An acquaintance of mine on Twitter was looking for one of my blog posts from a trip I took to Peapack, New Jersey a few years ago (10th July 2011). Unfortunately I thought I’d lost it for good when had issues between WP and my host web site. Anyway, so she found an old copy of it archived via the Wayback Machine, minus the pictures, but I have those on my computer anyway. So, to present you again, here it is.

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On Wednesday, 6th July, a good friend (Lynn C.) and I headed off to Peapack, NJ on a Guiding Light pilgrimage. We left Penn Station in New York City about 10am on the train to Summit, NJ to transfer to a bus to Peapack (they were working on the tracks). It had been overcast through much of the trip, so I thought it might be so in the town, but it was sunny and hot. It was probably upwards of 90-95F with the humidity and we ended up stopping frequently for fluids…and bathroom breaks.

Coming into the main part of the town, we passed the small lake that we all recognize, then stopped at the NJ Transit station. I had a map of the town thanks to some industrious Otalia fans who had put together a Google map with drop points of various scene locations (Peapack Location Map)

Before we began our trek, we stopped into the Gladstone Tavern aka Company. We had a great lunch & dessert. I got some pictures of the exterior.

After that we took a walk up Potterville Rd and over Apgar Ave. There’s a long driveway up to the farmhouse, and it felt like I’d been there before. Though the grounds are well maintained the house remains uninhabited.

At the bottom of the hill, we came on a little park area with a gazebo and benches and a couple picnic tables that had been donated by P&G and the Guiding Light production company. This gazebo is the scene of the ‘no more waiting’ discussion, and Rafe and Ashlee’s ‘our moms are gay’ chat.

After that we headed back down towards Main Street and took pictures, and the police/municipal offices, the pizza place where Crystal & Jess filmed their last scene, of the churches, the ball park and playground.

We also spent some time down at Liberty Park to the little lake, the ducks, geese and swans, and ‘Emma’s’ playground.

The Lake, Peapack, NJ, 6th July 2011. © J. Lynn Stapleton

Nearly 4pm we headed back to the train station and the trains were back in order, so we got the train back to NYC. We were so hot when we got back that showers were in order, following a slice or two of pizza from the hostel. After a bit we headed uptown to meet up with Jill Hurst and her family for a nice evening.

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Jill Lorie Hurst Says:
14 July 2011 at 20:48.

Beautiful photos, sweetie – I felt like I was taking the trip with you and I guess you felt what it was like on that last tape day – hot!!

admin Says:
14 July 2011 at 21:09.

It was so warm there, but at the same time, as we were coming into down the road in the bus, passed the lake to the train station, there was such a feeling of familiarity.

tina sloan Says:

14 July 2011 at 22:50.

OH THIS IS SO WONDERFUL. LOVED ALL THE PHOTOS SO MUCH. MADE ME SO SAD AND WISTFUL FOR ALL THE WONDER THAT WAS GUIDING LIGHT