Back from New Jersey!

Hi all! I just got back from New Jersey, and I have a lot to tell you all about! I really don't even know where to begin! I had an awesome time, my friend was very welcoming, and I saw so many incredible things.

Here is a list of the things that I was able to see on my trip:

• Rent, on Broadway, with an incredible cast including Matt Caplan, perhaps the best "Mark" I have ever seen, Jeremy Kushnier as Roger (whom my friend had seen previously in Footloose), Jai Rodriguez (from Queer Eye) as Angel, and Melanie Brown (of the Spice Girls) as Mimi. An incredible cast and an incredible experience. After the show, I was able to meet Jeremy and Matt, get Melanie's autograph, and snap a picture of Jai. The theater itself was small an intimate, especially from our vantage point in the orchestra section.
• Times Square: In many ways, it reminded me of Vegas, with tons of people on the streets and all of the bright lights. I love big cities. The sidewalks were lined with artists, people from every walk of life, and the smell of the food carts made NYC feel very distinct. 
• My friend showed me Clifton, the town she grew up in, and Montclair, where she went to college.
• I went into Astoria, which is in Queens, to a Greek restaurant. There are a lot of Greek stores and restaurants in Astoria, and a lot of Greeks hang out there. (So of course, my friend had to take me so I could get a glimpse of her culture...Until she can bring me to Greece that it!)
• Mid and Upper Manhattan, including Rockefeller Center, Madison Square Gardens, radio City Music Hall, Times Square in the day time, and Madam Tusaud's (spell?)
• Central Park, including the Central Park zoo and the Alice and Wonderland Statue. (I would love to spend more time just chillin' in Central Park!)
• The Empire State building, including the observation tower.
• Atlantic City, New Jersey, which was perhaps, a page out of my fantasy book. I have been obsessed with beachy/boardwalk towns since reading about them in The Babysitter's club series when I was a kid. Seeing Atlantic City's Boardwalk was just like I imagined. The pier with the rides and the ever so romantic water's edge Ferris wheel, arcades and food shops lining the boardwalk, and the sandy beach. Sigh. Plus. There are casinos right along the boardwalk!
• The famous Egg Platter Diner, with its number of Egg novelties to choose from. I had an omelet with cheese and Taylor ham.
• Liberty science Center, which is a children's science museum in Liberty state Park, New Jersey. (You can take a ferry from Liberty State Park to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, but you have to be back by 4, where as you have until 6:30 if you leave from battery park in New York.)
• Hiking at Bushkill Falls in Pennsylvania, which was very nice and tranquil, and very cool to see how beautiful the east coast can be away from the city.
• Point PLeasent, a popular beach and boardwalk in New Jersey. Unfortunately, this really put a downer on my boardwalk fantasies. The boardwalk itself was cool. Lots of neat little shops, arcades (with slot machines that gave out tokens that you could collect prizes with, like tickets, that kids could play on. Also, there were adult prizes, like candles and clocks and stuff, and adults playing on these machines like it was a casino. Even the game ones that were not slot machines...You'd see adults playing two at a time collecting tickets. It was funny. Not adults playing games, thats totally fun, but playing all serious like, "with this last quarter I might get enough tickets to buy myself that set of non stick frying pans!" kind of serious.) But the Real downer was this: THEY CHARGED, PER PERSON, TO ENTER THE BEACH. There was a fence along the boardwalk, and every so often there would be a set of steps leading down to the beach and next to it a person in a booth collecting $5.50 per adult. Outrage. (oh, also odd, you weren't allowed to change your clothes. There were signs by the bathroom saying you weren't allowed to change your clothes in there. Odd. So lots of people spent all day in their bathing suits. (some brought coverups, some didn't.) Hmm, I wonder is if the state of New Jersey knows that a common cause of yeast infections is wearing warm, wet bathing suits all day. Not a pretty picture.
• Lower Manhattan. We saw Battery Park, The Statue of Liberty, and Ellis Island. (Let me tell you, plan on spending your whole day at Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island. Seriously. There was A LOT to see at Ellis ISland! 
• Ground Zero. All rubble was cleaned up and the actual sight is prepared for building. Building 7 is already being rebuilt (not one of the twin towers, but the last WTC building to fall.) They built an observation fence all along the east side of the trade center and lined it with the history of the WTC as well as a memoriam to those whose lives were lost.
• The New York Subway System - ah - like a dream come true. Did I mention how much I love subways???

As you can see, it was a jammed pack trip. I was able to get to know my East Coast friend much better and see so many amazing places. 

I can't wait to go back!