New Jersey: You're shore to love it

Jean made a reasonable request after my rant on New Jersey drivers. “So when do we see the posts about things you LIKE in New Jersey?” Naturally, my first reaction was snarky, because, let’s face it, there is a lot to despise about this place. But am I too rough on the Garden State? This is the most densely populated state, and in such a crowed environment, things (tempers, blood pressure, blisters from too much tanning) rise. But because Jean represents 20% of my blog’s audience, I thought, “Sure, I can think of some things.” So below are things I like about New Jersey.*

*I have excluded people and friends because this is a no cornball zone.

• Naturally, it is pretty incredible to be so close to New York. My town sits on top of a hilly area, and we can see much of the New York City skyline driving through town. That feeling of awe really doesn’t go away.
• New Jersey is home to amazing pizza and bagels. You can find either all over. In North Carolina, it was all chains.
• Generally speaking, things move fast up here – on the roads, in stores, on dates, etc. That mixes well with my general lack of patience for slow people.
• Despite all the densely packed houses, every town I’ve lived in has had an expansive city park where families routinely go on nice afternoons.
• The library system up here is amazing. I can read all the graphic novels I can think of through the inter-library system.
• There are practically no mosquitoes up here! The humidity is only bad for a month or two in the summer. And the spring and fall are usually pretty mild. Can’t say any of that for North Carolina.
• You can’t spit without hitting a Dunkin’ Donuts. (Of course, you can’t spit without hitting a salon either, so …)
• With Continental’s hub in Newark, I can fly almost anywhere in the U.S. non-stop

There's probably more, but my head is tired.