Atsion Furnace in the Pine Barrens

The thing with Google Maps is… it thinks you’re driving a monster truck. Countless times Google Maps has directed me to take my front-wheel-drive sedan down single-lane mud roads with potholes the size of small vernal ponds.

Think I’m joking? Look at this big chungus:
Huge pothole

Sometimes these navigational mulligans lead to an interesting find, like the Atsion furnace. After backing my feeble vehicular contrivance out of the mud and craters death trap road, I took the next lane over. That turned out to be a dead-end — the “Mullica River Canoe Launch” — there was a small dirt parking lot for kayakers and the cola-colored Mullica river. The water in the Pine Barrens is really cola-colored: pitch black at its deepest parts and translucent brown at its edges. I’ve heard the color comes from tannins from pines and/or the bacteria that create bog iron.

As I turned around I noticed a tall (maybe 15′) stone structure resembling a furnace or kiln. I parked the car and investigated. At the base of the structure were layers of charcoal and a scattering of bog ore. Oyster shells — used as a flux for making iron — were also present. I took some photos and walked the nearby grounds, finding the ruins and foundations of many small buildings, and remnants of the New Jersey Southern Railroad.

Atsion Furnace:
Atsion Furnace

A look inside

Remnants of the New Jersey Southern Railroad:
the New Jersey Southern Railroad

Intrigued, I researched the area and it turned out the structure is called the Atsion furnace. I bought a book on eBay called Atsion: a Town of Four Faces by Sarah W.R. Ewing. According to her book, Atsion has had a long history of industrious investors and entrepreneurs, starting in the 1700s. Atsion has been home to industries as diverse as iron refining, iron casting, charcoal manufacture, lumber cutting, paper milling, ice harvesting, and farming cranberries, blueberries, and other fruits & vegetables. I think the only enduring industry has been farming.

Dilapidated house:
Abandoned house

Kayakers, history buffs, and urban explorers will enjoy this location.

More Pine Barren stories:

The Franklin Parker Preserve and abandoned railroad tracks

Back in July, I was hanging out in the parking lot of the Brenda T Byrne State Park welcome center, waiting for the sun to set so I could get some video of Northern Dusk-Singing cicadas singing. These cicadas, as their name suggests, sing after the sun has set. I located a male cicada perched in a tree close to the ground and was poised to film it singing when I noticed the silhouette of a man appear in the distance manifesting like a ghost out of the haze of twilight. He walked directly toward me. Was he a ghost? Was he a serial killer? Turns out the guy was a trucker who liked to hike and stopped by to get some information about the park. We talked for a while and he gave me some tips about other local parks and trails like the Franklin Parker Preserve. The trucker was intrigued by the abandoned train tracks that ran through much of the Pine Barrens as well. I missed getting a video of the cicada singing, but I got some good tips on new trails, and later I snagged a cicada nymph which I was later able to watch molt.

Chatsworth Lake, across the road from the entrance to The Franklin Parker Preserve:
Chatsworth Lake

The Franklin Parker Preserve, maintained by the New Jersey Conservation Foundation, is located in Chatsworth, New Jersey, not far from Hot Diggity Dog and the Brooksbrae Terracotta Brick Factory. Ecologically speaking, it is prime Pine Barrens: sandy soil, with obvious dunes in some places, multitudinous pine trees, blueberry bushes, oaks, and a black-water river. The hiking trails are scenic: winding through forests, over dunes, alongside and over swamps, and the West Branch Wading River. The park is recommended for everything from horseback riding, to fishing, to bird-watching — as a naturalist, and someone who enjoys finding abandoned stuff in the woods, it’s a most excellent place to explore. The cicadas you’ll find in the park are the Pine Barrens cicada (June-early July), the Northern Dusk-Singing cicada (July-August), and the Dog-Day cicada (late July-September).

The quiet, cola-black waters of the West Branch Wading River:
Cola-black water

The abandoned railroad:
Franklin Parker Preserve railroad

I’m sure a lot of folks will ignore the railroad that bisects the park, but like the Trucker, I was intrigued. The main hiking trail crosses the railroad — just a step or two and you’re over it. But, if you follow the tracks northeast, you’ll discover a decaying train bridge made of timber, that crosses the West Branch of Wading River. If you go southwest your path will be blocked by a pine forest. The railroad is the New Jersey Southern Railroad. If you start at Franklin Parker on Google Maps satellite view, you can trace the path of the railroad north to Raritan Bay, and south to Vineland, bisecting the Pine Barrens. You can catch glimpses of it alongside the Brooksbrae Terracotta Brick Factory and in Atsion near the abandoned furnace. Over the years the Pine Barrens has been home to many industries including bog iron harvesting, iron forging, charcoal manufacture, lumber, brick making, glass making, paper mills, ice harvesting, and farming cranberries and blueberries. Trains were needed to transport these goods north to New York and west to Philadelphia (the New Jersey Southern Railroad connecting to the Camden & Atlantic and/or Atlantic City lines). With little manufacturing in the area, starting in the mid-20th century, there’s been little need for a railroad. The forest has reclaimed the land, but the ghost of the railroad remains.

