2025 May: Walk to the Park LSNJ

 23 May 2025

After days, no weeks, of moving anchorage to anchorage, I felt in need of some exercise. Seeing the sun out today with a temp of 60 degrees after two days of 50+ degrees and rain, I decided to walk to a park in Little Silver, New Jersey. Our home is situated near the intersection where Rumson, Little Silver, and Fair Haven come together. To walk from our house into the main street of Little Silver or that of Fair Haven is only about a mile. Even though we live in Rumson, we do not walk to the main street of our town as it is about 3 miles from our house on roads without sidewalks. 

A garden center in Little Silver called Sickles closed many months ago while they sorted out some financial issues. They opened again this month, and I was curious to have a look around, so I made that my destination for today's walk. I took some pictures on my walk as I knew my friend Cathy would be interested in the scenery.

Before arriving at The Market at Sickles, however, I came upon the Parker Farm Homestead and strolled around this site listed on the National Historic Registry.

Parker Farm Homestead

This homestead dates back to the 1600s. 

The Parker brothers came from Rhode Island to New Jersey in 1665. They built a single-room cabin on the property.

The fired bricks used to build the fireplace were brought from Rhode Island as ballast on the ship they traveled on.

Parker Farm Homestead as 
it appears today

I could not tour the house as it is only open for viewing on Saturday afternoons - today was a Friday. Besides the house, several barns are located on the property with farm equipment displayed nearby.

Continuing my walk down the lane beside the farm brought me to my original destination of Sickles. 

I found a statue of a blue cow looking at me through the bushes as I walked by

and some flowers planted near the entryway to the store.

These were as nothing compared to those on sale in the garden center.

Outdoors, I saw row upon row of colorful flowers

and could see many indoors as well!

I brought $$ just in case, but since I would have to carry anything home, I basically went for the intel -- not to buy. After inspecting the plants, I followed the lane past Sickles Food Market, which has not yet reopened, to continue scoping out the scenery. 

Walking instead of riding in a car or biking gave me time to take in and appreciate the sights. I got to see things I never see when driving through here. Since the food market is yet to open, I enjoyed the tranquility of the area.

I never realized how "swampy" it was through here. I could see a stream and lots of marsh grasses not far from the road I walked by.

As I headed back out to the main road, I came upon a "hiking" trail, I did not know existed.  The trail says it is for dogs. I do not have a dog, so I pretended I had an invisible Fido walking with me and went to investigate!

The trail looked nicely kept, but since we have had a couple of straight days of rain, I was not sure how far I would get down the path. I ventured on.

Wooden bridge at start of  trail

"Cooper's Loop" signpost
Alderbrook to the left and
town to the right

I decided to continue on and check out "Cooper's Loop". Even though I could sometimes see houses through the foliage, I felt very alone in the world as I wandered further and further down the trail.

Through the vegetation I could see a road off to the left and wondered which road I was near. I checked Google Maps. Clearly, I was close to civilization although it did not feel like it at all.

Along the way, I spied a pond with a fountain spraying water as I looked through the trees.

The marsh grass was taller than me in many places. I could only imagine the insects lurking in there!

I wondered how far I could travel on the trail and where I would end up if I followed its full length. Since it was called "Cooper's Loop", I assumed I could continue on and end up where I started. That did not happen, however, as the manicured trail suddenly expired at knee-high grass. I could continue should I choose, but I made an about face for two reasons. 1) I figured the grass would still be very wet from the rain, and 2) I had no desire to wade through a field of ticks!

End of the wood-chips trail

I turned around and headed back the way I came.

After the wooden bridge, at the start / end of "Cooper's Loop", the path became grass out to the road instead of wood chips.

I emerged from the trail to find myself to be the object on an intense stare.

Lone deer watching from the sidelines

My walk out to the main road took me past Sickles Park. My granddaughter, Lillian, really likes this particular park.

It seems to have good places to climb which she likes.

Walking around the park, I found an interesting statue and a gazebo I have not noticed in the past.

