New Jersey

[kotori]

lovetoread's comments about New Jersey in her "Class of '01" thread started getting me a little nostalgic. So here's one of my favorite songs about the place I have such fond memories of. They fit an awful lot into a little space there.

I Like Jersey Best

Travelling down the Turnpike
heading for the shore
A thought just then occurred to me
I never thought before
I've been a lot of places
Seen pictures of the rest
But of all the places I can think of
I like Jersey best.

Betting halls, shopping malls,
good old Rutgers U,
47 shoes stores line Route 22
The Meadowlands, the root beer stands
Main Street Hackensack;
I may leave for a week or two
But I'm always coming back.

(Refrain)
The Pinelands and the Vinelands
Seaside Heights Margate
You can have Miami
I love the Garden State
I've been a lot of places
Seen pictures of the rest
But of all the places I can think of
I like Jersey best.

We have horses, Princeton courses,
Gas stations we have scores
Trenton, Hopewell, Lake Hopatcong,
Mantoloking Shores;
Some states have their rock stars,
But Springsteen beats them all --
And our beautiful arena has
Brendan Byrne carved on the wall.

Lots of dineries, oil refineries,
Our highways make you cough,
But Spring Lake Heights and Belmar
Are places to get off.
Drinking spots and used car lots
Make the place just grand,
If you want to pay a visit,
Newark Airport's where you land.

(Refrain)

Philly dogs like Chili dogs
They eat in Cherry Hill
Woodbridge they make Haagen Dazs
I can't get my fill
Saddle River ain't chopped liver
Nor is Lavallette
There are no Jersey strangers,
Just friends we haven't met.

The Jersey Nets went thataway, Piscataway
No more, had another winning season
And next year they'll win more;
Our Giants could go all the way
If they could win just one,
But the parties in the lots
Before the games are really fun.

(Refrain)

Our famous Parkway is the darkway
Home from Manasquan
You'd think for all those quarters
They'd turn the road lights on
And have no pity, Jersey City
Once again will shine,
With Holmdel, Cape May, Highland Park
I like our state just fine.

The Pinelands and the Vinelands
Seaside Heights Margate
You can have Miami
I love the Garden State
I've seen a lot of places
Seen pictures of the rest
But of all the places
I can think of, I like Jersey Best!

Written by Joseph Edward Cosgriff
Performed by John Pizzarelli

 

[Dixon Carter Lee]

I went to the beach the other day, near Malibu, and as great as the So Cal beaches are, nothing beats the Jersey Shore. The water's warmer, the radio stations are better, the waves are bigger, the boardwalk beats the stupid roller-skater sidewalks all to hell, and the life-guards are your old high school gym teachers. I love Jersey.

 

[kotori]

I knew I'd attract your attention

if you were here, Dixon. Speaking of radio stations, I remember first hear Pizzarelli play this song on Jonathan Schwartz's Sunday morning show on WNEW-AM, about 20 years ago. Recovered from a lot of hangovers listening to the melifluous Schwartz drone.

 

[lovetoread]

After all the comments about Jersey,I was getting a complex.

 

[RhumbRunner13]

I went to the beach the other day, near Malibu, and as great as the So Cal beaches are, nothing beats the Jersey Shore. The water's warmer, the radio stations are better, the waves are bigger, the boardwalk beats the stupid roller-skater sidewalks all to hell, and the life-guards are your old high school gym teachers. I love Jersey.

......and that really hot chick over there is from Malibu cause there is nothin' like that in Jersey!

Rhumb

 

[badasschick]

Ah, the armpit of the nation.


I miss its utter tackiness at times....plus I long periodic trips to Geat Adventure, just for the monkeys.

 

[Mellon Collie]

I heart the Jersey Shore but the boardwalk is getting pretty out of hand - I was there a few months ago and it was like 4 to 5 dollars a game. I was all what the hell is this crap?! And all the prizes were SpongeBob Squarepants related - don't these people know that Patrick is the real star of the show? But then I got the coolest flip-flops in the world from the dollar store and I saw this 90 year old couple getting matching tattoos so it was all good.

 

[Ice Cold]

Grew up on the Jersey shore, near Mantoloking & Seaside heights. I loved the boardwalk in the winter, when all the bennies would go home, and it was just the natives.
The summers full of crowded beaches and Jersey girls lined up as far as the eye could see. You could hop the train to NY, or take a quick drive to Atlantic City. Everytime I go back, first place I go to is the shore, got out on the reefs and just watch the tide roll in.

 

[Jedi_Outcast]

I heart the Jersey Shore but the boardwalk is getting pretty out of hand - I was there a few months ago and it was like 4 to 5 dollars a game. I was all what the hell is this crap?! And all the prizes were SpongeBob Squarepants related - don't these people know that Patrick is the real star of the show? But then I got the coolest flip-flops in the world from the dollar store and I saw this 90 year old couple getting matching tattoos so it was all good.

Love patrick, did you know he is voiced by Bill Fagerbakke. he played Dauber Dybinski on coach (the big dumb one)

 

[LovetoGiveRoses]

The jersey shore is interesting and fun. It sure gets crowded though. Jersey certainly takes the cake for the most arcades, rides, and has more funnell cakes and that ice cream like stuff (can't remember the name) than anywhere else.

 

[LovetoGiveRoses]

Can we talk about other beaches?

The beaches that I thought were the prettiest were along the Gulf Shore. Ft. Walton Beach, Destin, that area. The water is very warm (Gulf of Mexico), very very clean, and the waves were much bigger than I thought they'd be. You could go out chest deep and still see your toes clearly. The sand is whiter and finer than any I've seen, even in the Caribbean.

 

[LovetoGiveRoses]

Do we want to talk about the Islands?

 

[LovetoGiveRoses]

DCL, some of the California beaches are OK.

I'm partial to Seal Beach California. It's the most "pleasent" that I've been too. It's not really a "resort" area, most of the beachgoers there are residents from the area (very few tourists), the beaches are wide and clean and the sand is soft. The best parts of the Seal Beach adventure are Grandma's ice cream on the corner and the tree-lined little Main Street that has Dan Juan's Taco House, Fish Taco, A couple great seafood restaurants and some great pubs with lots of windows and light.

 

[LovetoGiveRoses]

Laguna Beach is nice too. There are lots of activites there. In addition to the art galleries, the quaint boardwalk, many restaurants and pubs, they have volleyball and basketball courts. Some of the Laker's are known to stop by from time to time during the off season to hang out at the courts there.

 

[kotori]

Re: Can we talk about other beaches?

The beaches that I thought were the prettiest were along the Gulf Shore. Ft. Walton Beach, Destin, that area.

Ah, yes. The Redneck Riviera.

 

[Guest]

I miss cow country- Hunterdon Co.
I had lots of nice trips to Island Beach State Park. One of the few places that you didn't have to pay.

 

[LovetoGiveRoses]

Re: Re: Can we talk about other beaches?

Ah, yes. The Redneck Riviera.

Yes, yes. I was dubious of it when it was suggested that I go and I was pleasantly surprised. I'm a redneck so I didn't notice anything untoward. LOL.

 

[Dixon Carter Lee]

I worked Great Adventure several years as a theatre tech. I did everything from design the lights for the musical revues to shoveling shit out of the tiger cage.