The showers continued when I finally headed out around quarter of 11. Bad weather or no bad weather, I didn't feel like sitting inside. Took my umbrella and walked to the post office first. My sister Anny's birthday is today. I wanted to drop her birthday card right in the out-of-town slot. Since it's right on the White Horse Pike and less than a block from the post office, I picked up Uber at Dollar General. They came in 6 minutes, not bad for almost rush hour.
I thought the Pennsauken Transit Center would be a lot better to take the River Line light rail system from then the stations in Camden. Maybe it wasn't really such a hot idea. Even the young man driving me pointed out how dangerously dilapidated downtown Pennsauken was. The buildings were in disrepair, and more than half of them were abandoned. Driving through was nerve-wracking.
Thankfully, the Transit Center was about ten minutes or so outside the main drag, in an area that was mostly housing and industrial storage. The River Line entrance was to your left when you arrived. I bought a ticket, then picked up the train about five or so minutes later.
The River Line trains are shorter and narrower than the PATCO and Transit trains. They're more like modernized street cars with elevated gray vinyl seats like on the SEPTA buses. The view from the train was just more industrial storage and houses for the first few minutes, along with a small pond. After the pond, the houses became closer together and much older. Many of them housed small businesses or health offices.
It took less than seven minutes for the train to pull up to tiny, historic Riverton. Went straight across the street, past what appeared to be a former warehouse-turned-arts and health center to the first little store I found. Tillie's Trinkets and Treasures is just that, a tiny shop that mainly sells hand-made jewelry and clothes, collectible toys and baubles, and a few thrift shop items. Though some of those hand-made jewelry items were neat, they were also a bit pricey. I ultimately moved on.
Milanese Pizza is next-door to Tillie's. This is a far more modern brick building with a warm, blocky interior. They were very busy with local kids and workers looking for a warm lunch on a cold day. I opted for their Chicken Special Sandwich, Diet Pepsi, and fries. The crunchy fries came on an enormous plate. The chicken sandwich was even bigger, dripping with huge chunks of chicken, warm spinach, melted provolone, and mustard sauce. It was so big, I couldn't finish it or the fries.
Went for a walk down Main Street next. Riverton is a lovely little town. According to the boards outside some of the buildings, many of them date to the 1850's, when the town was founded. Though the rain was slowing down by then, the day continued to be windy, dark, and chilly, barely in the 50's. It gave the elaborate houses, with their fanciful turrets and towers, an air of melancholy. The brightly colored trees, with their rapidly-vanishing leaves, added to the mysterious charm.
Strolled a few blocks down to the Delaware River. Unlike Cape May and the southern shore towns, there's no boardwalks or noisy amusements here. The street bordering the river is narrow and curvy. It's mainly overlooked by more beautiful old Victorian mansions. One that once belonged to a few of the town's founders was in the midst of being repaired as I passed it. Looked out over the gray, churning river, marveling at how close Pennsylvania was. It was really neat, being able to look out and see another state. Stopped by a gate blocking a pier to admire their ornate Victorian Yacht Club.
My plans got a few checks at this point. I had hoped to explore the charming blue cottage that houses their library, but it was closed for Veteran's Day Weekend. The church thrift shop is only opened to the public on Thursdays. Strolling down River Road revealed a CVS, a dry cleaner's with a giant shamrock sign out front, and not a whole lot else. Bought an iced tea at a brunch-based restaurant before crossing back to the train side of River Road.
Since I was a bit early, I went in the other direction down Main. Discovered a lovely little tea shop and gift store. They too were busy with older ladies and a few college students who had just had tea and were looking for Christmas presents. I picked up a few Christmas gifts for Mom and a friend myself.
Hurried back to the train and bought my ticket. It arrived less than five minutes after that. This time, the train was a little bit later, due to having to stop and let the Trenton-bound train pass. The River Line pulled into Pennsauken around 2:30.
