads are not for the faint of heart. That being said, here we are because of two major events occurring in our lives.

The first major event was the wedding of my daughter Amanda to the love of her life. Now, if you’ve ever met my daughter to say that she is a bit unique is an understatement. So, you can imagine that her wedding, though, very small was also unique from start to finish.

Well, here we go.

The proud dad and the minister called on to officiate at the wedding walking his daughter down the aisle. Dress was casual so there were no suits, nor elaborate gowns. Amanda wanted her wedding to be simple but tasteful. So it was.

The happy couple – Amanda and Chad, exchanging their vows.

Part of the wedding included the crystal ceremony. The idea being that each of those involved in the wedding – in this case – Chad and Amanda, then Chad’s two children Katie and Shawn –

would pour a cupful of glass crystals into the central vase. The symbolism being that each person while still a unique individual, is also now part of a new. blended family. If you’ll note there were already white crystals on the bottom of the vase, a way of saying that Christ must be the foundation of every family if it is to be a family rooted in love.

The beaming bride with her parents.

The beautiful bride with her equally beautiful mother.

The proud father of the bride with his newly married daughter.

Still on our side of the family, my sister Cindy and her husband, Charlie with the newly married couple. How about the smiles on the faces of those two ladies! They just light up the room!

Two very dear friends of our family who we have known for years, Peggy and Alan. They made the trip from New Jersey just to be at Amanda’s wedding. Alan and I roamed far and wide for many years on our motorcycles.

The proud groom with his equally proud parents.

On the left is Chad’s sister, and on the right is his brother.

The groom’s full family.

On to the reception, Remember, I said Amanda was unique?

On a whim she made the theme of her wedding Flamingos. At the reception there were 100 – yes, we counted them – all throughout the room. Now how about that.

There were Flamingos everywhere and on every table.

Now, is that a cake? Multiple layers with different flavors at each layer.

Time for the first cut of the cake.

Ah gee, they were just too polite and nice to each other.

So there you have it. The first of two major events that brought us to this part of the country. Time now to move on to the second major event in New Jersey.

Thanks again for spending some time with us.  It’s always great to be able to share our story with family and friends. Comments? Feel free to share them with me. And always remember, cherish every moment of every day that God gives you and live those moments to the fullest.