Fellow New Jerseans Unite!

[stingx]

Let's have a roll call from all forumites that hail from the Toll...errr GARDEN State!

:AOK:

[Plank_Spanker]

Out in the Pines! :D

[Bloozcat]

Let's hear it for The Jersey Devil, jug handles, wild circles on fast busy highways, and cheese steaks (ok, that one was stolen from Philly, but what the hey). It's called "the shore" not the beach, and forget subs, heroes or grinders, they call 'em hoagies in Jersey (at least in south Jersey they do).

Oh yeah, and New Jersey isn't just a place for NYC to dump it's garbage, play it's football games, and make fun of. If it wasn't for New Jersey, a whole bunch of people who keep NYC going everyday, wouldn't have an affordable place to live. And it's "Jersey", not "Joisey", Brooklyn.

And for those who've only seen New Jersey from the Jersey Turnpike, it's not just refineries and smoke stacks. There's miles of farm land, pine barrens (eh, Plank?), and quaint little towns and bergs on beautiful lakes.

Ok, the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce can mail my check to....Bloozcat, C/O Happy Acres Insane Asylum...

How's that...?
;)

[KrisH]

Piney Power!!! New Jersey -- the only state with an official State Demon. :dude:

[sunvalleylaw]

Yeah, let's here more from you guys on what it is like. I would like to visit one day, if only to stroll around Asbury Park listening to old Springsteen,

[Plank_Spanker]

I live in south Jersey, and it may as well be a separate state compared to the north. It's very rural here and I like it. I'm surrounded by state forest in the middle of the Pine Barrens - a couple hundred thousand acres of preserved woods, predominantly pines. It's quiet where I live and I love it.

The shore is overrated. It's always packed to the gills during the summer with "Bennies" (local derogatory term for tourists / non-locals), and just getting to the actual beach costs extra. But it does have a certain charm of it's own.

Italian food rules the roost here, and there are tons of great restaurants and pizzerias. Atlantic City is an eye opener. Step a couple blocks away from Boardwalk and it's like a third world country. The summertime produce here is amazing - the best tomatoes and corn in the country.

If you visit Jersey, make sure to visit south Jersey.

[R_of_G]

it's a great place to be from. i lived in middlesex county from 1st grade until the age of 22. nj has it's beautiful parts, and for me the most appealing feature was that i lived only 35 min from nyc by train or less than an hr by car so there was PLENTY to do. i have a lot of good memories of NJ. not sure i would want to live there again, the cost of living is preposterous compared to here in florida. still, it's where i grew up so it will always mean something to me. so if we are shouting out for things we like in NJ, here's one for what used to be called the Garden State Arts Center [it's now owned by some bank] a great outdoor amphitheatre venue where not only did i see some great shows, but i also had my HS graduation there. also, whoo hoo, giants stadium, home of the NY Jets and where I saw Pele play when I was 8.

:AOK:

[R_of_G]

Yeah, let's here more from you guys on what it is like. I would like to visit one day, if only to stroll around Asbury Park listening to old Springsteen,

it may have changed since i moved, but if not, you might want to limit your strolling in Asbury Park to the broad daylight hours only.

[Plank_Spanker]

it may have changed since i moved, but if not, you might want to limit your strolling in Asbury Park to the broad daylight hours only.

Asbury Park is nothing to write home about.................

[Plank_Spanker]

NJ has it's downsides......................

Highest population density in the nation, the highest property taxes in the nation, the highest auto insurance rates in the nation, some of the scariest cities in the nation (Newark, Patterson and Camden), and a toilet for a state capitol. Trenton gives me the hives when I have to go there.

[Bloozcat]

NJ has it's downsides......................

Highest population density in the nation, the highest property taxes in the nation, the highest auto insurance rates in the nation, some of the scariest cities in the nation (Newark, Patterson and Camden), and a toilet for a state capitol. Trenton gives me the hives when I have to go there.

The official greeting as you entered Trenton said (or may still say, it's been awhile):

"The World Takes What Trenton Makes"

The unofficial local saying:

"Trenton Eats What The World Secretes"

I had that pointed out to me when I first went to Trenton with a lifelong Jersey resident.

Parts of south Jersey are nice. I lived in the triangle between Trenton, Camden, and Philly. Not so nice. But, you still didn't have to drive far at all and you were in the farm land. Having moved to New Jersey from Connecticut where I was surrounded by forrests, I spent a lot of time driving out to the more rural parts of south Jersey after I moved there.

[stingx]

I live in extreme northern New Jersey very close to upstate NY - think Orange and Rockland Counties. I have Bear Mountain for my backyard as well as The Palisades. I love motorcycling and nothing rocks more than the spectacular views you can get from Ringwood's Skyline Drive, High Point, The Hawk's Nest and all the little villages and hamlets that dot the Hudson River along 9W.

Here's a picture or two of the side of the road that goes to Hawk's Nest along the Delaware River.

http://www.portjervisny.com/hawksnest3.1.jpg

http://www.cmgonline.com/touring/articles/05_Fall_Tour/BigP/Majesty_Hawks_Nest_bg.jpg

[Plank_Spanker]

Extreme north Jersey is beautuful.

