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.
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).
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.
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.
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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Categories: Miscellaneous Posted by Alex on Wed Jul 06, 2005 |
Comments (21) |
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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
Hope you're having fun & can't wait for the next installment. 😊
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
P.S. STAY OUT OF CAMDEN!
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
Glad you're having fun, and still thinking of us.
😊
Love the rental car, by the way.
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
Welcome to New Jersey, Alex.
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
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.
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