New Jersey

A dump truck you can actually operate, a SpongeBob-colored roller coaster under a mall roof, and a Wildwood…

By Duncan Edwards · May 16

From the top of Mount Mitchill, the Jersey Shore does a little magic trick. One minute you are…

By Duncan Edwards · May 16

The best free day in New Jersey might start with a waterfall thundering behind old mill buildings, continue…

By Duncan Edwards · May 16

The Atlantic City Boardwalk began with one deeply unglamorous problem: sand. Not romance, not nostalgia, not some grand…

By Duncan Edwards · May 16

A plate of pancakes can tell you where you are in New Jersey faster than a road sign…

By Duncan Edwards · May 16

Walk into the Book Barn in Denville and the first surprise is not the books. It is the…

By Duncan Edwards · May 16

There are few New Jersey sounds more specific than the clank of a coaster lift hill mixing with…

By Duncan Edwards · May 16

A cemetery full of headstones should not feel like a math worksheet, but that is exactly what stops…

By Duncan Edwards · May 15

At dusk in Wildwood, the tram car bell cuts through the smell of fryer oil, salt air, and…

By Duncan Edwards · May 15

A burger gets pressed so hard on the griddle that the edges stop looking like beef and start…

By Duncan Edwards · May 15

A seagull can tell what kind of vacationer you are before you even unfold your chair. Show up…

By Duncan Edwards · May 15

There is a giant shoe tucked into the woods of Oak Ridge, and somehow that is not the…

By Duncan Edwards · May 15

You can be stuck in Parkway traffic at noon and, by midafternoon, standing beside a glacial lake so…

By Duncan Edwards · May 15

Some of the apple trees at Riamede Farm do not look like the neat little orchard trees you…

By Duncan Edwards · May 15

The first surprise is the sound. One minute, you are standing near a city street, a county park…

By Duncan Edwards · May 15

A tractor wagon rolls past the vines, a band is warming up somewhere in The Grove, and the…

By Duncan Edwards · May 14

One hour in New Jersey can take you from saltwater taffy and neon motel signs to pine-scented backroads…

By Duncan Edwards · May 14

From River Road, it does not look like a portal. Kinokuniya New Jersey sits at 595 River Road…

By Duncan Edwards · May 14

The best New Jersey road trips do not always announce themselves with dramatic mountain passes or endless desert…

By Duncan Edwards · May 14

The first clue is the smell of garlic hitting hot olive oil before you even settle into the…

By Duncan Edwards · May 14

You can stand under a wolf howl in Warren County, climb a lighthouse in Cape May County, wander…

By Duncan Edwards · May 14

The building still looks like it could handle a little grease under the fingernails. West End Garage at…

By Duncan Edwards · May 14

A waterfall roaring beside brick mill buildings. A dinosaur hiding in a downtown shopping lane. A lighthouse climb…

By Duncan Edwards · May 14

At the bend where South Main Street crosses Brainerd Lake, Cranbury does something sneaky. One minute, you’re in…

By Duncan Edwards · May 13

Somewhere between the turnpike exits, beach traffic, and diner menus big enough to qualify as literature, New Jersey…

By Duncan Edwards · May 13

Firefighter boots dangle overhead, the bar has the lived-in confidence of a true neighborhood spot, and the brick…

By Duncan Edwards · May 13

The boardwalk fries can wait. Somewhere beyond the beach badges and sandy car mats, New Jersey has castle…

By Duncan Edwards · May 13

The Free Bridge into Easton is the kind of New Jersey detail that tells you a lot before…

By Duncan Edwards · May 13

The road into some of New Jersey’s best escapes does a funny little disappearing act. One minute you’re…

By Duncan Edwards · May 13