Jersey's Not So Bad

     I'll be doing a lot of traveling for the next month, like any self-respecting retiree should. Except I won't be going to Hawaii or Tucson or Sarasota. I'll be going to . . . well, to start off, I'm traveling through New Jersey. Land of Chris Christie and Tony Soprano.

     The temptation is to do some New Jersey jokes. And I'm thinking Tony Soprano is New Jersey tough, so people from New Jersey can take it. For example:

     Why is New Jersey called the Garden State? Because Oil, Petroleum, Nuclear, Land Fill & Toxic Waste State didn't fit on a license plate!

     I said I was traveling through New Jersey. I'm not actually stopping there. Nobody actually stops in New Jersey. You wanna know why? Take a look:

New Jersey produces a lot of industrial materials

      Of course, you're probably thinking I'm not being fair. You can find a pile of junk somewhere, in any state of the union, if you look hard enough. So here's another view. This from Trenton:

View of Trenton, NJ

     Okay, say what you want about Trenton, but I happen to like the Janet Evanovich crime novels which feature the exploits of the tough, wisecracking Trenton bailbondsperson Stephanie Plum.

      Why does California have the most lawyers, and New Jersey the most toxic waste dumps? New Jersey got first pick.

     But still, it doesn't seem like this guy is particularly happy about being in Trenton:

At the Trenton Amtrak railroad station

     But one good thing about New Jersey is that it isn't very big. Go southwest, and you reach Philadelphia:

The Philadelphia skyline

      And to the northeast stands New York City:

New York's Freedom Tower rises up behind the Jersey skyline

     Now I know there are at least a few people from New Jersey who read this blog, so I hope they won't be offended. In a way, it's a compliment that I can joke about their state -- it's an appreciation that they're tough enough to take a comic shot or two.

     Did you hear about the power outage that took place at the state university in New Jersey? Over 30 students were stuck on the escalator for three hours.

     And to be fair, there are a lot of nice places in New Jersey as well. Many of the beaches along the Jersey shore are really gorgeous, and Cape May is one of my favorite vacation spots, anywhere, especially in September when the crowds are gone but the water is still warm. And remember, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis used to go horseback riding in the New Jersey hunt country. So you know it's gotta be nice out there. And by the way, those Kennedys were pretty tough, too.

     Speaking of tough, it makes me wonder. It takes a tough person to be president. I wonder if Tony Soprano would have made a good president. He certainly could whip Congress into shape. He might even be able to handle Vladimir Putin and take down ISIS. Whaddya think: Would he have been a Democrat or Republican?