# Everybody makes fun of NJ for being awful. What does NJ have that's the best you can get anywhere? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 1, 2012, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everybody-makes-fun-of-nj-for-being-awful-what-does-nj-have-thats-the-best-you-can-get-anywhere/623726 "2012-06-01T01:11:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2012, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everybody-makes-fun-of-nj-for-being-awful-what-does-nj-have-thats-the-best-you-can-get-anywhere/623726/1 "2012-06-01T01:11:16Z")
Surely there must be something? ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2012, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everybody-makes-fun-of-nj-for-being-awful-what-does-nj-have-thats-the-best-you-can-get-anywhere/623726/2 "2012-06-01T01:12:09Z")
They have some good diners. Also Six Flags. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2012, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everybody-makes-fun-of-nj-for-being-awful-what-does-nj-have-thats-the-best-you-can-get-anywhere/623726/3 "2012-06-01T01:18:35Z")
The Governor’s a hoot - and that’s not a dig, I like him. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2012, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everybody-makes-fun-of-nj-for-being-awful-what-does-nj-have-thats-the-best-you-can-get-anywhere/623726/4 "2012-06-01T01:26:00Z")
There’s a reason it’s called The Garden State. There are beautiful stretches of green rolling hills and trees and farms and pretty pretty. \*Most \*of New Jersey is green, actually, only punctuated by a few unfortunately smelly cities. The stromboli at Stuff Yer Face on the boardwalk remain the best stomboli I’ve ever had. Don’t know if they’re still around, though. (Google says there’s one at Rutgers now, but I don’t know if it’s related to the one in Long Branch I enjoyed as a kid.) There’s also [Grounds for Sculpture](http://www.groundsforsculpture.org/), which my brother and I accidentally found one grey rainy day in the off season, and it was about as freaky cool spooky as the crew of Serenity wandering around Miranda. I bet it’s pretty neat when you’re not the only living souls in existence, too. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2012, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everybody-makes-fun-of-nj-for-being-awful-what-does-nj-have-thats-the-best-you-can-get-anywhere/623726/5 "2012-06-01T01:35:45Z")
Diners. Specifically, Tops in East Newark. Portuguese restaurants. Angry fat white guys who talk with their hands. Towns. I swear, there are towns everywhere, with funny names. Brick. East Orange. Milburn. North Brunswick. Linden. West New York. Rahway. Hoboken. All of them different, with their own stories and lore. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2012, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everybody-makes-fun-of-nj-for-being-awful-what-does-nj-have-thats-the-best-you-can-get-anywhere/623726/6 "2012-06-01T01:38:36Z")
According to all the true crime lit I’ve read: **hit men.** ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2012, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everybody-makes-fun-of-nj-for-being-awful-what-does-nj-have-thats-the-best-you-can-get-anywhere/623726/7 "2012-06-01T01:41:16Z")
In the summer, Jersey is prime habitat for a magnificent variety of Guidos and Juiceheads. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2012, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everybody-makes-fun-of-nj-for-being-awful-what-does-nj-have-thats-the-best-you-can-get-anywhere/623726/8 "2012-06-01T01:53:02Z")
Boardwalks. Which other state has Boardwalks by the Ocean? In Massachusetts and California and Virginia they don’t. I think they might have one at Coney Island, and maybe elsewhere in Long Island. But Asbury Park (now finally starting to rise again), Point Pleasant, Seaside Heights, Ocean City, Atlantic City, and Wilwood there are Boardwalks by the ocean. And for that matter the Jersey Shore – the real shore, by the ocean. New Jersey actually has an astonishing amount of coastline and inland waterway. It’s warmer and more inviting than Masachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine beaches – it still has benefit of the Gulf Stream (which most of New England, outside of Cape Cod and the Islands, doesn’t) If you get off the Route 1/I-95 megaroute cutting the state in half there are some gorgeous hills and farms. as **WhyNot** says, it’s the Garden State. Sadly, a lot of the woodland and farm country near where i grew up has been eaten up by warehouses and plazas in the past two decades. A lot of Colonial history, especially Revolutionary War history – Monmouth Battlefield, Allaire State Pasrk, Batsto, Rockingham, Nassau Hall at Princeton and the older buildings at Rurgers. New Brunswick Old Town. The Northwest corner has Delaware water Gap, Stokkes State Forest, High Point, and a piece of the Appalachian Trail. ---
