Andrew Gonzales's Blog Posts

This coming weekend is a rite of passage in my world – the world of triathlons and endurance events. On Sunday, I’m competing in an event known as “Escape the Cape.” It’s a highlight of

Southern New Jersey sand is known for its fine glass making quality, and the first glassworks date back to Colonial times. The only known glassworks to operate in Ocean County was operated by

The term “Jersey Girl” brings up a vision from the 1980’s of big hair, provocative dress, gesticulating body movements, maybe even leg warmers, and a certain amount of salt in the language.

Soldiers returning home from World War II in 1945 brought back memories of traveling the German Autobahn routes – a road system of European efficiency unlike anything in the United States.

The Quakers of Barnegat built the first Meeting House in 1767, and it was the first place of worship constructed in Barnegat and the third in Ocean County. Deeded by Stephen Birdsall, Job,

I’m never sure if I’m a Realtor first and a Triathlete second - or if it’s the other way around. I know when I’m out with clients, I look for, and point out, good places to bike, run, and

It’s funny how expressions and names you’ve known your whole life can be mundane and accepted and yet defy explanation. The other day I was riding around with friends who are not from the area.

Being a realtor, means driving a lot – not as much as an Uber driver, but a close second. I love the history in our region and periodically I will come across a road name that requires further

It’s that time of year again – shark week. Made famous by the Discovery Channel, I wonder how many people remember that the novel Jaws, and hence the nation’s fascination with sharks, began

It’s summertime and with it will be an endless parade of beachgoers in a variety of swimming attire descending upon the shore. In recent years it’s been the style for young women to wear a �

I like knowing about the names we take for granted – who certain streets and bridges are named for because it’s usually forgotten history. I pay closer attention than I used to, and when I see a

One can look down almost any street and the presence of “telephone” or utility poles goes almost unnoticed because it’s such a common site. There was a time when streets in the United

I am an avid snowboarding fan and was on the Snowboarding Team while attending the University of Vermont. I’ve been glued to the Olympics these past few days cheering on the men and women of

One of my favorite parts of being a realtor is hearing my clients express their surprise at the cost of homes and the cost of living. As you can imagine, a lot of time is spent with a client driving

       A little Chapstick, some lip gloss, and vigilance for the right hanging flora can yield to a moment of passion during the holidays, but have you ever

The wild turkeys one sees upon occasion on road sides and walking in the woods represent one of the greatest wildlife management stories in the history of New Jersey. Wild turkeys were abundant

It’s cranberry harvesting time in New Jersey. How does one tell if a cranberry is ripe? See if it bounces – ripe cranberries bounce because they have air pockets. The cranberry is one of three

The Martians landed in New Jersey – not in Ocean County mind you, but their presence was felt just the same. The night before Halloween in 1938, the Martians landed in little known Grovers ,

It’s “Shark Week” which is a term coined by The Discovery Channel that has permeated the coastal culture and is used in marketing by museums, clothing retailers, and even restaurants. New

Contemporary jargon informally labels Ship Bottom as the “Gateway to Long Beach Island,” but anyone who has traversed the bridge knows there are no tolls, and hence, no gates.The origin of the

I grew up on Long Beach Island, and if you saw a whitish bird on the beach or in the air, you called it a seagull. Recently I learned there is no such thing as a seagull.Most of the �”

I ran a race yesterday called the Spartan Beast. It was 13.8 miles in the mountains with 31 obstacles, and the culmination of three years of training. There were hills, as in climb-up-and-down-on

Everyone looking to sell a home thinks of it as a presentation, but that presentation can be a reflection of one’s own tastes, personal preferences, and accumulation of life experiences. That is

One of the first cross streets on Route 72 east coming off the Garden State Parkway is  Doc Cramer Boulevard. If one takes the right hand turn it yields eventually to a Little League baseball

One of the newer products to come to market is the Roost Smart Water and Freeze Detector. It enables the distant homeowner to receive an early warning notification of a water leak situation or

It’s the New Year, and there’s still plenty of winter ahead, and well, plenty of winters ahead too! I wanted to share some cool technology that’s become a lot more affordable the past few

There are graves in the cemetery at the Baptist Church in Manahawkin that hold an unknown number of dead, without names, buried in a pauper’s fashion. They washed ashore near Beach Haven on

The New Jersey shore was a primary source of salt hay in the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries. The harvesting of such brought money into the local economy with minimal expense

I went to a closing the other day in which I represented the buyer. It was a fairly simple one, and afterwards I reflected on the terminology “closing.” It’s the final step in executing a

If you’ve been to coastal south Jersey, you know what I’m talking about here. They have huge iridescent green eyes, land soft, and bite hard. If the wind is out of the west for more than-

Colonial TheatreThe first movie theater on Long Beach Island was at 215 Third Street in Beach Haven. The structure was originally a wooden schoolhouse dedicated on May 1, 1885. It also served as a

Long before there were cars coming across the causeway to Long Beach Island, there were trains. They came from Philadelphia and New York with stops throughout New Jersey and across a trestle to

By Spring 1783, most of what is now Ocean County was on the hunt for Captain John Bacon whose band of Pine Robbers had plundered much of southern New Jersey under the premise of remaining loyal to

Last week, my blog entry concluded with Captain John Bacon and his band of Pine Robbers loyal to England heading south towards West Creek after killing one patriot colonist and wounding another,

Having gone to school in Manahawkin and shopped there most of my life, I tend to forget the historical aspects as I pick up weekend project supplies at Lowe’s, groceries at ShopRite, and the

This past spring I lost my grandfather, Robert Mattner, of Ship Bottom. For a time, he was a realtor which inspired me to take this path, but he was also a son, a brother, a father of six, and

I’ve walked the beaches of my island home all my life and often wondered the origin of an errant block of coal, the occasional piece of weathered wood rounded by the waves, and the fragments of

This past weekend I attacked Blue Mountain in Pennsylvania and ran the Spartan Super. It was 8+ miles up and down the mountain with 30+ obstacles. The heat index was above 100 degrees for most of

The U.S. Life-Saving service in New Jersey began in August 1848 when Congress appropriated $10,000 for “providing surfboats, rockets, carronades and other necessary apparatus for better

As I drive across the new bridge span from Manahawkin to LBI each day from my mainland office to my home in Ship Bottom, I take note of the blue and white sign that reads “Dorland J. Henderson

Having grown up on LBI, I know what the July 4th holiday means to those of us who live here – more cars, more crowds, longer lines, and of course, random fireworks at all hours. Yet, it’s funny

Hop Sauce 2016 is set for June 4 in Beach Haven, from 11am to 7pm, rain or shine with over 20 craft beers, great music, amazing food and fiery hot sauces to try! The focus is to bring a