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Environmental Education Center at Lord Stirling Park | Basking Ridge, New Jersey
The Somerset County Environmental Education Center The Environmental Education Center is a great place to learn about the natural environment. It is located right down the road from The Raptor Trust – Bird Rehabilitation and Education Center, which I wrote about in my last post. We visited it on the same day! Located in Lord Stirling Park in The Great Swamp area, the center is in a setting of great natural beauty. The Center is a wonderful place for families to learn more about the great outdoors. Their mission statement: Dedicated to stimulating awareness and understanding of the natural world in order to foster a sense of responsibility for its…
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The Raptor Trust – Bird Rehabilitation and Education Center | Millington, New Jersey
The Trust Helps Injured Birds Of Prey! This wonderful bird rehabilitation center is located in Millington, New Jersey. They help injured or sick birds of prey. According to the Bureau of Land Management: Birds of prey, or raptors, are the main reason the NCA was given special legislative protection. It is the unique combination of soil, climate, geology, and vegetation that has created an ecosystem where nesting birds of prey occur in extraordinary numbers. But what makes raptors so special? All birds, even those as different as a golden eagle and a hummingbird, share some common traits, such as feathers, wings, laying eggs and being warm-blooded. But certain characteristics set…
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Christmas at Kingsland Manor 2022 | Nutley, New Jersey
Kingsland Manor Is Steeped In History Kingsland Manor is a historic home in Nutley, New Jersey. It is included in both the New Jersey Register of Historic Places and The National Register of Historic Places. Kingsland Manor is a Dutch Colonial home dating from the 1700s, located in Nutley, New Jersey. Martha Stewart grew up in Nutley, and Annie Oakley lived there as an adult. Members of the original family were in America as early as the 1600s. The Nutley property was purchased by the family in 1790. The town of Nutley acquired the property in 1973 and has spent much time preserving the house. The Manor has a long history…
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Christmas at Zenas Crane Homestead 2022 | West Caldwell, New Jersey
Christmas At Zenas Crane Homestead This house is a historical home in West Caldwell, New Jersey. This house is part of the Essex County Holiday House Tour each December. According to the Historical Society of West Caldwell: The Crane family settled in the West Caldwell area before the Revolution. Samuel Crane built a farmhouse for his wife Mary Baldwin Crane and their ten children. After the Revolution, he purchased a sawmill that was to remain in the family for more than 150 years. Grandson Zenas C. Crane married Mary Harrison in 1833 and settled in the family homestead near the mill. In 1848 the homestead burned to the ground. Zenas…
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Saint Elizabeth University | Convent Station, New Jersey
Saint Elizabeth University in New Jersey Saint Elizabeth University is a four-year private Catholic college in New Jersey. For many years a women’s college, Saint E’s graduated their last all-female class in 2019. Formerly known as the College of Saint Elizabeth, it achieved “university” status in 2020 and changed its name to reflect its new status. However, the university is affectionately referred “Saint E’s” by locals. The university has a beautiful campus mostly located in the Convent Station section of Morris Township, New Jersey. The university website insists their location is in historic Morristown, New Jersey. Wealthy Morris Township is a separate town that completely surrounds Morristown: The township is…
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The Hiram Blauvelt Art Museum | Oradell, New Jersey
Hiram Blauvelt Art Museum Adjacent to the Atwood-Blauvelt Mansion is The Hiram Blauvelt Art Museum. The Museum is located in the old carriage house. It is a truly unique place devoted to wildlife art. According to the museum website: The Hiram Blauvelt Art Museum was established in 1957 by the Blauvelt-Demarest Foundation, a legacy of the late Hiram Blauvelt, philanthropist, conservationist and collector. Through the contribution of his private wildlife art and big game collections, he hoped to promote the cultural value of wildlife art and the need for conservation of its subjects and their habitats. During the early part of the 20th century, wildlife was believed to be abundant.…
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Was The Atwood-Blauvelt Mansion Saved? | Oradell, New Jersey
Was the Atwood-Blauvelt Mansion Saved? In 2012 I wrote Can The Atwood-Blauvelt Mansion Be Saved? This was about the historic mansion in beautiful Oradell, New Jersey. At the time, Preservation New Jersey had put the mansion on their 2011 Ten Most Endangered Historic Places In NJ list. This building is noted for its shingle-style architecture. Was the building saved? It depends upon your point of view. The building was still standing when I took these photos in July 2022. CareOne took over in 2013: Senior care company takes full ownership of ‘endangered’ historic house in Oradell. There was another potential buyer in 2013, but that fell through. In 2015 the…
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2022 Updates
Moved To WordPress With Some Updates! I have finally moved this blog to WordPress! How does it look? 🙂 I meant to do this a long time ago. After all, I moved my other blog, The Literary Lioness, FIVE years ago. But I didn’t move this one, because I really thought that I wasn’t going to blog on it anymore. However, I really missed this place. When I decided to post on this blog again, I knew it was only a matter of time before I moved it to WordPress. I struggled to move the other blog because I knew absolutely nothing about WordPress and made many mistakes. So I…
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Cherry Blossom Time | Newark, New Jersey
Cherry Blossom Time It’s time! The cherry blossom trees in Branch Brook Park are being celebrated again! Branch Brook Park has gone pink and white! The Cherry Blossom Festival was held for the first time in over 2 years. The Festival was called off the last 2 years due to the coronavirus pandemic. Branch Brook Park is located in Newark, New Jersey. It is home to the annual Cherry Blossom Festival! Newark has MORE cherry blossom trees than the famous ones in Washington, DC! Washington DC is only a pretender to the cherry blossom crown in the United States. DC has only about 3,000 cherry trees. Newark has over…
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Clara Barton Schoolhouse | Bordentown, New Jersey
The Clara Barton Schoolhouse Bordentown is a lovely town on the Delaware River which was critical during the Revolutionary War. The Clara Barton Schoolhouse in Bordentown, New Jersey was one of the first public schools in the state. Clara Barton is most famous as a Civil War nurse and as the founder of the American Red Cross. But before all that, she taught school. The original schoolhouse was built in 1839. Clara Barton Was A Teacher Before She Was A Nurse According to the Bordentown Historical Society: When Clara Barton began teaching in 1852, the building was described as “dilapidated” and repairs were undertaken at that time. On the…
