Happy anniversary, New Jersey

Almost every day, I check to see what happened on that particular day in history. If I find something that's relevant to me, or something that I'm interested in, I try to write about it. Last week, I was looking at upcoming events in history, and I noted that on June 24, 1664, the colony of New Jersey was founded. That is relevant to me, because New Jersey is where my dad grew up.

The whole family went to New Jersey when we were little, but the only thing I remember is that at the hotel we stayed at, you could get a Belgian waffle with ice cream on top at the breakfast buffet. So I decided to call up my resident expert on New Jersey to learn some interesting factoids about this state. Below, I share my findings:

Molly: First off, the issue on everyone’s mind. How are Tiki and Ronde doing?
Dad: They are fine. They're starting to get a little closer, but there's still some hissing.

Molly: Okay, before we start, I want to make sure you’re really from New Jersey. So tell us what the state insect is.
Dad: Hmmm. Praying mantis?
Molly: I'm sorry, it's the European honey bee.
Dad: Oh.

Molly: Tell us some interesting facts about New Jersey.
Dad: Well, in 1976, the year of the bicentennial, New Jersey was the third largest state, but the most densely populated. Only 37 percent of the state was actually inhabited.

Molly: Why was 63 percent of it uninhabited?
Dad: There are a lot of pine forests, and the meadowlands, a lot of which they've gotten rid of now. Back then it was a swamp.

Molly: Any other interesting facts?
Dad: Well, it's called the Garden State because it's known for its truck gardens. The farmers would put their produce in their trucks and take it to market.

Molly: How did your parents end up in New Jersey?
Dad: My dad had a job in New York City, so before I was born, they lived there. But as my brother and sister started to get older, and when my mom was pregnant with me, my dad decided to move out to the country. And New Jersey at the time was the country. They moved to Westwood.

Molly: What was Westwood like?
Dad: Westwood was a small town that had a railroad running through it. It was a nice little town at that point. It's still a nice little town.

Molly: How does Westwood compare to other towns in New Jersey?
Dad: It was very middle class. In that part of New Jersey, one little town runs into another little town all the way to New York City. Some of those towns were more working class, some of them were very affluence, but Westwood was very middle class.

Molly: What was it like to grow up in New Jersey?
Dad: It was the kind of town that when I was little, I could ride bikes all over town. Things were very accessible. There were a lot of kids in the neighborhood, so it was easy to ride your bike and meet up with everyone to play baseball or to play football or to play army. Or we'd all ride our bikes somewhere together. But there were a lot less diversions back then. There was no internet. There were only a few channels on television.

Molly: You mentioned sports. Do you have a favorite New Jersey sports team?
Dad: This is something that bugs me. My favorite New Jersey sports team is called the New York Jets. They're called that, and they started in New York, but they play in New Jersey at the Meadowlands.

Molly: Did you have to leave the state due to illicit dealings with the mafia?
Dad: No.
Molly: Did you ever see any people who were in the mafia?
Dad: One time I went to a house where the guy had an indoor swimming pool, and that guy was reportedly in the mafia. Then there was a guy across the street, he was the head of a union, and he might have been in the mafia. But when I was in the newspaper when I was little for collecting political buttons, that guy called me over and gave me a button. And now that button sells for like $400 or $500.
Molly: You don't think he was trying to buy your silence?
Dad: Nah, it wasn't worth that much in 1964.
Molly: Well, I hope he doesn't see this blog and try to come after you.
Dad: I'm sure he's dead. If the mafia didn't get him, then old age did.

Molly: If the aliens were to come down to earth, and they wanted to know the best things to see and do in New Jersey, what things would you tell them to see?
Dad: We have great delicatessens and great homemade ice cream stores. We have nice little towns with nice downtown areas. People think New Jersey is nothing but concrete, but I grew up in a small town with white picket fences, the kind of town where I could ride my bike. Then later, I could walk to the bars when I was home from school.

Molly: I know you like state quarters. Do you have any comments on the New Jersey State quarter?
Dad: It's an excellent quarter. It shows George Washington crossing the Delaware from New Jersey to attack the British.

Molly: Are there any other New Jersey historical factoids you'd like to share?
Dad: The area where I was originally home to a lot of Indians, and then it was settled by the Dutch. Since the Dutch settled lots of New Jersey, there are lots of Dutch names up there. It was known as the Pascack Valley, and there was a team that called itself the Pascack Valley Indians. That may be insensitive today, but it was to honor the Indians in the area we grew up in.

Molly: True or false: Bruce Springsteen is the greatest person --other than you -- to come out of New Jersey.
Dad: False. We have lots more interesting people like Bruce Willis. Hold on, I'm going to go get my almanac so I can tell you some famous people from New Jersey. Like Charles Lindbergh. He lived there when his kid got stolen. Now Bruce Springsteen may be a friend of New Jersey, and he's certainly more famous than me, but I wouldn't put him at the greatest.

[Dad is still trying to find his almanac at this point]

Another great thing about growing up in New Jersey is that we had many different nationalities and religions represented. IT was a nice place to meet people and to realize that there were good people from all different backgrounds.

[finds almanac]

Okay, here we go. Some other famous people from New Jersey include Jason Alexander, Samuel Alito, Judy Blume, Jon Bon Jovi, Aaron Burr, James Fenimore Cooper, Danny Devito, James Gandolfini, who grew up in my hometown. Ed Harris, who I played football against. Ed Marinaro, who I also played football against -- he was on Hill Street Blues. Antonin Scalia, Joe Pesci, Martha Stewart. Meryl Streep, who lived the same county. Her father owned a tire store. Woodrow Wilson was one of our governors, even though he was originally from Virginia.

[Dad continues to read from the almanac]

New Jersey is 47th in size. It was the site of many battles during the American Revolution. It was the first state to approve the Bill of Rights. It's famous for its shore -- not the beach -- the Jersey Shore.

Molly: Would you ever want to live in New Jersey again?
Dad: I don't think so. Now it's crowded and expensive and the weather is a lot harsher than it is here. I think I would probably like to live here, but it was a nice place to grow up. Oh! Also, Frank Sinatra and Jack Nicholson are from New Jersey? How do you like them apples? The state motto is "Liberty and Prosperity." And if you had asked me the state flower or the state bird, I would have known those, because I have it on a little trivet in the basement.