https://capecharleswave.com/2014/09/the-war-years-part-4-women-proved-their-mettle/ Your Online Newspaper in Cape Charles, Virginia Fri, 07 Aug 2015 21:55:09 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=4.1 https://capecharleswave.com/2014/09/the-war-years-part-4-women-proved-their-mettle/#comment-105191 Mon, 29 Sep 2014 15:11:54 +0000 http://capecharleswave.com/?p=14401#comment-105191 As a tyke I lived in Irvington which was a wonderful, safe, middle class town about 50 miles from the Shore. We often drove to Seaside Heights which was a venture going into Union, Linden, Rahway and onto Hwy 9, the Victory Bridge over the Raritan River which sometimes in hot weather stuck in the open position with traffic backed up forever and there was no A/C. Every trip involved at lest one flat tire and many times the wheel had to be taken off and the tube patched, then with a pump inflated and put back on the car. NJ had great highways and they came up with divided four lane and traffic circles as well as cloverleafs. The roads leading to and from the Shore were always jammed in the summer and with the building of the Garden State Parkway Hwy 9 has been neglected and is a nightmare all year round. We lived in Bayville and I travelled Hwy 9 every day back and forth to work and it was awful. It got so bad that coming out of my street a left turn onto 9 was impossible; you needed to make a right and then do a U-turn in order to go to Barnegat or Manahawkin. Odd numbered U S highways are supposed to go north and south but 9 in Lewes going to 13 says 9 West.
In the old days tires were horrible and many cars had a spare in each front fenderwell. As a matter of fact the cars themselves today are so much better than when we rode in Model T’s. I remember dirt roads and being wrapped in heavy blankets in winter, no heater, no radio, no defroster, perhaps side curtains instead of windows, scraping ice & snow off the windshield and headlights that lit the road a few feet out front. I often used to remark to my wife how great it was to ride at 60 mph with heat or A/C and beautiful music and get to where you are going in a few hours instead of a few days.
From a childhood near Hwy 9 to California during WW II and living and going to school on the side of Hwy 99 to my being at Ft Lewis, Wa and my quarters being on one side of Hwy 99 with the main fort on the other side.

]]> https://capecharleswave.com/2014/09/the-war-years-part-4-women-proved-their-mettle/#comment-105176 Mon, 29 Sep 2014 12:58:48 +0000 http://capecharleswave.com/?p=14401#comment-105176 This is a really great series Andy. I’ve enjoyed reading it each week. Any story that references Highway 9 is always good with me!

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