Newark, NJ: From Subway Cars to Lightrail

We’ll miss the way these old cars squeaked to let us know when we were in a turn, or screeched as we arched a hill, then rocked us gently with tired shocks as our brethren embarked and debarked.

She's Going Back to Cuba

We suppose this world, this new world, didn't work out for her. So, now she paces the platform at Branch Brook Park's Newark City Subway talking both to everyone and to no one.

Along the Hudson River in Jersey City, NJ

When My Ship Comes In ...

Sometimes I look up from my work and see someone staring out the window at a passing ship, or a sailboat, or icebergs that pass by in the winter thaw on the Hudson River.

Jersey Day Trip Vacations on a Shoestring

If you're the ferry commander, do you just walk into your boss's office one day and say, 'Hey, I'm tired of the same back and forth route, today I'm going to cut loose and take this baby up the Hudson River,'?

Jersey Shore Envy

This whole beach thing, changing, badges, outside shower, was alien to me. I might as well have been from Wisconsin for all the time this Jersey boy had spent down the shore.

Auto recall of long-gone jalopies

I learned to drive on an azure aqua ’64 Chevelle station wagon earlier that summer. The gas gauge never worked. We never ran out of gas, but it wasn't exactly a chick magnet either.

24 Hours in Summit, New Jersey

Nightfall at the Promenade, the waterfall is calming, soothing, rushing, and the alley way is secluded in shadows. Ambient lighting entices a couple to discover a private kissing corner. They whirl in second thoughts upon noticing this casual observer.

Taylor Ham, Skorpers and Veal Cutlets

Ashtabula in those days was a lot like Mayberry on the TV show, good, hard-working people, but with a different accent. They said I “tocked” funny. I said they “tawked” funny. We were divided by a common language.

Garden State Parkway Tokens Pay Tolls to Hell

Toll booth advocates espouse the logic of strategically placed roadblocks that make the highway more democratic.  For one thing, toll plazas make just about everyone drive at the same speed: zero.

Passaic River RiverKeeper Tour

Looking upstream we forget we are smack in the middle of millions of people in a bustling metropolis. Lush green trees fill out the banks, the water is wide and peaceful ahead of us. Pay no attention to that SuperFund site buried under concrete.

News

D-Day Landing Reenactment, Lake Erie, Conneaut, Ohio

The gunfire is loud and the battle action long and inspiring, proving the discipline and endurance of our armed forces then, and these authentically outfitted re-enactors now.

Boola! Boola! Ashtabula, Ohio

Collected writings referencing vacations and summer visits to the northeastern Ohio city on Lake Erie.

This Seat Taken? Notes of a Hapless Commuter

If you ever commuted to work, you'll enjoy reading Anthony Buccino's collection This Seat Taken? Notes of a Hapless Commuter about the joys and follies of getting to and from work using metropolitan public transit  to reach his news offices in Jersey City and later Midtown Manhattan.

Years' worth of Buccino's bus and rail commuting tales and observations are collected in this 224-page book. You should read it while you are commuting via public transportation.

While working for a national trade association, Buccino traveled to many large U.S. for business, remembering mostly airports, hotels and convention centers, but we’re trying to entice him to share more.

New Orleans: Enjoying a Big Easy Pace of Life

In Jackson Square, an artist sketched my four-year-old daughter’s portrait in color charcoal, highlighting her red hair as the sun broke through the trees like a spotlight. On another trip, an artist painted a mystical henna tattoo on her ankles.

New Orleans: Diving Into Draftee, a WWII Sherman Tank

I sit in the commander seat. The five-man crew is a loader, gunner, driver and assistant driver. Tankers are known to carry a sidearm in case of a Zippo event (lights on first strike).

Ginger Rogers in Las Vegas and Dear Abby in Chicago

But in no time at all we had arrived at the top floor of the largest hotel in the free world. The room where Rogers spoke was formerly part of Elvis’ suite, then it was a disco. Now, a 1930s film star was about to speak.

Voices on the Bus, train, subway, sidewalk and in my head

Verse  about commuting in Northern New Jersey. Feel the rhythm of the rails as you travel the last days of the Newark City Subway, or the PATH, and be relieved you are not present to hear the Preacher Man or Mr. Tourette's but do listen for the noise above the hum of the wheels and turn your ear to the voices on the bus, train or standing nearby on the platform. 

Lake Effect: Coming of Age in Ashtabula, Ohio by Bernadette Colicchio Dawson, Ted Dieffenbacher, and Dennis Steighner

ASHTABULA COUNTY, OHIO A Field Guide to the historical natural and curious treasures of Ohio's largest county

Hidden History of Ashtabula County by Carl E. Feather

Apple AirTags to track your baggage when you travel

Lifehammer Safety Hammer - Emergency Escape and Rescue Tool with Seatbelt Cutter

Jersey City Snapshots

Nutley Snapshots

This Seat Taken?
Notes of a Hapless Commuter

Photo Walk: Harrison, NJ

Harrison NJ