New Jersey Is . . .

I go to breakfast every other Friday with a group of old gents from New Gretna and the surrounding area. Sometimes we are referred to as the ROMEOs,  Retired  Old  Men  Eating Out. 

Last Friday we were having breakfast at Allen's Clam Bar in New Gretna, and Jim McAnney, good naturally,  busted my chops about an email that he sent to me that I didn't post on the Blog. He wanted to know why I post everyone else's email but not his. 

I do try to eventually post most history related emails that I get, so here goes, Jim. This wasn't the email that you were referring to, but it is one you sent about New Jersey that I found interesting. Hopefully, everyone out in the Blog-O-Sphere will find it interesting, too. Seems that New Jersey is a pretty interesting place!

Pete S

NEW JERSEY  .  .  .

New Jersey is a  peninsula.  
Highlands, New Jersey has the highest elevation  along the entire eastern seaboard, from Maine to  Florida.  
New  Jersey is the only state where all of its counties are  classified as metropolitan  areas. 
New Jersey  has more race horses than Kentucky. 
New  Jersey has more Cubans in Union City (1 sq MI.) than Havana,  Cuba. 
New Jersey has the densest  system of highways and railroads in the US. 
New Jersey has the highest cost of  living.  
New Jersey  has the highest cost of auto insurance. 
New Jersey has the highest property  taxes in the nation. 
New  Jersey has the  most diners in the world and is sometimes referred  to 
as the "Diner Capital of the World."  
New  Jersey is home to the original Mystery Pork Parts Club (no,  not Spam): Taylor Ham or Pork Roll.  
Home to the less mysterious but the best Italian hot dogs  and  Italian sausage w/peppers  and onions.  
North  Jersey has the most shopping malls in one area in the world,  with seven major shopping malls  in a 25 square mile radius.  

