Let the Summer of 2012 Begin:

     On this beautiful Saturday I took my Cannon Rebel XT to the boardwalk in Atlantic City.  As usual my friends and I started at the Taj.  It was a glorious day outside for much of the afternoon.  There was a sea of humanity as you stepped out to the boardwalk facing the Steel Pier.  But my first visit is always to see the feral cats and the same guy that I photographed before was there.  He takes the bus from Philly to come here and he is the most consistent caretaker of the cats.  Much has been published about the dangers of this cat population but they do not bother those who want to avoid them. 

This photo needs an update as well.  There were always feral cats that lived under the boardwalk and they were neutered and their ears were clipped to identify their "status".  One man used to ride the bus to Atlantic City each day from Philadelphia just to feed the cats.  This I supposed was too problematic because the cats are not there any more.

Two girls asked me to use their camera 

for a shot and then they posed for me.

This for sure is my favorite casino.  The casinos need the ocean and you have it all at the Revel.  A state of the art structure and the ocean.  The Borgata and Harrah's just does not come up to the level of the Revel because they are not situated on the ocean.  The group called the Guardian Angels was on patrol on the boardwalk.  Their presence may have been prompted by the fact that Beyonce will have a big opening show at the Revel with Michele Obama in attendance added additional motivation. See article below:

Michelle Obama takes daughters,

Sasha and Malia, to Beyoncé concert in Atlantic City

The crowd cheered loudly as

 Michelle Obama made her way to

her seat in a shiny green dress

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Saturday, May 26, 2012, 11:12 PM

 

      

So I started walking toward the Taj (edit--the Taj is now Hard Rock Casino) where along the beach in front looks like a multi-million dollar beach replenishment program is going on so I took photos of the work being done there. 

 

Also one of the newer advertisement gimmicks is a big screen TV that is on a boat that hugs the shoreline. One screen shot featured a Memorial Day Tribute. They have not given up on the airplane drag along banner, either.

As you walk from the Taj in a few minutes you find yourself along side of the Revel's foundation. It is a good spot to start your photos of this magnificent structure. 

 

Your eye follows along until you see what looks like a gigantic golf ball.  I found this amusing guy in a red plaid shirt and mis-matched pants and a female partner that laughed at his every joke. He kept mimicking a golf stroke as though he had just hit the ball and it landed on top of the building.  Cupping his eyes to see where it landed and the girl laughed---so he did it again--so funny in his efforts to charm the girl----if he was not successful with his girl, he did charm me.  He had that Honey Badger ---I don't care attitude as evidence by his choice of mismatched plaids. 

This is the guy that was eyeing up the top of the building with his imaginary golf shots!! You can see his girl in the middle there:

 

Well even though you have reached the Revel casino you are several minutes from the entrance near the tower.  You walk almost another block and then you are funneled into a winding walk way that leads you to a wide circular driveway with guards on duty.  They keep you from crossing into the wide driveway and you have to go around another long curved sidewalk before entering.  It is quite annoying!  On this weekend there was a very visible staff emptying trashcans, washing windows,  another guy using the squeegee, the informational guides, and the official greeter. 

No short-cuts for you! Sidewalk Police!

 

                                   

Helicopters, Horses and Houses and etc.

      I am trying to pull some odds and ends photos into a cohesive group. How about my alliterative title? The horse photos were taken on Winslow Road. It is the back road that I took from Hammonton to get to Williamstown  and then on to Glassboro College back in the day. It is now known as Rowan University. The horses may be from a farm in that area called Lions Pride Farms. Also, I stopped at the Hammonton Airport awhile back and found the New Jersey State Police Helicopter revving up. 

Ok, I have taken photos of houses and roadsides in several communities.  Some of these shots feature Ventnor, Salem county or Hammonton and some right here in Egg Harbor City.  On a sad note, there is a memorial to the side of the road near my house where two young men lost their lives about a week ago.  You can see so many candles, flowers and other mementos.

Here is my old homestead on Walmer Street in Hammonton:

Here are the apartments that made our neighborhood interesting to say the least.  Hardly anyone stayed there more than 4 to 5 years.  But Mrs. Ricci lived there a long time.  My friend Debbie and I would go there and we would get cookies and smell her lilac perfume.  The lady with the "evil eye" lived there, too.  She liked to wear dresses with anklet socks. 

Grave Yards in the Pines

    Today is Cinco de Mayo 2012.  Just know it is getting ever so popular year after year in the U.S.A.  It also is the day for the "Super Moon"  what ever that is.  I am getting tired and I don't like going outside in the dark with my camera and tripod equipment.  Also, I was assured later that the cloud cover was just too heavy to allow visibility of the Moon. However, yesterday it was warm and the moon was out early in the evening so I got a shot of the nearly full moon:

     So probably around last August my friend and I took a tour of some South Jersey Pineland cemeteries. I already discussed my family's Pinelands heritage but it was such a testament to see the proof that years ago there weren't so many people of Italian heritage around. Going back a little over a hundred years ago it was when you had a large influx of Italians into this area so you weren't going to find graves for them just yet. So these old grave yards have names (just a random sampling of the common names) like: Sooy, Leeds, Weeks, Ford, Wells, Maxwell, Crowley, Birdsall, Scull, Cramer, VanSant, Wescoat, Micks, Jervis, Bowman, Cavileer, Cobb, Camp, Craig, Nichols, Gaskill, and Pool. So when you see any Italian names in these old cemeteries, it is quite noticeable. You soon start to see names like Maratella, Martelli, LoSasso, and Silipena. My grandfather's Tassone's stone won't be found in the Pineland Cemeteries because he was buried in the Oak Grove Cemetery in Hammonton.

    This stone below shows a Martelli must have taken a Ford for a wife.  Funny I have a sister Betty Ford.  Her husband is only half Italian in his heritage.