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fall festivals

Fall Is Here… and with that comes fun fall events!

The crisp air is on its way (hopefully!). And with the cooler temperatures comes a million fall events… we can taste the apple cider now as I ride on a hayride through a pumpkin patch! Pemberton, NJ and the surrounding areas around Pine View Terrace have a multitude of events that take place in September and October. Between family fun events like “Boo at the Boardwalk” to more adult focused events such as Manahawkin, NJ’s “Fall Harvest & Wine Festival“, there is a little something for everyone.

If you are like us, we love attending these events to get a bit of outside time with friends and family before winter officially makes its appearance. So, we have included below a list of some of our favorite fall events within driving distance of Pine View Terrace (located in Pemberton, NJ)! Enjoy!

fall festival

1. 2022 Fall Festival

Where: Whitesbog Preservation

When: Saturday, September 24th | 11am – 4pm | Rain date: September 25th

Fun fall festival including village tours, flea market, craft vendors, food, live music, face painting, fall baked goods, inflatables, petting zoo, farmers market and more!

Address: 799 Lakehurst Road, Browns Mills, NJ

shamrocks by the sea irish festival

2. Shamrock’s By The Sea Irish Festival

Where: Seaside Park, NJ

When: Saturday, September 24th | 10am – 6pm

The 5th annual Irish Festival. Come and enjoy live Irish music, traditional Irish craft vendors. Irish fare and an area for the Wee ones. Take care of your thirst with a pint ale. The Shanty’s Irish band will play the shamrock by the sea Irish festival on Saturday September 24 from 3pm-6pm

Address: 109 J St. Seaside Park, NJ

smithville oktoberfest

3. Smithville Oktoberfest

Where: Historic Smithville, The Village Greene

When: Saturday, October 1st & Sunday, October 2nd | 10am – 5pm both days

The annual Smithville Oktoberfest happening October 1st and 2nd from 10am to 5pm! Come enjoy the beautiful fall weather with great food, amazing crafters, and live music!
-100 Juried Crafters-
-International Food Court-
-Live Music-
-Kids Activities-
-Much More!-

Address: 615 Moss Mill Rd, Smithville, NJ

Oktoberfest Food Truck Festival

4. Oktoberfest Food Truck Festival

Where: Laurita Winery

When: Saturday, October 1st 11am – 9pm & Sunday, October 2nd 11am – 7pm

Admission is $12 ONLINE in advance, $14 at the door! Everyone UNDER 21 gets in FREE!

WINE & FOOD TRUCKS ARE BACK!

Come join us for an outdoor, fun filled day of relaxing fun on the grounds of Laurita Winery — a great place to enjoy outstanding wines with friends and family. Pair our delicious wines with the many delicious food offerings available from onsite food trucks. Wine and dine while listening to top live musical artists.

A gift from us! Each visitor will be given a unique souvenir Laurita wine glass.

Other treats include: free parking, face painter for kids (1:00-4:00) fire pits, fantastic fireworks (Saturday evening) and access to many unique and popular food trucks.

Supervised children are welcome.

No pets please.

Address: 85 Archertown Road, New Egypt, NJ

Cranberry Festival

5. Cranberry Festival

Where: Bordentown, NJ

When: Saturday, October 1st & Sunday October 2nd | 10am – 4pm

The Downtown Bordentown Association is proud to sponsor the 32nd Annual Cranberry Festival; one of the oldest and largest juried arts and crafts festivals in Central New Jersey; featuring over 100 crafters, makers, artists and artisans, and which annually draws over 40,000 visitors to historic Bordentown City

Address: Farnsworth Avenue, Bordentown, NJ

Fall Harvest Festival at Johnson's Locust Hall Farm

6. Fall Harvest Festival at Johnson’s Locust Hall Farm

Where: Johnson’s Locust Hall Farm

When: Every Saturday & Sunday in October

October has arrived & the Pumpkin patch is abundant of pumpkins all shapes & sizes for you to pick. Apples are available for picking & Sunflower Trails are still in full bloom.

Enjoy live music, our Farmhouse Grill and Tomasello Winery Tasting Room Outlet every Saturday and Sunday from 12pm-4pm. Our Farm Market will be open Friday, Saturday and Sunday 10am-5pm. Reservations are not required to visit our farm market.

Our Park N Pick program is running every Saturday and Sunday from 9am-3:45pm. Reservations must be made for Park N Pick on our website prior to arriving on the farm. Park N’ Pick tickets give you access to our Apple Orchard, Pumpkin Patch, Sunflower Photo Trail and Corn Maze. Travel along our Park N’ Pick route making stops at our picking fields to pick with your family. Parking lots are provided at each location on the farm. Skip the hassle of loading your apples & pumpkins on and off the hayride wagon with the convenience on your vehicle being right there!

