The Fifty States: New Jersey

This is second in a series of states, where I highlight my time spent in a state.  These are my own recommendations of restaurants and things to do, and I hope to share my perspective. I hope to visit all 50 states in my lifetime to see the sights and learn about each area.

New Jersey - My Neighbor Beach State

Be on the lookout for traffic circles and turning left onto a road is not always an option  :)

Trenton and area - It is fortunate for you to see all of the letters of the Trenton Makes Bridge illuminated at night.  Waterfront Park is home to the Trenton Thunder, and there is a nightclub nearby, recently renamed Rho.  The NJ State Museum is interesting to see with many changing exhibits.  There is a planetarium there that runs free shows on certain Saturdays.  The William Trent house gives a tour, and you learn how people lived in colonial times. Grounds for Sculpture, near the Hamilton train station, is a great place to spend the day.  You can take a leisurely walk around the art. Make reservations at Rat's Restaurant because they are always packed.

Princeton - The University, where Einstein taught, takes up a large part of this town.  There are quaint shops, restaurants, and a very cool bookstore is across the street.  Away from the center of this town, you'll find upscale restaurants, such as Ruth's Chris Steakhouse and the Salt Creek Grille, as well as supermarkets like Wegman's, Wholefoods and Trader Joe's.

Lyndhurst - This industrial area has New York traffic from many Jersey habitants.  Take in a different experience at Medieval Times, a bizarre dinner theatre, where you eat with your hands in the dark and cheer on your color knight in battles.

Edison/Menlo Park an interesting area with many eclectic restaurants and Thomas Edison pride.  A rare-to-find AMC Dine-in Theater gives adult movie goers an option of alcoholic drinks, and not sharing the theater with anyone younger than 21.  Recline while eating dinner and watching a flick!

Cherry Hill - The Cherry Hill Mall is a King of Prussia wanna-be because it provides the same chain restaurants, and it is a larger than average mall. You will experience traffic from in and out of Philly throughout this area.

Jackson - This town is home to the Jackson Outlets and 6 Flags Great Adventure (See post on Roller Coasters!)  It is easy to get to from exits 16A and B off Route 195.

Atlantic City - If you are particular about what casino you like, there is an endless variety here. Great boardwalk with other things to do besides gambling.  There is the Absecon Lighthouse to climb, plenty of restaurants and stores at Pier One at Caesar's and in other casinos.

Wildwood - ’Watch the tram car please, Wa-wa-watch the tram car please.'  There are three parts; North Wildwood, Wildwood and Wildwood Crest.  If you would like to go on the beach here, be warned that it is a long walk on the sand to reach the ocean.  The boardwalk is two miles long, so bring comfortable sandals or take the tram car.  Bikes are allowed on the boardwalk until around 11:00am, and then the national anthem comes on.  The Crest is quieter than the other areas because the attractions stop on the boardwalk when Wildwood ends.  The DooWop style is fading, and mainstream condos are popping up everywhere.  There are still some original motels, like the Lollipop and, on the higher end, the Starlux, so get to them while you can. 

Cape May - Victorian houses line the streets and across the beach front.  There are a few beach and specialty shops.  There is a ghost tour where you walk around town and hear crazy tales of spirits inside these houses and stores.  Elaine's dinner theater is worth going to because of the change in atmosphere from the beach scene. They have good food and great shows.  You can take your car and ferry over to Delaware to visit Rehoboth Beach.

Other Beaches: Seaside Heights has the Jersey Shore cast, but also a nice mile long boardwalk and attractions. Other beaches with nice boardwalks are Ocean City, Belmar, Long Branch, and Point Pleasant.

Long Branch, NJ in 2010

World 101/Chapter 6 - How Deep Is It?

World 101
A Short Story By: Jennie Bean

-continued-
Chapter 6 - How Deep Is It?

As this question slips out of my mouth, I vaguely remember something from my childhood that involved wondering how deep a pool of water was.

"Only one way to find out, Ruby," Tuck says with a smile. We continue to dig down until the blue arrow levels off so it is straight ahead. We plow through at lightning speed and break through the last wall revealing a scene similar to the 'hell' level.  It is eerily quiet.

I walk towards the edge of the lava pool in front of us and notice markings on the side of the rock. It reads: '2 ft.'  There is another island a stone’s throw away.  I take some material from my heavy bag and throw it into the hot lava. Luckily, it does not melt the rock, and I am able to make a bridge across.

