If you’re new to The BIG Road Trip – all the information can be found on this page. Curious how this series came about? Find the ‘why’ in this first announcement post. All BIG Road Trip posts can be found archived here. If you want to submit a guest post about your state, or if you want to share state-related art, stories, inspiration or links, email me at bigroadtrip[at]maritspaperworld[dot]com
Right now I’m gonna take you for a ride
Hold on tight, so you don’t slip or slide
..
This is a New York transit thing
Don’t wear too much gold and hide your diamond rings
And don’t smile at anyone
Cause people out here, they like to travel with handguns
..
You say you like this trip, well are you sure?
You better step lively, and watch the
watch the closing doors
WATCH THE CLOSING DOORS!
~ Transit Ride – Guru ~
YAAAYYY… I made it!
…
It was quite a task to find out which line I had to take and I spend a lot of time in metro’s and trains. Aarghh, you Americans have a lot of railroads running through the country haven’t you?
Anyway, I ended up in something that is called the Metro-North Railroad that brought me to Port Jervis. That’s city is not in New Jersey yet, but it was where I wanted to get off the train ’cause you know what…?
Daniella Hayes from Layers of Creativity lives close to Port Jervis, and she will be here to pick me up!
The friendship between Daniella and I goes way back to when we both just had our blogs. Daniella started blogging a wee bit later than I did and our first contact was on January 11, 2009 (Yep, I looked that up!) so you can imagine my excitement that we will finally meet. She’s waiting at the station and will show me/us around New Jersey.
.
What do you say?
You want to find a place to sleep first?
OK, you go look for a hotel then – I’m not coming with ya ’cause Daniella invited me to stay at her place during my visit to NJ… isn’t that sweet?
.
Hey! OH! There she is!!!
~ Guest post by Daniella Hayes ~
Welcome to New Jersey Marit!! The Garden State!! You must be tired from your trip here!! But 1 1/2 hours by train isn’t bad. Come in! I have a room all ready for you!! So exciting!!
Here are a bunch of fun facts about New Jersey:
- Camden, NJ is the most dangerous city in America, some reports say.
- We don’t have a state song right now, although there is a song Jon Bon Jovi sings that is in the running. He is from New Jersey and still lives here!
- Bruce Springsteen is from NJ, and he made Asbury Park famous. He is also known here for his version of “Jersey girl“. I LOVED him when I was young.
- We have almost 9 million people in only 8,729 square miles. And we have the highest population density of any state, meaning we have 1,300 people per square mile – 13 times the national average.
- Newark, NJ is the car theft capital of the world!! With the most cars stolen than any other city! Including the 2 biggest cities Los Angeles and New York City combined!!
- We also have the most shopping malls in one area in the world! 7 in a 25 mile area.
- Atlantic City is where the street names came from in Monopoly!!
Maybe tomorrow we will go check out the Monument in Highpoint! The monument was built through the generosity of the Kusers, in honor of all war veterans. Construction was started in 1928 and completed in 1930. At the top of the 220-foot structure, observers have a breathtaking view of the ridges of the Pocono Mountains toward the west, the Catskill Mountains to the north and the Wallkill River Valley in the southeast.
That means we can see NY, NJ and PA from the view at 1,803 above sea level!!
If it wasn’t so cold we could go to the beach and swim there!! But, it just snowed here on Friday so hopefully you will come back and visit again when the weather is warm!!!
Maybe, we will go to the Meadowlands Racetrack instead! That isn’t far from here. About an hour. On Friday the horses are racing!! It is fun to watch them, and fun to bet on them too!!
If you we win, we get to go to the winners circle and take a picture with the horse!! I, personally, don’t like horses. They have huge heads and their eyes are on the side of their face and their teeth are HUGH!!!
But I like to see them race and eat in the clubhouse. I haven’t been there in years. How fun to go together!!
But, I don’t know if horse racing if your type of thing. So on Saturday, we can go to the New Meadowlands Flea Market.
I love a good flea market!! They have beautiful plants, fruits, and so many other fun things at cheap prices. Do you have flea markets where you live?
While you are here we HAVE to go to the famous Atlantic City! There are 12 casinos in a town that is only 3.9 miles in size!! You will have a blast! I know I will. It is so fun and exciting! It is one of our biggest attractions!!
It is said that saltwater taffy was first made in Atlantic City.
Saltwater taffy is just one of those things everyone has to get when they go to the beaches in NJ, and Atlantic City is right on the Atlantic Ocean. It also has the longest boardwalk!
But since Super Storm Sandy, I can’t be so sure.
I was going to bring you to the beach in south New Jersey next, but we really can’t. Like literally can’t. Not because it is cold, but because Super Storm Sandy wiped it out. It is awful what happened with that storm. One of our Ferris Wheels from the boardwalk and the beach is now half under water. The storm really devastated the Jersey Shore. But we will not be beaten! We are rebuilding!! And I believe it will be back to the pre-Sandy vacation spot it has always been!
