Paranormal Books & Curiosities by night…woooooo!

Along the main drag in Asbury Park is a one-of-a-kind venue called Paranormal Books and Curiosities, a self-proclaimed “experience boutique.”  This combination bookstore/museum/seance parlor is a quirky stop even by Asbury Park standards.  The bookstore proffers a huge selection of paranormal titles and local lore as well as paranormal themed T-shirts and gift items (think Edgar Allan Poe bobbleheads, anatomical drawings of the Jersey Devil, zombie statuary, ghost hunting paraphernalia and so forth), and offsite ghost hunting services for those being haunted by a pesky relative or leftover resident spirit.  The museum housed next door contains oddities like an Abraham Lincoln death mask, Jersey Devil artifacts, an alien under glass, videos of ghost encounters, explanatory panels about Haitian zombification, werewolf/vampire repellants, relics from the ill-fated Castle Morro ship and the like.  There is a charge for admission to the museum–$5 to enter the museum, $13 for combination museum entry and ghost walk tour.

We opted for the combination ticket, toured the museum (which packs quite a bit into a small space) and then headed off on the Ghosts and Legends Tour of  downtown. Our spunky guide in shorts and Converse All Stars with a candle lantern was part of the ghost hunting crew and full of colorful stories about otherworldly encounters past and present.  Among the tales were: screams of a drowning woman (a prostitute, natch) in the lake who sparks on occasion local residents to call 911, all for naught; the spirit of a little kidnapped girl in the boarding house-turned-pub who has run many a burly bouncer from the premises; residual visitors from the Castle Morro disaster; the Lenape Native American who walks through the intersection on Cookman Avenue near JFK Park; and more. There’s also a boardwalk tour, but we only had time for one foray that night.

Although we didn’t have any supernatural encounters of our own (aside from the gorgeous moon that was out that night and more than once arrested our attention), the tour was lively and entertaining–well worth the $13.  Recommended!

A profusion of phlox-like wildflowers along the walking trail

Nestled in the hills of Somerset County is an unexpected natural hideaway with an odd name:  Natirar.  This swath of gorgeous country has a rich history behind it:

In April 1905, Walter Graeme Ladd and his wife, Catherine (“Kate”) Everit Macy Ladd, began to buy up land in the area, eventually amassing one of the largest estates in the area at 1,000 acres. They named their estate “Natirar,” an anagram for the Raritan River that meanders for two miles across the property.  In 1912, the 33,000 square-foot Ladd residence was completed by the prominent Boston architect, Guy Lowell, who is famous for a bunch of buildings like the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and New York County Courthouse on Foley Square in Manhattan, and Henry J. Hardenberg who designed Copley Plaza in Boston and the Plaza Hotel in New York City.

Amidst this grandeur, the home incongruously was used by its owners also as a convalescent center for women, a purpose it served until 1983, when it was sold for $8.5 million to King Hassan II of Morocco, in accordance with the provisions of Mr. Ladd’s will.  King Hassan died in 1999 and Natirar was inherited by his son, Mohammed VI. The property as it stands now is owned partially by the Somerset County Parks Department (the lower portions encompassing the fields and river) and Virgin magnate Richard Branson who is converting the upper portion (residence and outbuildings) into a high end spa resort. Behind the main residence, an imposing but partially crumbling structure becoming popular with the wedding planner set, is a chic restaurant called Ninety Acres with a huge wine selection and trendy dining options.

Daisies smiling at us at Natirar

The Raritan River flows through the lower fields and offers a picturesque walk that leads up a hill to rear pastures filled with wildflowers and charmingly dilapidated barns and outbuildings.  The path is dotted with benches for rest and butterfly watching. Like a Milton Bradley puzzle come to life, a train trestle is visible through the foliage of the surrounding trees.  A totally peaceful spot.