More from the Pine Barrens:

Dot and Brooks Evert Memorial Trail Preserve (New Jersey’s Spookiest Hike)

The Dot and Brooks Evert Memorial Trail Preserve is located in the middle of New Jersey on the north-western edge of the Pine Barrens. It is near Brendan T. Byrne State Forest, the Michael Huber Warbler Preserve, and an entrance to the 53.5-mile Batona trail. The preserve is maintained by the New Jersey Conservation Foundation. The entrance is along the curiously named Ong’s Hat road; it is easy to miss, especially if someone is tailgating you while you’re trying to find it.

Evert Trail

It is near the ecological border between the Pine Barrens and the divide between inner and outer coastal plains. You won’t find the sandy soil and multitudinous pine trees typical of the Barrens — instead, the Evert Trail Preserve is mostly swamp, streams, and trees growing from small lumps of ground periodically rising above the swamp. This is a unique experience! The trail is constructed from planks of wood seemingly floating on top of the swamp. It’s not for horses, bicycles, or ATVs — I weigh north of 250 pounds at the moment, and there were times I was sure I would sink. Good balance and concentration are necessary. This trail/preserve is best for hikers, naturalists, and birders.

Spoilers! Here is a video of part of the trail:

Along the way you’ll see hundreds if not thousands of different types of swamp-loving fungi and plants like this Swamp Loosestrife (Decodon verticillatus):
Evert Trail Swamp Loosestrife

And even though it is 50 minutes from Leeds Point, I’m sure the Jersey Devil has been here. It’s the spookiest and most memorable trail in New Jersey.

More stories from the Pine Barrens:

Tracks with Graffiti

Abandoned Pasadena Terracotta Brick Factory (lots of graffiti)

The graffiti-decorated ruins of the Pasadena Terracotta Brick Factory — or “Brooksbrae” as Google Maps calls it — exist in the woods alongside Pasadena Woodmanse Road in Manchester Township, NJ. If you allow Google Maps to direct you there, it will lead you down treacherous mud roads. Instead, drive down well-paved Pasadena Woodmanse Road* and look for graffiti on the road, park your car, climb the hill, climb over the train tracks and walk into the woods. Spray-painted trees, discarded spray paint caps, the smell of aerosol paint, and random yucca plants will show you the way.

There’s no missing it once you get there. Walls, doorways, and foundations — most without rooves or floors — trees and grasses reclaiming the land — graffiti scripts and modern-day hieroglyphics covering anything mad-made. Most graffiti is bubble-letter tags, but there are enough illustrations & variety of vibrant colors to make it interesting. It’s reminiscent of the graffiti road in Centralia, Pennsylvania.

Brick Factory

Graffiti on a wall

the vestibule

* The best way to get there is to start at Hot Diggidy Dog in Chatsworth, get yourself some hot dogs, then go north on Main, and make a right onto Savoy Boulevard and take Savoy all the way to Mt. Misery Road. Make a right onto Mt. Misery, and then a quick left onto Pasadena Woodmanse Road, and look for the graffiti.

Graffiti on the road

The brick factory is not far from Hot Diggity Dog, the Franklin Parker Preserve (more train tracks), Evert Trail Preserve (floating swamp trail), the Michael Huber Prairie Warbler Preserve, and something called Hidden Lake.

I’ve always been curious about the Pine Barrens, thanks to the legend of the Jersey Devil, John McPhee’s book The Pine Barrens, and reading dozens of Weird NJ magazines. As a child, I collected rocks and minerals; someone gave me a hunk of rainbow-colored glass from the Batso glassworks, and at the time I vowed to visit Batso but never made the trip until 2019. Later in life, I made trips to Manchester to look for Megatibicen auletes cicadas — the largest cicada in North America. Summer of 2021, with nothing else to do, I started visiting the Pines almost every weekend.