"Smart.  I'm glad I'm not doing this alone!" Tuck remarks.  He undoes the tie on his knee and reinforces the knot. I am beginning to think that Tuck has changed since I first got him out of the andesite. I think I finally found my courage, but I couldn't have done this without him either.

"I wouldn't have gotten this far if it wasn't for you, Tuck."

We walk across the bridge, and I look around, hoping to not find any spiders here. There is a huge hill in front of us. "Let's see the view!" I say.

As we walk up to the peak, a house made out of gold comes into view to our left. It is a magnificent sight and glows so brightly I can barely look at it after coming from all the darkness in the caves.

To our right, a set of strings attach themselves to rocks all the way up to the ceiling of the cave. This huge web has a few broken weapons attached to it. With my jaw open in shock, I tap incessantly on Tuck’s arm. A gigantic spider sneaks out from behind some red oval shapes. Oh crap.

“It’s the mother trying to shield her eggs,” Tuck realizes. There is a huge pile of red spider eggs, and our blue brochure sits nicely on top. We stare at it in disbelief.

Now would be a good time for the purple glow stone. “Come on!” I say as I throw my stone down and grab Tuck’s hand. We transport off to the surface to my home base. It is so good to see daylight again.

I run to the computer to figure out a way to blast them away. “TNT!”

“Yes, shatter them to pieces!” Tuck exclaims, “Try C-4 instead. We may get a better result.”

I sell the heavy material from my bag and buy a C-4 explosive.  I wonder how I can light it, and remember a torch where Tuck was first found.  I scrunch my face and look at Tuck.

“I’ve got matches,” he says knowingly and pats his shirt pocket.

I hold onto the C-4, semi-afraid it will detonate in my hands somehow.  I’ve never held a firework before. We hop on the purple glow stone, and it takes us right back to the hill. The spider is now closer and half on top of her eggs. We need to place the C-4 right near the eggs, but blow up the mother spider as well.

"Let's come up from below. If we just run over there, we'll be eaten right away," I suggest.

"Okay," Tucks agrees. We hack away at the hill and make headway on a passage below the surface of this hell, part two. 'Clink!' Tuck's axe hits something hard.

Music fills our passageway: 'In the town of Bedrock...' We've hit rock bottom! We both burst out into laughter.

We turn in the direction of the mother spider and her eggs. We estimate where they would be and start digging upwards.  I still have a few ladders left over, and we use them to climb up. The last of the marble-like rock breaks free and leaves a small opening.  I poke my head out and see the back of the mother spider and the eggs within a small distance. Perfect!

"I'm going to slide the C-4 out. Throw your match and then run!" I whisper looking down at Tuck. I slowly slide the C-4 out towards the eggs. I worry I will startle the mother spider, but she doesn't stir. I creep down the ladders and watch Tuck go up. He looks at me and gives a nod. I dash down the passageway towards the hill.  I am making my way up the hilltop as I feel the rumble. There is a huge explosion and debris falls down the hatch. I cover myself with my bag until it quiets.

"Tuck?" I call.

"Yes," he answers calmly looking up at me.

"You made it out okay! I wasn't sure with your leg and all," I said shyly.

We both make our way to the top of the hill and peek our heads out. Broken egg shells are everywhere. The mother spider is wounded and motionless near the lava pool. The blue brochure sits on the ground, looking untouched, where the tower of red eggs used to stand. Tuck and I look at each other for a second, and then race down the hill to the blue brochure. We both open it on the ground. There is nothing written in it, but a gold key is taped to the inside.

“The gold house key!” we exclaim. We walk over to the house, and smiling, Tuck hands me the key. I open it right up.  From inside the gold house, there is a yellow slip on the floor. It reads:

'Wisdom: You are the survivor!'

“Ruby, I knew you could do it. You really are a leader!” he says. I smile so big, and I cannot contain my excitement.  I hug Tuck and kiss him on the cheek.

“Jem! Jem!” a voice comes from afar, and I find myself being shaken.

“Jem, you did it! You beat the game!” my boyfriend, bright-eyed and grinning, sits next to me on the couch.

Reality returns to me in an instant.  I look up and see a tiny spider on the living room wall. Heh.

The End.

-------------------------------------------------------
Thank you to Total Miner for being the inspiration to my story.  Thank you to the bf and friends, who motivate me to actually do things.

Let me know your thoughts on my story!  Good or bad reviews appreciated.

World 101/Chapter 5 - What's That Noise?

