Tag Archives: Navesink River

Focus: Riverfront Reflections

On this dank, pandemic April day, everyone could use a little solitary solace. A reminder that the river that gives so many in the Rumson-Fair Haven area peace and happiness is still there. And still. Calm. Reflective.

So, we take you back a few years to 2016, when this photo gallery/slideshow was first published. There’s much irony in what it says. Take a look at the featured photo. It speaks an uncanny isolated truth about today and the very same spot. Their reflections are consoling.

They tell us that when everything around us is still, there is something to see in the water’s mirror. That little meaningful something may have been missed while looking too hard toward a sky that seemingly has no limits.

It’s the Wizard of Oz theory of looking too hard for your heart’s desire when it was right in your own back yard. Surprising what you’ll find in a still reflection, or a ripple that was in that limitless, reflective sky the entire time.  

On that day, as today, the tide went out and the water was still.

The static water on the Navesink River from Rumson to Fair Haven was like a mirror, reflecting each waterfront image, each ripple, in detail. A reminder of what was always there. 

Take a look. 

— Elaine Van Develde

Focus: Rumson-Fair Haven River Hug

To talk to anyone who considers the Rumson-Fair Haven area home, from their own back yard to far away places, a peek into the day’s end at the river is a home embrace. A hug. Comfort. So it’s been said. So it’s been felt.

So, if you can’t get down by the river tonight, here’s a hug, or 20, from the end of your road to home. (And, don’t forget to click to enlarge to get the whole hug picture.)

Which hometown hug speaks to you most?

— Elaine Van Develde

Focus: Fall Riverwalk into Dusk

Riverwalk at dusk by the Fair Haven Dock
Photo/Elaine Van Develde

It’s a fall Sunday. It’s a day’s end. The start of a new week. The hush of the lapping river soothes. Dusk dances in the river’s reflections. It’s riverwalk daze at the Fair Haven Dock. A silent call to the comfort of home.

Everything is always alright in that riverwalk moment. There are many like it for a Fair Havenite — drenched in riverfront peace. Childhood laughing and splashing dancing in the mind. The cadence of it that soothes. It never gets old. It’s new with each step, each flicker in the tide, each lull in every water lap, each heartbeat that pulses home.

Take a look. Dive into the silence, the memories, each moment down by the river. Inhale home.

— Elaine Van Develde

Fair Haven riverwalk at dusk
Photo/Elaine Van Develde

Ripples of light dancing from Fair Haven Dock
Photo/Elaine Van Develde

Simple Summer: Gone Fishing

We’ve said it before and now we’ll say it again …

It’s summertime and the living is, well, let’s say pretty fishy if you live in the Rumson-Fair Haven area.

In fact, it’s downright status quo when you grow up in the area to do so with some sand between your toes, a fishing pole over your shoulder, a crabbing net and trap and a bucket in which to tote your catch home — even if that catch is a couple of river rocks, some seaweed and a dried out crab shell.

It’s part of the magic of living by the Navesink River — growing up Rumson-Fair Haven style.

It’s a simple concept. And it’s one of those fabulous things in life that’s free. A walk, a view, a little fishing for a great summer day.

So, the Simple Summer feature today is all about fishing for some fun down by the river — honing in on a little spot by and on the Fair Haven Dock.

The catch is a keeper.

Take a look at our slideshow above for the whole picture. (And don’t forget to click on the lower right icon to enlarge!) See you down by the river!

Retro River Rats Rite

A 1976 River Rats crew Photo/courtesy Marc Edelman, Facebook

Call it a ratty reprise …

Summers in the Rumson-Fair Haven area are rife with river-oriented activities that have become tradition.

River Rats’ sailing “camp” is no exception. OK, nobody was camping per se. It was more like a little club. Still is. In fact, it’s that time of the year when kids start signing up for summer River Rats fun. In fact, it’s about that time to sign up for the Rats season.

It’s been a sort of rite of living on the Navesink passage for decades — since 1955. Kids learn how to boat and do a lot of summer fun bonding in the process.

Continue reading Retro River Rats Rite

Focus: Power of Place 2018

There’s a lot to be said about the importance of place in people’s lives. It defines us in many ways. It brings us comfort. It triggers memories. It is a bookmark in our hearts. Oftentimes that important place is home.

So, to pay homage to the profound power of place in the Rumson-Fair Haven area, home, we offer a glimpse back to significant places of 2018 and many decades preceding it.

Happy New Year! Take a look and let the photos give a tug at your heartstrings. Remember.

(Oh, and don’t forget to click on each photo to enlarge and get the full view!)

— Elaine Van Develde

Focus: Gulls’ Paradise on the Rumson Riverfront

The days have been dank on the banks of the Navesink River.

Yet, sea gulls seem to always seem to settle into a bit of hovering and hanging out at Victory Park in Rumson.

Year after year, damp days or not, they always come back home, lie many this time of year.

It’s another familiar scene down by the river. You’ve seen it before. Take a look again … It never gets old.

— Elaine Van Develde

Focus: Falling for a Riverfront Fall

Crisp air, bright sun and reflections of riverfront life are all it takes to fall for the Rumson-Fair Haven area in autumn.

The scene just doesn’t get any more comforting. It seems to always reach out and embrace the local soul. And it never gets old.

Get a glimpse. Take it in.

— Elaine Van Develde

Scene Around: Retired Knollwood Teacher & Grandkids Walk on Water

Retired Knollwood School teacher Eileen Kubaitis’ grandchildren cross the icy Navesink
Photo/Eileen Kubaitis

Why did the retired Knollwood School teacher cross the frozen river?

To teach her grandchildren to walk on water Rumson-Fair Haven area way? To get to the other side? Or, perhaps, to just celebrate a time-honored area tradition? Maybe a bit of all three.

Former Phys Ed and Health teacher Eileen Kubaitis, nonetheless, geared up, grandchildren in tow, and took the trek across the Navesink the other day when the water was frozen. How could one resist? When the weather is pretty frightful, but there’s such a simple adventure in the offing, the only thing to do is get walking — on water, or ice, as it were.

A lot of people in the area look forward to doing this when the water freezes, giving them a walking path across the river to the Middletown side.

Kubaitis and company were no exception. They were among quite a few others recently. Though, the retired Knollwood teacher tells us that they didn’t actually reach the other side, but came close. “We stopped about 20 feet away because at that point no one was in front of us,” she said.

Hey, they had fun and did their R-FH area civic duty to do their best to get to the other side!

Don’t try this at home, kids … at least until the ice freezes up again.

The big thaw has begun …

According to the National Weather Service, temperatures will reach a high of 40 degrees today with a low of about 26 tonight. Tomorrow, weather will be about the same with mostly sunny skies and a high of roughly 39 degrees.

Eileen Kubaitis and grandchildren cross the Navesink
Photo/Eileen Kubaitis