Silvia picks Cosmo up in the beginning of the second chapter, and they’re off on their journey. Or so he thinks. She forgot her phone at their father’s house in New Jersey and so she must return there before they can begin the trip. Cosmo dreads having to stop at the house in which he grew up as he doesn’t get along with his father and fears that he’ll have to see him. The town in which the Greco’s grew up is never named in either of my books, although it is closely based on the town in South Jersey in which I grew up. This town is named Hammonton.
Hammonton is a small town with a population of just over 14,000 and it prides itself on being the Blueberry Capital of the World. Although midway between Atlantic City and Philadelphia, Hammonton is nothing of a commuter place. Rather, it is a world of its own, with a downtown that maintains a sense of character, charm and tradition that so many towns in this country have lost. The picture in this post is of my favorite building in the town–a big, beautiful, vibrantly colored Victorian building that sits at the entrance of Hammonton’s Bellevue Avenue.
This post is from my blog series on the places visited in the road trip story, “Discovery of an Eagle.”
Grace Mattioli is the author of the Greco Family Trilogy books, including Olive Branches Don’t Grow on Trees, Discovery of an Eagle, and The Bird that Sang in Color. These books are available from all major online book sellers, including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Apple Books.
