When I was a kid we always summered in Ship Bottom. Then, in the 1980s, my family and I were stationed at U.S. Coast Guard Station Barnegat. We homesteaded here. Along the way, one of my hobbies became local history. It was spurred on by Jack Pharo, who always told wonderful stories while cutting hair at his shop in Barnegat.

Going to many Chowderfests over the years, I have acquired a taste for clam chowder. There is nothing better than a hot bowl of chowder in the winter months.