Grovers Mill, New Jersey

So I managed to finish the first draft of my book the night before I flew to Virginia to spend the 4th of July weekend with my parents. And yesterday my wife and I started off on our driving tour of the east coast. Today we arrived in Grovers Mill, New Jersey (the first stop on our 'hoax tour'), where in 1938 Martians supposedly landed, thereby launching a mass panic throughout the United States. Here I am getting out of our rented car in Grovers Mill.
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The first thing we went to see was the War of the Worlds Memorial, located in a park in the center of town. To call Grovers Mill a town is actually a bit of an overstatement... a small collection of houses would be a more accurate description of it. To get to the memorial you have to walk across the park. As we did this we rapidly discovered that this park was home to more animal crap than any other park in the world. There literally wasn't a square foot of grass free of animal droppings. I think they were from deer. It was like navigating a minefield. Anyway, we finally arrived at the memorial safe and sound. Just behind the memorial is the scenic Grovers Mill Pond (note: sarcasm... the pond is like a stagnant wasteland).
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The next thing we wanted to see was the water tower that local residents had supposedly shot at, mistaking it for a martian. After a lot of searching, driving up and down the main road, we couldn't find it. So finally we asked the guy at the local auto parts/gardening store for directions. It turned out that the tower was right next door to the parts store, but you couldn't see it because trees had grown up all around it, totally concealing it. We had walked right past it. Apparently the man whose property it stands on doesn't like people coming to look at it, so he's allowed it to get grown over. You can only catch a small glimpse of it through the branches of the trees. The guy at the auto parts store told us that a photographer from the NY Times had been out there the week before to get a picture of the tower (because of the new War of the Worlds movie that just came out, and which I haven't seen yet), but he finally gave up, concluding that it was impossible to get a picture of it.
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So that was Grovers Mill. Tonight we're in Roxbury, in upstate New York. Tomorrow we head further upstate to see the Cardiff Giant in Cooperstown.

Miscellaneous

Posted on Wed Jul 06, 2005


Comments

Very neat, Alex, but you've gotta show more leg in the next pic to keep me happy. 😉

Hope you're having fun & can't wait for the next installment. 😊
Posted by Winona  on  Wed Jul 06, 2005  at  08:15 PM
I envy you your tour, Alex. If I could afford the gas, I'd love to fire up my motor home and make the same trip.
Posted by Cranky Media Guy  on  Thu Jul 07, 2005  at  01:47 AM
Cool! Sounds like your trip is turning out to be a success...congrats on your rough draft, too!!!

P.S. STAY OUT OF CAMDEN!
Posted by Maegan  on  Thu Jul 07, 2005  at  05:56 AM
Congratulations on the first draft, Alex!

Glad you're having fun, and still thinking of us.
😊

Love the rental car, by the way.
Posted by Boo  on  Thu Jul 07, 2005  at  06:26 AM
I saw the movie and it kicked some serious ass, a lot of people in the theater were like *I can't believe I payed money for this!* But if you actually pay attention it has some cool tricks and awesome plotlines and sub-plots!
Posted by Kaci Riann  on  Thu Jul 07, 2005  at  06:59 AM
You make it sound like you probably won't go back there....Well, hope the rest of your trip goes better then that. Bring me back a shot glass!!
Posted by X  on  Thu Jul 07, 2005  at  07:07 AM
Way to go on the first draft, Alex! And thanks for the update on your trip. I can't wait to hear more.
Posted by Tru  on  Thu Jul 07, 2005  at  09:40 AM
Hope you're having fun Alex. Thanks for the update.
Posted by Archibold  on  Thu Jul 07, 2005  at  11:27 AM
sounds like a great trip...cant wait till the next update
Posted by RAMONESxMANIA  on  Thu Jul 07, 2005  at  03:20 PM
Grovers Mill doesn't sound like a very pretty place--but Martian's wouldn't have the same tastes as us, now would they?
Posted by Citizen Premier  on  Thu Jul 07, 2005  at  03:26 PM
" ... this park was home to more animal crap than any other park in the world. There literally wasn't a square foot of grass free of animal droppings. ... the pond is like a stagnant wasteland ..."

Welcome to New Jersey, Alex.
Posted by Big Gary C  on  Thu Jul 07, 2005  at  05:35 PM
Hey, after all, it's the "Garden State"; what's a little overgrown foliage and stagnant water gonna do to mess-up a fine vacation? Best wishes, Alex. While there, did you hear any mention of the 'Jersey Devil'? Just ask any Piney.
Posted by stork long in the absence of NJ  on  Fri Jul 08, 2005  at  07:05 PM
Alex? Are you there? Did you get lost? I hope all is well.
Posted by BugbearSloth  on  Sat Jul 16, 2005  at  10:20 AM
Damn, it looks like New Joisey has claimed another victim. Poor Alex, we'll miss him greatly.
Posted by Charybdis  on  Mon Jul 18, 2005  at  09:39 AM
Hey there. I'm actually from right near grover's mill, and the name of the town that it's in is Plainsboro. The animal feces you stepped in were goose turds. The town is inundated with geese. And yes, though the pond was emptied, it is year-round covered in algae, due to the fact that it's about ankle-deep. Glad that our little got a little exposure!
Posted by Mike Mercury  on  Tue Jul 26, 2005  at  06:04 PM
That plaque is gonna raise all kinds of hell with the archaeologists of the future...
Posted by HollowMan  on  Sun Aug 28, 2005  at  12:55 AM
I wish that prick whose property the water tower stands on would invest some money into clearing the foliage out of the way and embracing the fact that the water tower is famous. Why does the bastard not want people looking at it. That tower could put Grover's Mill on the map once more. The state government should use it's eminent domain power and make Grover's Mill into state park or something
Posted by Brian Zell  on  Wed Oct 03, 2007  at  09:00 PM
I'd like to visit Grover's Mill. I'm a history enthusiast and I'd like to see that monument and of course the water tower. I think that algae on the pond actually gives it a lovely martian green color. I wouldn't mind seeing Elsie the Cow's grave either, which is also in the area, or trying some of New Jersey's pumpkin ale, which I hear is really good.
Posted by Brian Zell  on  Wed Oct 03, 2007  at  09:11 PM
The New England states are pretty in the fall too!
Posted by Brian Zell  on  Wed Oct 03, 2007  at  09:14 PM
I just cant believe that you have such a big following of people that think you are the best person in the world thinking that your opinion means the world to them. It is a nice park and getting fixed up as we speak
Posted by Jim  on  Mon Aug 18, 2008  at  12:53 PM
haha..

I have been carving monuments for the cemetery for the past 25 years, and I thought I had seen it all. I guess it just goes to show the kind of impact the event had in history. I think Orson Welles is chuckling in his grave.
Posted by Roy Dixon  on  Wed Sep 10, 2008  at  03:29 PM
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