Columns
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•July 26, 2012
Splattered Sadness on the Road Ahead; From Monkeys to Bioengineered Jellies
Alert: Make sure to follow this week’s White Marlin Invitational Tournament by going to www.thewmit.com/. I’ll be doing write-ups there and live cams will be working.
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•July 26, 2012
One Wicked Storm Sends Three Days of Surf to LBI
If you’re a regular reader of Liquid Lines, you probably realize I like to have a little fun with folks. But it’s all sorts of folks: tourists, locals, politicians, SUPs, SUVs, road bikers, groms…
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•July 24, 2012
Fresh Fish and Banter Span the Generations at Blue Claw Seafood Market
At 10 years old he was notorious. Motoring along in the bay in a tiny skiff, Randy Skimmons ventured beyond his parents’ limits, got caught skippering along under the Manahawkin BayBridge and landed…
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•July 19, 2012
Desperate Situation Calls for Desperate Measures
On July 16, 1812, the frigate USS Constitution was off Egg Harbor, N.J., to the north in the direction of Long Beach Island. The captain, Isaac Hull of Connecticut, was informed there were…
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•July 19, 2012
1962: On Long Beach Island, Then and Now
Wandering through the bound editions of 1962 Beachcomber issues, I was surprised to find so many businesses still here, especially Realtors (a word that didn’t exist 50 years ago). HCH in Harvey…
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•July 18, 2012
Our New Causeway Approacheth; The Angling Beat Passed Onward
Boy do I have a ton of subject matter this week. I know some folks hate when this column gets long – and I respect that. And to those folks I say, “Your mother wears combat boots.”
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•July 12, 2012
July 1962: Long Beach Islanders on the Beach – What a Parade!
Amazingly, after a half century, there are a handful of the very same businesses still cranking out food and drink. Buckalew’s is at the same Beach Haven location, but no more Tom Buckalew behind the…
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•July 12, 2012
Bow to Bow Off the Jersey Coast
July 12, 1812: Two opposing naval forces were sailing toward each other and would collide in the waters off the Jersey Shore. What would take place there would help one ship become a legend and alter…
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•July 5, 2012
The Akron Tragedy
On July 2, 1912, the thousands of visitors to Atlantic City watched in horror one of the greatest aviation disasters to date. Melvin Vaniman, with a crew of four, was completing a test flight in his…
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•July 5, 2012
1992: Bridge Promises; July 4th and Columbus; Beach Tunnel Scare
In June 1992, a Beachcombings article led off with, “The causeway bridges are slated to get a $10.8 million facelift that should be completed by August 1994.” HA! A debate raged when the State wanted…
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•July 2, 2012
Memorial Day 1962 – ‘We Must Build on Memory of That Storm’
A half century ago, in the first summer issue of 1962, “Beachcombings” led off with a progress report on recovery from the devastating Great March Storm less than three months earlier. This…
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•July 2, 2012
1962: Diary of Destruction
Editor’s Note: Carl and Dorothea Sjostrom owned an ocean to bayfront strip of land just north of Harvey Cedars and built two small cottages there, one nestled safely behind a large dune and the other…
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•June 28, 2012
Tragedy Strikes the Skies
One hundredyears ago, the nation was preparing for Independence Day;however, in the aviation world and at the Jersey Shore, thoughts weren’t on the past, but the future. In Atlantic City, Melvin…
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•June 27, 2012
Off to a Booming Start; A Porch Fox Mystery
Boy, is this going to be a boring column. I have all this bloody fishing, weather and wildlife stuff taking up the space where perfectly good minutiae could reign supreme. Oh well, maybe next week I…
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•June 21, 2012
Akron Takes to Atlantic City Skies
In Atlantic City in the predawn hours of June 1, 1912, Melvin Vaniman, a well-known adventurer and photographer, was busily preparing his revamped airship Akron, the first to be constructed by…
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•June 20, 2012
Tsunamis Seldom Sleep; Feed All the Wildlife
This column is a tad a-kilter due to my inability to get online at deadline time, midday Tuesday. Comcast’s fiber optic cable to LBI was gnawed clean through by either Godzilla or Big Foot, depending…
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•June 16, 2012
Shedding a Light on Lamps
We frequently have customers come to our store or contact us on our web page and ask “What is the item(s) that people are buying?” or a variation, what are we buying? These questions are really the…
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•June 16, 2012
ABC – Antiques, Books, Collectibles
We frequently have customers come to our store or contact us on our web page and ask “What is the item(s) that people are buying?” or a variation, what are we buying? These questions are really the…
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•June 14, 2012
Does Lighter-Than-Air Have a Future?
For the time period 1910 through 1912, Atlantic City became a focal point for America’s newest craze, flying. During the summer of 1910, tens of thousands of people crowded the boardwalk to see their…
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•June 7, 2012
There’s No Going Back Now
Once the declaration of war had passed the Senate by a vote of 19 to 13 on June 18, 1812, events began to move rapidly. President James Madison and his cabinet had been discussing the role for the…
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•May 31, 2012
Crossed Signals Lead to War
If the United States ever entered into a war that could have been prevented, it was the War of 1812. While the lure of land in Florida and Canada was the driving force behind the war hawks, the…
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•May 24, 2012
Gathered Hoarders in the Cross-Hairs; Jeremy Bank Fishes Bull Sharks
I really should concentrate purely on fishing for this holiday weekend’s column.
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•May 23, 2012
Growing Sentiment for War on Great Britain
Throughout the winter and spring of 1812, the terms “impressment” and “free trade” were being touted in the halls of Congress as the U.S. government began to think seriously about war. The…
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•May 17, 2012
War of 1812: Behind the Scenes
When you write a history column and it is called “200 Plus,” you have to take special notice of the bicentennial of a major event. Next month the United States and Canada will begin to commemorate…
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•May 14, 2012
Stafford School News
ThreeSouthern Regional alumni have recently been in the news for college athletic achievements.
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•May 14, 2012
Learning From Experts About Shore’s Traditional Decoys
Although we have bought and sold decoys and shore birds during the 12 years we have lived and worked in New Jersey, we unfortunately never had spent the time to understand the significance of “carved…
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•May 10, 2012
States Fight Over Fire Jurisdiction
The burning of the ferryboat New Jersey on the night of March 15, 1856, as it crossed the Delaware River from Philadelphia to Camden left several unanswered questions. More than 150 years later, the…
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•May 9, 2012
I Was Once an American Angler
Well, it seems I’m no longer a full-blown fellow American, despite my devout, Taliban-targeting, gun-totting, ground-worshipping, Born in the U.S.A. nationalism. In fact, it seems I’m attached to the…
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•May 3, 2012
Ferry Fire Claims Unknown Number of Lives
At about 8:30 on the night of Saturday, March 15, 1856, approximately 100 passengers boarded the steam ferry New Jersey for the short voyage from today’s Penn’s Landing to the Jersey side, near where…
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•May 3, 2012
Hard to Find Lawyers, Eating Dogs and Smooth Asphalt History
HERE I AM!: I was looking at a list of the most laughably ludicrous, outdoors stories in recent years. I just have to pass on the winner, and a lawyer joke to boot.
