<p>Ah Lucy, the Elephant Hotel. My beloved grandpa (my daughter’s namesake) used to summer in AC and took me there whenever we visited. Brings back great memories.</p>
<p>You named your daughter grandpa?</p>
<p>I remember Lucy as well, now restored and in Margate (we went to Ventnor, when I was a kid).</p>
<p>Oh, Exit 4, NJTP</p>
<p>My HS Health teacher graduated with Bruce, and had the Yearbook to prove it!</p>
<p>The first time we went back to NJ after a long time away we brought back an entire suitcase filled with assorted Tastycakes. Now we keep it to a couple of boxes. Where I lived they were subs (Clinton, NJ).
One of the unique NJisms is that in Trenton pizza is called tomato pie.</p>
<p>Definitely subs, and always soda, not “pop”.</p>
<p>Spent my hs summer at Asbury Park, it’s a sin what’s happened to it since.</p>
<p>One of the things my daughter misses most about being in New England is the loss of Tastykakes—and WaWa markets. Funny though, we just took son out to visit Northwestern this weekend, and there was a place called Philly’s Best that purports to serve all authentic Philadelphia food–hoagies, cheesesteaks, and yes, they have Tastykakes shipped out there. Too funny. (scroll to the bottom if you don’t believe me.)</p>
<p><a href=“http://phillysbest.com/menu.html[/url]”>http://phillysbest.com/menu.html</a></p>
<p>driver, that’s so funny reading that menu! I think they should open in more cities. :)</p>
<p>We spent parts of every summer when I was growing up, first in Brigantine and later on Long Beach Island. I miss those days!</p>
<p>Oh, don’t get me started on LBI. We had a house there for many years. I miss those days too. Surf City, here we come, was the first song my babies learned.:)</p>
<p>jmmom, I live in New England now and I can get Taylor Pork Roll at my local Superette (none of those at the Shore) and garland, I waitressed summers at the shore while in college and waited on Bruce Springsteen. The high point of our high school weekends was cruising the “circuit” in Asbury Park.</p>
<p>unsoccer-mom–we probably passed each other.</p>
<p>My parents were born and raised in South Jersey. They moved to Delaware, raised a family and then retired in Jersey. When I think of NJ, I think of their area - lots of truck farms (a few owned by my cousins) and towns that have been going down hill since my childhood. It’s only been in the last ten years that development has come their way. Going across the ferry from lower Delaware to visit the relatives in Wildwood. As much teasing as New Jersey gets, most of my family hasn’t moved too far from their roots. When we come to the reunions all the way from PA, (wow!) We don’t even have to bring a dish to pass it’s such a distance!</p>
<p>There’s a distinct difference in the different sections of that state. If you are from North Jersey, “the city” means NYC, but across the river from Philadelphia, “the city” means Philly.</p>
<p>Hey, some of the food that’s been mentioned - Pretzels and tastykake <a href=“http://www.tastykake.com/SubpageTemplate.aspx?ChannelID=169[/url]”>http://www.tastykake.com/SubpageTemplate.aspx?ChannelID=169</a> are PENNSYLVANIA food! Pennsylvania is the #1 manufacturer of pretzels. Of course, we’re willing to sell across the rivers too…</p>
<p>I lived in Ventnor (South Jersey) my whole life until leaving for college; my mother still lives in Atlantic City. Gambling was legalized just after I moved, so I identify casinos as “the one where Howard Johnson’s (or other knocked down landmark) used to be”. I have a picture postcard sent to me from a childhood friend of Lucy, the Margate elephant in a place of honor in my office.</p>
<p>Born and bred in South Jersey, still happily here. Few comments:</p>
<p>It’s the Jet-Giant game not the Jets-Giants game.</p>
<p>We’re always talking about seceding from the rest of the state…Newark might as well be Alaska.</p>
<p>Remember Steinbach’s?</p>
<p>In SJ it’s a sub, never a hoagie.</p>
<p>Wildwood is for South Philly people. Suburban Philly both PA and NJ go to Ocean City…the real rich ones go to Avalon or Stone Harbor.</p>
<p>Raw hamburger is chop meat in North Jersey, here it’s hamburger.</p>
<p>Not the Shore or Da Shore. It’s Downashore.</p>
<p>Sadly circles are being eliminated (still don’t know the rules). Famous Somers Point-OC is slated for (shudder) a real intersection with traffic lights.</p>
<p>Hey Atlantic City’s really comin’ back. Really. Borgata, The Quarter, a new Caesar’s pier…Las Vegas better be looking over it’s shoulder.</p>
