It’s January 2024 and you’ve probably noticed that last week we posted about Halloween in Salem, MA. Obviously, we’ve had some lag in our posts. But, it’s not without good reason.
Stephen has been working like a beast for two months solid on GCGalore, Frequent Miler, and still posting here. I’ve been doing a thing or two myself, launching Ignite Travel Group, LLC, seeing the sites for my students as The Traveling Teach, and trying to get a little rest over the holidays in preparation for a really busy semester.
But, we’re now in the final year of the road trip so it’s time to get ready to have your face melted off with cool states like Montana, Alaska, and Hawaii! So I’m jumping in to catch you up with all that “we,” and by we I mean *me*, got up to in New Jersey in November and December.
Well, I say “in New Jersey” but really it was more of a launch pad to see other places as so very little of it was in New Jersey itself. And, honestly, that’s probably ok since one of the best things about New Jersey is its proximity to other cool destinations.
What I Did In New Jersey
Monmouth Battlefield State Park
As a huge Hamilton fan, I’ve made it a bit of an unofficial mission to visit as many of the sites from the musical that I can, and then I realized that I have a picture or video from almost every song! This meant that I had to make it to see where Lee “sh*t the bed at the Battle of Monmouth” when I saw it was only an hour away from our Seaside Heights location.
To talk to the docents there, Lee gets a bad rap (pun intended) from the Hamilton musical and, as is often the case, the true story is a bit more complicated and it’s worth chatting with them to hear their perspectives. It was a cold and rainy day and you can’t take any pictures in the museum, but I made my way up to where Hamilton was shot off his horse near the Hedgerow. I recommend stopping in to see the Monmouth Battlefield State Park as it has a great small museum with interesting historic artifacts from the battle and it’s free!
Thomas Dambo’s “Big Rusty”
Hey – one that Stephen Pepper was there for! We drove back from Baltimore, where Stephen had booked tickets for our anniversary in August, to see Moulin Rouge and stopped in Hainesport, NJ to see Big Rusty. You know we love our trolls, so the stop was a must.
He was very cool to see since he’s very different from any of the other trolls we’ve seen by Dambo. They’ve all been reclaimed wood until now. Using items from the site, Dambo created this fantastical junkyard beast. There are lots of “No Trespassing” signs on either side of the road as you drive along, but our understanding is that if the gate is open it’s ok to go through to the site – just don’t cross beyond those signs on either side of the road or go beyond the gate when it’s closed.
New Jersey State House in Trenton, NJ
My mom came with me to see the capitol building – and it was a complicated process. Good thing we’d gotten 30 mins of parking instead of the original 15 mins we’d planned! But, it need not be complicated for you, dear reader, because I’m going to give you the shortcut info you need! Trenton has a bad rap as we told people we’d be stopping there. However, I found it charming, at least near the state house.
What wasn’t charming was walking all around the construction to the back, only to find out visitors enter through the annex, which was right by our car. (*face palm*) Unlike most other state houses, you can’t enter the NJ capitol building without going on a (free) tour. Mom and I didn’t have that kind of time, but the tour guide was kind enough to stamp our state capital book for us so we didn’t have to go through the screening process for a 5 second stamp. It was disappointing not to be able to just do a self-guided tour (which most state capitals allow), but to each their own. I officially went to the capitol, so I earned my stamp.
So, don’t go to the state house for a visit. You go to the annex which is a U-shaped building to the right when you’re facing the capitol building from the road. The walk around wasn’t a total bust because we were able to see some other historic sites about the industry that was originally on the site, and if we’d had the time I’d have loved to see the Barracks Museum next door.
Cape May at Christmas
I’ll be writing a full post about this so check back, but seeing Cape May at Christmas was a good choice. The Victorian homes were delightful, we had an excellent dining experience, and probably one of the best Airbnb stays we’ve had on the road trip.
We also saw Santa on the way down near Atlantic City at the Bass Pro Shop. Pet parent pro-tip – Bass Pro Shops have a free photo with Santa each year AND it’s pet-friendly. It’s the pawfect place to get your family or furbaby Santa photo. And his beard has always been real!
