Dazed and Confuzed

[4eyedbuzzard]

Hey Dogwood, I spend a good portion of every summer in Seaside and IBSP. Good fishing and claming. Miracle bar in Tom's River is one of my favorite stops.

On the whole, NJ tends to get a bad rap from people, yet in surveys of people's favorite states on the AT, NJ always ranks very high. I have not hiked that section yet, but hope to some day. Looking forward to the recipes.

I "escaped" from NJ in 1995 - former Freehold, Howell Twp., and Pt. Pleasant resident for 20 some years. But man do I miss the ocean, beach, and boardwalk. Hiked a lot in DWG, Stokes, and up though into NY. A nice section of trail with some great swimming holes.

[Dogwood]

You guys must be confusing NJ with some other state. Don't you know NJ is smoke stacks, refineries, airports, traffic jams, super highways, pollution, Super Fund sites, Tony Soprano, and rude and obnoxious people all in a hurry. Haven't you been watching Jersey Shore and the Real Housewives of NJ?

I went for a walk on the beach in Seaside Heights this afternoon. Little bit of snow. Yeah I know all those places, IBSP is nice. Drive on the beach, fish off the tailgate, and PARTY bonfire on the beach. Stokes SF is nice too. Have hunted there several times. I've lost track how many times I've hiked, hunted and fished around DWG. Del River in NJ/PA is a very good river to fish from a small boat - shad(in season), brown, rainbow, brook trout, smallmouth and largemouth bass, huge 30 lb + carp, tiger muskellunge, crappie, assorted panfish, etc ALL in one 10 mile stretch of river.

Funniest thing. For some AT thru-hikers, they think once they reach NJ they'll be hiking through people's backyards, next to an International AP, and wondering what pollution will be floating in the water. Seems the entirety of what people know about NJ often comes from the heavily industrialized and populated northeastern immediate tri-state area. Nah. That's not all of what jarsee is about and all people from here are certainly not like portrayed on those irreality made for TV ratings shows.

Miracle Bar? I know it. Not to far from where I stay. They did some scenes from the movie Amityville Horror there. I have to bring you up to speed on some other places though.

Surprises me how many people involved in backpacking I meet have some connection with NJ. I guess they are all trying to walk out of the state? Actually south, west, and northwestern NJ have plenty of very nice plenty of elbow room outdoorsy places to get away from that hustle bustle in the northeastern part of the state.

[4eyedbuzzard]

You jest about "Tony Soprano" - but I actually knew some guys like that when I lived in Jersey. One of our neighbors, call him "T", was a bookie and a "uomo d'onore" - made man. The law firm my wife worked for handled his divorce (and stiffed his ex) and he always took care of people he did business with. We would often frequent a local pub, ironically owned by two NJ judges and a State Police Captain, and quite a few times we were told by the waiter, "Please order anything you would like tonight, courtesy of Mr. _______ ." Business and politics as usual in NJ.

[rocketsocks]

"Kelly's" in Belmar has the best Bloody Mary's, you need a fork to finish em off...practically a food group.