20110412

The Wonders of New Jersey: 61 - 70

  • 61 Cape May National Wildlife Refuge Established as part of the the National Wildlife Refuge System in 1989. The refuge has 11,500 acres and continues to grow. Cape May has a key location on the Atlantic Flyway. Some of the birds which find the refuge important are the American Coots, American Oyster Catcher, American Kestrels, American Redstarts, Arctic Terns, Bald Eagles, Baltimore Orioles, Barn Swallows, Barred Owls, Black-bellied Plovers, Black-crowned Night-Herons, Black-and-White Warblers, Black Ducks, Black Skimmers, Black-throated Blue Warblers, Blackburnian Warblers, Blackpoll Warblers, Blue Grosbeaks, Blue-winged Teals, Blue Winged Warblers, Boat-tailed Grackles, Bobolinks, Buff-breasted Sandpipers, Canada Warblers, Cape May Warblers, Caspian Terns, Cattle Egrets, Chestnut-sided Warblers, Common Terns, Common Yellowthroats, Cooper's Hawks, Dunlins, Eastern Bluebirds, Eastern Kingbirds, Eastern Meadowlarks, Eastern Screech Owls, Eastern Willets, Forster's Terns, Gadwalls, Glossy Ibis, Gray Catbirds,  Great Blue Herons, Great-crested Flycatchers, Great Egrets, Greater Yellowlegs, Green Herons, Gull-billed Terns, Hairy Woodpeckers, Herring Gulls, Hooded Warblers, Indigo Buntings, Laughing Gulls, Least Bitterns, Least Sandpiper, Least Terns, Lesser Yellowlegs, Little Blue Herons, Long-billed Dowitchers, Magnolia Warblers, Merlins, Mute Swans, Northern Harriers, Northern Parulas, Orchard Orioles, Ospreys, Ovenbirds, Pectoral Sandpipers, Peregrine Falcons, Pied-billed Grebes, Piping Plover, Purple Martins, Purple Sandpipers, Red-headed Woodpeckers, Red Knots, Red-necked Phalarope, Red-Shouldered Hawks, Red Tailed Hawks, Red Winged Blackbirds, Ring-billed Gulls, Ring-necked Pheasants, Roseate Terns, Royal Terns, Ruddy Ducks, Ruddy Turnstones, Ruffed Grouse, Saltmarsh Sparrows, Sanderling, Sandwich Terns, Savannah Sparrows, Scarlet Tanagers, Seaside Sparrows, Semipalmated Plovers, Semipalmated Sandpipers, Sharp-Shinned Hawks, Short-Billed Dowitchers, Short-eared Owls, Snowy Egrets, Solitary Sandpipers, Stilt Sandpipers, Tree Swallows, Tri-colored Herons, Whimbrels, White-rumped Sandpipers, Wilson's Phalarope, Wilson's Warbler, Woodcocks, Wood Ducks, Wood Thrushes, Worm-eating Warblers, Yellow-billed Cuckoos, Yellow-crowned Night-Herons, Yellow-rumped Warblers, Yellow-throated Warblers and Yellow Warblers. Reptiles and amphibians include the Diamondback Terrapin, Eastern Tiger Salamander and the Southern Gray Teefrog. Swamp Pink, a member of the lily family, is on the Federal list of Endangered species, and this is one of the few places it can be found. There are four hiking trails in the refuge.
  • 62 New Jersey Festival of Balooning The largest summertime hot air balloon and music festival in North America. Earned the American Bus Association's designation as a Top 100 Festival in North America. Held annually at Solberg Airport. Readington.
  • 63 Downtown Collingswood
  • 64 Princeton Art Museum 72,000 works of art. The collections include African art, American art, Islamic and Ancient art, Asian art, Contemporary art, European art, Prints and Drawings, and Photography. Artists represented include: Fra Angelico, Goya, Courbet, Monet, Manet, Redon, Van Gogh, Cezanne, Toulouse-Lautrec, Modigliani and Soutine. Princeton.
    Princeton Art Museum, Princeton, New Jersey
  • 65 Cape May County Zoo 200 different species of animals live in the best zoo in New Jersey. The largest single exhibit is the African Savannah. An aviary and a reptile house are also notable parts of the collection. In a bizarre twist, the Zoo is home to thirteen Chilean Flamingos originally from Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch. Also, in 2008, the zoo opened a bald eagle exhibit. Picnic areas, nature trails and bike paths are also available.
  • 66 Batsto Village Iron ore from the bogs of New Jersey was big business in the 19th century. Some of the sites include the 32 room Wharton Mansion, the General Store, the Batsto Post Office, the 1828 Gristmill, the Sawmill, the Wheelwright & Blacksmith shops, Worker Cottages, Stone Horse Barn, Piggery, Wood House, Carriage House, Horse Stable, Threshing Barn, Range Barn, Mule Barn, the Ice House, a heaping pile of historic bog iron ore, the remains of an early 1800s ore boat, Batsto Lake and Batsto-Pleasant Mills United Methodist Church.
    Batsto Village by Shawn Perez Batsto Village from Shawn Perez
  • 67 University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ)
    According to their website, UMDNJ is "the nation's largest health sciences University. We are New Jersey's state wide system of health sciences education, biomedical research and HealthCare. We are the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. Founded in 1970 to consolidate New Jersey's health professions education, UMDNJ has become the very core of the state's health sciences system. With five campuses and a network of more than 200 affiliated healthcare and educational partners spanning the state, we touch the lives of almost every New Jerseyan every day. Our mission is both simple and inspiring-to enhance the health of all New Jerseyans through broad-based programs covering every aspect of the health sciences."
  • 68 Meadowlands Arena East Rutherford.
  • 69 Santa Claus The modern version of Santa Claus appeared in the New Year’s 1881 edition of Harper’s Weekly. It was created by Morristown illustrator, Thomas Nast. Morristown.
  • 70 Appalachian Trail 2,175 miles long, from Maine to Georgia, the trail enters New Jersey from the south on a pedestrian walkway along Interstate 80 on a pedestrian walkway over the Delaware River. Kittatinny Ridge, Worthington State Forest, Sunfish Pond, Stokes State Forest and High Point State Park, Wawayanda State Park and Abraham Hewitt State Forest are some of the sights one passes through while traveling on the New Jersey section of the trail. 

