Yesterday, Susan, Mary Ann Van O., and I went on the Ocean County Van Tour, their "historic homes south" excursion. The rain came down in sheets and torrents the entire day, but that wasn't going to stop us.
We were first taken to what had been a tavern in the early 18th century, 'way, 'way out in the pine barrens, down a dirt road that had originally been a stage coach road. The rain made it interesting, to say the least, for the van driver to navigate, as there were deep ruts and puddles most of the way. It's occupied, so we didn't go in, but looked pretty much like an unpainted shack.
We then drove to Manahawkin and spent an hour at a small, thoughtlessly "improved" house called "Cavalry Cottage" that hasn't been lived in since 1985. It was built in 1740, and most of the time, swarms with historians, according to the tour guide. They're trying to remove the various additions and multitude of other changes to get it back to its original condition. Very interesting, although cold and we had to be careful not to fall in the large holes in the floor, as it's a work in progress. (We went upstairs and found a dead bat, which elicited squeals from a few, but what the hell, it was thoroughly dead, so wasn't going to hurt anybody.)
We stopped at a newly opened salad place, got coffee and ate our lunches, then went to Island Heights, a part of Toms River I had never seen before. Hey, Nelly, it's a gorgeous place! We stopped to observe the architecture of one huge house after another while our tour guide (very knowledgeble and well-spoken) pointed out their various features. We didn't go in to these, as they were all private homes. Most were early Victorian, an era which is so varied it's divided into periods itself. The Philadelphia Wanamakers' house was included--very large and elegant--and almost all were right on the picturesque Toms (no apostophe) River.
We were also taken to more modest, but charming, homes, that had been built as summer cottages for the Methodists who came here from up north to have religious revivals. These had originally been small, two-story cottages, only one room wide, but most had been added to and/or modified in other ways.
Our last stop was the Victorian Museum, where we spent about an hour and were given a tour. The house was set up as it would have been in the 1800s and, being a sucker for anything like this, I loved it.
Got home about 3:30 and had time to clean up the kitchen, set the table, and put in a wash before Pat got home from the bay. I was sorry to hear Old George is back in the hospital, this time at SOCH in Manahawkin. He developed hiccups and now must have surgery for--a hernia? Boy, I just don't remember, but maybe we can visit him soon.
This morning, I'm going to Atlantic Imaging for my annual Mammogram and bone density test.