And those are the most fun things we can do in New Jersey, Marit. I just want to give you the best experience you can have in NJ! I told you, we are mostly an industrial state. The seaport in Elizabeth is one of the biggest because we are full of factories and such. So I didn’t write about that. I just picked the things that I thought would be fun for us to do!!
Wohwee, Daniella – it seems we are going to have a lot of fun during our stay in New Jersey. Do you think we will have time to sit in the studio and play, inspired by all the things NJ has to offer?
When you see the ‘inspiration logo’, it means that there will be some tips to spark your imagination. It will often be music (as songs were the trigger to start the road trip) but this time I also found some images to spark your creativity.
Songs about trains:
Transit Ride – Guru (lyrics)
I’m a train – Albert Hammond (lyrics)
Train Kept A Rollin – Aerosmith (lyrics)
Per Spoor – Guus Meeuwis (lyrics) ~ a Dutch song that even foreign speakers will (partly) understand 😉 ~ The video – although most in b/w – also gives a bit of a view on the Dutch railroads.
Songs about New Jersey:
Who Says You Can’t Go Home – Jon Bon Jovi (lyrics)
Jersey Girl – Tom Waits (lyrics) ~ Bruce Springsteen may have made the song popular, but it was written and recorded by Tom Waits.
My Home Town – Bruce Springsteen (lyrics)
I Like Jersey Best – John Pizzarra (lyrics)
You Can’t Catch Me – Chuck Berry (lyrics)
… and I always liked this song that seems apropriate for NJ
Under The Boardwalk – Drifters (lyrics)
Photos:
Scrapbooking:
Graphic 45 scrapbook paper: "On the Boardwalk"
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Hurricane Sandy:
I know it was devastating, but you must agree that the curl of the hurricane on the photo, or the sight of waves coming on to land, can be used as inspiration too.
Image credit: NOAA National Hurricane Center/Reuters Hurricane Sandy is seen churning towards the east coast of the United States is this NOAA handout satellite image taken on October 27, 2012.
Inlet section of Atlantic City, N.J., after Hurricane Sandy. Image credit: 6 ABC Action News.
Now it’s your turn! Did you make something new with the above inspiration? Do you have other New Jersey inspired art to show? Photos maybe? A story to share?
Any tips for galleries, museums, other places we should know of in New Jersey?
Email all fitting art, tips, stories and links for this blog series to bigroadtrip[at]maritspaperworld[dot]com
I’ll make a selection off all submission and next weeks post will be filled (I hope…) with YOUR art, photos, stories, links and tips. I hope to see that email box overflow in the next days!
New Jersey inspired stuff needs to be in by Saturday.
Also: I’m looking for artists from Delaware and Maryland to write a guestpost for this series. Find all the info HERE.
Pat says
Fascinating stuff, didn’t know most of it. Hope you find your next guides.
Julie Tucker-Wolek says
I loveeeeeeeeeeeee NJ!! But you forgot to mention Wa-Wa’s!! LOL!!! 🙂 Great tour!! My second home 🙂
Ricki Jill Treleaven says
Good to find you in New Jersey, Marit! ;P
I know you had fun with Daniella. She’s a great hostess!!!
Enjoy the rest of your tour!
Janet says
This is a fun trip!
Kim Mailhot says
Thanks, Daniella, you Jersey girl you !
Here’s to all of that great NJ energy in rebuilding after Sandy ! Cheers !!
Thanks Marit, for sharing bits of these great places !
Happy Monday!
Daniella says
In that picture of Seaside Heights you see the ferris wheel that I was talking about in the post! Imagine that the water is now so far inland that you can only see half of it now!! Crazy!
I am so excited you are here!! And of course we will have time to get into my studio and get dirty!! I only planned 4 big events, so that leaves us at least a week to create!!
Thanks for having me as a part of your trip!! You are awesome!!
xxD
Lena says
Kdeng-a-deng, kdeng-a-deng… woohoo!!
Heeeele leuke post meis!! En wat hoop research werk zit hierin zeg!!
Enne… als ik die foto met de rolkoffer niet zou kennen, zou ik zweren dat je daar op dat station stáát hoor!!
Fijne trip verder!
~*~Patty Szymkowicz Magpie's Nest says
Dear Marit ~ I admire you and your big projects…this is a fantastic adventure…enjoyed Seth and Jill’s NYC posts very much too!
oxo
Seth says
What a great tour of New Jersey. Glad I could come along. And I loved the fun facts too!
Krisha says
What a great trip this will be. I’ve been to NYC twice but didn’t make it to Jersey, MY loss! I willbe back to the east coast again one day and I WILL make it to Jersey for sure. Thanks Daniella for the tour, and thanks Marit for taking us along.
Sandra L. says
Ladies what a great tour of what is now my home state. Sounds like you had a blast and had I stumbled upon this thread sooner, you could have stopped by my house. I live in Cape May, NJ. It is the furthest town in Southern NJ and the oldest resort on the east coast. We also have the most Victorian homes. We were lucky and didn’t suffer much damage from Sandy.
Enjoy your journey!