Off the beaten path

Call me a little late in coming to the table, but sometimes it takes a while to discover those gems that are the true essence of what New Jersey was.

A recent visit to both Roebling and Ocean Grove opened my eyes to just that.

Roebling, in case you’re not familiar with it, is a small town just south of Bordentown, founded by Charles Roebling….he of the family that manufactured the cable for the Brooklyn Bridge, George Washington Bridge, and Golden Gate…among many others.

Time it was that Roebling was a bustling hub of activity as the steel mills ran 24 hours a day. The residents there all worked for the company, and lived in a sort of nirvana until the mills closed in 1974. But Roebling never lost its sense of community.

My tour guide is the town’s unofficial historian, George Lengel. His father, a Hungarian immigrant, worked the mill, as did George himself until his father prevailed upon him to find another career, because, in his words, he didn’t raise his son to be no steelworker! And even though George didn’t fancy himself to be a grade A student, off he went in search of a career as an educator!

Most of the original housing…..mainly row homes and semi attached houses, still stand; as do remnants of the original mill. It is said that, ever now and then, an apparition appears in one of the abandoned mill’s windows, and despite the fact that searching parties have been formed, no one to date has been found!

It’s one of those few places where people rarely leave since a good many of the residents are descendents of the original settlers…..the quintessential place where “everybody knows your name”. Outside of the fact that the River Line runs through the center of town, it’s as though the 21st century stops at Route 130!

So too the character of Ocean Grove…..a short drive off the Parkway or Route 18, at the end of Corlies Ave. Just past the light on Route 71, and you enter another universe….sort of like a New Hope on the shore.

Here again the homes each have a character all their own, and you never know what your going to find happening on Main Ave. Recently my wife and I were just browsing through the stores when we hear someone singing to a karaoke machine, drawing an enthusiastic crowd! And that’s not such an unusual occurrence.

There are loads of others too numerous to mention here…..I’m sure you can name a few of your own. But it’s always a treat that in a state known for bulldozing its past to make way for tomorrow, there are still a few places that time seems to have forgotten!