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By Dan Schlossberg
ConsumerAffairs.com
December 12, 2005
 As
a lifelong resident, I know that New Jersey is much more than the meat
of a sandwich between New York and Philadelphia. The most densely-populated
state in the Union, New Jersey also ranks first in cost of living, price
of auto insurance, and property taxes. But there are many good things
about the Garden State too. Consider these:
• The first brewery in America
opened in Hoboken in 1642.
• Hoboken was also the site
of the first baseball game with nine innings, nine men per team, and
three outs per inning (1846).
• Hoboken was also the birthplace
of Frank Sinatra.
• Nearby Union City has more
Cubans than Havana – all packed into one square mile.
• The Statue of Liberty and
Ellis Island are both located in New Jersey
• Inventor John P. Holland launched
the first submarine on the Passaic River
• Famous for its tomatoes, New
Jersey is the world leader in the production of both cranberries and
blueberries
• Nearly 80 per cent of all
American imports come through Elizabeth, the nation’s largest seaport.
• New Jersey’s water quality
control testing is more stringent than any other seaboard state
• The state’s 50+ resort communities
include Atlantic City, Cape May,
Seaside Heights, and the Wildwoods
• New Jersey has more racehorses
than Kentucky but also more cars – and
the nation’s densest system of highways and
railroads
• Rural Highlands, NJ has the
highest elevation on the Eastern Seaboard
• Though called “the Garden
State,” New Jersey is the only state where all of its counties are
classified as metropolitan areas
• The state has the most diners
in the world and the most shopping malls in one area (seven major malls
in a radius of 25 square miles)
• Both the “New York” Giants
and “New York” Jets play in North Jersey
• Streets in the game Monopoly
are named for real streets in Atlantic City
• Thomas Edison invented the
light bulb, movie projector, and phonograph (record player) in his Menlo Park laboratory
• Other NJ firsts: first radio
station, AM broadcast, and FM broadcast; first
airmail service, first underwater tunnel, first
medical center, first college football game, and first drive-in movie theater
• Natives include Abbott &
Costello, Jason Alexander, Grover Cleveland, Connie Francis, Jack Nicholson,
Bruce Springsteen, Meryl Streep, Loretta Swit, and Woodrow Wilson
• New Jersey has WaWas
(convenience stores), jughandles (highway turns), towns that sound like citrus (the Oranges), and
national recognition from TV’s The Sopranos
• Palisades Amusement Park is
history but New Jerseyans are still prohibited from pumping their own
gas (the only state with such rules)
---
Dan Schlossberg of Fair Lawn, NJ is president of the North American Travel Journalists Association, and a frequent contributor to AAA Traveler and USAirways Magazine.
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