Mom died on November 15th, 2000. It was after that when my Dad and I started traveling together 2-4 times a year. We had been close for a long time, but grew even closer with all the vacations he and I eventually took.
The first place he wanted to go to was New Jersey. He was born and raised there and wanted to get back and visit relatives and his old stomping grounds. So in April we both flew out to Newark (him from Oregon and me from St. Louis) and we started a 1 week vacation/visit trip. We rented a car which I drove since I’m more familiar with city driving and we booked a room in Somerset Quality Inn. I still had to teach him about the necessity of staying in resorts for vacations! We immediately noted a few things: directional signs don’t have N,S,E, or W on them, they list a nearby town (which doesn’t help if you don’t know the nearby towns); there are no left hand turns (ramps go off to the right then you have to wait at a light to cross); and it must be New Jersey law that when the light turns yellow, 7 cars must go through the light.
First on the agenda was for DAd to reconnect with his Gadziala relatives in the area. So on different days, we drove to each of their houses: his Aunt Anna’s (where cousin Dan and Trish were living at the time); cousin Mickey and Dottie’s'; cousin Tommy and DAna’s; and cousin Butch and Barb’s. We had nice visits with all of them.
Also high on the agenda was to visit the gravesites of his parents. Even though his Mom had died in Oregon, she was flown back to New Jersey to be buried with Dad’s dad in a south Plainfield cemetery.
We also took his Aunt to North Arlington cemetery where her parents (Dad’s grandparents) were buried. (Lucasiks)
Dad also got a kick out of driving around Plainfield and Millington and checking out the places he lived in 70 years earlier. I was rather surprised the 3 places were still standing and actually looked pretty good. Although I didn’t take pictures of the apartment complex in Plainfield. It didn’t look to be in the best of neighborhoods.
When they moved from Plainfield, the lived in an apartment in Millington for awhile.
Dad back in the 1930s
He even marveled at how good his old grade school looked.
He enjoyed seeing the old train station (Hoboken station) and reminisced about all the trips he took on it with his friends. They used it pretty much like we use metros now.
We even had time for a little touristy stuff. One day Trish took off work and took us down the coast to the boardwalk. It was closed that time of year, but we still enjoyed wandering around.
Another day we went to Washington Crossing Historic Park on the other side of the state. From this site, General George Washington and men of the Continental Army and militia crossed the Delaware River on Christmas night 1776 and marched to Trenton, New Jersey. There they attacked and defeated Hessian troops quartered in and around the village. This surprise attack and victory set the stage for Washington's subsequent victories at the Second Battle of Trenton and Princeton. Now it consists of nationally recognized restored structures that would have completed an 18th century farm complex. They also had period clad workers there explaining the way things were done back then.
back of the inn
Our final excursion was to Duke Farms. It is a 2,700-acre estate in Hillsborough, New Jersey, developed by tobacco and hydropower magnate James Buchanan Duke. By the time he died in 1925, he had transformed more than 2,000 acres of farmland into a park. Much of the landscape he created between 1893 and 1925 is still evident today. His daughter inherited the estate and opened the gardens to the public in 1964.
Here is the greenhouse.
Overview of the italian gardens.
The english garden
The Japanese Garden
It was a jam packed week and the start of many more jam packed vacations with my Dad. He was a great travel companion. We had so many similar interests: photography; hiking; sports; nightly cribbage games; even enjoyed a little shopping. After this trip, I knew there would be many more.
