novride

Following the November meeting 13 Jam-Rs on 13 bikes headed for the lowlands along the Delaware. This turned out to be the largest club ride of the year.

Ride leader Bob DiMarco with help from Bob Owens made sure that every backroad with a curve in it was used for the ride.

At the first stop the 13 bikes pulling into the parking lot for the Tinicum Back Range Light in Paulsboro disrupted the Pee-Wee football game in progress. We offered to play the winners but were warned that the little guys would put a hurting on us if we played. Fearing for the worse we saddled up and headed south to the next stop.

The Finn's Point lighthouse is a ductile iron structure built for $1200.00 at the turn of the century. 25 years later a new paint job cost $33,000.00 -- wow, talk about inflation.

We continued south down into Salem County onto the dead-end roads for the manditory Jam-R ride u-turn. Following creeks and marshes to another dead-end road we found a very large concrete structure with lights around the top of it. (see picture below) Could it be the Mystery Lighthouse? After much discussion all agreed that it was not another lighthouse, it was the cooling tower for the Salem Nuclear Plant.

More backroads, fall foliage, farm tractors pulling loaded hay wagons and little towns with names that we had never heard of before..... we stopped for a break at the Harmersville general store. The guys were definitely enjoying themselves. At every stop there was endless conversation going on. The only way to get them back on the road was for the lead bike to pull out and wait down the road for the rest of them.

So on we go, into the lower part of Bridgeton, following a very twisty road along the river south, we picked up route 553 into Cedarville. The boys were getting weak from hunger at this point and low and behold after miles of nothing we find Dino's Restaurant. The friendly staff at Dino's made sure the boys were well fed. Soon huge plates covered with sandwiches and French fries and other entrees arrived from the kitchen. This was followed by plates of homemade pie and cups of coffee to finish off a fine late afternoon meal. The good service was rewarded with a huge tip. After a fill up across the street at the Coastal station were off to visit more strange towns like Newport, Dividing Creek and Port Norris. We crossed the Maurice River bridge and made a quick stop on the other side to check out the only Muskrat Crossing in the state of New Jersey. A little farther up the road we turned south on to Route 47 and picked up more backroads, following the edge of Delaware Bay, heading for the East Point Lighthouse. A short sand road led down to the edge of the water and entry bridge to the Lighthouse area. The guys all handled the soft road fine, even on their big Gold Wings. We checked out this restored cottage style lighthouse and then posed for a group picture in front of the sign. It was just sundown over the Delaware Bay and the sun touched the horizon and disappeared into the Bay as we headed back north. We followed 47 past the sprawling Bayside State Prison complex and eventually picked up route 55. The group stayed together on 55 and we all got off at the Vineland exit since some of the guys needed gas. Part of the group headed up route 55, the rest of the group stayed behind to chat a while longer.

The ride totaled 200 miles before we got back to the Cherry Hill area. Another safe and fun ride by the Jam-R club.