We visited New Jersey for a short time to see our friends Jacques and Camille and of course their menagerie of animals. Here’s Jacques with one of their two beautiful horses. Their names are Luna and Joey, but I’m not sure which one this is.And here is Camille with their two Dalmatians Bryce and Brody.The horses love to run, especially if there’s the possibility of a treat (carrot)!Going in for the night and a good dinner.While we were there we went back to their favorite Italian restaurant.Their neighbors and good friends Dottie and Al joined us. It was a great evening with great friends and good food!
delaware
While in Delaware we stayed at Lums Pond State Park. It was a beautiful park and the campsites were enormous!It was late October and the colors were just beginning.They had these cool Yurts you could rent as well. Each Yurt even came with a BBQ and a kayak!Here’s a great view of the beginnings of the fall colors.The pond was huge and smooth as glass!The trail leading down to the pond.
dupont nemours estate
We were very excited that our niece Logan took the train up from Washington D.C. to visit. We visited this estate with her. Here she is with a view of the palatial gardens of the estate.Another view of the gardens. Still pretty colorful so late in the season!One of the fountains on the estate. The glass building in the background is the Dupont Hospital for Children.Another beautiful fountain and pond on the grounds.A beautiful sculpture near the entrance of the mansion.Another sculpture on the Estate. The estate was modeled after the Versailles in France.And, as you would expect, the interior was equally beautiful.This was an interesting grandfather clock.It had glass sides so you could see all the intricate inner workings!And what estate would be complete without a portrait of its owner?And one of his wife..This instrument was fascinating and beautiful!Mr. Dupont’s office.A beautifully hand carved piece above one of the many fireplaces.A beautiful and I’m sure priceless Chinese vase.And on the same mantle a munition; a large part of how the Dupont’s made their fortune.There were numerous stained glass windows too.The huge dining room. This dining table makes the 10 person one we had look minuscule!And in the kitchen a reminder drawing of the proper table setting for the staff!This presidential table was in one of the sitting rooms with pictures of all the past presidents.The ice boxes for food storage.The kitchen.And a chart on how to properly fold a napkin.The hallway where the kitchen help would keep their aprons at the ready.One of the many intercoms in the house; very advanced for the time!One of the many bedrooms upstairs.And it’s bathroom.Mr. Duponts dressing area.Next to Mr. Duponts bed was this set of buttons so he could beckon his help anytime, day or night.This instrument in the main hallway was a wind direction indicator that was connected to the weather vane on the roof. The red light would tell him which direction the wind was blowing!What really intrigued me though was the basement. Here are the two huge furnaces that provided heat to the house in addition to the many fireplaces. That’s a pretty immaculate furnace room, complete with tiled walls and floor!This was the bottling room where they wold fill bottles with the water from the artesian well on the property and carbonate it for drinking. It was quite an operation! He even had a trunk there so the staff could fill it with carbonated bottled water and send it to him wherever he may travel!The pumping system for the water.In another room of the basement was an ice making room to provide ice for the massive ice boxes up in the galley.There was also this huge generator to supply electricity.The basement wasn’t all work; he had quite an array of fun stuff down there including this two lane bowling alley!And who can bowl without a good cigar close at hand!There was also this table shuffleboard game to try your hand at! That’s our niece Logan checking it out.And of course a pool room!Mr. Dupont also had an office down here so he could get away a relax in between his mega-millionaire duties.Amongst the artwork down here were portraits of his two yachts.This one looks more like an ocean liner though!His trophy case.There was even an exercise room complete with this tanning booth!