More from the Pine Barrens:

The Gingerbread Castle in Hamburg, NJ

The Gingerbread Castle/House in Hamburg, NJ, is a mythical place I remember visiting as a child — or at least being told that I visited (constructing memories from photographs). While most families went to the Jersey shore or more exotic places like Florida for vacation, my family preferred the woods of Sussex County NJ, and local amusements like the glowing rocks of the Franklin Mineral Museum and this Castle. I accidentally drove to it while testing some car repairs in July of 2021.

Gingerbread castle

The castle is small compared to actual castles of Europe or fantasy castles of Disney World & Land. It’s composed of stone, cement, and something like stucco. Colors are true to the frostings you would find on a high-end gingerbread castle: white, pink, pastel blue, and ginger. Unlike the mostly rectangular construction of modern gingerbread cracker-based castles, this castle has rounded spires, columns, and very few rectangular parts.

The grounds surrounding the castle feature many public-domain fairy-tale characters like a Dragon, a sassy Humpty Dumpty, and a giant frog.

Looming over the Castle are the remnants of a large mill and factory that made cannonballs during the Revolutionary war, and later flour for troops during the War of 1812. The mill continued to operate and supply ground flour and baked goods to New Jersey up until the 1900s. I’m guessing Gingerbread Castle was made as a way to promote their consumer goods.

Mill and Castle

Both the Castle and Mill are locked up behind a fence and/or plywood and are inaccessible to the general public. Urban explorers might find a way in… maybe Scuba gear, as the first floor of the mill seems to be flooded.

The mill is flooded

War of the Worlds Monument in Grover’s Mill

Last Saturday, I was looking for Brood X cicadas in West Windsor Township, New Jersey. I visited Van Nest Park and Ronald Roger’s Arboretum in West Windsor, as well as the Lenape Trail & Waters Edge Park in nearby Plainsboro.

Of all the local parks, Van Nest Park had the best abundance of cicadas. Van Nest Park, located in the unincorporated community Grover’s Mills ( located within West Windsor Township), is home to a metallic monument to the 1938 War of the World’s radio broadcast by Orson Welles. Welles’ radio play told the story of a Martian invasion of Earth — and people thought it was real! In the story, the Martians invaded Grover’s Mill. Orson’s story was remade into at least two movies and Orson went on to be a famous and successful film actor and director.

The War of the Worlds monument:

Van Nest Martian Landing Monument

A cicada sharing Orson’s microphone:

Cicada sharing the mic with Orson

Look for Park Martians around West Windsor Township:

Park Martian

The Ronald Rogers Arboretum Monument:

Ronald Rogers Arboretum

According to the plaque, Ronald was adored for planting trees throughout the community.

Roger's hat

Homosassa Springs

Homosassa Springs Wildlife Park

I mentioned Homosassa Springs Wildlife Park in a previous post about the towns of Homosassa & Spring Hill Florida, including a photo of its mascot, and roadside attraction, Bubbles the Manatee: Bubbles the Manatee

I stopped specifically to take a picture of the cement manatee, but I was curious and went inside the visitor center. It turned out that the visitor center was just the entrance to a large nature park. From the center, I boarded a boat along with 5 or 6 other folks. The boat captain/park ranger talked about the various birds and plants along the way. It was similar to the Weeki Wachee boat tour, but the vibe was different because it was later in the day — more shadows — made Florida wilderness seem more like a jungle (which it more or less is).

Once on dry land, you’re free to explore the wildlife park, featuring animals native to Florida, and one that is not (a hippo). Walk the grounds and you’ll find herons, bald eagles, roseate spoonbills, flamingos, ibis, pelicans, snook fish, Florida panther, Sherman’s Fox squirrel, vultures, deer, alligators, lizards, snakes, and of course manatees.

A hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius) and her squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) buddies.

The park is almost entirely devoted to animals native to Florida. I forgot the exact story, but if memory serves, the hippo came with the property when it was turned into a park.

Hippo

Pink Flamingos (Phoenicopterus ruber):

Pink Flamingos

A Roseate spoonbill (Platalea ajaja):

A different shade of pink than the flamingos.

Spoonbill

 

A manatee (Trichechus manatus) eating lettuce:

The Homosassa area is known for manatees that frequent local streams & springs. The wildlife center had two … my first time seeing these amazing creatures (and possible inspiration for mermaid tales).

Snook Fish viewed from the “Fish Bowl”:

The “Fish Bowl” is unique. It’s a submerged room on the shore of a lake with windows that allow you to observe fish, and presumably manatees & alligators. When I visited, there were hundreds of Snook (Centropomus undecimalis) swimming around the Bowl. It was quite a sight, and unexpected.

