bridge 6

Shaaaark R'v'r Bridge is op'ning up, op'nin up, op'ning up
Shaaaark R'v'r Bridge is op'ning up,
My fair lady

(Okay, so you've already seen this drawbridge a few times.)

the whole tooth

A lifeboat. With teeth.

I know when I'm drowning, flailing my arms in the water and terrified for my life, that's EXACTLY what I want to see coming my way--SHARP POINTY TEETH.

I am (still) in North Carolina for a few days, so I will A) be relying on "automatic posting," B) will not update the archive until I return, and C) will be unavailable for comments.

boardwalkin' and streetlampin'

(Click on any photo to view it larger.)

This past weekend, I took a walk/jog/leisurely photographic tour down part of the Jersey shore boardwalk, from south Asbury Park to north Belmar. It's about 2.7 miles, and I set foot in 5 different towns. (Shewd observers will note that I have no photograph of the fifth town, Bradley Beach, which is located right between Ocean Grove and Avon-by-the-Sea. Guess what? Its street lights look exactly like Ocean Grove's. The only thing different is the fancy red brick/stone boardwalk.)

The POINT here is to show the different streetlights you'd see as you cross from town to town. I just think it's kind of interesting. Oh- and if you want to know what town you're looking at, just hover your cursor over each photo. The title will tell you where you are.

These photographs, all of which look north, were taken between 9:23AM and 9:57AM; here is the route I took. (Unfortunately, if you click on that link, it will only appear as the furthest zoom possible ["Oh look, it's AN ENTIRE WORLD MAP"], so you need to drag the +/- slider up to about 4-5 notches from the top [as zoomed-in as possible].)

viewpoint

This bridge runs between Belmar and Avon-by-the-Sea. I featured it for the December Theme Day; when I did, I was unsure of its name. So when I once again found myself traversing the bridge on foot, since it was daytime and I could actually find the plaque, I photographed it. (I won't show the plaque because even in the daylight, it's very difficult to read.) I saw that it is the Shark River Bridge, but I didn't realize until I got home that a famous trombonist/bandleader had been one of the officials who brought the bridge into existance!

Here is what the plaque says:

"

Shark River Bridge
Bridge W43 [W48?]
on Ocean Avenue
between Avon and Belmar
-----------
Monmouth County, New Jersey
-----------
Built 1936
-----------
Board of Chosen Freeholders
Raymond L. Wyckoff, director
Henry W. Herbert . . . James S. Parkes
Joseph Mayer . . . . . . . . . Arthur Pryor
-----------
John E. Hogan, County Engineer
-----------
Ash Howard Needles & Tammen
Morris Goodkind
Consulting Engineers
Merritt Chapman & McLean Corporation
Contractor"

Now, that may seem like just a bunch of names, and it is, but the part that caught my attention was one of the Chosen Freeholders.

Arthur Pryor?

Arthur Pryor was a Chosen Freeholder?!

Arthur Pryor was a famous bandleader and trombonist in the John Philip Sousa Band. (The only reason I know this is because one of my community bands did a huge Arthur Pryor feature last year. We imported a trombone virtuoso from Virginia who dressed up in period band costume and narrated the songs.) Pryor had strong ties to this area: although he retired from the John Philip Sousa Band (in 1903) before the band started making regular appearances at the Ocean Grove Auditorium [outside view] (from 1912-1926, until Sousa made a crack about Prohibition and the Ocean Grove Methodists decided not to invite him back), Pryor's own band performed for 26 seasons on the Asbury Park boardwalk (which is less than a mile from the OG Auditorium); he retired to Long Branch; he died immediately after a rehearsal in the Asbury Park bandstand.

And APPARENTLY, according to this source, he DID win a seat on the Board of Chosen Freeholders, so the name on the bridge IS the same Arthur Pryor!

What an unexpected perk of a bridge plaque photograph!

globes

One of the boardwalk streetlights of Avon-by-the-Sea. The neat thing about driving down Ocean Avenue (which runs right next to the boardwalk) is that each seaside town has its own unique streetlights... it's a fun way to tell what town you're in.

bridge 3

It's the first of the month; that means it's City Daily Photo Theme Day!

