Van Tour to Mercer County

Dammit, I actually enjoyed the van tour, thanks to my sunny nature and positive, Pollyanna view of life.
Was grouchy about it at first, as I had to drive alone to Wells Mills Park* in Waretown, leaving at 6:45 AM.  However, the trip on the Parkway went smoothly--in fact, I was early, so the place was deserted.  But Uta,** driver, tour guide, and naturalist, got there shortly and we took off for points north.
Lakewood is almost an hour away from Waretown, and a fascinating place itself. It's the home of a large community of Hasidic Jews--black clothes, women wear long skirts and wigs, men flat Amish-looking hats, and so on. I've always been fascinated by their way of life and was intrigued to see (since it was Saturday), large numbers walking here and there, men essentially dressed alike and with wispy beards.  I was surprised that all the girls and women seemed to have long, luxurious, shiny hair, until I remembered they wear wigs.  A number of the men wore odd-looking, round fur(?) hats which resembled Russian winter headwear.  Uta told me they were from a breakaway sect, even stricter than the Hasidim.
As for the tour: Eleven old ladies got on at Lakewood, but I--and this makes me glad the faithless Mary Ann pulled out--got to sit shotgun the whole time.  For comfort, those park department vans are on a par with a bed of nails, not to mention being packed in like sardines, so sitting in the front was a great luxury.
We went first to Cherry Grove Farm in Princeton (another 45 minutes away) where they make cheese.  We pulled into the spacious grounds and saw the very cows from which they get the milk to make the cheese munching away in a field--so bucolic I could hardly stand it.  We went to the farm store and I bought a few ounces of brie, which incredibly, cost thirteen bucks.  I'll give some to Betty today.
Drove the eight or ten miles to Terhune Orchards, where we picked apples.  I was surprised to find I had picked seven and a half pounds, which set me back twelve-fifty, but I'll share those out, too.
Off to the next stop, the other part of Terhune Orchards, several miles away. They were having a festival, which included all kinds of pumpkins, squash, and apples, of course.  I perked up when I discovered they make wine and, in fact, had a wine tasting barn. Went in and I sampled five different wines at a dollar a pop--each, of course, more like a sip than a swallow.  They tasted wonderful and I bought a bottle of Chardonnay and one of Apple Wine for an outrageous total cost of $35.83.
That last prompted me to add up what I spent yesterday, including the fourteen bucks for the tour itself.  Good grief, it came to more than eighty smackers!
BUT!  I got an extra, unexpected bonus.  After we dropped the others off at Lakewood, Uta asked if I had ever been to Jake's Branch Park, another Ocean County parks system location.  I hadn't and she took me there.
We went into a large and attractive building, took the elevator to the top, and walked out into a breath-taking view of the surrounding pinelands.  It was so high, we could see miles away, even to the Lakehurst airport where the famous Hindenburg dirigible had burned in the thirties.  And all around was the deep green, towering forest, the pinelands, pride of our state.  It was stunning.
Got back to Wells Mills, then home after a lovely day.  The only dark cloud is the fact that my car now stalls whenever I stop, even for a red light.  Hope I can get it down to Italian Gourmet, as I'm to meet Betty and others there for lunch in a few hours.
* Allowing  me to embark here was a special accommodation, as there had been a screw-up by the parks system earlier.  This tour "officially" left from Lakewood.
** Uta's mother was Estonian and barely escaped the Russians during one of their takeovers about seventy years ago.  She got to Germany, met Uta's father, and Uta was born there.  They emigrated to the U.S. when she was an infant and settled in New York City before Uta made her way south in adulthood.  Another fascinating person, of which the world seems to abound.