<p>How quickly I forget! You are absolutely right- it IS downashore.</p>
<p>My son goes to boarding school in western NJ near the Water Gap. It is so gorgeous- essentially the foot of the Poconos. The whole area is rolling with neat little towns.</p>
<p>Water Gap! We traveled thru there many a time in my youth, heading to Scranton and Wilkes Barre and Kingston to visit the grandparents. Those were the drives when I learned to count cows. And I, too, spent parts of every summer on Brigantine, and remember well the Boardwalk and Steel Pier and the original Salt Water Taffy and Mister Peanut and majestic old hotels in AC before it turned into casinos.</p>
<p>OK, I’ve got just 3 words to say: JERSEY SWEET CORN. I rest my case.</p>
<p>And Tomatoes.</p>
<p>(Yep, I almost mentioned the tomatoes, too, but then it would have to have been four or five words, depending whether you count the “and”, so I figured I’d leave it to someone else to bring them up. Now I’m drooling. Quite a menu we’ve got, eh? Taylor Pork Roll, subs, tomato pie, sweet corn, tomatoes, salt water taffy, Tastycakes… and how about Italian Ices, dipped by hand by the old guy on the corner who doesn’t speak any English?)</p>
<p>mootmom, I remember Italian Ices. My grandmother lived in Philly and she often had my brother and I visit on weekends. There was a truck that used to go through her neighborhood, Tony’s Water Ice. Sooo good!</p>
<p>I remember Steel Pier and the rides and live shows there. Anyone ever see the diving horse? One of the girls who did that crazy show, later became friends with my parents. She was married to Gene Hart who was a radio personality in the area and became the voice of the Flyers.</p>
<p>James Salt Water Taffy and Mr. Peanut are vivid childhood memories for me, along with those ‘rolling chairs’ which used to give rides along the boardwalk.</p>
<p>Tony’s Water Ice</p>
<p>I love it. Like, what <em>else</em> are you gonna make ice out of? LOL!</p>
<p>When I first read the initial post, though funny, I was thinking like AlwaysAMom…it sounded like it was pertaining more to those from North Jersey. There really is a difference between North Jersey and South Jersey.</p>
<p>I grew up in South Jersey and my family is still there. I grew up in Cherry Hill (between exits 3 and 4!! LOL)…in fact, just a couple miles from the Ellisburg Circle that AlwaysAMom mentioned (was CRAZY driving around that…but it is no longer a circle). And yes, the mention of subs made no sense to me because they were HOAGIES where I lived. I also recall Lucy the elephant as I went to Margate a lot. Mr. Peanut and salt water taffies and carts on the boardwalk with someone peddling them. </p>
<p>I get sort of embarrassed admitting I am from NJ (sorry!) and usually I say I am from Philadelphia. Part of that is because when one says, “NJ”, most think of the part near NYC and truly South Jersey is a different world and is a suburb of Philly. So, I just say Philly, not NJ! Bring on the soft pretzels and cheese steaks. </p>
<p>I must admit…I much prefer saying I’m from Vermont, which is where I have lived for close to 25 years. It seems worlds apart from NJ and in a good way. And yeah, instead of telling you which exit…I can say, “through the covered bridge, onto my dirt road, turn at the horses, go down the meadow…”</p>
<p>Susan</p>
<p>PS…the mention of Tastycakes has me teary eyed (what’s with these threads tonight…I read the car accident one…brings back my own bad memories and now this thread…which is funny but …)…my dad who passed away, had Tastycakes each morning for breakfast when I was growing up! He loved his Tastycakes!</p>
<p>That list is really on point. I’ve NEVER heard anybody say “Joizey” in my life other than people from other states who try to make fun of us. </p>
<p>Our diners are legendary.
I’ve been to the Willowbrook Mall like a hundred times, still can’t find my way out of there sometimes.
We in the North don’t really use exit numbers as much as people think we do. If you don’t have a car, you probably use NJ Transit bus numbers like “No, the other street, where the 707 stops by” or actual city names. Speaking of city names, where else but NJ can you find cities like Hohokus, Hoboken, and Weehawken. Whoever came up with those must have been insane.
And no, we don’t smell.</p>
<p>North Jersey Tri-City Area (Passaic-Clifton-Paterson) is the place to be.</p>