After our biking & hiking in Connecticut, we spent two days visiting long-time friends whom we get to see all too infrequently. Amy’s close high school friend Kathy and her husband Peter in New Jersey led us on a bike ride from their lovely home to Duke Farm. Tobacco magnate J.B. Duke acquired 2,740 acres of farmland next to the Raritan River. His estate passed to his daughter Doris Duke and now offers a great visitor center focused on environmental stewardship of the area’s natural resources and an extensive network of paved bike trails for exploring the estate. We also enjoyed learning about the evolution of banjos and Martin guitars (Peter is a published authority on the subject).
Our second visit was to the home of grad school friend Rich (deep-sea oceanographer and professor at Rutgers) and his wife Mary (accomplished professional folk-singer) in their charming home nestled at the end of a steep and narrow driveway high above the banks of the Delaware River in eastern Pennsylvania. The original house was built in the late 1600s and later expanded and renovated extensively, but still speaks of a bygone era, with antique furniture and artwork on the inside and beautiful gardens outside. Mary and Rich treated us to soft-shelled crabs, a first for both of us New Englanders.
I thought you said soft shelled CLAMS when we talked! I was very confused as to how you would eat the whole thing, and didn’t ever remember that lesson from biology where clams molt and go through a soft shell stage! Too funny!
Keep up the blog, and don’t hesitate to go into more detail 😉 I love hearing about your adventures and the little historical nuggets you turn up!
Hi Paul and Amy:
What a fantastic journey you both are experiencing! One comment about the article “Renewing Friendships”, I bet your friend would be interested in knowing someone you worked with had a 1962 Martin classical guitar – model 0018C that I have had since high school. It’s in “mint” condition, is a six-string with nylon string, and a blonde top – with a mellow tone. It’s one of my most treasured possessions! I bought it at Manchester Music in Manchester for $200; it’s now valued at about $3K!
Continued safe travels to you both!