Kevin Smith once wrote that there were really only “life can be split into two categories, New Jersey and New York.” I have usually found my self in the former, New Jersey, my home. This place is something different to everyone. To rest of the country, however, we have become somewhat of a joke. They point to our cesspool, our mafia, our pissed off drivers, our rather large clubbing community, Bon Jovi, and everything else that makes Jersey what it is. They look down on us for it, but the real truth is that there is no reason why the rest of the country should think of Jersey the way we think of Seaside Heights. There’s a lot about Jersey that most don’t know. For instance did you know that New Jersey is actually a peninsula? Or that Highlands, NJ has the highest elevation along the entire eastern seaboard from Maine to Florida? Or did you know that Union, NJ has the tallest water tower in the world? There is so much more to this tiny state than anyone really understands. From Sussex to Bergen to Cape May Counties, we have everything from cities to farmlands. Maybe that’s why we have the highest cost of living, the highest auto-insurance, and the highest property tax in the country, but those are small prices to pay for all that we gain. Because if you want to go shopping your in luck, North Jersey has the most shopping malls in one area in the world, with seven major ones in a 25 square mile radius. Maybe shopping isn’t your idea of excitement. Maybe you want to spend a day of fun in the sun and go to the beach or “the shore.” New Jersey has over fifty resort cities and towns. These include some of the nation's most famous: Asbury Park, Wildwood, Seaside Heights, Long Branch, Cape May, and of course Atlantic City, which is also home to longest boardwalk in the world. But conceivably, after all this, you still want to leave Jersey and see the world. That’s not a problem either. New Jersey has one of the busiest international airports in the world, Liberty International, that’s Newark Airport to the locals. To all you detractors who still think of our little state as dirty, crowded, corrupt, I’ll give you the real facts. You think Jersey is a septic tank, but did you know that New Jersey has the most stringent testing along our coastline for water quality control than any other seaboard state in the entire country? So people should best think twice before making all those jokes about the Jersey shore. You think Jersey is a mafia state… Ok, you’re actually right, but think about this: If it wasn’t for our Mafioso friends and the other non-connected Italian immigrants we would be out some things that make our state what it is. New Jersey is the only place you can order real pizza and Italian food, and is home to the best Italian hot dogs and Italian sausage with peppers and onions in the country. You think Jersey is full of angry disgruntled drivers. (Also probably true.) New Jersey has the densest system of highways and railroads in the United States. If you can drive in Jersey you can drive anywhere. You know what they say, “Two wrongs don’t make a right,” but in Jersey three rights don’t always make a left. You think Jersey is full of meat-head clubbers wearing their tight shirts, gold chains, blooming-onion hair styles, and pumping their fists mindlessly into the air, but in truth maybe we can’t blame them. After all New Jersey is home to the highest concentration of steroid use in the country, and one of our many nicknames is the “Gym Capital of the World.” New Jersey also has its place in history. During the war for independence George Washington camped all over this state and several important battles were fought on New Jersey soil, among them the Battle of Trenton which began with the famous crossing of the Delaware River. When it came time to join the Union New Jersey was the third state to ratify the Constitution on December 18, 1787, only 11 days after the first state, Delaware. (George Washington’s home state of Vermont didn’t join the union until almost 4 years later.) Jersey is home to the first American brewery in Hoboken, which is also home to the first baseball game ever played. Menlo Park, NJ is the birthplace of the light bulb, the phonograph, and the motion picture projector, all courtesy of one of this states most famous residents, Thomas Edison. The first record was made in Camden; the first electric guitar was made in Mahwah; the first intercollegiate football game was played in New Brunswick, (Rutgers College versus Princeton); the first radio station and broadcast was in Paterson; the first drive-in movie theater was opened in Camden. More than all that New Jersey was home to the first Indian Reservation located in the Watching Mountains. Jersey City was home the countries first ever medical center. The Pulaski Skyway connecting Jersey City to Newark was the first skyway ever built. Furthermore the Holland Tunnel was the first tunnel ever to be built underneath a river. This little state has accomplished a lot in its short history. The United States would be lost without us. Jersey is a major seaport state with the largest seaport located in Elizabeth. Nearly 80 percent of what our nation imports comes through Elizabeth. For some reason New Jersey is also the world leader in blueberry and cranberry production, not to mention Jersey tomatoes and sweet corn are renowned through out the world as being among the best, so all those people who have comments about us not really being the “Garden State” can shove it. New Jersey is a leader in technology and industry. We are the largest chemical producing state in the nation. New Jersey also has the largest petroleum containment area outside of the Middle East. (Okay, so maybe we are little less “garden” than we once were.) The state of Jersey is also one of the most diversely ethnic states in the union. We have people with backgrounds from every country living in this state. Union City even has more Cubans per square mile than Havana, Cuba. Maybe that’s why we are one of the greatest states in the union. Regardless of the reasons everyone should know what it is like to live in our little corner of the world. So I invite everyone to come and try some salt water taffy as they stroll from Park Place to Baltic Avenue. (Monopoly was modeled after Atlantic City.) Or maybe you could go see a Giants game or a Jets game, both of which are not in New York. Or possibly you could take a trip to Ellis Island or the Statue of Liberty, both in New Jersey. (Regardless of what you might have heard.) Or when in Jersey perhaps you could take in local culture in one of our many many diners. We are after all also the “Diner Capital of the World.” And if you were lucky enough to be born here you should know that you are in good company. Famous natives include: Actors: Jack Nicholson, Jason Alexander, Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Susan Sarandon, Tom Cruise, Bruce Willis, Nathan Lane, Danny DeVito, Meryl Streep, Kevin Spacey, John Travolta, Caesar Romero, and Kelly Ripa; Comedians: Flip Wilson, Jerry Lewis, Abbot and Costello; Writers: James Fennimore Cooper, Walt Whitman, and Robert Blake; Presidents: Grover Cleveland and Woodrow Wilson; Famous Revolutionaries: Zebulon Pike and (unfortunately) Aaron Burr; Sports Stars: Denis Rodman, Derek Jeter, and Shaq; The Founder of Wendy’s (my hero) Dave Thomas; Singers: Whitney Houston, Queen Latifah, Lauryn Hill, Ice-T, and of course Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi, and a Hoboken resident known as Francis Albert Sinatra.