is there such a place?

[Momz]

When I was very young, in the 1950s, my folks used to move us every summer for an extended camping trip to a place that I remember as having a name that sounds vaguely like "wah-weee-yawhn-dah". The place had a gate that stayed shut, and we parked ourselves there for weeks a time. There was definitely a lake, with a stone wall that we sat on to go fishing. We caught what my folks called "sun fish". Perhaps it was by a small dam, as I think I remember there being a sluice gate or something that was opened with a large faucet-like thing that stuck up out of the rocks (?) very close to where we camped. There was also a small stream that fed into the lake, where we were taken to splash in the water as we were not allowed to swim in the lake itself. Does such a place exist in North New Jersey? Was it a private park or a state park? If it is a real place, what's happened to it since 1955? (These are the memories made by a 5 year old kid, so take them with a grain of salt.)

[JerseyDevil]

Well based on your pronunciation guide, I may have been able to find the place you are wondering about. It sounds like it is most likely - Wawayanda State Park in Hewitt NJ. I need to get the information up on the site on this state park. But would this seem like this is the place you were thinking of? A lot of State Parks do have camping or at least nearby.

[Momz]

Well based on your pronunciation guide, I may have been able to find the place you are wondering about. It sounds like it is most likely - Wawayanda State Park in Hewitt NJ. I need to get the information up on the site on this state park. But would this seem like this is the place you were thinking of? A lot of State Parks do have camping or at least nearby.

Hi Devil. I think it was private, not a state park or anything when we went there. I did just did a google just a few minutes ago and was surprised that it actually came back with some hits. One was the state park you mention - and I note it was made a park in '63, so that fits as we would have been there in the mid- to late-1950s. If that is, indeed, the place, we must just have been there prior to it being bought up by the state, perhaps on land that my father either rented or borrowed from someone he knew. Haven't found any photos on that site that look like where I remember, but - like almost everything else back there - I guess it's all been built on or redeveloped or...? Thanks for the tip!

[lupo]

It was so interesting to read the account of your childhood memory. Isn't it neat how much you can now find out on the net now too? A hint here, a hint there, and you can end up going down a rabbit hole that leads to the bit of information that gets you what you need to know.

Lupo