Girl handstand on boy's shoulders

Gazebo at Sickles park

Making my way home was a bit of a concern. The lack of sidewalks in Rumson is an issue where we live. A state highway goes past the end of our street where the speed limit is 40 mph. Walking on the side of the highway is treacherous, and I do not like doing it. I will walk the highway facing traffic, but the way home means I walk with the cars at my back, or I try to find a moment where I can run across the highway if I walk on the opposite side facing traffic. 

Little Silver has sidewalks, so there, I can walk comfortably off the highway. I mapped out a route back to my house turning off the highway onto a side street whereby I can weave my way home through our development using less-traveled roads with a posted speed limit of 25 mph. This route takes me past a second park before I come to our house.

One would think, as we live in a heavily-populated suburban area, that we would not see too many scenes like the one below. However, it is all too common.

Family of deer making themselves at home

We have several deer that traverse our property every evening around sunset, eating our foliage as they go. They walk across our backyard, up the side of our house, cross the road, walk along the side of our neighbor's property and disappear into the woods behind their house. I talked to her the other day. We have both given up trying to plant anything we truly care about as the deer eat their fill of so many things, it is a losing battle.

Continuing onwards through the development, I came upon something I have never seen before.

Tesla Truck with boat trailer in tow

As I approached Riverside Park near our home, I checked the mileage on my "health" app to see how far I had walked. Considering everything I had seen, I had still only covered a little less than 3 miles. I decided to walk through the park before continuing home. Although the park name is "Riverside", the waters by the park consist of Little Silver Creek and a manmade lagoon. "Creekside Park" just would not sound as impressive.

Views from the trail along the park's edge include ...

Lagoon

Junction of Lagoon and LS Creek

LS Creek

Sea Bright and Monmouth Beach, NJ 
off in the distance

Lone boater on LS Creek

About two-thirds of the way around the park, I noticed dark clouds in the sky and wondered if I would make it home before getting wet.

Although it did drip rain on me, it was minimal. Since I had my wide-brimmed hat and a wind breaker with me, I was not concerned unless it started to pour. When I reached our house, it was raining lightly with the sun shining brightly, simultaneously. I looked but did not see a rainbow.

When I got home I checked the miles walked once again and was pleased to see I had reached the 4-miles mark!

I came into a very quiet house and found Clark asleep on the sofa!

2025 May: Big Bang event in Holmdel NJ

 16 May 2025

One of the reasons Clark was anxious to get home was to attend a special event at the "Robert Wilson Park" in Holmdel, New Jersey at Crawford Hill where Arno Penzias and Robert (Bob) Wilson discovered evidence of the Big Bang Theory. Details of their discovery are included in a newspaper report regarding the dedication of the park in April of last year.

Clark worked for both Arno and Bob during his time at Bell Laboratories. Arno has passed away, but Bob is still going strong. He was in attendance for today's event at the "Robert Wilson Park" on Holmdel Road in Holmdel, New Jersey.

I needed the car to do grocery shopping today, so I dropped him off at the park. While there, I wandered around and took some pictures including the horn that was used when the Big Bang Theory was corroborated when Penzias and Wilson discovered cosmic microwave background radiation in 1964. They were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1978 for their discovery.

The park is located on property that was a part of the Crawford Hill Research facility belonging to Bell Laboratories. Clark worked in research at Bell Laboratories at the beginning of his telecommunications career and spent some portion of that time working at the Crawford Hill facility with fellow engineers. 

Crawford Hill Facility in Holmdel, NJ

I have been in and around this property myself a few times - attended holiday events, went with Clark to picnics on the hill, etc. I never attended one, but I understand from Clark that when this facility was in "full swing", the employees would warm themselves with alcohol and then go play volleyball on the hill around the Christmas season. Bell Labs would have "early closing" for the holiday and the boys would go play.

We did not go in the office building today but continued up the winding road to the picnic site. Clark volunteered to arrive at 10:00 for the 11:00 event to help set up. We arrived before anyone else, and I took a picture of Clark wearing his "Big Bang" t-shirt standing next to the famous horn. The shirt was a gift from long ago when he was still employed in Bell Labs Research. He only wears it when he meets with his cronies from Bell Labs like today!

