Ms. Toody Goo Shoes

Ms. Toody Goo Shoes

I want to go everywhere I haven't been, and back to everywhere I have been.

Monday, November 26, 2018

PHOTOGRAPHY CLASS DAY TRIP: AN OUTDOOR MUSEUM

The Hopper Goetschius Museum in Upper Saddle River, NJ






The Hopper Goetschius Museum in Upper Saddle River, NJ | Ms. Toody Goo Shoes


Are you a museum person........
the type who can spend hours wandering through a museum,
stopping to look at 
Every.
Single.
Thing?

Not me, nope. 
I'm aware that this admission 
detracts from my uber-hipster-urban-cultural image 😜,   
but I wasn't born with that museum-patience gene.

Don't get me wrong......
I LOVE and appreciate art!
I have enjoyed seeing paintings and sculptures
from some of the world's most famous artists.
It's just that.......


want 
to 
 see 
what 

want 
to 
see 

.......and then head right to the museum gift shop.


When I went to The Louvre in Paris,
I hightailed it straight to the Mona Lisa.
At the Galleria dell'Accademia in Florence, 
I made a beeline for The David.
In Rome, I had every intention of zooming straightaway to
Michelangelo's Creation Of Adam in the Sistine Chapel,
but was forced to walk through the entire Vatican Museum to get there
(I must admit, I thoroughly enjoyed it).

That's not to say that I don't enjoy spending time in museums........
I do.

I'm more likely to be "all in" when I head to a museum 
which depicts an historical event
such as Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Museum in Tel Aviv,
or the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam.
And I do want to go back to Washington, DC specifically to go to the 
National Museum of American History,
National Museum of African American History and Culture,
and the Newseum.

Recently, I had the opportunity to go to a museum 
of a totally different caliber near my home. 
It isn't a world-renowned museum housing priceless artwork,
or one commemorating a major historic event. 
It is tiny, in comparison, yet it plays a large role in preserving 
important history of the local area from as early as the 18th Century.
I can never remember the name of it,
so I just call it the Hop and Go Museum.

The Hopper Goetschius Museum in Upper Saddle River, NJ | Ms. Toody Goo Shoes



The Hopper Goetschius Museum in Upper Saddle River, NJ.
is an outdoor museum site that has a collection of 
historic buildings and artifacts from around the north Jersey area.
I'd driven by many times, yet I had never been.
It took a field trip with my photography class
to get me to there.

The Hopper Goetschius Museum in Upper Saddle River, NJ | Ms. Toody Goo Shoes
Hopper Goetschius House C1739 (possibly older).


The main house dates back to at least 1739, 
but it may have been built as early as 1713. 

vThe Hopper Goetschius Museum in Upper Saddle River, NJ | Ms. Toody Goo Shoes

 
The Hopper Goetschius Museum in Upper Saddle River, NJ | Ms. Toody Goo Shoes


The Hopper Goetschius Museum in Upper Saddle River, NJ | Ms. Toody Goo Shoes



It now serves as a museum, 
preserving household, farming and other assorted artifacts 
from the 1700s through the mid 1900s
and is maintained by the Upper Saddle River Historical Society.

The Hopper Goetschius Museum in Upper Saddle River, NJ | Ms. Toody Goo Shoes


An outhouse and out-kitchen are original structures,
and still sit on the grounds.
Other buildings were moved to the property over the years
from nearby areas, to save them from being demolished.
The VanRiper-Tice barn, 
perhaps the only remaining New World Dutch Barn (c1800),
had particular meaning to me,
as my parents used to take us to the Van Riper and Tice farms 
when we were kids every fall for apple cider and donuts.

VanRiper-Tice Barn at The Hopper Goetschius Museum in Upper Saddle River, NJ | Ms. Toody Goo Shoes
VanRiper Tice Barn C1800


VanRiper-Tice Barn at The Hopper Goetschius Museum in Upper Saddle River, NJ | Ms. Toody Goo Shoes


The Hopper Goetschius Museum in Upper Saddle River, NJ | Ms. Toody Goo Shoes
Ramsey Sayer Schoolhouse (C1820, left); unidentified building on right


The Hopper Goetschius Museum in Upper Saddle River, NJ | Ms. Toody Goo Shoes
Woodshed (C1896), with the schoolhouse behind it.


The museum wasn't officially open on the day of our trip,
so there was no docent to take us around and explain what we were seeing.
I had to rely my guide named Google, after the fact.


We spent about 2 hours, inside and out,
practicing our photography techniques.......
adjusting ISOs, apertures and shutterspeeds.
Honestly, I had no idea what I was doing technically,
but it was a lovely setting to work on my composition.

The Hopper Goetschius Museum in Upper Saddle River, NJ | Ms. Toody Goo Shoes



The Hopper Goetschius Museum in Upper Saddle River, NJ | Ms. Toody Goo Shoes


The Hopper Goetschius Museum in Upper Saddle River, NJ | Ms. Toody Goo Shoes


The Hopper Goetschius Museum in Upper Saddle River, NJ | Ms. Toody Goo Shoes



The Hopper Goetschius Museum in Upper Saddle River, NJ | Ms. Toody Goo Shoes


Sometimes the best day trips 
are a stone's throw from your backyard.








 

10 comments:

  1. We're finding that too. Often there are hidden gems that get overlooked nearby.

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  2. You picked the perfect time of year to visit. The colors look beautiful and I can just feel the crisp fall air.

    Hope you had a great holiday Amy!

    xxx

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  3. Love it Amy. There are many of these historic buildings in Morris county. They have always wooed me.

    I remember going to Van Riper and Tice farms when we were kids. I was sad when it was gone. Every year we looked forward to going there.

    Cindy

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  4. Now that is my kind of museum with all kinds of fun vintage, rusty, worn out things around! No, I do not like walking through museums....borrrring! Your photos are fabulous! It looks like it was the perfect Fall day.

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  5. The stone home looks much like the homes in our area of Greece. . .thankfully stonemasons continue the skills of so long ago. Looks like a fun museum but I have to admit I love them all - even those that house the one famous thing I want to see. I feel bad for other artists and using David as an example - it is spectacular but so are so many other sculptures in an adjacent room. . .why did one artist get singled out for glory through the centuries and others seem to be 'also rans' . . .I love them all!

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  6. You visited such a nice museum Amy. I love the pretty cabin and the fall foliage. What a nice photos you took too with your photography class.
    Thanks for sharing at Cooking and Crafting with J & J!

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  7. I like what you see in your camera. Interesting interpretations. I especially like the lanterns, the door, and the birdhouse photos.

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  8. This is my favorite type of history! What a wonderful place.

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  9. What serene fall scenes! I have become satisfied with the Food quick setting on my camera--- it gets the brightest pictures without being too bright. I use it for everything. I don't know if I need to learn more settings..... or buy more lenses.... I'm featuring you tomorrow at Best of the Weekend... Thanks for sharing!
    Liberty @ B4andAfters.com

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