By Paul Goldfinger MD at Tent Village where the breeze and I were respecting each others comings and goings. 9/15/26.
It was Tuesday September 15, 2026. I was photographing at the abandoned Tent Village in Ocean Grove at dusk after everyone had left for the season.
I was fiddling with my camera when I heard the soft here and there murmur of thousands of insects–It’s impossible for a place like this to be totally quiet, so here is what remans after everyone is gone. (but me.). My camera shutter makes a sound that is barely perceptible, but I can hear it, and each click tells me that I might have experienced a visual delight with a soundtrack.
There was also the sound of a breeze floating by as if the historic Village was experiencing a whisper of a vague goodbye to the renters, visitors, and kids; and also a soft reminiscence of imagined pianissimo rehearsals emanating from the Great Auditorium where the Hope- Jones organ would ordinarily be awakening at the hands of Gordon Turk who is now probably traveling the world to experience fine organs everywhere. Dr. Turk liked to rehearse when all else was quiet outside the closed doors of that acoustically wonderful building.
So listen to this quietly and be respectful and don’t even blow your noses.
Art Garfunkel:
“The Bridges of Madison County.” from the movie by Clint Eastwood:
Lambertville, New Jersey, USA. This shop is on the Delaware River. Paul Goldfinger photo. Click to enlarge.
Bridge Street. Quaint shopping, restaurants, biking on paths. Drive over bridge to New Hope, Penn . Visit Washington’s Crossing Park on both sides of the river. 1 hour, 15 min from OG. Click to enlarge. Paul Goldfinger photo.
By Paul Goldfinger. Editor Blogfinger.net. Ocean Grove, NJ.
Today, the glow of the moon, of the moonrise, or the moon over the ocean, or over the river….makes me think of Andy Williams.
I first listened to his new song, “Moon River,” playing on my car radio one night in 1961. That evening I was alone in my old Plymouth driving home from a date with my future wife, Eileen. I knew that “Moon River” had to be our song.
When I called the band leader for the wedding, he had never heard of the song, but he promised to look into it. And he did. I always suspected that Eileen and I were among the first to choose that song.
Johnny Mercer wrote the lyrics, and Henry Mancini the music. It was very beautiful, but I never exactly knew what a “huckleberry friend” was; somehow I imagined I knew what kind of friend that was.
Today I finally looked it up, and the Urban Dictionary says, “There are your good friends: people who love you. And then there are your huckleberry friends: people who’ve known you for years and have stuck by you and love you no matter what.
“Here are some of the lyrics from that song which was featured in the movie Breakfast at Tiffany’s:
ANDY WILLIAMS:
“There’s such a lot of world to see We’re after the same rainbow’s end, waitin’ ’round the bend My huckleberry friend, moon river, and me”
Wonderful light in the new Odyssey coffee house in Ocean Grove, New Jersey. The mood down the corridor is inspirational. Paul Goldfinger photo 6/24/ 2025. All photos in Odyssey Coffee.
Paul Goldfinger. Editor. Blogfinger.net
I’m trying to get a handle on those who enjoy the Odyssey coffee shop in Ocean Grove.
The bare essentials are a necessary given: fine barrister-driven coffees; good foods; an owner, Joey, who is a professor of classics at Monmouth University; and a unique setting to complement the idea of an epic poem. Who can forget Homer hanging in Joey’s place?
There is no doubting those elements, but what will be the mood at Odyssey–who will be visiting this new coffee emporium on Main Avenue in a former bank?
Will there be girls in their summer clothes, or erudite scholars, or friends to meet and greet, businesses to be promoted, poems or novels to write on laptops, or romances to grow? Or will it be just a setting for coffee aficionados?
And finally, will there be music?
We’re not sure yet, but Joey is on the right track as he continues to re- imagine what his Ocean Grove coffee world will be like.
Waiting to order. What is she about?
The Hamptons reincarnated in Jersey?
Suit and tie? A rare sight in OG. What is this shtick about? All photos by Paul Goldfinger.
Odyssey center fold? After all, she has an ancient Greek sailor on her shirt. Internet photo.
FRANKIE RANDALL: Will it be a New York vibe at Joey’s place?
Tent Village. Ocean Grove, NJ; near The Greatest Auditorium. September 15, 2016. Deadline to leave. Not a creature was stirring, not even a bassoonist. Paul Goldfinger photo. Blogfinger.net
Paul Goldfinger. The sun sets on 2016 Tent Village. 9/15/26. “Pachelbel’s Canon”
By Eileen and Paul Goldfinger, Editors @Blogfinger.
It’s like a market in a small French town where the locals come to shop for produce from the region’s farms. In this case, the marketplace is at the Ocean Grove Woman’s Club at 89 Mt.Carmel Avenue, corner of Pennsylvania.
Miss Pegi (Pegi Costantino) the President of the OGWC has a background in coop produce buying, so she gets the best Jersey fresh fruits and vegetables, and this OG coop marketplace has been a big hit this summer, with fresh produce brought in each week. Tom Costantino, the OGWC produce shlepper with the red pick up truck, does the heavy lifting and provides good humored assistance to the the customers.
Miss Pegi orchestrates the event, attended mostly by Grover girls, but a few men are present to add a genial dose of testosterone to the happening. Pegi is a whirlwind of activity as she fulfills the orders while also dispensing expert advice. While waiting, the customers find the market to be a great place for socializing and meeting neighbors. A few weeks ago we met a couple from Bradley Beach.
Today Pegi had Gala apples which she likes for cooking and eating fresh. The zucchini is regular and 8-ball, and the other special item today were the Asian pears. If you ask her for a pear, you will get two, so be sure to spell it out.
Also on hand were fresh corn, frying peppers, peaches, egg plants, cantelopes, heirloom tomatoes, Jersey round tomatoes, and plum tomatoes which you can order by the case or half case. Eileen likes to freeze the plum tomatoes for later use in sauces, soups, stews, etc. We will be posting a piece by her regarding how to save the abundance of tomatoes and zucchini currently available.
You need to sign up to participate and place orders. Just go to the OGWC Facebook page or contact Miss Pegi at 609 575 5585 ( or email her at pegi@comcast.net.) If you sign up, you will be notified as to what items are available that week. The prices are posted on the OGWC Facebook page.
You must place an order for produce by Wednesday noon. Delivery is on Fridays from 4 pm to 7 pm, and bring cash and bags to the OGWC headquarters where the elite meet and where size matters—uh, referencing zucchinis and egg plants, of course.
“Hey Peach Bakery.” 126 Main Street in Bradley Beach. This is Bethany serving at their high end coffee spot. Click once to enlarge this image. Paul Goldfinger photo, Blogfinger.net
This is a link to our initial piece on “Hey, Peach”
