…after getting shot in the tabloids on Christmas Eve.
Now it’s Christmastime
Bethlehem Steel Plant
In December, the city of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, hosts the Christkindlmarkt, a large outdoor craft fair. More interesting are the rusting structures at the former Bethlehem Steel Plant, where the market is located. After the company went bankrupt around the turn of the century, the factory complex was transformed, and is now home to a casino, the SteelStacks arts and culture center, a museum, and more.
These photos were taken from the Hoover-Mason Trestle, an elevated walkway that runs alongside the furnaces and other industrial buildings.
E-Biking Clayton Park
Sunny ride over the leaf-covered trails at Clayton Park near Imlaystown in Monmouth County, New Jersey. I rode for over six miles, covering almost all the trails in the park. Sighted one horse, one bike, and three dogs.
A Point from the Ellison Site
Haven’t had too much archaeology on the Ledger recently, so a here’s a projectile point from the Ellison Site, which is just uphill from the Lamoka Lake site. A brief surface survey of part of the site was undertaken with the permission of the landowner. Known as a Brewerton point, this likely dates to the Middle Archaic, or earlier than the occupation of the Lamoka Lake site.
Pine Barrens Tavern: E-Biking Atsion-Quaker Bridge
Some would call the region through which it passes “desolate”; a better word would be “subtle”
A.D. Pierce, Iron in the Pines 1957
By the 1700s, a road, which likely followed a pre-existing Native American trail, ran from Camden, New Jersey, to the port town of Tuckerton on the Atlantic coast. According to local histories, to make their travel to yearly meetings easier, Quakers built a bridge over the Batsto River around 1772. The bridge predictably became known as the Quaker Bridge, and the road that passed over it became Quaker Bridge Road. In the 1800s, horse-drawn stage coaches regularly carried both mail and passengers through the Pine Barrens along this route.
In 1809, Arthur and Elizabeth Thompson opened the Quaker Bridge Hotel, also known as Thompson’s Tavern, just south of the bridge. The tavern remained open until at least 1850. Any remnants of the building vanished many years ago.
The area is now part of Wharton State Forest and Quaker Bridge Road is still a sandy trail through the barrens. On a pleasantly warm November day, there were few other people around: another (non-electric) fat bike, some hikers, a big dog, a couple of motorcycles, one jeep. From Atsion, a former company town and farming community, to the Quaker Bridge is about four miles. With some diversions, my round trip was 15 miles.
The Tesla Cybertruck
Swap out that Cyberquad in the back for a couple of e-bikes and we might have a deal. Say, the mid-level dual-motor AWD for $50K. Available in 2021, assuming Elon Musk avoids the fate of the last high-profile automobile designer who built a futuristic stainless steel car.
If You Like Negronis, You (Might) Love This Tweed
The Negroni Tweed is a collab between Matt Hranek and Fox Brothers. The latter is a British cloth maker founded in 1772, but who is Hranek? Well, his job titles have included “luxury editor,” he has a cool prefab house in upstate New York, and he started his own magazine. Also, he truly loves the Negroni. So why not make a fabric out of it? The resulting tweed entwines Campari red, orange, lemon peel yellow, and gray (gin is essentially colorless, so…).
Need to learn how to concoct a Negroni?
Another Passenger Pigeon in England
There are two passenger pigeons at Horniman Museum in London. This one is in Birmingham. Even better, the Birmingham Museums have made the image freely available in their Digital Image Resource.
E-Biking the Pole Farm
About 10 miles wandering around Mercer Meadows (a.ka. the Pole Farm) and Rosedale Park.