World 101
A Short Story By: Jennie Bean

-continued-
Chapter 5 - What’s that Noise?

“Damn spiders!” Tuck exclaims.  I look at him confusingly, not understanding how spiders could make this awful noise.  He reaches in his pocket and hands me a yellow slip of paper.  It reads:

'Wisdom: In the depths of hell, beware spiders that loom.  In the halls of the devil, angry cries will bring you to your doom.'

"Come on, Ruby," Tuck says as he grabs my hand and pulls me away from the edge.  He grabs something from his pocket and throws it down.  The purple glow stone!

"Jump!" Tuck commands.  We both are now on top of the stone, and a bright purple color glows from our skin.  Our surroundings change, and it becomes brighter.  Tuck is still holding my hand and is now dragging me off the stone.  We are back up at the surface!  I look around to see my home base a few feet away.  A sense of relief washes over me, and I relax.

"How did you...?" I start as Tuck lets go of my hand and gives me another yellow slip.  It reads:

'Wisdom: The purple glow will transport you far away from danger.  Use wisely.'

Well, I guess it was wise of him, for in that moment, we had nowhere to go but down. Those spiders must be huge to make that much noise.  I briefly wonder what would kill them.  Do they have a big fly swatter for sale?

"Ruby, we need swords to fight them off,” Tuck says while looking at one of the computer vending machines.  I blush and quickly brush off my stupid thought.  Tucks sells all of his rock material and receives sacksful of coins out of the machine.  "I think I have one diamond leftover to make a sword, and I can buy a steel sword for you."

"Wait a minute, you get a diamond sword, and I get a dull looking steel one?" I protest.  I sell what material I have left and save the purple glow stone.  I realize how valuable this stone is now.  If I'm stuck, I could always escape this way.  "Welp, down the hatch I go," I say as I quickly slip through my downward chute into the cave tunnel.  I find the green rock formation on the wall I found earlier and strike it.  This has got to be worth a fortune!  With my adequate iron axe, I collect it eventually and notice more behind it.  When the green stone is depleted, there is a glow coming from the burrow I created.  Gold!

There are about a dozen decent sized nuggets, and I scoop them up.  Feeling self-assured once more, I return up the long passageway to the surface.

Tuck glares at me. “I didn’t think you’d return” he says sullenly, sitting next to a fire. It looks like he just finished making his diamond sword.  For a moment, I feel slightly bad for going off on my own like that.  After all, he did get us out of a pickle. I see the glow coming out from my bag and begin to feel giddy.  I skip over to the computer and sell my gold and green stone.  I have enough coins and buy myself two diamond swords and a titanium axe.  “I don’t need the steel sword,” I smile.

Tuck looks at me surprised with his eyebrows raised.  I hope he doesn’t underestimate me anymore.

"Wow, Ruby...So, are you ready to fight those eight legged monsters?" Tuck says, letting out a small snort.

"No, but let's get this over with," I sigh.  We hop on to the purple glow stone, and immediately return near the steps I made, trickling down to the view of lava below.

Tuck takes off his vest and begins tearing it up in long strips and twisting it.  He knots the ends together and places one end underneath the purple glow stone.  "Here, this is wool and should hold us for part of the way down," Tuck says as he hands me the end of the rope.  I toss it down the step, and it swings off the edge.  I kneel down and slowly pull the rope, testing its strength.  Tuck's knowledge about fabrics is really helping us out here; the rope is strong and could probably hold both of us.  I slip down the rope and let my feet dangle.  I look down and get a wave of vertigo.  As I steady my feet on the rope, I see the spider and become frozen on the rope.

The spider's size is about three of Tuck put together.  It is brown with red eyes and is jumping, trying to get to me.  "Rrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaghh!"

I gulp and realize Tuck is reaching down and holding on to the top of my dress.  "We can do this together," Tucks says.  I begin to feel less tense and grab my sword from my bag.  I shuffle to the bottom of the rope and decide to drop, pointing my sword straight down.  "One, two, three!" I yell.  I drop, just missing the lava pool by inches. My sword goes straight into the spiders back and kills him instantly.  I feel the spider's skin brush against me, and disgusted, I back away from it.  I turn around to see Tuck falling behind me, and his knee hits the lava.  I run over and pull him away from the pool.  I rip the bottom part of my dress and wrap it around his burn.

"Rrrragagagagggg!"

Come on!" I said anxiously, as I help him up.