The Jersey Shore
We stayed in Seaside Heights, NJ for a month in the thick of the quintessential “Jersey Shore.” While the Airbnb we stayed in was nice enough (it had some issues) and the beach was pretty, it was disappointing to find out that the beach and boardwalk aren’t dog-friendly, at all, no matter the season.
We also found out that if you visit in the summer there’s a $15 per person, per day, beach fee to go onto the sand! Ok, the beach is nice, but it’s not *that* special.
We did enjoy being near the sea air and going for nighttime walks to see the Christmas lights of residents that are there year round – and it was positioned nicely near Toms River for some of the “regular life” stuff we needed to do like Christmas shopping, hair cuts, and vet visits.
Liberty State Park
I went to Liberty State Park as my launch pad to NY to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.
Things I Did From New Jersey
The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island
I’ll be writing a full post about this in the coming days, so check back (here it is!). I ended up having the PERFECT day when I went to the Statue of Liberty, with a pedestal ticket, and Ellis Island. The weather, crowds, and timing of everything made the day such a sweet memory from the road trip. I’m sad Stephen wasn’t there to share it, but I’m very glad I made the 1.5-hour drive (each way) to do it.
Hamilton Sites – Days in NYC
As I mentioned above, I’m a HUGE Hamilton fan and, as you will also know, a huge history buff. So going into NYC twice to visit different locations associated with Alexander Hamilton’s life and legacy was well worth the bus journey and drives I took.
One weekend I was invited to spend the day in NYC with some fellow nomad friends and decided to make a weekend out of it so I could visit the Hamilton locations in NYC. I took the bus up from Toms River – an excellent choice at only $21.50 each way – as it meant I didn’t have to drive, pay for parking, and could arrive and depart when I wanted to. Stephen was able to keep the car for his GC Galore errands and just drove 15 mins each way to drop me off/pick me up.
After a full day with friends visiting all the Christmas storefront windows and enjoying catching up with distant friends, I crashed at the Hyatt Centric in Times Square. When I finally managed to get out of bed, it was so cozy and the rain was falling, I headed out for all the different Hamilton-related sites I could find.
I went to the offices of the NY Post (the paper Hamilton started) and using this post as a guide I went to these locations in the financial district – 57 Wall Street, The New York Bank, Fraunces Tavern, Federal Hall, Trinity Church, and 57 Maiden Lane. At Fraunces Tavern, I found out they had a live reenactment of Washington saying farewell to his officers, which also happened at the Tavern.
I went through the museum and watched the reenactment for $1. Totally worth it. I got progressively soggier throughout the day and didn’t make it uptown to the Hamilton Grange – his home in Harlem.
I went back to the Hamilton Grange with my mom (the day we stopped at the NJ capitol building) and we went on a free self-guided tour of the home. We used Park Whiz and paid $11.50 to park all day from 11am – 8pm. We decided to make it a full Hamilton-themed day and went to Hamilton’s Kitchen & Bar, stopped at the Alexander Hamilton Service Station, and ended up in Weehawken, New Jersey at Hamilton Park and the Weehawken Dueling Grounds where Hamilton’s son Phillip and he, himself, dueled and lost their lives as a result.
Even if you’re not a Hamilton fan, stopping in Hamilton Park in Weehawken NJ, gives you great views of NYC.
Journey into PA
We went into Philly to see some friends for dinner and to another small town only 45 mins away to see more friends from Mt. Laurel, NJ – only 30 mins from Philadelphia and 1.5 hours to NYC it was a great spot to stay – so we did it twice!
Journey to Baltimore, MD
Baltimore, MD was only 3 hours from where we stayed in Seaside Heights, NJ, so we were able to do an overnight at the Kimpton Hotel Monaco while we celebrated our August anniversary by watching the Broadway touring company of Moulin Rouge.
NYE in NYC
Stephen booked us an extraordinary night for New Year’s Eve in NYC. It came totally unexpectedly in November that we could use United Airlines miles to attend a party at Charlie Palmer Steak right in Times Square. We completely changed our New Year’s plans and decided to go back to Mt. Laurel after Cape May so we’d only be 1.5 hours from the city. We stayed overnight in the Gild Hall, a Thompson hotel (part of Hyatt). Stephen will have more about this experience in a future post.
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That was our November and December in New Jersey. I told you that the best part of New Jersey was its proximity to all the other amazing places nearby!
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