We have been taking a few vacation days here in New Jersey visiting my mom.
I am speaking in Columbia, Maryland on Tuesday, May 12th - you can read info. and where it is here.
It is an event with the Baptist Convention of Maryland and I look forward to spending the day with them. So we are spending some vacation days before and after this event.
Becky, Katie and Claire all came with me here and we will be driving through Pennsylvania and then to Maryland and then heading to Washington DC for a few days to see the tourist things. Katie and Claire are very excited about Washington DC because they have been reading about and studying the first ladies dresses which they will now get to see at the Smithsonian.I am not particularly excited about the dresses but I am excited to see Fonzie from Happy Days leather jacket which is also on display there at the Smithsonian.
New Jersey is where I was born and raised and it is a fascinating place. I am really glad I grew up here. In the town right next to the town where John Travolta grew up. The first Toys R US was in Paramus, the town I grew up in. The Coneheads from Saturday Night Live made a movie and they lived in Paramus in the movie. Living in Paramus, all my concerts I went to as a teenager were in New York City since it is about 20 minutes from where I live. There is a magazine and now a book called "Weird NJ" about all the weird things in New Jersey. The Weird NJ people had such interest in studying the weirdness of NJ that they now are putting books about all the weird things in each state. But is started here in New Jersey.
We are leaving tomorrow for Pennsylvania, we shall visit the Amish area on our way to Maryland. But some experiences in New Jersey this trip were:
* We went to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island yesterday. While there, I remembered that several years ago New Jersey claimed it owned the Statue of Liberty or something like that. I asked 4 different people who worked there on the island that the Statue of Liberty is on and I got 4 different answers. One person said that New Jersey owns Ellis Island and New York owns the Statue of Liberty. Another person said that New York owns the actual statue and everything above ground, but New Jersey owns the island itself and the land the statue is built on. Another person said that they didn't know anything about New Jersey owning the island (this was the person at the souvenir stand). Another person said New Jersey owns it, but everyone still says New York owns it as New Yorkers refuse to give it up. So I left the island not knowing whether I was on New Jersey ground or New York ground.
* We went shopping in an incredibly packed mall in Paramus today with my mom. I was hoping to find some sort of New Jersey t-shirt. But ironically, all I could find were California t-shirts. Santa Cruz surf shop. Hollister, California shirts. O'Neil's shirts and some other store that had "California" written on all their shirts. But not a single New Jersey shirt I could find.
* I forget how intense New Jersey accents are.
* The driving here is more aggressive than I remember. Route 17 is nutty.
* I cannot believe how many Dunkin Donuts there are here and more fascinating is how serious they are seen as the place where you buy your coffee from.
* It is a beautiful state. Most people only experience the Newark to New York City area and roads, but there is beautiful country, ocean and beautiful old homes.
I am deeply indebted to New Jersey. It is a bit weird like the magazine suggests, but I like weird places so I am glad I grew up here. I also highly respect the pastors and church leaders in New Jersey. It is not an easy place missionally to be in, so if you are from New Jersey as a church leader (or New England) may God give you wisdom, strength and encouragement.
Good night from New Jersey. Land of the Jersey Devil.
