- There are Dunkin' Donut franchises everywhere! There are 3 that I can think of within 2 miles of our house. They sell more than just donuts... such as breakfast sandwiches and every variety of coffee you can think of but I still don't understand the donut obsession. If you drive by on a weekday morning there are usually cars backed up into the street waiting for the drive-thru.
- Diners are everywhere too, and that's just what they call them. The only signage on the one near our house just says 'Diner', not Jim's Diner, or Joe's Diner, just Diner. Another one is the 'New Jersey Diner'.....I guess we'll just have to try out one of these diners sooner or later and see what it's all about.
- You cannot buy any alcohol, including beer and wine, in any grocery store. You need to go to a liquor store for that. Many restaurants do not have a liquor license although if you'd like a beer with your dinner you can bring your own. Restaurants will post BYOB somewhere on the window or door. Nick & I really wanted a good margarita so we went to this mexican food restaurant in Red Bank. The waitress brought them out and they were alcohol free but she suggested going across the street to the liquor store and buying a bottle of tequila and mixing our own. So that's what we did. It felt a little odd pulling out a bottle of tequila from a paper bag at the dinner table but she assured us that customers do it all the time.
- Don't ever tell anyone around here that you went to the beach. Actually, don't ever say the word beach. Here you go 'down the shore' and the locals are quite particular about that phrase. Also, you can expect to pay anywhere from $3.00 - $10.00 to step foot on any beach.
- The main highway that is near our house is called the Garden State Parkway. It's a toll road but there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to the distances between toll booths and how much you pay. One toll is 70¢ and then the next one 20 miles away is 25¢, then 35¢, and so on. There aren't even people in the toll booths, it's just a basket that you throw your change into. I am tempted to just drive right on through without paying one of these days but then again I might find the mafia on my doorstep.
- Almost all roads have a name AND a number. Just to get to the grocery store which is only a mile away I need to take 13A to 520 to 35. And don't confuse 33 from 34 from 35 from 36 because they each go a different way and are also all near our house. Also, I haven't found a straight road here yet. Each one seems to twist and turn and if you stay on it long enough you'll end up where you started. And by the time you make it back there you'll find a new Dunkin' Donuts on the corner.
- If you need to turn left at the light you will almost always need to be in the right lane. They have many "jughandles" which circle you around in the direction you need. Oh, and if you miss your turn you're pretty much screwed. You'll have to find the next jughandle which could be a ways up the road.
- One would expect any metro area such as this to have a paramedic staffed ambulance nearby. Well, we don't. We live in a volunteer EMS area and whenever there is a need for the ambulance you'll hear an air raid siren that signals the local EMT's to respond to the ambulance. This is common in rural areas but I was surprised being as populated as we are that that is how its done here.
- New Jersey is a small state. Very small. And very populated considering there are 8.7 million people living here. If it were a puzzle piece, you could fit 21 New Jersey's in California. 4 Ada County's in Idaho equal the size of New Jersey. 31 New Jersey's would fit in Montana. New Jersey has 21 counties, the smallest is Hudson County which is the same size as San Francisco. With all of that being said, you would expect that native New Jerseyan's would know the direction, distance, and wherabouts of other cities and towns in their state but have found quite the opposite. Someone who lives in the next town over actually asked me if Tinton Falls was very far and how long would it take to drive. (It's 5 miles away)
- There are lawn & yard 'police' here. If your lawn gets to scraggly and long you'll get a ticket and fine from the Dept of Public Works. Luckily this hasn't happened to us thanks to Steve, the guy who mows our yard every other week.
- Bugs. They are larger, louder, weirder, and more plentiful than anywhere else I've been. Fireflies, cicadas, ants, beetles. The ants here are huge, 1/3 to 1/2 inch, and they bite. Oh yeah, the flies bite too.
- New Jerseyans don't like New Yorkers. And vice versa. It's similar to the Idaho/Oregon & California relationship. Can't I just live in a state that everyone gets along?
- Speaking of Idaho, nobody here really knows where it is. And they confuse it with Ohio and Iowa. It's Idahiowa. I guess I can't complain about this too much considering I'm still learning the states that border New Jersey. (Delaware to the south, New York to the north and east, Pennsylvania to the west).
- You never pump your own gas here. It's all full serve.
- Many New Jerseyans (well, maybe New Yorkers and some Pennsylvanians too) have a very gruff and direct way of speaking that can almost be taken as overbearing or rude but I'm realizing that it's just the way they are here. It's nothing personal, that's just how they are.
- Celebrities around here: Both Jon Bon Jovi & Bruce Springsteen live near here and have kids that go to the private school near our house. Oh, and I just missed Deborah Harry (AKA Blondie) at the hardware store down the street. I was buying paint and the two women in line behind me were giddy with excitement. Apparently they approached her to say hello and said she was very friendly and personable.
- Overall, I think New Jersey gets a pretty bad rap. Someone said it's the armpit of New York, people think of congestion, traffic, pollution, huge smokestacked factories, horrible crime, etc. Maybe it seems better because I was expecting all of that but I must say I am pleasantly surprised. It's a pretty bad area right near the Newark airport. People fly in and think all of New Jersey is like that. It is actually very green here, so many trees and rolling green lawns and yards. There is a lot of property on each lot. Most houses have large yards. There are horses, stables, long trails to walk, orchards, and farms. Yes, farms! The public park system is fabulous here and everything is so well maintained. We are in the Garden State and it is appropriately named. By the way, did you know NJ is the 3rd largest producer of cranberries? It's the 6th largest in lettuce and 7th largest of fresh market tomatoes. Who would have known?
As much as we are enjoying it for now, I don't think this is 'home'. I'm thinking of this all as an adventure and it's nice to get to know this side of the United States but my heart will always be in California. Since the kids are still young and not in school I don't mind touring the U.S. via Nick's employment although I do hope to be a Californian again sometime in the future.
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