Thursday Thirteen

In keeping with my promotion of the Garden State, here are 13 things you might not know about New Jersey:

1. Highlands, New Jersey has the highest elevation along the entire eastern seaboard, from Maine to Florida.

2. New Jersey has more race horses than Kentucky.

3. New Jersey has the most diners in the world and is sometimes referred to as the Diner Capital of the World.

4. New Jersey is home to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. (No, they are NOT in New York!)

5. New Jersey is the world leader in blueberry and cranberry production.

6. The light bulb, phonograph, and motion picture projector, were invented by Thomas Edison in his Menlo Park, NJ laboratory. (My husband's great-grandfather worked for Thomas Edison).

7. The first baseball game was played in Hoboken, NJ, which is also the birthplace of Frank Sinatra.

8. The first intercollegiate football game was played in New Brunswick in 1889. (Rutgers College played Princeton.)

9. New Jersey is home to both of "NEW YORK'S " ProFootball Teams.

10. The first Indian reservation was in New Jersey.

11. Atlantic City has the longest boardwalk in the world.

12. The first Drive-in Movie theater was opened in Camden, NJ, (but they're all gone now.)

And my favorite:

13. North Jersey has the most shopping malls in one area in the world, with seven major shopping malls in a 25 square mile radius.

New Jersey - The Rodney Dangerfield of U.S. States

There is no other state that is ridiculed and made the butt of as many jokes as New Jersey. The next time I tell someone I'm from NJ, please try and refrain from asking "What exit?" Many folks' impressions of NJ are drawn from the only place they've travelled in NJ - the infamous Turnpike. The opening credits on the Sopranos don't help either. For those New Yorkers who love to razz on my state, I have one question - why do I see so many cars with NY plates here at the Jersey Shore this time of year, usually blocking an intersection I'm trying to get through.
Yes, like most stereotypes, there is some truth to them. We do have lots of pizzerias, 24 hour diners, a few oil refineries (somebody has to do it), and, yes, I've known a few guys who would have been right at home in a Soprano's episode.
Anyway, I thought I would do my duty as a proud New Jerseyan and share some of the real New Jersey with the rest of the world, starting with my hometown, Middletown.
In addition to moi, Middletown is also the home of:


Jon Bon Jovi - Check out his digs.



Mighty Max Weinberg- E Street Band drummer & bandleader of the Tonight Show Band
See home here.



Mr. & Mrs. Maury Povich (aka Connie Chung)
Home

NBC News anchor, Brian Williams, grew up here and was a volunteer fire fighter and legendary football coach, Vince Lombardi, is buried here.


Well, that's all for today's "Introduction to Middletown, NJ" class. Tomorrow's lesson: Jersey Girl's Neighborhood.

NJ May Re-instate The Death Penalty

My local paper, the Asbury Park Press, is leading a movement to get our state legislators to vote to re-instate the death penalty as soon as possible. I am 100% behind this, considering I, along with many other New Jerseyans, were victims of a most heinous crime this week. Even if you don't live in Jersey, please support us in this endeavor.




We take our Bruce seriously here.

I'm In a Jersey State of Mind

Being from Jersey comes with its own stereotypes - one of which is that we pronounce "Jersey" as "Joisey." In my entire life, I have never heard anyone from Jersey pronounce it "Joisey" except as a joke.
Once, when I was flying back to NJ from Southern California, the woman sitting next to me and I started a conversation. She asked me if I was going to NYC after we arrived at EWR. I said no, I was headed down the shore. She said she knew then that I was from NJ; no one anywhere else refers to being at the beach as "down the shore."
Anyway, below are some things that anyone from Jersey can relate to. Thanks to NJAttitude.com for this great list:

You Know You're from NJ If....

1. You don't think of fruit when people mention "The Oranges."
2. You know that it's called "Great Adventure", not Six Flags.
3. A good, quick breakfast is a hard roll with butter.
4. You have known the way to Seaside Heights since you were seven.
5. Have eaten at a Diner, when you were stoned or drunk, at 3 a.m.
6. At least three people in your family still love Bruce Springsteen and know the town Jon Bon Jovi is from.
7. Know what a "jug handle" is.
8. Know that WaWa is a convenience store.
9. Know that there are no "beaches" in New Jersey there's "The Shore". And you don't go "to the shore", you go "down the Shore". And when you are there, you're not "at the shore", you are "down the Shore".
10. Even your school cafeteria made good Italian subs. And it's a Sub, not a submarine sandwich or worse yet, a hoagie, a hero, or a grinder.
11. You know how to properly navigate a Circle.
12. You knew that the above sentence had to do with driving.
13. You know that this is the only "New" state that doesn't require "New" to identify it (like, try .Mexico . . . Yor . . . .,...Hampshire - doesn't work, does it?)
14.. You don't think "What exit" is very funny.
15. You know that people from the 609 area code are "a little "different".
16. You know that no respectable New Jerseyan goes to Princeton - that's for out-of-staters.
17. The Jets-Giants game has started fights at your school or local bar.
18. You live within 20 minutes of at least three different malls.
19. You refer to all highways and interstates by their numbers.
20. Every year, you had a least one kid in your class named Tony, Joey, or Johnny.
21. You know the location of every clip shown in the Sopranos opening credits.
22. You've gotten on the wrong highway trying to get out of the mall.
23. You know that people from North Jersey go to Seaside Heights, and people from Central Jersey go to Belmar and people from South Jersey go to Wildwood. It can be no other way.
24. You were not raised in New Jersey. You were raised in either North Jersey, Central Jersey or South Jersey.
25. You don't consider Newark or Camden to actually be part of the state.
26. You remember the stores Korvette's, Two Guys, Rickel's, Channel, Bamburger's and Orbach's.
27. You've had a Boardwalk cheese steak and vinegar fries and/or Boardwalk sausage with peopers and onions and a fresh squezzed lemonade.
28. You start planning for Memorial Day weekend in February.
29. When you say you're going to Englishtown you mean you're going to the flea market, not the town.
And finally...
30. You NEVER, NEVER pump your own gas. (we're not allowed to).