July 8, 2024

Experiencing Lake Life

My good friends and newlyweds Dina (Miller) & Ed Szwarc invited me to their Lake House, for the long 4th of July Weekend. We drove up to Sussex County, NJ, Lake Culver on Wednesday night. It took a little over 2.5 hours from Philadelphia, on roads with very little traffic and we stopped for a nice dinner on the way. Once there, I found accommodations to be quite POSH ! I got the Americana suite and scallop edged Charmin toilet tissue - a first for me ! Only the best in Sussex County!

Thursday the 4th started with a visit from the resident Swan family - Mom, Dad and 9 newborns. They are about 3 months old and have not learned to fly yet. Ed's son Chris caught a catfish, weighing just under 7# very quickly from the dock and released. Then we all boarded their pontoon boat and went to watch all the lake activity; including the annual water skiers parade around the lake.

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Lake Life is easy to get used to - just drop anchor - or tie up to friends and Float!

The lake is surrounded by all different style and price point homes. Here's some of the top priced to fixer uppers! The last one is currently for sale - a simple boat house complete with a porta potty since it has no septic or indoor plumbing, a mere $500,000 !

We enjoyed amazing food all weekend including a 19 hour smoked brisket, compliments of Chef Chris and his trusty smokemaster  ( a.k.a. Dad) Ed. Yummy desserts included my raspberry, whipped cream and meringues, blueberry, Eton messes and Italian donuts called Zeppoles.  We also got to see Fireworks three nights in a row.

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    19 hour smoked Beef Brisket

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    Father & Son Master Chef and Smoke Master

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    Eton Mess

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    Zeppoles

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  • Slide title

    19 hour smoked beef brisket

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SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, USA

By Patricia Patrick • June 28, 2025
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, USA

PHILADELPHIA, PA, USA

By Patricia Patrick • June 28, 2025
Normally I would call Philadelphia Home but after 9 months of living on the Ship, I am beginning to call the Ship HOME! To that point, the main reasons I flew across the country this week was to come home and get my Condo in Philly ready to sell! I needed to clear out my remaining personal effects, so that I could possibly turn the place over to a realtor to liquidate and /or sell my remaining furniture and household items, along with the condo itself. I met with a few realtors and spent a good amount of time cleaning out all my closets, cabinets and drawers. I tried to get as much as possible into the willing arms of family members and friends. I was happy for them to take any items they could put to good use! My nieces Colleen and Laura were my 2 best recipients pictured below in the elevator as we hauled out numerous loads to their uber ( for Colleen) and car ( for Laura). I even got my bestie Laureen to take a bag home with her!

HILO, HAWAII

By Patricia Patrick • June 22, 2025
HILO, HAWAII to PHILADELPHIA, PA