There was no way I was taking the Uber back through downtown Pennsauken. I bought a ticket for the PATCO train to Cherry Hill...before I realized the train wouldn't arrive for almost 40 minutes. Oh well. I sat on the benches upstairs where the PATCO tracks were and read my cell phone. I was going to scold two 12-year-old boys for riding their bikes on the station patio before they asked me very politely if the train was going to Cherry Hill. I told them yes and let it pass. They behaved better once the train got closer to departure, anyway.
The train actually arrived a little early...making it ironic that it had to wait for the late train to Philadelphia to pass. It was full, but I did manage to get a seat to myself. Fortunately, it's only seven minutes to Cherry Hill from Pennsauken. I got off at the Cherry Hill station behind the Garden State Pavilion around 3:20.
Made a brief stop at Shop-Rite for a drink and a treat. Found sweet blue snowflake cookie boxes that were a pretty good size in the season aisle. I considered picking up the bus from here, but I didn't feel like doing more waiting. I just picked up Uber again. The driver arrived in 7 minutes and got me home in about 10, thanks to the traffic on Cuthbert mostly going the other way towards Cherry Hill.
Went straight into writing when I got home. Cora isn't sure how much time passes as she admires the portrait of the handsome, scholarly man in the simple suit. She's startled out of her wonderings when Stephen turns up looking for her. She asks him about the man in the portrait, but he dismisses him, claiming he was a cousin who tried to usurp his throne. She doesn't believe him...but then she looks into eyes that have turned blood red, and she remembers little else besides his wishes...
Broke for dinner and more Popeye wartime shorts at 7 PM. Most of Popeye's remaining World War II cartoons were either him fighting the Japanese and the Nazis (in shorts so offensive, many of them are banned from TV today), or variations on him and Bluto chasing Olive. There were a few oddities, like "Baby Wants a Battleship." Popeye is supposed to be babysitting Swee'pea, but he ends up chasing the little fellow all over his Naval cruiser.
"Aloma of the South Seas" is a variation on "Kicking the Conga Around." This time, Princess Olive wants to show Popeye her home, but Bluto would rather he be the one she spends time with. Popeye's not saying "Many Tanks" when Bluto tosses him in the Army to get a date with Olive. Popeye chases him in a tank, which leads to the entire Army chasing after him. Popeye wants to deliver "Spinach fer Britain," if he can get it past the Nazis. Bluto claims he's too "Weak to Work," but he's really just lazy. Popeye's spinach-packing nurse gets him moving.
Finished the night off an online with war cartoons from other studios. Universal's Walter Lanz Studio didn't get as heavily into the war as some others did, maybe because they had financial difficulty through most of it. Woody Woodpecker's only war short was "Ace In the Hole." He's disappointed when his sergeant has him shaving horses. He really wants to be a pilot, but his officer definitely regrets it when he does finally get a plane into the air.
Lanz also did war shorts before the US officially entered the fighting. "21 Dollars a Day, Once a Month" has toys (including Woody and Andy Panda) spoofing the peace time draft. The "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B" is a black musician whose company really gets a kick out of his jivin' song. The African-American stereotypes run thick, heavy, and annoying here, but this is also one of the few war shorts I know of to depict African-Americans in the military, and their version of the title song really does have some kick. Homer Pigeon was introduced in "Pigeon Patrol." He's a skinny hick pigeon who is rejected for military service, until a downed flyer begs him to fly important papers past enemy lines.
Even Terrytoons at 20th Century Fox went to war. "All Out for V" shows how animals in the woods mobilize to help their country fight the Axis - in their case, stereotyped Japanese beetles - after bombs drop on them. It's all rather cutesy nowadays, but this cartoon was so well received in 1942, it earned Terrytoons their first Oscar nomination.
The Pink Panther was one of the few animated characters of the 60's to enter the Vietnam War in "G.I Pink." He's swayed by the posters offering power, but his drill sergeant and the nasty camp mascot dog makes him wish he'd stayed home. The sergeant tries to push him through land mines and impossible obstacle courses, but ultimately attempts to dump him on the Navy instead.
No comments:
Post a Comment