I have relatives who live in Cranford and spent 2 weeks a couple of summers there. One of our regular things was to hop in a couple of cars, get on the Garden State Parkway and head down to Asbury Park boardwalk on a Saturday night. The one thing I remember is getting on the Parkway near Cranford, Thomas Edison's lab was `near by and you could clearly see a giant light bulb on top of the lab.
Bruce Springsteen territory. It's a measure of Springsteen's greatness that some of his best stuff makes even New Jersey sound like a pretty cool place.
But seriously, New Jersey takes a lot of flak but I've got nothing against the state. In fact, I lived there for about a year as a little kid, 4 years old or so, in the 1950s and don't remember very much...or even what town we lived in. I think it wasn't too far from New York City.
One of the few memories I do have...definitely the most vivid...was of my little friend Patrick, who lived next store, rubbing dog poop all over his leg one day...for reasons that were never clear to me. Dude's probably running a government agency now...or serving a life sentence in some state penitentiary.