Snook Fish

Sherman’s fox squirrel (Sciurus niger shermani):

A very big squirrel. Prefers fire-prone pinelands.

 

Sherman's fox squirrel

Once you’re done exploring the park, you can stop at the gift shop and load up on alligator and manatee souvenirs. From there, you take a trailer pulled by a truck back to the Bubbles the Manatee statue.

Scope Miami 2019

It took me a year to write about Scope Miami 2019. Nothing was preventing me from writing, but since I did nothing cool in 2020 (I think you know why), it feels good to reflect back on the fun I had last year.

The Scope contemporary art show in Miami Beach…

So what’s it like? A huge gallery of galleries on the beach in South Beach, Miami, is filled with contemporary art from around the world. Like a museum on the beach. With a bar, and a dancefloor with a DJ. Some of the best art you’ll ever have a chance to see, and buy, and some of the most beautiful people on earth (that’s South Beach in general). Much of the art is similar to what you’ll see in magazines like High Fructose & Juxtapoz. It’s a candy-coated feast for the eyes.

Here’s the entrance, with the color-gradient yard art by Hot Tea:

Scope Entrance

The highlight of the show was by Asbury Park, New Jersey artist Porkchop, presented by  Jenn Hampton of Parlor Gallery:

Sculpture by Porkchop

Colorful money & a mirror ball in the party room. I don’t know the artist, but the gallery representing them was in C15.

Mirror Ball

Don’t sit on the King’s Tongue!

King tongue

Balloon Heads (I don’t remember the artist) on the beach.

Balloon heads

Metal & fur Moth. (I’ll add the artist and gallery when I figure that out). I liked this one quite a bit.

Moth

Teacup motorcycle helmet ladies by Lucio Carvalho were memorable. Gallery link.

Tea Cup Helmit

Laurina Paperina’s cartoon-based art was excellent & hilarious, and her parody of Maurizio Cattelan’s $120,000 duct-taped banana was funny as well:

I don’t have a photo here, but I liked artist Yuka Mitsui’s Japanese-style woodcuts of Eddie from Iron Maiden and Tim Conlon’s graffiti train car models that Roman Fine art had on display.

Here’s the full list of exhibitors and the virtual tour. There were other art fairs happening in Miami at the same time: notably Art Basel & Design Miami (which still happened in 2020 regardless of the pandemic).

Sunrise Miami Beach

South Beach Miami in 6 (or more) Images

December 5-8th, 2019, I visited Miami Beach for the Scope and Art Basel art fairs. I stayed at the El Paseo Hotel (clean, cozy, homey) on Española Way. I got breakfast from a local bakery, and dinner from 5 Guys. When not at the art fairs, I enjoyed the beach and exploring the town. I recommend it, but definitely bring someone with you to enjoy it with.

Sunrise, Lummus Park.

Sunrise, palm trees, a big beach with coral & shells to beach comb, swimmable & crystal clear water: what more can you ask for? Miami Nice (yeah, I said it).

Sunrise

A Lifeguard Station

The lifeguard stations are a trademark of South Beach. They come in different shapes and sizes, but they’re all pink.

South Beach - Lifeguard Stand

Española Way

Where my hotel El Paseo is. Lots of restaurants & a gelato shop.

Espanola Way

Mannequins in the Surf Style window

There is a lot of souvenir & bathing suit shops in town.  The mannequins accurately reflect the local visitors of South Beach. Nearly everyone looks like a model — I felt like an ogre next to them (but also, I do not care).

Mannequins

man

Chicken advertising Chicken

Chicken

Ocean Drive Bars, Hotels & Restaurants at night

Each bar, hotel & restaurant in the Art Deco district was illuminated with a different color of light: orange, green, purple, blue, and red — like a pack of colored crayons. The hum of celebrating people, dance music, and the roar of supercars filled the air.

Ocean Ave

And of course, there’s the Egg.

Not part of the photo set really, but this was the coffee/library room from the El Paseo hotel circa December 5th, 2019.

El Paseo coffee room

Half-wit

New Jersey Half-Wit

New Jersey Half-Wit — no, I don’t mean New Jersey residents. Not us (I am one) — we’re all geniuses. I mean the Half-wit style muffler man poised/posed/paused in front of the Intergalactic Pizza and Dracula’s Domain paintball range on Monmouth Road in Jackson Township, New Jersey.

Half-wit muffler men remind me of Mad Magazine’s Alfred E. Numan. Interesting story about the inspiration for Alfred E Numan. Worth noting that Dracula’s Domain has a Dracula muffler man, but he’s only around at Halloween time.

A Half Wit