  • Saturday, October 1: King Saison
  • Sunday, October 2: Rob Mcmahon
  • Saturday, October 8: Elaine & The Cimarron Sky Band
  • Sunday, October 9: Raquel & The Wildflowers ‘acoustic duo’
  • Saturday, October 15: The Lonesome Turnpike Ramblers
  • Sunday October 16: Bougie & The Beasts
  • Saturday October 22: Skippky’s Toy Duo (from the Pure Petty Band)
  • Sunday October 23: Paul Plumeri Saturday October 29: Tour De Force’ (Frank & Mario from Best of Clapton Band)
  • Sunday October 30: Jersey Shakedown

Address: 2691 Monmouth Rd, Jobstown, NJ

Fall Harvest & Wine Festival

7. Fall Harvest & Wine Festival

Where: Manahawkin Lake Park

When: Saturday, October 8th & Sunday, October 9th | 12pm – 5pm

Get ready for the 15th Annual Fall Harvest & Wine Festival in the heart of downtown Manahawkin!

Once again this year we will be spanning two parks. Manahawkin Lake Park will host the Fall Harvest Festival and our wine festival will take place on the grounds of historic Heritage Park with the Old Stone Store and Manahawkin Train Station museums open both days! Each site will feature entertainment, food and vendors.

The weekend is packed with adventure and features such favorites as the Halloween parade, hayrides, scarecrow making, pumpkin patch, classic car show, drum circle, crafters, food trucks and live entertainment!

Follow the link below for detail on some fantastic Fall fun and a link to get your tickets to the wine festival before they sell out (wine tickets are limited)!

Address: 86 N Main St, Manahawkin, NJ 08050

Boo at the boardwalk

8. Boo At The Boardwalk

Where: Jenkinson’s Boardwalk

When: Saturday, October 22nd | 12pm – 4pm

We’re brining back the Boo-Tastic package along with some of your favorite Boo at the Boardwalk fun! During Boo at the Boardwalk we’ll have crafts, face painting, underwater pumpkin carving, limited kiddie rides & more!

Address: 300 Ocean Avenue, Point Pleasant, NJ

Where To Next? It’s Time To Start Traveling Again

As Covid-19 infections and hospitalizations begin to decrease, people are starting to get the travel bug. Or at least, the travel itch! And although planning a trip can be exciting, it can also be daunting. Where do I look for the best price for flights and hotels? Where do I go? For how long? A lot of logistics, and sometimes, a lot of money. But that doesn’t have to be the case. Here are some webpages that can help you find the best deal!

Flights

Google Flights

Google flights is one of my favorites because of its extensive list of filters you can apply when searching for a flight. Some of these filters include, stops, airlines, bags, price, times, emissions, connecting airports, and much more!

These filters allow you to zero in on the best price where and when you feel most comfortable! It pulls data from each airline and travel agency to find the best deals for you. It is both easy to use and extremely visually pleasing, with calendar view and familiar google graphic aspects. Another feature is you can track flights and get notified when they are at their cheapest.

Flight/Hotels/Car Rentals

Hopper

This Canada based company is my personal #1 website I visit to search for the best deals. With 95% accuracy on future flights and hotel prices, this site is not only easy to navigate but it also can be used as an app on your phone. The best thing about Hopper – it allows you to “watch” flights. This means that you can essentially save your flight details and Hopper will notify you when the best price becomes available. This saves you A LOT of time by removing the daily act of checking back to see if the price has dropped. Hopper get a big slap of approval in my book! You can book hotels and car rentals right from their site as well.

Kayak Explore

An extension of Kayak, kayak explore, is a go-to of mine when I just don’t know where or when I want to travel. The webpage is really neat in that it allows you to see the entire world and where the best deals are. You can move your mouse and scan the entire world for the best prices. If you don’t know when or for how long you want to be away, there is an option to pick “Anytime, Any Duration”. This will give you a comprehensive list of destinations with the best deals for a certain length of time. If you do know, say, how long you would like to be gone for, you can choose the dates or the length of time and then scan where the best deal is during that duration.

You have the option to choose your budget, overall flight time, stops and type of trip. You can use this site to search for the best deals on flights, hotels, cars, things to do, packages, train and cruises. You can track your flights on this site to – saving you time! A new feature they offer on this site is more information about travel restrictions due to Covid-19. You can choose by country and Kayak will inform you what the specific country allows whether you are unvaccinated or vaccinated.

Entire Trip Deals

Living Social

I never knew anything about living social until I was planning my graduation trip. I knew I wanted to go abroad but I didn’t want to spend the amount of money I knew going abroad was going to cost. That’s when I discovered Living Social. This site allows you to search for nearby hotel deals and weekend getaways. But the most valuable thing they do is plan an entire international trip for you for an AMAZING price. Let me convince you just a bit more….

For an 8 days Tuscany vacation with hotel, airfare and transportation included is $699 per person. Let me break it down even more. This trip includes:

  1. Roundtrip airfare
  2. Rental car
  3. Airline taxes
  4. 6 nights in hotel
  5. Daily breakfast

At first I didn’t believe it. But after doing a living social trip myself – it was one of the best trips of my life. Not only because of the reasonable price, but also for the detailed itinerary and all that it included. The travel deals change daily so if you do not love the trips they are offering – check back tomorrow. They may be different!