The Wonders of New Jersey: 71 - 80

  • 71 Atlantic City's Former Hotels  Can you imagine if these beautiful buildings were still alive and standing? It would add a touch of culture and history to Atlantic city. A mix of old and new buildings really help make a city great. Atlantic City barely missed being great. Atlantic City.
     
  • Marlborough-Blenheim
    File:Boardwalk and Hotel Traymore, Atlantic City, New Jersey.png 
  •  Traymore
    File:Shelburne Hotel by Moonlight, Atlantic City, New Jersey.png 
  •  Shelburne
    File:Chalfonte hotel brochure013.JPG  
  • Chalfonte-Haddon Hall
  • 72 Bruce Springsteen I'm not a big fan of The Boss, but I've heard some people like him and don't mind his hatred of the New York City Police or his annoying accent that nobody else in New Jersey has. Freehold, Asbury Park, Rumson and Colts Neck are some of the towns most often associated with Bruce Springsteen.
  • 73 Downtown Hoboken Take the bad with the good in this popular, grimy, bar town. Hoboken.
  • 74 New Jersey Wine Growers Association Members include 4 JG's Orchards & Vineyards, Alba Vineyard, Amalthea Cellars, Auburn Road Vineyards, Bellview Winery, Brook Hollow Winery, Cape May Winery & VineyardCava Winery and Vineyard, Cedarvale Winery/Cedarvale Vineyard, Chestnut Run Farm, Coda Rossa, Cream Ridge Winery, DiBella Winery, DiMatteo Vineyards, Four Sisters Winery, Hawk Haven Vineyards, Heritage Vineyards, Hopewell Valley Vineyards, Laurita Winery, Natali Vineyards, Old York Cellars, Plagido's Winery, Renault Winery, Sharrott Winery, Silver Decoy Winery, Swansea Vineyards, Sylvin Farms, Terhune Orchards & Winery, Tomasello Winery, Turdo Vineyards & Winery, Unionville Vineyards, Valenzano Winery, Ventimiglia Winery, Villa Milagro Vineyards, Wagonhouse Winery and Westfall Winery.
  • 75 The Tropicana Casino and Resort 2,125 rooms, a 148,000 sq ft casino and over 3,800 slot machines. The Quarter at Tropicana is an "Streets of Old Havana" styled shopping mall with 50 shops and restaurants. There is also an IMAX theatre (at the time of this writing, "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" is playing in IMAX 3D) and the Comedy Stop Cafe and Cabaret. The Showroom and Tango's Lounge offer entertainment opportunities. Also, try the bluemercury spa.
  • 76 Liberty Island
  • 77 New Jersey's Neotropical Birds According to the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife: "Neotropical migrants are birds of the Western Hemisphere that migrate long distances from wintering grounds in the New World Tropics (or "Neotropics") to breeding grounds in North America. The Neotropics are generally defined as the tropical regions of Mexico, and Central and South America that lie south of the Tropic of Cancer.
    There are 361 species of Neotropical migrant birds ranging from herons and raptors to swallows and warblers. Over 130 species breed right here in New Jersey, and nearly 80 of these are songbirds, many of which you can see in your own backyard during spring migration. If you are lucky enough to live near large forests, you can hear many different species in a chorus of song - these are usually the males singing to defend their breeding territories from other males and to attract females."
  • 78 Space Farms Zoo and Museum This may be the most eclectic attraction in New Jersey. This combination zoo and museum was founded in 1927. It has 100 species of animals—including tigers, lions, badgers, bears, bobcats, deer, elk, foxes, goats, jaguars, hyenas, kangaroos, buffalo, lemurs, leopards, llamas, monkeys, snakes, wolves and yaks. The largest private collection of North American wildlife in the world. Visit the famous stuffed remains of the Guiness Book of World Records' "largest bear in the world," Goliath. Eleven museum buildings house 50 antique cars and motorcycles, farm implements, early American tools, dolls, toys, clocks, tractors and American Indian artifacts can be seen in the multiple little museums on the property. Also, Space Farms has the second largest privately owned collection of antique firearms.
  • 79 Boardwalk Hall Built in 1929 and formally the site of the annual Miss America pageant. The world's largest pipe organ. Concerts, sports and family events. Atlantic City.
  • 80 Jenkinson's Boardwalk Home to Jenkinson's Aquarium, Funhouse, Miniature Golf, Amusement Park and Jenkinson's Nightclub. Point Pleasant Beach.

