New Jersey surprised me. I had only been through a tip of the state when I was a kid, so I didn’t know what to expect. I did know it was tough to find a campsite anywhere near where we wanted to be so I was worried about the urban sprawl we might encounter.
Boy was I surprised.
The campground we stayed at – Panther Lake Resort in Andover, was surrounded by picturesque small towns with a very New England feel to them. White clapboard churches, picket fences in the yards, sheep grazing nearby and fall decorations everywhere. I saw fields of pumpkins, horses grazing, fresh produce stands and people embracing the idea of the fall harvest all over the place.
Partway through the week it dawned on me – New Jersey is called The Garden State after all. I always scoffed at the idea, thinking yeah, right, garden of what? But the rolling hills, growing fields, and pastures of animals really changed my mind. New Jersey was actually very pretty and gave me a sense of relaxation that urban sprawl would not.
I drove a fair bit of the length of the state, and the center and western portions all seem to be equally agricultural, rustic and charming. Sure, there were some strip malls amongst the cute small towns, but overall it felt very rural. I am sure the eastern side of the state is much different with it’s proximity to New York City, but I had no occasion (or desire) to drive near the city.
In those small towns, the people I met were friendly. Maybe not as outgoing as the Texans I am used to, but they were very friendly. I had only one instance of less than friendly people and I’m assuming it had something to do with my more hiking oriented clothing in a rather upscale clothing shop. That can happen anywhere though. Shop workers, cashiers, people passing on the street, overall were a friendly lot in small town New Jersey.
The one bad part of Eastern New Jersey? Traffic. The roads are still two-lane highways and rural country roads but there are thousands of people traveling to train stations or into New York proper every day and things get pretty jammed up. If you are not used to driving in traffic at all, it may make you crazy. But, we are relatively accustomed to running into traffic snarls around Dallas, so, it was a little annoying but not unexpected. Just make sure if you are planning to be somewhere in the early morning or late afternoon, you will need to plan extra time to arrive. We also drove through it pulling our trailer. Not something we loved, but, it wasn’t really too bad. Put your more aggressive or confident driver behind the wheel and you’ll be fine.
And, if you can, visit in the fall. The fall colors were beautiful and the small towns as charming as any in New England and it was a good bit less crowded I am sure.