The best advice I ever received was, “the best education you will ever get is traveling. Nothing teaches you more than exploring the world and accumulating experiences.”

Living at Pine View Terrace gives you even more opportunity to save money and travel if that’s what you love to do. Because our homes are so affordable, and you pay only $550/month, which includes your taxes, water, sewer, mail delivery, trash pickup, snow removal and more, you can save in order to do the things you’ve always wanted to do! Interested in taking a look at what we have available and what we have coming in? Check it out, here!

downsizing

5 Ways To Help Make Downsizing A Little Less Stressful

Getting ready to retire is a very bittersweet time in a persons life. This can mean moving to a different place, traveling, or simply staying put. But for many it means looking for a more affordable, smaller home that requires less maintenance, giving them more time to travel, spend time with family and care for themselves.

For so many, “downsizing” is an extremely daunting word. The accumulation of “things” we acquire over the years is hard place a tangible number on. In fact, an NBC news article in 2017 wrote that the average home contains 300,000 items. Let me say that number again…. 300,000!! So yes, the word downsize has every right to carry a daunting feeling along with it.  

But it doesn’t always have to feel this way. Of course leaving your home, whether that is the home you have been in for your entire life, or a home you moved into just a couple of years earlier, will always be an emotional rollercoaster. You have filled it with your love and unforgettable memories. At some point, the time comes to begin your next chapter.

To help make this step in life a bit easier, we have laid out 5 ways to make downsizing a little less stressful.

1. Start early… not all at once

Procrastination was cool back in high school, but definitely is not something you want to fall back into when moving. It’s important to start at least a month before moving to your new space. This will give you time to work slowly and efficiently so it’s not overwhelming. Once you begin to rush, everything becomes unorganized. This make it extremely difficult to find some of your most essential things for your first couple of days in your new home. Once you have a settlement date (or if you’re a planner… start earlier!), begin gathering boxes… it’s a perfect place to start.

Start tossing out old food in your pantry that has been hiding in the back corner for months or maybe even years (anyone else guilty of this besides me?…). Declutter your closet the next time you put your laundry away. Begin giving your expired medications to your doctors or pharmacists. All these “little” steps can be taken to prevent getting overwhelmed when the real packing begins.

2. Create a plan

Make. A. List. In fact, make multiple! The more organized you are, the better. That’s why it is so important to sit down and create a plan. First, decide which room you are going to tackle. It is easier to begin with the rooms that contain the most items. This may be the living room, family room or kitchen. Take on the large tasks in the beginning and the later tends to seem a little less intimidating. When going through your things, make four different piles: 1. keep, 2. give to family/friends, 3. donate, 4. sell. It can be hard when going through personal belongings to decide if you should keep or get rid of them. If you’re moving and you haven’t watched Marie Kondo’s, “Tidying Up”, on Netflix, grab that remote ASAP. Marie Kondo’s entire motto is, if it doesn’t spark joy, toss it. It’s a wonderful way to declutter your home and come to terms with what “things” actually hold meaning in your life. If it doesn’t “spark joy”, give it away, donate it, or sell it.

Unsure where is excepting donations? Here is a link that provides a list of places willing to take donations when you begin decluttering your home.

3. Set firm dates

Secure a settlement date. This will ensure that you know you have to be completely moved out by X day. If you have set dates in your head, it is more likely you will make a plan to get everything done on time. If you are using a moving company, call the movers and set a date and time. If you are having a yard sale, set a date and label each item so that you are ready ahead of time. Call the place you will be taking your donations to and tell them a day you will be bringing your items.

4. Complete a changing your address checklist

When you move, there are many things you tend to forget because the act of moving is an extremely time consuming and emotional process. Here is a list you can follow to make sure you complete everything!

  1. Notify the USPS of your change of address and set up mail forwarding
  2. Notify the IRS and state tax agency of your new address
  3. Let the SSA know you’re moving
  4. Transfer your gas and electric accounts
  5. Call your cable and internet companies to let them know of your new address
  6. Transfer home insurance
  7. Notify your employer
  8. Notify your bank and credit card company
  9. If you have any outstanding loans, make the loan company aware you moved
  10. Notify doctors, dentists, vets, etc.
  11. And of course.. last but not least, your family and friends!!

Here’s a checklist with helpful links to guide you!

5. Bring your style to your new space

It’s hard to think about leaving a space you’ve made your own. Maybe you painted the walls just the right color, found a sofa that fit perfectly in your living room. It can be hard to leave. To make your new space feel a little more comfortable, bring a similar style to life in your new home as was present in your old! Maybe you choose to use the same color scheme, or you find out your couch actually fits PERFECTLY in your fabulous living room! Everything when you move doesn’t have to be brand spanken new. Sometimes keeping a little bit of the old can bring comfort and happiness in your new beginning.

Downsizing and moving is a bittersweet and sometimes extremely stressful adventure. Make sure you start early and are organized throughout the process. Happy moving!