20110410

The Wonders of New Jersey: 81 - 90

  • 81 Duke Farms A 2,700-acre estate developed by tobacco millionaire James Buchanan Duke beginning in 1893. The property is closed temporarily while it is undergoing renovation. It will reopen in 2010. Walk on the Wild Side trail. There are a total of 9 man-made lakes which were created and stocked by Duke. The Mermaid Pool. Lake 45. Mud Lake. There are 7 fountains. When the park reopens, visitors will begin their trip in a new 22,000-square-foot orientation center. From there, visitors will walk on numerous paths or ride trams to explore the vast property. The indoor Display Gardens will expand to include an outdoor portion. Hillsborough
  • DSCN0024
  • 82 New Jersey Amber 65 to 135 million years old, Garden State amber is the only substantial supply in North America from the Cretaceous Period. It is among the finest on earth due to the large amounts of flora and fauna suspended inside. Over 100 new species of extinct life have been discovered. The American Museum of Natural History in New York City is the major despository of these priceless jewels. Sayreville.
  • 83 Monmouth Battlefield The largest and longest battle of the Revolutionary War was fought here. Every summer there is a reenactment of the fight which draws large crowds. Manalapan.
  • Battle-Of-Monmouth
  • 84 Clinton Old Red Mill Claims to be the most photographed site in New Jersey. I don't know about that, but it sure is purdy. Photo by Marty.FM via Flickr                        
  • 85 Night in Venice Festival One of the largest boat parades in the world. Ocean City.
  • 86 Cape May/Lewes Ferry From the ferry's web site: "Enjoy historic lighthouses, picturesque harbors, oceangoing vessels, unique seabirds and, just maybe, your very own dolphin escort!" The ferry ride is 17 miles from New Jersey to Lewes, Delaware (near Rehoboth Beach) or vice versa. It takes 80 minutes to complete a one-way trip.
  • 87 War of the Worlds Hoax
  • 88 The Cranberry
  • 89 Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge The refuge was established on November 3, 1960. It consists of 7,735 acres and is a resting and feeding area for more than 244 species of birds. This area was once a glacial lake known as Lake Passaic. The Raptor Trust can also be found in the Refuge.
  • Great Swamp Park, Morris County, New Jersey
  • 90 New Jersey Vietnam Veteran's Museum and Monument Honors the 1,559 men and one woman from New Jersey who were killed or missing in action during the Vietnam War. Around the entire outside of the circular monument are 366 8-foot-tall black granite panels. Each represents a day of the calendar, regardless of the year. The names on a particular panel were killed on that day. It is a nice experience when you come to one of the few panels that are empty, because nobody was killed on that specific day throughout the entire war. The museum displays many artifacts from the war, including letters written by the soldiers. Holmdel.
    New Jersey Vietnam War Memorial by Sister72  Photo by Sister72 via Flickr