Clark at Crawford Hill

Horn Antenna
National Historic Landmark

The Horn Antenna used when
the Big Bang Theory was corroborated.

Big Bang Discovery - 1964

I remember walking around up here when the buildings were still in use. It was sad to see the buildings showing their age and neglect over the years. 

"BLDG Q" 
Was this an outhouse in days of yore? 

Besides "the horn antenna", other structures remain on the 35-acre property. Clark told me there was another 7 meter offset cassegrain antenna up the road a bit hidden in the trees, so I strolled over to take a look. This antenna was used for radio astronomy, and Clark remembers a talk at Monmouth University by Bob Wilson discussing the construction of this antenna.

Is that an antenna I see up ahead? 

The road was blocked off to cars. I saw no "No Trespassing" signs so I continued in for a closer look.

7 Meter Antenna

As I stepped up to take a closer look of this antenna, I startled two animals - a deer ran one way while a beautiful, large red fox ran another. I have never seen a fox so large, but there was no mistaking the animal and that red coloring! No picture! They were both gone in a flash. 

I found the signage on the buildings to be interesting like the one below with two signs.

"Dangerous"
"Caution Hazardous Chemicals -
Authorized Personnel Only"

The tall pipe out front of this building is a shower to be used if someone is exposed to the chemicals in the building. 

Shower for Chemical Exposure / Burn Victim

The tower shown below was used in the past for communications experiments with a sister facility located in Murry Hill, New Jersey - another Bell Labs research facility located about 40 miles north of this Holmdel facility. It is quite overgrown now, but Clark said there used to be a clearing in the trees when it was in use. Clearly, none of these structures have been used in quite some time.

Pointed towards the Murray Hill facility
in northern NJ

Overgrown ladder up the tower

Other buildings on the property, like the one shown below, sat unlabeled and a mystery to me concerning their purpose once upon a time. 

The weather for today's event was uncertain, and in fact it did rain during part of the day. A tent was constructed for the picnic attendees. A presentation was to be held on site but was moved to the Bell Works building a short distance away and also in Holmdel. The Bell Works building used to be an  AT&T Bell Labs research and development facility when Clark and I worked there in the past.

Tent set up in preparation for today's picnic

The presentation portion of the event was supposed to occur at 2:00, but due to being relocated, it started much later than planned. Clark hitched a ride with a friend since I had our only car with me at the food store. Clark finally called me just after 5:00 to ask me to make the 30-minute drive to Holmdel to come get him. I was expecting him to be done around 4:00. 

I asked if I would have enjoyed the event, and he replied no. The talks were technical in nature, some hard to hear, and even he knew only a few of the attendees. 

The program ...

Project "Echo" Milestone

In addition to the horn antenna being used for Echo project, the Telstar project, and for the discovery of the cosmic background radiation as mentioned above, this prior work opened up the radio astronomy field, and it was used extensively for radio astronomy including use by researchers from Princeton. In addition, Clark's colleague Tony Rustako used this antenna for satellite propagation experiments at 12 and 14 GHz while Clark was in the Satellite Research Department. So, the antenna was well used over the years.  

Clark took a few pictures during the event at the picnic on "the hill" and later at Bell Works.

When the engineers have a picnic on "the hill", they actually put the horn into use. They aim the horn towards the picnic site and place a speaker in the horn to play sound out onto the grounds

as demonstrated in the video below.

Clark took some pictures inside the "cab" of the horn.

The speaker is placed at the rear opening of the horn and can be seen in the picture below inside the wooden frame.

Equipment inside the "cab" is used to aim the horn towards the picnic attendees.

Gears turn to position the horn in the desired direction

Clark's view from the horn

Any good event has a special cake. This one had two!

Then those interested in hearing the presentations moved to the Bell Works facility

IEEE NJ Coast Chair Filomena Citarella

Speakers Giovanni 3rd from left, Bob Wilson,
IEEE President Tom Coughlin

Colleague Giovanni Vanucci Speaking

Tom Coughlin Speaking

Nobel Laureate Robert Wilson Speaking

The Unveiling of the Milestone Plaque

Milestone Cake of the Horn Antenna