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I NEW JERSEY

I spent the first 17 years of my life in JOISEY, not far from New York City. I saw lots of Broadway shows and became an avid theater-lover very early in life. New York City fascinated me: Radio City, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, Zabar's, Greenwich Village, Coney Island, Nathan's hotdogs... but the best memories were "down the shore." In Jersey. My world revolved around the beach, and music: the now non-existent Stone Pony & Upstage; music of early FM radio's favorite deejays: Gus Gossert, Murray the K, Cousin Brucie, Frankie Crocker; the music of Brooooooooce, Uncle Floyd and Oogie, Southside Johnny, Cats on a Smooth Surface (and, later, Bon Jovi); and the Jersey Shore beaches: Bradley, Belmar, and Asbury Park.

I have great memories of my youth and they often come back to haunt me now & then. I don't get back much anymore, but I still perk up when I see anything about the Garden State. Part of my heart still resides there.

When you live in Jersey, a beach isn't enough. People in Jersey need things to do. They need a beach with a boardwalk.

The Boardwalk

And the boardwalk has to be filled with rides and games and crappy food. Add some miniature golf. Throw in a bunch of stores selling T-shirts with offensive pictures and some extremely scrumptious this-must-be-made-of-lard-it-tastes-so-good custard. Life doesn't get much better than this.


The Carousel

And the best part is the smell. It's been said there are places where the ocean smells wild and briny. In Jersey the ocean smells of coconut-scented suntan lotion and Italian sausage smothered in fried onions and peppers. It smells like deep-fried zeppoles and chili hot dogs and greasy fries. The scent is intoxicating and exotic as it expands in the heat rising from crowds of sun-baked bodies strolling the boardwalk.

The Beach

Places to Visit


My Hometown

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