My wife took Friday off from work so we could meet friends for the annual start of summer drink. I work from home on Friday, and with summer hours we all knock off at noon on Fridays. So we were on the road back to New Jersey by 2pm.



Our friends wanted to meet at a local spot, The Columns in Avon By The Sea, right on the water. We were surprised it wasn't too crowded and we all got seats in the bar area. I saw the bar tenders looking at something, and then put it back on the bar standing against bottles. It looked like an ancient postcard. So I asked and they let me examine it. At first I was puzzled, it looked like a linen era card but was smooth and had no border. The text on the front appeared odd too.



I turned it over and saw modern text describing the restaurant and the grand legacy.
I started to explain how the old cards were and the bartender told me that they had these reprinted but were out of them right now. He said since I was a collector I could keep that one!



It didn't take long to find this image of an original card online. Same exact image on a linen card with the proper period border.



And here's the building today, complete down to the flag pole. Originally one of the grand old mansions that were summer homes to the New York City rich back in the good ole days. It has managed to stand up against the Atlantic Ocean, right across the street, and all the storms of the past 135 years. According to Google Street View this photo was shot in October, after the shore season ends, so that will explain the empty look. On Friday all those porches were full of tables and people!



And yes we do have an Avon By The Sea postmark in the New Jersey collection!