The Diners are still running strong - New Jersey - August 2010 through July 2012

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New Jersey!!! Our visit to the state was very short, somewhat sweet and... Well the jury is still out on how we feel about the state. As far as we can tell this state really is about 2 things – diners and “the Shore”. Well obviously not really, but that is really all we have seen thus far.

First diners – just in case this concept is a little blurry to you (after all this really is an East Coast thing – I think). Back in the 1940’s-50’s (again this really is a best guestimate) someone came up with a brilliant idea to take a train car and serve food from it. Thus the diner was born. Grab a catalogue, pick your “cart”, wait 3-4 weeks for it to ship, find a spot to put it, serve some decent breakfast, burgers and shakes for 18 hours a day (sometimes it's 24/7) and you have yourself a diner. This diner cart revolution pretty much stuck to the north east coast states as far as I know. New Jersey seems to have been the hub and diners are still running strong today. If you want a good hearty, cheap breakfast, done the old way where calories and fat is not an issue then this is perfect for you. Some of these diners are a little run down, but they have loyal customers and you are treated like a lifelong customer – meaning you get served by the 50-year old lady with a raspy voice treating you like serving you is the last thing on this earth that she wants to do. The food is just good greasy American food and the milkshakes are usually the best ever. Sit down, order food and imagine yourself back in the 60’s and 70's when this was prime dining. LITTLE MISS AMERICA DINER has been our only real diner experience in the state. We will try the rest soon, but it did not disappoint. On our way to Philly we stopped here early one morning for a good breakfast.

The other thing New Jersey is known for is the Jersey Shore. Boardwalks, beaches, cotton candy and rides all summer long. Unfortunately the Shore has not tempted us yet so we will write about the Shore once the “Shore” bug bites.

Other than this we have made the long drive down to CAPE MAY. What a beautiful little town and a very pleasant surprise to us both. We managed to get a room at the VIRGINIA HOTEL. A beautiful hotel surrounded by HISTORIC HOMES. They have a couple properties right across from each other on a beautiful tree lined street only steps away from the beach and the historic little plaza. The really neat thing about our stay here was that the night before we were told that we have a free breakfast that could be delivered to our room or we could have it served on the hotels deck. It was just a very nice touch to an already pretty good experience. Sunrise on the beach was pretty awesome even though a little cold. We were there just for an overnight stay and we were also in Cape May during April which is not the most popular time of year so it was pretty empty. We had some beers and nachos at Cabana's which seemed to be the “spot” to be since it is right on the beach and was pretty packed. We also walked along the little HISTORIC DISTRICT with all the old houses and little local shops. There also seemed to have been many restaurants with live music shows going on so this might be a good option for here even though we did not really do it. We really enjoyed the town. It is completely different from the rest of the Jersey Shore and had a very Provincetown feel to it.

Otherwise Cape May is somewhat known for its BIRD MIGRATIONS so we headed over to the CAPE MAY MIGRATORY BIRD REFUGE and saw some cranes and other smaller birds. We headed back home along the roads hugging the coast line which was very, very slow, but we drove through some really beautiful natural areas that at times do take your breath away with its natural beauty. We were glad to see that there are still some areas left alone and not developed like most of the New Jersey coastline. We did a quick drive-through Atlantic City and were definitely not impressed at all. Very run-down and not even close to Vegas so not sure when and if we'll make it down here again. We made a stop at WHITE HOUSE SUB SHOP. Just an old-fashioned Italian deli, but oh what an experience. An old deli adorned with signed pictures from countless celebrities with a very Philly-cheese-steak-pressure-to-order-quick-and-not say-anything-dumb feel to it. If you have not ordered a Philly cheese steak at Pat’s or Geno’s then unfortunately you won’t know what I am talking about. Be warned. These sandwiched are bigger than what you have ever seen. I got the “half white house special”. All that means is that it is half a sandwich with double meat. The “half” sandwich was way bigger than your average Subway sandwich. One – I could not take an entire bite because the sandwich was too big and two – I did not even come close to finishing it. The full sandwiches were behemoths so I would recommend against getting these unless you are a giant and have not eaten for a couple days. The sandwich was absolutely delicious though – one of the best Italian subs I have had. Our only other experience with New Jersey was the NEW JERSEY NETS (professional basketball team). Unfortunately at the time of this writing this team is no longer (they moved to Brooklyn). We were “lucky” enough to go to the last game in Nets history. Well – the Nets were not a good team this year nor have they been any good for the lst decade. This equals advantage fan – cheap seats to an NBA game. It was fun to see the game (our first NBA game together). But if you want to go and watch the Nets you can catch them in Brooklyn next year.

We managed to cross off 3 things from our list including Classic North Joisey Diners and Cape May.

So 133 down and 5,192 to go

Til next time from the state of greasy burgers and good mikshakes

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