The Passaic River was  the site of the first submarine ride 
by inventor John P. Holland ..  
New Jersey has 50+ resort cities  & towns; some of the nation's most famous: 
Asbury Park ,  Wildwood,  Atlantic  City,  Seaside Heights,  Long Branch,  Cape  May .... 
New  Jersey has the most stringent testing along its coastline for  water quality control than any other seaboard state in the entire  country.  
New  Jersey  is a leading  technology & industrial state and is the largest chemical  producing state in the nation when you include pharmaceuticals.  
Jersey  tomatoes are known the world over as being the best you can  buy. 
New Jersey is the world leader in  blueberry and cranberry production  
(and here you  thought Massachusetts) 
Here's to New Jersey - the toast of the country! In 1642, the first brewery in  America, opened in Hoboken.  
New Jersey rocks!  The famous Les Paul invented  the first solid body electric guitar in Mahwah, in  1940.  
New  Jersey is a major  seaport state with the largest seaport in the US,located in Elizabeth.  Nearly 80 percent  of what our nation imports comes through Elizabeth Seaport first. 
New  Jersey is home to one  of the nation's busiest airports  (in  Newark),Liberty International 
George Washington slept there.   
Several important  Revolutionary War battles were fought on New Jersey soil, led by  General George Washington. 
The light bulb, phonograph (record player), and motion  picture projector, were invented by Thomas Edison in his Menlo Park,  NJ, laboratory. 
New  Jersey  also boasts the first town ever lit by incandescent bulbs  (Roselle).
The first seaplane was built in Keyport ,NJ .  
The first airmail (to  Chicago) was started from Keyport, NJ. 
The first phonograph records were made in Camden,  NJ 
New Jersey was home to the Miss America  Pageant held in Atlantic City .....
The game Monopoly, played all over the world, named the  streets on its playing board after the actual streets in Atlantic  City. 
And,  Atlantic City has the longest boardwalk in the world, not to mention  salt water taffy.  
New Jersey has the largest  petroleum containment area outside of the Middle East countries. 
The first Indian reservation was in New  Jersey, in the Watchung Mountains 
New Jersey has the tallest water-tower in the world.  (Union,  NJ!!!) 
New Jersey had the first medical center, in  Jersey City 
The Pulaski SkyWay,  from Jersey City to Newark, was the first skyway highway.  
New  Jersey  built the first  tunnel under a river, the Hudson  (Holland Tunnel). 
The first baseball game was played in Hoboken,  NJ, which is also the birthplace of Frank Sinatra.  
The first intercollegiate  football game was played in New Brunswick in 1889 ( Rutgers College played Princeton). 
The first drive-in movie theater was opened in Camden,  NJ,  
(but they're  all gone now!). 
New Jersey  is home to both of " NEW YORK'S" pro  football teams!  
The first  radio station and broadcast was in Paterson, NJ. 
The first FM radio broadcast was made from  Alpine, NJ, by Maj. Thomas Armstrong. 
All New Jersey natives:    
Sal  Martorano, Jack Nicholson, Bruce  
Springsteen, Bon Jovi, Jason  Alexander, 
Queen Latifah,  Susan Sarandon, Connie Francis 
Shaq, Judy  Blume, Aaron Burr, Joan Robertson, Ken Kross, 
Dionne Warwick, Sarah Vaughn, Budd Abbott,  Lou Costello, 
Alan Ginsberg,  Norman Mailer, Marilyn n McCoo, 
Flip Wilson, Alexander Hamilton, Zack Braff,  
Whitney Houston, Eddie  Money, LindaMcElroy, 
Eileen Donnelly, Grover Cleveland, Woodrow Wilson,  
Walt Whitman,  Jerry Lewis, Tom Cruise, 
Joyce Kilmer, Bruce Willis, Caesar Romero, Lauryn  Hill, Ice-T, Nick Adams, Nathan Lane, Sandra Dee, 
Danny DeVito, Richard Conti, Joe Pesci, Joe  Piscopo, 
Joe DePasquale,  Robert Blake, John Forsythe, 
Meryl Streep, Loretta Swit, Norman Lloyd, Paul Simon, Jerry  Herman, Gorden McCrae, Kevin Spacey, 
John Travolta, Phyllis Newman, Anne Morrow Lindbergh, Eva  Marie Saint, Elisabeth Shue, Zebulon Pike, James Fennimore Cooper,  Admiral Wm. Halsey Jr., 
Norman  Schwarzkopf, Dave Thomas (Wendy's),   
William Carlos Williams, Ray Liotta, Robert Wuhl,  
Bob Reyers, Paul Robeson,  Ernie Kovacs, Joseph Macchia, Kelly Ripa, and, of course,  
Francis Albert Sinatra and  "Uncle Floyd" Vivino.
Tom Bottalico
The Great Falls in Paterson, on thePassaic  River, is the 2nd highest waterfall on the East Coast  
of the US.  
You know  you're from Jersey when . .. 
You don't  think of fruit when people mention "The Oranges." 
You know that it's called Great Adventure, not  Six Flags. 
A good, quick  breakfast is a hard roll with butter. 
You've known the  way to Seaside Heights since you were seven. 
You've eaten at a diner, when you  were stoned or drunk, at 3 A.M. 
You know  that the state isn't one big oil refinery. 
At least three people in your family still love  
Bruce Springsteen, and  
you know the town Jon Bon  Jovi is from.  
You know what a "jug handle"  is.  
You know that  WaWa is a convenience store. 
You know that the state isn't all farmland. 
You 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."  
You know how to properly  negotiate a circle.  
You knew that the last  sentence had to do with driving. 
You know that this is the only "New" state that doesn't  require "New" to identify it (try . . Mexico . . . York ..! . .  Hampshire-- doesn't work, does it?). 
You know that a "White Castle" is the name of BOTH a fast  food chain AND a fast food sandwich. 
You consider putting mayo on a corned beef  sandwich  
a  sacrilege. 
You don't  think "What exit?" is very funny. 
You know that people from the 609 area code  are "a little different." Yes they are!
You know that no respectable New Jerseyan goes to  Princeton--that's for out-of-staters. 
The Jets-Giants game has started fights at your school or  local bar. 
You live within  20 minutes of at least three different malls. 
You refer to all highways and  interstates by their numbers. 
Every year  you have at least one kid in your class named Tony.  
You know the location of  every clip shown in the  
Sopranos opening  credits.  
You've gotten on  the wrong highway trying to get out of the mall. 
You know that people from North  Jerseygo to Seaside Heights, and people fromCentral Jersey go to  Belmar, and people from South Jersey go to Wildwood.  
It can be no  other way. 
You weren't raised in  New Jersey--you were raised in either North Jersey,Central Jersey or  South Jersey.  
You don't consider Newark or  Camden to actually be part of the state 
You remember the stores  Korvette's, Two Guys, Rickel's, Channel, Bamberger's and  Orbach's.  
You also remember Palisades Amusement Park.  
You've had a boardwalk  cheese steak and vinegar fries. 
You start planning for Memorial Day weekend in February.  
And finally . .  
You've NEVER,  NEVER, NEVER, 
EVER pumped your own gas.