The Atlantic Test Site

Every so often, my online family’s nightly communications manifest into an actual gathering, usually in our beloved New Jersey. Recently, our friends from Ocean County needed a whole group of extras (a Lovecraft-esque cult for those reading who are curious) and this more-or-less created our last de facto gathering.

Lambertville High School finally primed for demolition (Edited 10.09.2012)

News article

You can read the article for the specifics, but basically, after years of bureaucratic minutiae and evasion, concrete plans for the demolition of the unkempt high school are in place.

I have to say, as a long-time fan of Weird NJ and a love for New Jersey / area history, this does sadden me a bit, but to that extent, does provide some closure. The building was beautiful, yes, but the officials are not being overbearing or exaggerating when they say that the structure is not safe. Especially if kids are going up there and getting blitzed and stumbling around in the dark... eh, it's just not a good scenario.
I would love to see it make a comeback, but it simply is a logistics nightmare. The drive up that hill... it's incredible that they're even able to properly get demolition equipment up there.

Lastly, I find it incredible that in my dozen-or-so visits over the years to this beautiful piece of legend, that I was never fined or seen by the police. Perhaps the neighbors didn't care, because I always with a mild-mannered group of friends who were simply taking photographs and enjoying the site, versus getting drunk in a collapsing building and breaking the pieces of furniture that manage to somehow still exist.

Edit: So, they've apparently begun demolition on the site. As I've said before, this is a necessity. It does not mean my heart did not break when I saw that news clip of the machinery tearing into the brick wall. It was a beautiful location. My one hope is that they make good use of the land.

Lambertville, I will never forget you. You were a place of childhood legend and served me well in my young adult years, such as our visit in-universe is our fiction project, in multiple visits with friends to cap day trips into New Hope / Lambertville, in conversation, in story. May you live on forever in lore. You proved too dangerous to exist. That's a feat if I've ever heard one.

News clip of demolition

Baldpate Mountain, New Jersey

My old friend, Ryan Romano, had wanted to go hiking for a few weekends when he had finally decided on this location named “Baldpate Mountain.” He had found trail guides and such online and was excited for our trip. But, at the last moment, I asked him if I could drag a few of my other friends into our trip, for a day out and to get some video for our project at the time. This is the part where we can plug in “and the rest is history.”

The Paulinskill Viaduct

My story with the Paulinskill Viaduct begins a few years, a few thousand miles, and a few adolescent broken dreams, ago.