**Author:** ![kenner116](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecb155/32.png) [@kenner116](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenner116)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2012, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everybody-makes-fun-of-nj-for-being-awful-what-does-nj-have-thats-the-best-you-can-get-anywhere/623726/9 "2012-06-01T01:59:15Z")
The [Pine Barrens](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pine_Barrens_%28New_Jersey%29) are pretty awesome. Lot’s of great memories camping and canoeing there. Diners are the obvious choice. Must be open 24 hours. Brooklawn Diner is my favorite. It’s a couple of towns south of Camden. Lots of great boardwalks as well. Ocean City and Wildwood are hard to beat. And the beaches are nice, too. ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2012, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everybody-makes-fun-of-nj-for-being-awful-what-does-nj-have-thats-the-best-you-can-get-anywhere/623726/10 "2012-06-01T02:21:30Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Boardwalks. Which other state has Boardwalks by the Ocean? In Massachusetts and California and Virginia they don’t. MA has boardwalks. Sandwich and Salsbury come to mind. ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2012, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everybody-makes-fun-of-nj-for-being-awful-what-does-nj-have-thats-the-best-you-can-get-anywhere/623726/11 "2012-06-01T02:36:25Z")
Pizza. Easy access to NYC. Some truly lovely public parks. Great schools: [http://www.njea.org/about/who-we-are/good-news](http://www.njea.org/about/who-we-are/good-news) ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2012, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everybody-makes-fun-of-nj-for-being-awful-what-does-nj-have-thats-the-best-you-can-get-anywhere/623726/12 "2012-06-01T02:43:02Z")
Cheap gas, and they pump it for you! ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2012, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everybody-makes-fun-of-nj-for-being-awful-what-does-nj-have-thats-the-best-you-can-get-anywhere/623726/13 "2012-06-01T02:45:52Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > Towns. I swear, there are towns everywhere, with funny names. Brick. East Orange. Milburn. North Brunswick. Linden. West New York. Rahway. Hoboken. All of them different, with their own stories and lore. Emphasis on the fun names bit. Ho-ho-kus. Tenafly. Ramapo. Paramus. Hackensack. Passaic. Mahwah. Teaneck. _Cheesequake_. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2012, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everybody-makes-fun-of-nj-for-being-awful-what-does-nj-have-thats-the-best-you-can-get-anywhere/623726/14 "2012-06-01T02:46:43Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > The Governor’s a hoot - and that’s not a dig, I like him. God, help me, I like him too. And I do not agree with his politics. I think the moment I realized he was different is when he supported a Muslim judge, and the conservatives got all pissed off about it and worried this Muslim judge would reinstate Sharia Law. He stood in front of a packed press room and, said - and I quote - ‘‘This Sharia Law business is just crap.’’ [QUOTE=TheBlaze newspaper article] But it was a follow-up question on the fear of Sharia Law that set the governor off. “Sharia Law has nothing to do with this at all, it’s crazy!” he cried. “The guy is an American citizen!” He concluded that the “Sharia Law business is just crap… and I’m tried of dealing with the crazies,” adding with disgust and frustration that “it’s just unnecessary to be accusing this guy of things just because of his religious background.” [/QUOTE] If only he could be so enlightened about gay marriage. > [@F.U.Shakespeare](#): > > According to all the true crime lit I’ve read: **hit men.** There is a real mob presence here. A teacher we know taught the daughter of a mobster at her elementary school. The little girl said her Dad was in jail. When asked why, she put her hands on her hips, rolled her eyes and huffed, ‘‘Because he won’t stop _killing_ people.’’ ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2012, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everybody-makes-fun-of-nj-for-being-awful-what-does-nj-have-thats-the-best-you-can-get-anywhere/623726/15 "2012-06-01T02:48:10Z")
