Gnuman makes the rounds, Part II

After the children were put down to nap, Jennifer said she was finally going to give me the Grand Tour on her way to the market. I think she was really proud she was finally getting her act together.

First, we went by that old house she mentioned earlier; she knows it at Mrs. King's house. She tried to take a photo, but there were too many cars in front, she parked illegally in front of the school and then a police car drove by and she didn't want to get stopped--we had a lot to do! The basic story, as best Jennifer remembers from her middle school project, is that the house was built in the 1600's, supposedly was a tavern during the Revolutionary War, and is supposedly haunted. She had a tour of the home at that time, and the then-owner related several experiences, including the night she heard the sound of a cannon ball rolling across her bedroom floor, and she woke up to see a soldier in Revolutionary War dress standing in her bedroom. Ooooh! Eerie!

She then showed me the house on the other side of the school, which also dates from the 1600's and which she also toured way back when. She even took a photo but...



Ack! Too blurry! At least I look good (that is, the parts she got in the frame).

This is me at the intersection of Main Street (yes, Metuchen has a Main Street!) and Middlesex Avenue (Rte. 27), the main intersection in town.



The building on my left is the newly reconstructed Boro Hall. The building between the tree and me in the background is the Volunteer Fire Department which came to Jennifer's house once when she smelled smoke at the children's bedtime. Everyone sat in the minivan while four fire engines' worth of volunteers left their homes, dinners, etc. to check the house. Jennifer was embarrassed but grateful.

Here is another partial shot of Main Street, one block down.



A few blocks down, Jennifer pulled into a parking spot opposite the post office, in front of the Colonial Cemetery. Here I am:



We then climbed about 10 steps up into the cemetery. We walked around and looked at the old gravestones, and found a few marking the plots of Revolutionary War soldiers.







We both thought it was pretty neat. Purportedly, there was a Revolutionary War skirmish in the area; there is a sign about it by Boro Hall. "Of course," Jennifer said, "New Jersey is the 'Washington slept here' state."

When we left the cemetery, we were directly opposite the Post Office:
(That's me in the corner of the picture)

Jennifer said that inside the Post Office, there is a plaque listing the names of Metuchen residents who fought in the Revolutionary War. She said I won't get to see it, because I'll be in my Priority Mail Box when she brings me there. Although I'm leaving Metuchen either tomorrow or Friday, Jennifer assured me that I'm not traveling too far, and shouldn't spend more than two or three days in transit. She also said that my next destination is interesting and a lot of fun; it has a lot of history and great yarn stores!

Across the street from the Post Office is the train station. On the corner is Freedom Plaza:



It's a memorial/tribute to those who lost their lives on 9/11. Metuchen lost one resident.

After all this sightseeing, Jennifer rushed to the market to do her food shopping and get everything unloaded and put away before the children woke up from nap. And once they did, I got to meet Crocus!




Margery bought Crocus for Boy M after he watched a Thomas the Tank Engine episode that had lots of gnomes. He could not stop talking about the gnomes for weeks! Easily understandable, I say.

The boys were very curious about our conversation. "Gnome business," I told them. But Crocus asked me to tell everyone that he is not caged, he is very happy in the garden with the flowers and his mushroom, and that the yard was fenced that way long before he arrived (to keep triplets from escaping).

This may very well be my last post from Metuchen. Jennifer says that if you want more information about Metuchen, you can find it here. I'm certainly looking forward to my next adventure!