[clang]

We are on vacation this week visiting family in NJ. The past couple of days we had a couple of great museum visits and saw some awesome Colts. Yesterday we went to West Point, USMA and their museum has a pinched frame SAA serial number 79 or 89. The gun looked un-altered and showed some use, but no apparent abuse. Lots' of other things to see at the museum inbcluding Ike's .380 Colt and West Point is probably the most beautiful campus in the country. We are fortunate enough to have a family friend whose husband is a professor at West Point, so we were allowed on the post unescorted. I think most visitors have to take one of the tour busses in (we did last visit). Trophy Park is an amazing place to visit to see all the old cannons, especially on a day as nice as yesterday (72F sunny and a light breeze).

Today we went to Paterson NJ (one T) to see Paterson Falls, which I believe has just become our newest National Park. There is a small Paterson Museum close to the Falls that includes over 2 dozen Colt Paterson revolvers and another 1/2 dozen or so revolving long guns (shotguns and rifles). Two of the revolvers were serial number 1. Well worth the $2 admission. This is a rough town, but well worth the visit is you have any desire to see so many Colt Patersons in one place. They also have a couple of steam locomotives and John Holland's first 2 submarines. The curator was a local guy with lot's of great stories, you definitely want to strike up a conversion with him even if he isn't very knowledgable about the Colts. If you go, stop by Libby's for a Texas Weiner or two, or travel down to Clifton for a visit to Rutt's Hut for a Ripper. (Better yet, try one of each to figure out which you like more.) Let me reiterate - this is a rough town, but I am sure the new National Park status will turn things around over the next several years. The Falls are really a sight to see in themselves.

Happy Travels,

clang

 

[mike hudson]

reuben "hurricane" carter was from paterson. yeah, rough rough town. kinda like it though...

 

[kevin hines]

We are on vacation this week visiting family in NJ. .......... There is a small Paterson Museum close to the Falls that includes over 2 dozen Colt Paterson revolvers and another 1/2 dozen or so revolving long guns (shotguns and rifles). Two of the revolvers were serial number 1. Well worth the $2 admission.......
They also have ...... John Holland's first 2 submarines.......

They used to have an Iver Johnson exhibit there, too, IIRC-is it gone, or did you not mention it as not being relevant on a Colt board?
Re: subs, in nearby Hackensack is the former USS Ling, a WWII Balao-class sub in virtually unaltered condition. And in NYC, at the Intrepid Air-Space Museum, is a post-war guided missile sub, USS Growler.

 

[clang]

There was no Iver Johnson exhibit at the Paterson Museum, so it must have been moved or returned or sold.

There are a couple of horse drawn fire engines, if you are into that kind of thing.


The Ling is another great stop in the area, but it is only open on weekends. A definite recommended stop if it is open. This boat is so small, it's hard to believe they sent them into the open ocean.


We did the Intrepid last Sunday, but I really can't recommend it - $22 admission per person (plus a $2 "service fee") seems a little steep for what you get to see. The Intrepid itself is pretty amazing, but the planes are underwhelming and the line to get on the Growler was over an hour. The best part of the visit was talking to the crusty old Navy Vet sitting on the Captain's Bridge who was asking if there were any questions in a strong Brooklyn accent.

Sandy Hook is another great Historical Stop less than an hour away. The lighthouse was built in 1764, lot's of stuff happened around here during the Revolution, it's the location of the US's first contcrete shore gun emplacements, and was used for Coastal Defanse until the '70s.

 

[EvenStephen]

Wow, it's Rutt's Hut still there? I lived in Nutley in the early and mid 50's

 

[DHENRY]

clang,
You had me at the "...Rutt's Hut..." !!
Don

 

[kevin hines]

....The Ling is another great stop in the area, but it is only open on weekends. A definite recommended stop if it is open. This boat is so small, it's hard to believe they sent them into the open ocean.......

If yer ever in Chi-town (Chicago), go see the (recently refurbished)captured U-boat, U-505, at the Museum of Science and Industry. Those were crowded. Or look for a photo book called "U-Boat War" by Lothar-Gunther Buchheim. He wrote the book that the movie "Das Boot" ("The Boat") was based on. He was a war correspondent aboard a U-boat in WWII, like the protagonist in "Das Boot". US boats were floatin' hotels by comparison.
In any case, I gotta respect anybody who served on a sub, especially in those days. You hadda have big, clankin' brass ones just to go aboard one. You close that hatch, cut yourself off from the sunlight and fresh air, and deliberately 99% sink yourself?!!?? And then go out and face someone who wants to give you that last one per cent!!

 

[clang]

I live in Chicago area now and have been in U505. The U boat is a lot smaller than the Ling.