Jenyfer Matthews

I have so many pictures of my time in Minnesota - what do you want? It’s a picturesque place! - I can’t possibly share them all here. I took the most pictures when I was out hiking in the woods so those are the ones you’ll get to see

My first stop in Minnesota was Duluth. We stayed in town a couple of days after flying in so I could do a bit of back to school shopping (school starts tomorrow - woo hoo!!) and take the kids to do a few town things, like visit the zoo. As zoos go, it is fairly small but it had some nice exhibits and was just big enough for the kids to get a good run around.

I try to resist taking animal pictures because they never turn out very well, but this guy was practically posing for the camera!

Calm down - it’s not a real tortoise…

Once I arrived in the woods, the first really long hike we took was actually just over the border in Ontario - called Fingerpoint Trail. The trail head actually starts in the parking lot of the Ontario Welcome Center and following the trail to the summit is actually about a 3 mile walk.

See that bump? The top of that knob is our goal…

The view from the top of the knob - beautiful!

This is a beach along Lake Superior where the trail passes. If you collect driftwood, this is the beach for you!

This shiny log caught my eye - hasn’t dried out quite as much as the others and was shining like gold in the sun

The children loved to play on the various beaches along Lake Superior - any excuse would do. It’s hardly the worst place in the world to hang out for an hour so I spent a lot of time there while they stripped down and swam. I thought after the first time that the frigid water temperatures would put them off, but what do I know? So while they played polar bears, I snacked. Look at all the wonderful beach food I found:

There is nothing tastier than wild raspberries - picking them yourself makes them taste better!

Wild beach peas - they only grow in the rocks and gravel along the beach.

These are best eaten raw - like most fresh peas. Yummy!

Tomorrow - more pictures from the deep woods…

All this week, I’ll be sharing photos from my summer vacation. It killed me not to be able to do that all along while I was actually on the spot, but it couldn’t be helped. If looking at other people’s vacation photos isn’t your thing, it could be a boring week for you. I have picked out a handful from the more than 200 I took, but I forgive you if you don’t hang around!

Our first stop was Asbury Park, New Jersey - which also happens to be the inspiration for my first book Here To Stay. Since I only recently found out that Here To Stay will be released in print sometime this fall, it was a particularly nice time to revisit Asbury Park.

I have loved Asbury Park since the first time I visited. Its hey-day as a weekend and holiday getaway was way back in the 40s & 50s and by the time I discovered it in the 90s, it was deserted and decrepit. And a potentially dangerous place to hang around. Stories abounded of people being mugged on the boardwalk in broad daylight and the old buildings were crumbling. Very few businesses existed on that section of the boardwalk and there were fewer people still taking advantage of the beach. I could never get my mind around how such a lovely location could be so neglected and forgotten. Aside from Bruce Springsteen, surely someone somewhere cared about Asbury Park enough to invest some money in it?

Until July of this year, I hadn’t been to Asbury Park in almost seven years. It was a wonderful surprise to see it doing so well. The old buildings are being restored, the Convention Center - once a creepy, echo-y shell of a building - now houses several businesses and hosts events, and the boardwalk is lined with shops and restaurants and people. I can remember when we didn’t go out after dark for fear of our lives. Now it is difficult to find a time when the boardwalk isn’t crawling with people. It’s wonderful.

Asbury Park beach, August 1998

You’ll have to take my word - this is the same stretch of beach in July 2008!

Asbury Park boardwalk, heading toward Ocean Grove, 1998
This same stretch of boardwalk is now lined with shops and activities. I’d have taken a picture this year but it would have just looked like a mass of people!

Asbury Park Convention Center, 1998

This used to be an empty shell of a building that you had to pass through to make your way down the boardwalk

Asbury Park Convention Center, 2008
This shot was taken in late afternoon when most of the sun bathers had gone home for the day. We had dinner at a neat Irish pub in the Convention Center one night. I also noticed a poster advertising an upcoming Bob Dylan concert being held there. Definitely more than a pass through now!

An old amusement park located just beside the boardwalk, 1998

Here’s what’s left of the amusement hall. Judging by how well they are trying to restore most of the older buildings, this one must have been in really bad shape. Nice to see that some of it was able to be salvaged. Though that clown face is enough to keep me from going inside!

Victorian lovelies, Ocean Grove, 1998

These houses start just after the boundary line between Asbury Park and Ocean Grove. The demarcation line isn’t so stark as it used to be but I never could figure out why a few hundred feet made such a difference. But just look at them! Is is any wonder I wanted to put story into one?

Tomorrow and the rest of the week: the wilds of northern Minnesota…

Time is a funny thing. Sometimes it d-r-a-g-s and sometimes it just flies by. My summer vacation has gone by much too quickly and today I’m on my way home.

Going home is bittersweet. On the one hand, I am looking forward to being in my own home again, in my own environment, and not living out of a suitcase. But living in Egypt isn’t always easy and truth be told, I’m not super enthusiastic about going back. Neither are my children. They’ve really bonded with their grandparents this year. To the point where they were threatening to revolt and just stay behind - see ya next year, Mom.

On the other hand, I’ve been so busy doing other things this summer that I haven’t done anything “productive” at all. My creative juices, kind of dry at the end of June, are totally flowing again. I have several ideas for new quilts and lots of ideas for writing. Once I get over the jetlag, I’ll have lots to keep me occupied in the coming year. Yes, in my mind, September and not January starts the new year.

So right about now, I’m flying somewhere high overhead on my way home. Keep commenting on Elizabeth Jenning’s Friday Feature - I’ll announce the winner to my weekend contest when I get home. See you soon…

One of the things I love to do when I’m traveling is eat - not for quanity but all the things that I can’t ordinarily get.

Our first stop on this trip was the New Jersey coast. Some may mock New Jersey but I’ve always enjoyed my visits there - though the beach may have something to do with it. Well, the beach and the pizza. My husband and I were out exploring on a trip we made more than a decade ago and stumbled upon a small local pizzeria. This was no ordinary pizza though - it’s heaven by the slice. I’ve made it a point to get back to that place every time we are in the vicinity and I live in fear that they will go under between my visits.

Imagine my delight to find it still going strong even after a considerable gap in visits. If you’re ever in the Allenherst area, give Serpico’s Pizza a try. You won’t be disappointed.

Another food I always like to eat when I’m back in the US is Mexican food. For whatever reason, it’s not easy to find good Mexican food in the Middle East. I was delighted to discover a good Mexican place located right next door to my hotel in Duluth - the burrito I ordered was obscenely large and they had nice margaritas too. I’ll be staying over again the night before my departure. Guess where I’ll be having dinner?

Now that I’m up in the woods with my parents (dividing my time between their separate dwellings) I’m enjoying home cooking that I didn’t have to prepare myself. I’ve only been here a couple of days and I’ve had fresh fish twice. My mother has a list of all my favorites planned and my stepmother loves to bake.

I’m doomed.

I mentioned a few weeks back that I’d won a year’s gym membership - I think I’m going to need it by the end of this trip!