Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Preparing for the Garden State

Things you didn’t know about NJ (well, Laura probably knows most of this)


The first organized baseball game was played in Hoboken, NJ in 1846.

New Jersey’s State House is the second oldest still in use. (Maryland has the oldest.)

New Jersey was known as the "Pathway of the Revolution." Over 100 battles were fought on New Jersey soil.

New Jersey has more horses per square mile than any other state. And more race horses than Kentucky. (REALLY?)

The properties in the United States version of the board game Monopoly are named after the streets of Atlantic City.

New Jersey is one of only two states (along with Oregon) where self-service filling of gasoline is prohibited. (Check out that link to my own introduction to that stooopid rule)

The first professional basketball game was played in Trenton, NJ in 1896.

New Jersey has 127 miles of coastline on the Atlantic Ocean.

New Jersey is home to more than 9,800 farms covering 790,000 acres of farmland.

North Jersey is the car-theft capital of the country, with more cars stolen in Newark than any other city. (Lynne, get in your rental car and drive HELL BENT FOR LEATHER.)

The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island are in New Jersey (Did I sleep through that history class? I thought they were in New York)

The longest boardwalk in the world is in Atlantic City.

Two-thirds of the world's eggplant is grown in New Jersey.

New Jersey has a spoon museum with over 5, 400 spoons from almost all the states. (Wow. can we go see THAT?)

It's illegal to sell cabbage on Sunday in New Jersey. (Oh, come on! Are you kidding me???)

Look out, New Jersey. Bits of Minnesota, Pennsylvania and Ohio are coming your way!
flock birding
(Delia and Laura, October 2007, Cape May, NJ)
PS....How's this for a good sign? Kathi and I are driving across the world to reach New Jersey on my blog's THIRD birthday.

14 comments:

Unknown said...

New Jersey is a great state! It gets a bad wrap at times nationally, but usually that's just ignorance. When I lived in Tucson, I was constantly telling people how beautiful a state NJ is, and they just couldn't fathom it.

LauraHinNJ said...

(Laugh)

You're the best Susan...

-the horse bit is true and a great number of all them horses are pastured right around where I live and work. Remember, the Breeder's Cup was here in NJ last year (while we were in Cape May.)

-don't make Lynne nervous! She won't ever be in the scary parts of Newark (unless she gets lost of course.)

;-)

And hey - you survived Camden after all. That place is bad news.

NCmountainwoman said...

All that and birds too? I don't see how it could get any better. Have a great time.

RuthieJ said...

Happy travels to all of you--can't wait to see all the posts from Cape May!

Lynne at Hasty Brook said...

Someone at work told me today that Newark is the MURDER capitol of the world too!!!! So, if I get lost, first they murder me then they steal the car?

I heard people there have accents too. Minnesotans don't. Nope.

See you tomorrow!

Kyle said...

Sounds like a happening place to be! Hope y'all have fun this weekend (and that Cape May survives the invasion)!

~Kyle

John B. said...

You would have to get really lost to end up in Newark while trying to reach Cape May.

The bit about the horses (and racehorses) doesn't surprise me at all. Horse racing (and the associated gambling) is a big deal here. There are major racetracks in the Meadowlands and at Monmouth Aqueduct. Plus there are a lot of estates throughout the state that include horse farms.

By treaty, Liberty Island and Ellis Island are owned by New York, except for the part of Ellis Island that was built from fill. (A US Supreme Court decision clarified that.) Geographically, they are both well within New Jersey's borders (and much much closer to New Jersey than to any part of New York).

Mary said...

You visited Camden? (Shudder) New Jersey has a beach. That's the best :o)

Please be safe during your travels. Hug the flock I've never met?

Mary

Mary said...

OH, Happy Three Years? How do you do it? I hope I make three years...

LauraHinNJ said...

Back to add 3rd blogiversary wishes!

See you!

dguzman said...

Happy blogiversary! We'll kick up our heels (or soles, I guess I should say) to celebrate!

So cabbage must really be the food of the devil, as I always told my mom when she tried to make me eat that smelly stuff. New Jersey law proves it!

Owlman said...

NJ rules baby! Have fun in Cape May, it will be awesome! I'm looking forward to all the posts.

Anonymous said...

As a New Yorker, I have to concur with any negative things you say about Jersey, although I do have somewhat of a fondness for it. Not only do we keep some of our national landmarks in NJ, but we also stash some of our football teams there.

Kathie Brown said...

Susan, someone is exaggerating. New Jersey is too small to for all of that stuff. Why, if there were that many horses and eggplants the horses hooves would all be purple from stepping on them! Question, was the first baseball game played on horseback?

Seriously, I learned something here today. Very interesting post. I can feel the synapses growing even as I type!