In light of the "bridge" theme, I present to you a photo of the Ocean Avenue drawbridge between Belmar and Avon. (For those unfamiliar with Ocean Ave., it runs right along next to the boardwalk for much of the Monmouth County shoreline. Ocean Ave. is the "scenic route" of the shore area.)


Wanna see some bridges from all over the world? Then check out these links for other participants in today's theme!

Boston (MA), USA - San Diego (CA), USA - Stayton (OR), USA - New York City (NY), USA - Portland (OR), USA - Montego Bay, Jamaica - Inverness (IL), USA - Singapore, Singapore - Stockholm, Sweden - Setúbal, Portugal - Brussels, Belgium - Phoenix (AZ), USA - Seattle (WA), USA - Hyde, UK - Manila, Philippines - Fort Lauderdale (FL), USA - London, England - Austin (TX), USA - Toulouse, France - Weston (FL), USA - Sesimbra, Portugal - Selma (AL), USA - Silver Spring (MD), USA - Saarbrücken, Germany - Cleveland (OH), USA - Crystal Lake (IL), USA - American Fork (UT), USA - Seoul, South Korea - Kyoto, Japan - Tokyo, Japan - Norwich (Norfolk), UK - North Bay (ON), Canada - Arradon, France - Paderborn, Germany - Durban, South Africa - Philadelphia (PA), USA - Cypress (TX), USA - Cottage Grove (MN), USA - Prague, Czech Republic - Portland (OR), USA - Greenville (SC), USA - Boston (MA), USA - Port Angeles (WA), USA - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Wichita (Ks), USA - Saint Paul (MN), USA - Petaling Jaya (Selangor), Malaysia - Grenoble, France - New York City (NY), USA - Nottingham, UK - Hobart (Tasmania), Australia - Arlington (VA), USA - Minneapolis (MN), USA - Miami (FL), USA - Cheltenham, UK - Albuquerque (NM), USA - Saratoga Spgs. (NY), USA - Las Vegas (NV), USA - Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina - Nashville (TN), USA - Toruń, Poland - New Orleans (LA), USA - Port Elizabeth, South Africa - Melbourne, Australia - Moscow, Russia - Trujillo, Peru - Château-Gontier, France - Quincy (MA), USA - Melbourne, Australia - Port Vila, Vanuatu - Joplin (MO), USA - Bellefonte (PA), USA - Brookville (OH), USA - Chateaubriant, France - Chandler (AZ), USA - Stavanger, Norway - Baziège, France - Auckland, New Zealand - Wellington, New Zealand - Ocean Township (NJ), USA - Subang Jaya (Selangor), Malaysia - Detroit (MI), USA - Riga, Latvia - Nelson, New Zealand - Budapest, Hungary - Cape Town, South Africa - Sydney, Australia - Dunedin (FL), USA - Sofia, Bulgaria - Radonvilliers, France - Turin, Italy - Montpellier, France - Kansas City (MO), USA - Minneapolis (MN), USA - Haninge, Sweden - Wailea (HI), USA - Lubbock (TX), USA - Rabaul, Papua New Guinea - Terrell (TX), USA - Mexico City, Mexico - Saint-Petersburg, Russian Federation - Budapest, Hungary - Montréal (QC), Canada - Sharon (CT), USA - Le Guilvinec, France - Jefferson City (MO), USA - Saigon, Vietnam - London, UK - Crepy-en-Valois, France - Orlando (FL), USA - Maple Ridge (BC), Canada - Paris, France - Mainz, Germany - Newcastle (NSW), Australia - Wassenaar (ZH), Netherlands - Menton, France - Monte Carlo, Monaco - Darmstadt, Germany - Naples (FL), USA - Torino, Italy - Saint Louis (MO), USA - Bogor, Indonesia - The Hague, Netherlands - Minneapolis (MN), USA - Glasgow, UK - Anderson (SC), USA - Melbourne (VIC), Australia - Clearwater (FL), USA - West Sacramento (CA), USA - Christchurch, New Zealand

rainlight 2

The boardwalk isn't always warm and sunny.