Another spider approaches.  I feel so vulnerable on the ground, and this spider looks twice as big as the first.  I pull up my sword as a block and wait to see what the spider will do next.  As it jumps and launches at me, I swing the sword cutting one of his legs off. Yes, I can do this!

It retreats slowly, and I continue to strike my sword at him, slashing into his hairy brown back.  It puts its head down and becomes lifeless.  I feel something sharp behind me, and I twirl around fast.  Tuck strikes his sword so fast, flinging the spider into the lava pool. That was close; the spider was about to take a bite out of me!

"Thanks!" I smile, "Let's get away from here.  The blue brochure is below this hell."

I pick at the granite-looking stone ground and continue down.  Tuck and I collect what it seems to be hundreds of very dense materials. “How deep is it?” I ask.


------------------------------------------------------

Stay tuned for the story's conclusion in Chapter 6 - How Deep Is It?

-------------------------------------------------------
Thank you to Total Miner for being the inspiration to my story.  Thank you to the bf and friends, who motivate me to actually do things.

World 101/Chapter 4 - Who Is That?

World 101
A Short Story By: Jennie Bean

-continued-
Chapter 4 - Who Is That?

Startled, I quickly turn around. "Help, help!" I hear.

"I'm coming! Where are you?!" I scream.  I run down the small passageway.  A few slabs of some kind of igneous rock are blocking the path, and I use my new iron axe to quickly clear them away.  I come to the end of the path, where there is a lighted torch above me.

"Hello?" I prompt in a low cautious voice.

"Hi!" he says as the loud response makes me tilt backward and drop my axe.

"Whoa, you are right behind these blocks.  Are you okay?" I ask nervously.

"I am stuck, but not hurt.  This andesite is trapping my leg and preventing me from reaching my axe," he says rather calmly.

I pick up my axe and smash the section of rock in front of me.  I spy a piece of green cloth coming out from the next block in. “Okay brace yourself,” I warn and strike the next portion of andesite.

The man in front of me is not what I expected to come out from this rubble.  He gets off his one leg with ease and gathers his fedora hat and shiny axe.  He is garbed in a green vest, white shirt, khaki pants and sandals.  I notice he has a similar watch with a blue arrow.  I look down at mine, and my spinning blue arrow has returned...Whew!  It was just the earthquake that hindered the signal.

He stands tall before me and glares down at me with his bright green eyes.  “Thank you,” he says with a slight side smile that makes me weak.  Oh dear.  I break my stare and timidly look down at my axe handle.

“What is your name?” he asks as he puts his hat on.

“I…I don’t know,” I stumble, “I don’t remember anything before I woke up in this world.”

“I guess this world really does suck you in…literally too,” he winks, “Call me Tuck.”

“Tuck…” I said, testing out his name, “Are you the survivor?”

He laughs and bends down to look at me closer, “You mean the one who placed all of the blue and yellow scrolls around here?”  I nod.  “No, I'm just an explorer here and a garment maker back home,” he looks off in deep thought.

“A garment maker?” I ask, surprised.

“I create 2-D and 3-D clothing models from a very high-tech computer application. I am exceptionally good at it,” he explains smugly.

“Neat,” I say, trying not to roll my eyes.

“Okay, Ruby, let’s find where this next arrow takes us,” Tuck says with a sigh.

“Ruby?” I ask, scrunching my forehead.

“A nickname for you,” he says confidently, eyeing me up and down.

I start to protest this harassment, but realize he is referring to my ruby red dress. Oh.

Tuck strikes the next few portions of rock material, and they disappear so quickly.  It must be the special shiny axe he has, though I wouldn't doubt his strength alone.  He continues the original path he created, and it aligns with where the arrow points.  I follow and knock some rocks down, but feel useless, as Tuck is so much faster.

"Where did you get that axe?" I ask out of curiousity.

"I made it with diamond and titanium that I found in a treasure chest.  It's pretty much invincible," Tuck smiles and continues.

"Wait, the arrow is now pointing straight down." I said, and I start building steps down off to one side.  The last rock breaks off, and there is now an opening that drops down.  "Fire!" I gasp.  There is a huge pool of hot lava partly below us, and I try not to slip off the last step.

"RRaaaarrrrroughgoughough!"  What in hell is that?

------------------------------------------------------

Stay tuned for Chapter 5 - What's That Noise?

-------------------------------------------------------
Thank you to Total Miner for being the inspiration to my story.  Thank you to the bf and friends, who motivate me to actually do things.