Oh, I almost forgot my contribution - health care. I’ve been really impressed by the health care. And I really, really like the insurance that comes with being an employee of the state. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2012, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everybody-makes-fun-of-nj-for-being-awful-what-does-nj-have-thats-the-best-you-can-get-anywhere/623726/16 "2012-06-01T02:49:07Z")
Don’t they have one of those fancy universities there? ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2012, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everybody-makes-fun-of-nj-for-being-awful-what-does-nj-have-thats-the-best-you-can-get-anywhere/623726/17 "2012-06-01T02:52:08Z")
Ugly views from the Interstate highway. ---
**Author:** ![Sudden\_Kestrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Sudden\_Kestrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sudden_Kestrel)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2012, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everybody-makes-fun-of-nj-for-being-awful-what-does-nj-have-thats-the-best-you-can-get-anywhere/623726/18 "2012-06-01T03:19:05Z")
I like their accents. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2012, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everybody-makes-fun-of-nj-for-being-awful-what-does-nj-have-thats-the-best-you-can-get-anywhere/623726/19 "2012-06-01T03:24:12Z")
This would take me hours… Have you ever been to the top of an elephant named Lucy? Have you ever tubed down the Delaware? Ever eaten at The Walpack Inn, where deer walk up to the big picture window by your table while you are eating? Ever visit Lambert Castle or Kipps Castle? Ever eaten at Highlawn Pavilion at Eagle Rock Reservation? (Get an east side window seat, after sunset. You’re welcome. ;)) Ever been to the bridge that was the inspiration for “Its A Wonderful Life”? Ever slept on a Battleship? Ever gone fishing & passed two rock star’s houses/estates on the way to the sea? Ever kissed a girl on LBI? Ever seen an air-show at Maguire? Ever driven on a road that could get you 5 years in federal prison just for making the wrong left turn (and you’ll never know why)? Ever walk across the GWB? Ever blow out your suspension on the cobblestones & take the ferry to the Statue of Liberty? Ever look at the spinning “A” from terminal “C”? Ever take the free tour at the spinning “A”, drink a beer, and lok back at terminal “C”? Ever hike in the Watchung Mountains and feel that it was really spooky, but you don’t know why? Ever bike across a bridge to PA, hang a left, & shop at New Hope? Ever seen lightning arc across the bay in Wildwood on a hot summer night? Ever lift the tail of a horse-shoe crab & see its claws wriggle? Ever sail on a ship with a placard that reads, “In case of nuclear war, this ship may be comandeered”? Ever eaten dirty water dogs at the grease trucks at Branchbrook park? Or cheese steaks from the trucks on College Ave in New Brunswick? Taylor. Ham. Egg. and Cheese. Ever have blueberry champagne at a vineyard outside of AC? Monmouth Race Track. Just. Plain. Cool. 😉 Raceway Park Flea Market Curly’s Fries Honorable mentions of Yesteryear: Flemmington Fair Ed Zaberer’s Union Jack’s (always bet on Rock & Roll. Always. 😉 ) Rt 1 Flea Market “No, honey, I don’t know whose grave that is. No, I have no idea why its in the middle of a parking lot…” :eek: 😃 ---
**Author:** ![carlb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carlb/32/5930_2.png) [@carlb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carlb)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2012, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everybody-makes-fun-of-nj-for-being-awful-what-does-nj-have-thats-the-best-you-can-get-anywhere/623726/20 "2012-06-01T03:32:35Z")
Beefsteak tomatoes fresh off the farm (or out of the garden if you have such skills) in the summertime. Just slice 'em thick and put a little salt on them. I’ve yet to find tomatoes as good as Jersey tomatoes. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/everybody-makes-fun-of-nj-for-being-awful-what-does-nj-have-thats-the-best-you-can-get-anywhere/623726.md?page=2)