Listen to the Music

Where do you buy your music? Are there still, oh what's that quaint phrase?, "record stores" around? Please write in and tell me where to go.
Admittedly I am like everybody else--I download music onto my iPod (my taste runs the gamut from ABBA to Zappa and everything in between), make purchases on Amazon.com and do the occasional in-person (Best) Buy. Ever since Sam Goody's closed at the mall (and don't even get me started on the departure of my most favorite browsing emporium, Tower Records), I have missed the singular pleasure of flipping through those racks of CDs alphabetically arranged by genre, composer, top sellers, et al.
And now a plug for some alternative music. No, I don't mean hip-hop or metal. Opera. It's been borrowed by pop culture for years, everything from Della Reese's recording of Don't You Know (Musetta's Waltz from La Boheme) to the Spatini Spaghetti Sauce commercial (La Donna E Mobile from Rigoletto) to Spike Jones spoofs and countless cartoons ...all of which leads to a quick aside: in my non-writing professional activity I had opportunity to work with Beverly Sills and she really was everything you've read: charming, gracious, bubbly, down to earth. Opera. Try it. You may like it.

Sally Fourth!

Happy Fourth of July!
This is being written from Revolutionary War Central: not far away is a field where, as the historic marker indicates, from May 28 - July 2, 1777 the troops of George Washington's Continental Army camped out due to its strategic location high about the Raritan Valley (makes sense when you realize our main street bears the name Washington Valley Road!)
Since this did not turn out to be a beach day, it appeared likely that most of us engaged in a uniquely American holiday pasttime--shopping. A quick surveillance trip to the Bridgewater Commons mall (strictly for research purposes, I muttered to myself) confirmed that theory.
Fourth of July in the middle of the week? No long weekend? Bummer! But at least the weekend is only 2 days away.

Farm Report

When I lived on Long Island and made my ritual Sunday morning stop at the local bagel store, up on the counter was the glorious sight of picture-perfect giant ripe tomatoes which always bore the label "New Jersey," assuring the crowning touch for a lox and cream cheese bagel. Now you may hear people coo over California produce ("ohmygd...the strawberries were as big as golfballs!") but nothing gets the salivary glands working overttime like the phrase "Jersey Fresh" and it doesn't get much fresher than here in central NJ (think about it: almost guarantee that wherever you reside a working farm is within 5 to 10 miles). "My" farm is English Farm, located in Liberty Corner. Amazingly it is now in its eighth generation of family ownership. A working farm, the site includes a seasonal farm market (July thru October selling eggs, vegetables, flowers and Harrison Brook Farm herbs; eggs sold November thru May) and barnyard animals (a memorably funny visit last summer was when one of the pigs kicked up dirt from behind his fencing and onto Herb's new slacks--well, I thought it was funny!) including bantam chickens and a warren of rabbits (today I saw Ralph, Monique and Lindsay) right by the parking section. My purchases included Rainier cherries, garlic, dark plums, a few apples (I like to cut up in cereal) and genuinely sweet corn.
Looking ahead into the fall there are hayrides, pumpkin picking and annual History Day celebrations. By the way, English Farm is situated where colony-sympathizing French troops, under the leadership of General Rochambeau, camped out prior to the Battle of Yorkville 225 years ago.

Barnstorming

This is being written to balance out Saturday's rant if you will. Happy to read this morning (in the Courier of course!) that Pottery Barn will soon be joining the store line-up at Bridgewater Commons. I Love That Store! Bedroom #2 is a virtual shrine to their style (the pattern: Matine Toile in powder blue), which combines the best of traditional and country...or is it contemporary and that quirky sensibility called shabby chic? Anyway, something very soothing (at least to me!) about their products and how their collections go together and complement other furnishings as well. Between the "closed for remodeling" placard (rarely a good sign) posted at their upper west side/Manhattan location and the traffic jams caused by work on 78 by the Route 24 exit (my quickest way to the Short Hills Mall store), things were decidedly grim and I thought the only way to give in to my 'fix' would be by means of their catalog. And now...I cannot wait!

A Hole in My Universe

Beautiful weather today--not a day for being indoors , at home or in store! This is when I start weekend day trips to the farm stands and farmers markets within easy driving distance (this morning forgot to get out to the farmers market at the Bernardsville train station--does anyone know if it has Sunday hours?) But I am losing track of what I wanted to write about, a mini rant if you will.

Martinsville is a very charming spot in which to live but...There Is No Bagel Store! Oh there are very good ones if I drive 7 miles east of me and 7 miles west of me, but on Sunday morning all I want to do is go as short a distance as possible to get my fix of a pumpernickel bagel with a shmear of lox spread (and Herb his cinnamon raisin with same--a combo that makes me slightly gag but chacun a son gout...!) And while I am in the mood to 'gently' rant...a neighborhood bookstore would be a wonderful addition to the landscape as well!

Enjoy the weekend!

Dry My Car

When our friend Joe chided me for not taking my three week old car to a car wash a few years ago, that's when I discovered the Bridgewater Car Wash on Route 28. Owned and operated by the McFarland Brothers since 1976 (a good year for car washes: one of disco's trademark hits of that time bore the very same name), it is a multipurpose 7 day a week spot where you can clean-up and gas-up your car and eat-up too(a few years ago the brothers opened the adjacent Patriots Mini Mart deli and coffee shop).
There is a laundry list of a la carte services from which to choose as well as packages that range from the Full Service Deluxe to the Classic to The Works. Newest options include VIP washes. Now I am a Classic girl--hot wax, sealer wax, undercarriage, Armorall tire power-wash, $15.45--but decided to splurge for ten dollars more on a VIP treatment (the one that encompasses a mini interior detail) that left my car interior genuinely looking and smelling (no artificial "new car scent" here!) like an out of the showroom vehicle--I fell in love with my jalopy all over again. Well worth the extra shekels and I was assured the finish would last for a good two months or so (had it done a month ago and still lookin' good). By the way, the guys are staunch Giants fans (even the tips container is shaped like a mutant football!)

There's A Small Hotel

Never mind George Washington--Clark Gable slept here! "Here" is The Dunellen Hotel, a circa 1869 onetime inn now well-regarded restaurant and rathskeller owned and renovated by the same trio who brought new life to "my" Stewart's (and thank you once again, wildsnowflake, for pointing this out). The menu is quality American fare served in a light pub atmosphere. From comfort dishes like their famous meatloaf platter and chicken parm to upscale selections such as triple onion soup and sesame tuna steak. Half-pound Black Angus burgers, sandwiches, salads, wraps and more. And--shades of Nancy Drew!--a hidden staircase that descends to the rathskeller, no doubt handy during Prohibition days. Wildsnowflake also notes that the homemade potato chips "are delish!"