A Familiar Face Will Return to South Jersey

After two long years, a familiar face will be smiling over us. It will certainly feel like an old friend coming home for yours truly.

When I first moved to South Jersey, one of the symbolic landmarks that made me feel that I made the right decision to move here was the smiling water tower in Longport.

I know, it sounds silly.  I mean, how does a painted smile on a water tower give an individual clarity?

Three years ago, I went through a bad breakup with a girl that I had been with for a very long time.  To spare you the dramatic details, I ended up packing up my car and moving to the shore.  Not a bad move, right?

The only problem was that I had lived in Virginia most of my life, and I had only lived in South Jersey for nine months.  To move from Collingswood to Atlantic City was still a life changing move, probably even bigger than the move from Virginia.

One night I drove around Atlantic City, Ventnor, Margate, and Longport to scope out my new surroundings.  Actually, I was hardly exploring.   I was confused, still in shock, and driving was the only thing to get my mind straight.

Then I saw this face looking at me:

I immediately busted out laughing.

The water tower itself wasn't necessarily 'funny' , it was just a sign of things to come.  At least that was my interpretation.

Needless to say, I was pretty bummed out when the smile went away two years ago.

But as the song goes, 'don't worry, be happy' the local landmark is returning to Longport.  While there is still a lot of structural work to be done, the smile will be re-painted this spring.