This weekend I decided I might as well check out Duke Farms, it’s one of those places that I have driven by about a million times and never visited. (And I still managed to get lost because basically I’m an idiot and didn’t look up the proper directions to the visitor’s entrance.) The Duke Estate is huge chuck of prime NJ real estate that is worth approx a gazillion dollars. Doris Duke spent many of her insane years there; you can even watch a movie about how crazy she was starring Susan Sarandon with Ralph Fiennes as her also alcoholic Irish butler. She inherited all her money from her family cancer stick business or something along those lines.
At the guard station check in I was told to drive to the visitor’s center and check in with someone named Pete. The visitor’s center parking lot only had two other cars in it, I did think it would be more busy as it is a Saturday and spring-like.
I make my way inside to meet this Pete and find that he is most likely the “One Armed Man” from the Fugitive or just his brother Pete that happens to have two arms. He makes me fill out a card with my address and information so he can effectively stalk me later if he wants. And also give me a laminated map and says I should skip the Butterfly Spur because it’s basically been decimated. Some ladies appear who have just completed the walk I'm going on and one of them randomly tells me I should use the rest room before I start, Pete does not offer advice on this topic, he does give me a disclaimer card with their phone number on it. He asks if I have a cell phone and recommends I call them if I have any trouble, which of course leads to me wondering what kind of trouble one can get into here.
The start of the walk leads you through a large patch of trees, many of which appear to have been ripped from the ground by giants and struck by lightening. Some of the ones that are still standing are snapped partway up and making loud creaking noises and I wonder not if but when they will fall on me.
There are protective fences around most of the estate to keep deer out, which makes me happy as they are one of my natural enemies and also the scourge of the earth. According to my laminated map, deer caused a lot of damage to the trees and generally cause trouble being such sinister creatures.
Moving on I realize that I am indeed the only person anywhere to be seen and it is incredibly creepy. I imagine several situations where the Zodiac will appear. The Butterfly Spur is indeed decimated. There is also the shell of a barn that burned down 100 years ago that is now filled with marble statues of women, some of which are missing heads.
I manage to take find some interesting plants to shoot with my old film camera since I’m back on real pictures and generally had a nice time with moments of paranoia that are a direct result of reading too many true crime books in the past. I’ll have to go back in the summer when things are a bit greener, there will probably be more people then and I’ll end up getting annoyed instead of creeped out.
On the way back out through the visitors center the One Armed Man showed me the Bald Eagle Cam where you can spy on a nest. The "eaglets" should be hatching today or yesterday: http://www.dukefarms.org/
At the guard station check in I was told to drive to the visitor’s center and check in with someone named Pete. The visitor’s center parking lot only had two other cars in it, I did think it would be more busy as it is a Saturday and spring-like.
I make my way inside to meet this Pete and find that he is most likely the “One Armed Man” from the Fugitive or just his brother Pete that happens to have two arms. He makes me fill out a card with my address and information so he can effectively stalk me later if he wants. And also give me a laminated map and says I should skip the Butterfly Spur because it’s basically been decimated. Some ladies appear who have just completed the walk I'm going on and one of them randomly tells me I should use the rest room before I start, Pete does not offer advice on this topic, he does give me a disclaimer card with their phone number on it. He asks if I have a cell phone and recommends I call them if I have any trouble, which of course leads to me wondering what kind of trouble one can get into here.
The start of the walk leads you through a large patch of trees, many of which appear to have been ripped from the ground by giants and struck by lightening. Some of the ones that are still standing are snapped partway up and making loud creaking noises and I wonder not if but when they will fall on me.
There are protective fences around most of the estate to keep deer out, which makes me happy as they are one of my natural enemies and also the scourge of the earth. According to my laminated map, deer caused a lot of damage to the trees and generally cause trouble being such sinister creatures.
Moving on I realize that I am indeed the only person anywhere to be seen and it is incredibly creepy. I imagine several situations where the Zodiac will appear. The Butterfly Spur is indeed decimated. There is also the shell of a barn that burned down 100 years ago that is now filled with marble statues of women, some of which are missing heads.
I manage to take find some interesting plants to shoot with my old film camera since I’m back on real pictures and generally had a nice time with moments of paranoia that are a direct result of reading too many true crime books in the past. I’ll have to go back in the summer when things are a bit greener, there will probably be more people then and I’ll end up getting annoyed instead of creeped out.
On the way back out through the visitors center the One Armed Man showed me the Bald Eagle Cam where you can spy on a nest. The "eaglets" should be hatching today or yesterday: http://www.dukefarms.org/
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