November 15 and 16, 2019

A two-day Funday! Actually, we went to the same places both days. We didn’t have enough time on Friday to do what we wanted because of a bad waiter. Both days we went to Harrold’s Deli and the Sugarloaf Craft fair in Edison.

At Harrold’s deli the portion size is gigantic. Nothing makes people as happy as ridiculous sizes of food. It looks like they are serving giants!

This was our first time to the deli and our waiter wasn’t helpful at all. Not to mention we waited over an hour for the bill and for him to take our order. We were there for two hours. He, also, forgot Colleen’s soup, which apparently I forgot to take a picture of. Colleen had the soup of the day, which was Mushroom Barley. She did not enjoy it.

The deserts are gigantic! A lady next to us got a slice of cake for her birthday, it was much larger than any whole cake. She was offering the whole section we were in a piece and still had a lot to take home.

Lunch Special Turkey Paninni
Unfortunately I don’t have the menu for it. She said the turkey was good. The french fries were very good.

New York’s Best Corned Beef
The Corned beef was good. I don’t know if it’s the best I’ve ever had, but it is very tasty. The Cole slaw, though was excellent. The bread too, is really good. If you put it all together; the corned beef, Cole slaw, bread and Russian dressing by far one of the best corned beef sandwiches I’ve ever had. You get the pickle bar with your meal. Pickles aren’t that exciting.

Single Blueberry Pancake
We had breakfast the next day! The pancake was the size of a large pizza. I don’t know how they flipped it. It was a very good pancake too!

Two Eggs any style with Ham
We both wanted eggs with our pancakes and Colleen wanted home fries too. The waiter suggested we get the meal instead. He was a very good waiter. I wish we had him the first day.

We went to Sugarloaf craft fair both days, it is supposed to be one of the top 50 craft fairs in the country. Craft fairs attract many different types of crafters. There are those who’ve honed their skills over many years and those that just slap things together trying to make extra cash. There are those who’ve come up with a brilliant idea and those that stole a brilliant idea. People whose prices are ridiculously high and those that are a bargain. People who market towards everyone and those only to select few. It’s fun and interesting. You are sure to see things you haven’t seen before. We both managed to get some Christmas shopping done.

August 2, 2019

This Friday we went to a local favorite, Al’s Luncheonette in Manalapan. It’s a friendly restaurant with excellent service and good food. I always enjoy going to luncheonettes, they have that homey feel.

Chicken Fajita Omelet
Colleen had the chicken fajita omelet with a side of hash browns. She enjoyed it very much and ate it all up!

Manalapan Skillet
I had the Manalapan skillet. It comes with scrambled eggs but I ordered over easy eggs instead. It is a combination of corned beef, potatoes, onions and green peppers with a touch of cheese. It is very good.

Glenmont
This Friday we went to Edison’s home Glenmont. He bought the house for his second wife, as a wedding present. His first wife had died.

We took a tour of the house. You have to go to the labs first to get the pass for the tour. You are not allowed to take pictures inside the house.

The inside is very beautiful with many rich details. There is a grand staircase as you enter with beautifully carved wood accents.

You park by the greenhouse, which we looked at first.

There were some plants for sale, not these, but Colleen and I both bought some. Let’s see who’s last the longest 🙂 (NO FAIR! Colleen now has her mom taking care of the plant. Her mom gets rid of plants because she gets tired of them. Cheater Cheater)

Mina Edison enjoyed bird watching and horticulture

On the side of the house is a conservatory, which Mina enjoyed watching birds. There was even a bird bath which was heated during the winter.

Edison’s garage
Thomas Edison didn’t like to drive. His son once got him to drive and he ended up in the ditch.

Thomas and Mina Edison
Both of their graves are on the property of Glenmont

Glenmont is in the development of Llewellyn Park
There are people who live in this beautiful place. Many trees, sloping hills, deer everywhere with little parks like these, it’s hard to believe that it is 12 miles from New York City.

Sweet Potato Fries with dipping sauces
These were yummy! One sauce has a bit of tang, the yogurt with herbs and the other was sweet, the maple. Colleen liked the yogurt one better. I liked both.

Zucchini Fries
There were yummy too! They are served with ranch dressing and lots of Parmesan cheese.

The Plain and Simple Burger
We both had this burger, only I had fried onions and cheese added and Colleen had cheese added to hers.
I’m not crazy about my burger, I guess I expected more. It was a bit greasy and it didn’t have that char that I like on my burgers.

Having visited both Edison’s lab and home, I got curious to learn more about the man. I know at one time he had a rivalry with Tesla. Edison wanted to use DC to power homes and Tesla wanted to use AC. So to prove that AC was dangerous Edison electrocuted an elephant. I couldn’t imagine someone doing that today. Did he think he was serving the greater good? Going to Edison’s house, a woman who went on the tour before us was very upset about the animal skins in the home, there was a bear, tiger, leopard and an owl that I saw. Our tour guide told us this is because they wanted to bring nature into the house, but I think Edison was not an animal lover. Does this make him a lesser of a person to be admired? I think not, but it makes him human, which we all are. It’s funny how history repaints us.

July 12, 2019

This Friday we went to a place that was on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, and the Thomas Edison Museum. The Bayway Diner has different owners since it was on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, I don’t have any comparisons between the new and old.

Bayway Diner
I saw pictures of the diner, but I had no idea how small it was. I think it has seating for eight and room behind the counter is tight. Even though the place was small, it had that hometown feel and the people who work there are very friendly. One of the cooks even showed us pictures of his new born baby.

Steak and Egg Wrap
Colleen said it was very good and it didn’t need the egg.

Egg and Meat Platter
I had the egg and meat platter. The eggs, home fries and toast were good, but I didn’t care for the corned beef hash. Next time, I would order a different meat.

Edison’s Laboratory
It’s in West Orange, New Jersey and is a National Park. I have never been there before and I had no idea the size of the site. I pictured a two story house with some test tubes. This building is three stories tall and housed the machine shop, darkroom, drafting room, library which is three stories tall, and recording studio. I am probably forgetting some rooms.

Side view of the building. To the left were smaller buildings that housed the chemical lab, chemical supplies and patterns, and metal surgical studies.

Another side view
To the left is the chemical lab and in front of the building is the movie lot.

Machine shop
There was many large industrial tools here, I can just imagine the noise. We had a recorder that when you played information of each of the rooms. It stated that there was a strong smell of oil, too. Now, its beautiful but in it’s day I imagine it was an awful place to work. There were no safety devices in those days and if you lost a finger it was your fault.

Machine shop
The size of the chains on the left are immense. The recorder stated that they were used to take machines from one side of the room to the other.

Part of a machine
I don’t know what this machine was for, but it reminds me of the symbol for Chevy.

Creepy Doll
The doll itself is kind of cute, but it was the first doll that talked. When I heard the voice on the recorder, the stuff of nightmares.

It says Ford on the front of the car. It is a child’s car and so very cute!

Edison’s Library
The pictures that hang from the railings and such, was put there by Edison’s design. Sorry for the bad picture, it was so very hot.

Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration. Thomas Edison.

Food for thought

Some people will say that being smart is the best asset to have, others beauty and still others will say it’s being good at reading people or EQ. Those gifts can get you far in life no doubt, but the best asset I think to succeed is drive. I don’t think you can learn it, it’s something inside a person. Edison had a third grade education. Only going to the third grade would seem that you would be at a disadvantage, the odds would seem stacked against you. Life is funny though, you just don’t know and if you give up, you never will know if you could’ve done it. The road to success is seldom smooth and those with the drive are the ones at a chance to succeed.

Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up -Thomas Edison