by Jeff Johnson Jr.
The answer—for those of you from the Northeast who know the question—is "zero."
The question—for those of you who are not from the Northeast, as I'm not originally—is "New Jersey, eh? Which exit?" Zero is the exit for Cape May, the southernmost exit on the Garden State Parkway. The photo here is of Cape May Lighthouse.
The question implies, of course, that New Jersey is one big mess of highways, the sprawl to end all sprawls, and the imagery is one of strip malls, decaying concrete and rusting steel, belching smokestacks, and a landscape pocked with old landfills and toxic waste sites.
To be fair, anyone who's ever landed at Newark Liberty Airport or passed through the Garden State by car or train in transit from New York to points south knows that this is one stereotype that definitely has more than a grain of truth. (Why else would they call concrete center dividers "Jersey barriers"?)
But in looking back at five years' worth of digital photos that my wife and I have taken since becoming accidental Jerseyans (accidental because, like most Garden State residents who weren't born and raised here, we never imagined living here until we did), it's clear to me that it would also be very wrong to say there's no beauty and nothing worth seeing here.
Each entry of this blog will look at a different Jersey Spot—a place of interest in the Garden State. The point isn't to change anyone's mind about New Jersey. Rather, I hope to share a few tips for people who might be looking for a daytrip, an idea for a weekend getaway, or just a story to tell.
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