[stingx]

Famous New Jersey Celebrities (there's a boatload of them):


Bud Abbott

Lou Costello

Robert Blake

Jon Bon Jovi

President Grover Cleveland

David Copperfield

Tom Cruise

Brian De Palma

Danny DeVito

Michael Douglas

John Forsythe

Connie Francis

Janeane Garofalo

Willie Garson

Ed Harris

Whitney Houston

Ernie Kovacs

Jane Krakowski

Nathan Lane

Frank Langella

Ali Larter

Vincent Larusso

Queen Latifah

Jerry Lewis

Jay Leno

G. Gordon Liddy

Charles Lindbergh

Ray Liotta

Norman Mailer

Bette Midler

Frankie Muniz

Brittany Murphy

Jack Nicholson

Shaquille O'Neal

Joe Pantoliano

Joe Pesci

Tara Reid

Nelson Riddle

Kelly Ripa

Paul Bustill Robeson

Dennis Rodman

Eva Marie Saint

Roy Scheider

Elisabeth Shue

Paul Simon

Frank Sinatra

Kevin Smith

Mira Sorvino

Kevin Spacey

Bruce Springsteen

Meryl Streep

John Travolta

Linda Tripp

Dionne Warwick

Bruce Willis

Pia Zadora

[R_of_G]

Marc Ribot, guitar god, is from Newark, NJ

[Algonquin]

I'm a big fan of Jersey native, Kevin Smith! :bravo:

[Plank_Spanker]

It's funny.............................

Jersey conjures images of "The Sopranos" intro, packed row houses, and urban nastiness.

I'm a transplant form southern Georgia. I moved here 24 years ago and never left. There is much more to New Jersey than the typical images.

[sunvalleylaw]

it may have changed since i moved, but if not, you might want to limit your strolling in Asbury Park to the broad daylight hours only.

I kinda figured that. But I am from Tacoma, so I am kinda used to that (I knew where to hit the powerlocks on the car and time the lights right so as to avoid car jacking), and it would be for historical purposes I suppose. But from the looks of some of the pics (that extreme north area looks gorgeous, and the pics of Plank's backyard with his guitars on this forum have always been nice), and the descriptions, sounds like there a lot of places to check out first before making a special trip to Asbury Park.

[just strum]

I use to drive through a small section of NJ going from Philadelphia to Croton Falls, NY. Don't remember the name of the road, I do remember toll booths:D

[stingx]

I kinda figured that. But I am from Tacoma, so I am kinda used to that (I knew where to hit the powerlocks on the car and time the lights right so as to avoid car jacking), and it would be for historical purposes I suppose. But from the looks of some of the pics (that extreme north area looks gorgeous, and the pics of Plank's backyard with his guitars on this forum have always been nice), and the descriptions, sounds like there a lot of places to check out first before making a special trip to Asbury Park.

Steve, the Jersey Shore is the longest stretch of boardwalk on the east coast. That and Atlantic City are the #1 tourist draw, especially in summer months. There are many gorgeous beach resorts ranging from Cape May, Wildwood, Ortley Beach, Point Pleasant Beach, etc. Now, regarding Asbury Park. At one time it was the a great family beach resort. It went into serious decline in the 60s-70s. An attempt to revive went no where in the 80s and building construction projects just laid there incomplete. Very sad. Lot's of scams, etc. It has been undergoing another attempt at revitalization. People have been buying up beachfront property there and the lots are extremely high pricewise again - hard to touch anything for cheap there now. It remains to be seen if these investments will bloom but other areas were transformed very nicely, such as West Long Branch.

There is a very good website, based on a periodical, called weirdnj.com (http://weirdnj.com/). NJ has some SERIOUS ****ed up points of interests ranging from the far out and macabre to just WAAAAY out there. Here's a very sobering read on Asbury Park. It was, at the time written, SPOT ON:

http://weirdnj.com/stories/_abandoned03.asp

Another interesting read, under Abandoned, is JUNGLE HABITAT, a theme park once owned by Warner Bros in the 70s that had FREE ROAMING jungle animals like lions, baboons, elephants, etc. all about while you drove through in your car. It closed because of people being killed and mauled trying to feed these animals or just from provocation! Amazing shit.

[sunvalleylaw]

Interesting read Pete. I originally connected with Springsteen because Tacoma in the 70's and 80's when I was growing up had been in an industrial town (mostly pulp mills and shipping) decline and decay. A lot of what he wrote about, esp. on The River and before looked like Tacoma in my mind. Tacoma has sprung back though, through investment in the Port, at least one Superfund cleanup efforts, cleaning up of the pulp mills, and a south campus of the University of Washington helping to jump start re-development of downtown. I am sorry Asbury Park has not yet experienced rebirth. But perhaps it will. There is only so much waterfront.

[Fretbuzz]

I'm watching the Mn Wild and the NJ Devils right now, all tied up.
Hockey fans?