June 16, 2008

Peterson's Garage, Milk Jug Flag & Lucy the Elephant, New Jersey

This morning we headed to a few offbeat places.

First, we visited Peterson's Garage in Egg Harbor City, New Jersey.

Here we browsed through Owner Tom Peterson's collection of sculptures fabricated from scrap metal and auto parts.

We found The Statue of Liberty in all her glory in anticipation of seeing the real deal soon.

The sculptures are fun to examine to figure out what exactly they are made out of.
There's even abundant wildlife here, such as dinosaurs and alligators.
A family of tin men stands guard at the front door of the business.
Photo albums inside the garage highlight many of Tom's sculptures, which he sells to collectors from near and far.

Here's a dog sculpture which doubles as a barbecue grill.
In the garage's waiting room, the chairs are made from old automobile seats.
As you drive around Egg Harbor City, you may some of Tom's creations in his neighbors' yards. We spotted an indian...
Captain Jack from Pirates of the Caribbean... and this couple waved as we drove by.
Next we headed out US 40 to Mays Landing and found this house which displays a flag made of over 1,000 milk jugs.
Then we headed to Margate where we found Lucy the Elephant, who has to be the world's oldest elephant.
Oldest and largest currently standing building shaped like an elephant, that is...

You enter Lucy the Elephant's legs to climb the stairs into what has served as a restaurant, a business office, a cottage and a tavern during various periods since Lucy's completion in 1882.
The interior of Lucy features high ceilings and ornate woodwork.
A group of concerned citizens saved Lucy from a scheduled demolition in 1970 and Lucy was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1976.

See Lucy's interior in the first half of this video.
Margate Beach can now be seen from one of Lucy's eyes.
Visitors can learn all about Lucy's history by viewing photographs and newspaper articles on her main level. A video of her history is also played for everyone's viewing.
Visitors can then climb to the top of Lucy and look down on the surrounding community of Margate.
Lucy's garden even grows in the form of her name.
The stairs leading back down to the main level...
Lucy recently went to the beauty parlor and got her toes painted.
To be continued...

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