829 Southdrive

829 Southdrive

A New Jersey state of mind



Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Driftwould




Following are some of the artifacts that made their way across the 
bay to Beaton's during the weather disturbance known as Sandy.  
This bottom half of a Dutch door is from the little Van Sciver real 
estate building which used to sit on the corner of rt. 35 and 
Mantoloking Road. This place was recognizable to literally 
thousands upon thousands of shore-goers and locals alike.  A tiny 
little cottage that looked like it had been there since the beginning 
of time.  When I saw the swath that Sandy plowed through that 
section of Mantoloking, it was the first house I thought of.  
Gone in an instant, like it was made of Balsa.   






Ah yes, the old fraternity paddle.  George fashioned this paddle for
his 'big', presumably, and Alan held it dearly until that fateful day
in October of 2012.  Imagine how many times Alan's kids were
punished with this instrument of discipline.  If it were anything like 
my Dad's Phi Kappa Psi paddle, the letters would have long been
worn away.  




Triangle Potassium E-scow






An Opti with flotation bag showing.  Looks like a hull cover
 draping over the gunwhale.  Virtually indestructible, this 
dinghy was identified and picked up fairly quickly.





It helped when Ethan wrote his name on the transom.





What have we here?  Tom Beaton had just retrieved
the Orange Coffee Pot from the cockpit.






Laser 148747.  Can anyone tell me when this hull was built?






Said cockpit which housed the Orange Coffee Pot.






Here's hoping that Marie Barbour is a happy, healthy 14 year old.





Sunday photo, maybe Easter?






A grand banquet it must have been.  The attendees are no doubt 
waiting for the relish and olive trays and the individual fruit cups
to be served, only to be followed by Waldorf salad.  Tournedos
Rossini with asparagus hollandaise and pommes dauphinoise
would wow the guests, with baked Alaska rounding out the menu.
There was no such thing as a vegetarian option in those days.
Wait, I stand corrected.....they could always skip the entree,
or stay home.  





It must have been quite an event for those having been invited
by both the Lord Mayor and the sheriffs.






I like any picture of what looks like four Italian ladies standing in
the kitchen, ready to roll out the pasta on the linoleum-topped table.
And the rolling pin of choice?  A wooden closet pole.






You may recognize this photo:  Currie Wagner (no relation) gazes
numbly at the empty lot that used to host his Grandmother's house,
which lays in a pile at the foot of the Mantoloking bridge.







For a few months, when I saw these photos, I had to choke back
the tears.  As with anything, eventually one becomes accustomed
to the surreal images that once captivated and evoked emotions. 






Ok.  Looks like Bettie is the correct spelling, especially
if it was in fact Bettie who needlepointed this.






A gift to Bettie.






From Margaux and Chelsea.






Henry Colie found this in the back marshes of Beaton's.
Jack Wagner, pictured (no relation), said that this whale must 
have belonged to Bettie Wagner, of the other Wagners.
Is nobody related around here?






A new Beaton tail for the whale.





This afternoon, at Barnegat Light.

7 comments:

  1. That was the real Orange Coffee Pot trophy? And Clay was keeping it in an old Laser? The oldest trophy in existence for the best racing class in the world?

    Laser 148747 would have been a hull from the early 1990's.

    ReplyDelete
  2. DriftWOULD, indeed.

    Robert Frost:

    Nature’s first green is gold,
    Her hardest hue to hold.
    Her early leaf’s a flower;
    But only so an hour.
    Then leaf subsides to leaf.
    So Eden sank to grief,
    So dawn goes down to day.
    Nothing gold can stay.


    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. How does one ever come up with something so profound as that?

      Delete
  3. Did I hear a "WTF" during the video"

    ReplyDelete
  4. Also,

    If your house is not adorned with a wooden whale that has your last name on it then you better get one. Please let me know. Meanwhile I will get the jigsaw ready and blow the dust off of the old wood burning kit, I smell a belated birthday gift in the making...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Make sure there's a big old knot right in the middle of the whale please.

      Delete