For almost two months over November and December 2023, Shae and I stayed in New Jersey. I was going to say we visited New Jersey, but overall we didn’t do very much “visiting” there!
Those two months are an extremely busy time for me work-wise with one of my other websites, so much of my time there was spent working and when I wasn’t doing that, I was like a parent of a newborn trying to fit in a nap here and there when I could! To give an idea of how busy things were, I was frequently up until about 6am – and at times later than that – working on things.
That left me with little time and energy to explore the state unfortunately. Shae was busy working on stuff too, but she had a little bit more free time to check out other places. Having said that, given New Jersey’s proximity to other cool cities like Philadelphia and New York, some of the time was spent visiting those places too.
Anyway, all that to say that the following list of best and worst things for New Jersey isn’t drawing from as many activities as normal!
Favorite Accommodation We Stayed At
Stephen – Definitely the Airbnb we stayed at in Cape May. It was a lovely two bedroom apartment with an enormous fenced in back yard. It was decorated very nicely, the host was lovely and it was a simply great stay.
Honorary mention to the Hyatt House Mt Laurel. While it’s not the most amazing hotel we’ve ever stayed at, it’s great value when booked with points, especially considering you can book straight into one and two bedroom suites with kitchens using World of Hyatt points.
Shae – Our cute Airbnb in Cape May for sure!
Favorite Meal
Stephen – My spicy seafood pasta dish at Panico’s Bistro in Cape May. It was one of the best pasta dishes I’ve had and was a huge portion size.
Shae – The Italian we enjoyed at Panico’s Bistro was delicious – especially the dessert!
Most Disappointing Meal
Stephen – I wouldn’t call it disappointing per se as they were tasty, but the pretzels we got at Elaine’s in Cape May were overpriced for what you got.
Shae – We didn’t eat in NJ as much as I might’ve liked to pick a most “disappointing” meal.
Favorite Free Activity
Stephen – Visiting Big Rusty – one of Thomas Dambo’s latest troll sculptures.
Shae – Seeing Santa at Bass Pro Shop in Atlantic City was free, pet-friendly and, of course, very fun!
Favorite Paid Activity
Stephen – Seeing as I did very little in New Jersey, one of the very few paid activities was going on the Holiday Lights Trolley Ride in Cape May.
Shae – I left from NJ so I’m going to count it… Going to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.
Favorite Pet-Friendly Activity
Stephen – Playing ball with Truffles in the backyard of our Airbnb in Cape May.
Shae – Having drinks at Elaine’s and walking around Cape May to see the Christmas lights.
Least Favorite Activity
Stephen – Having to wake up from a lovely nap in order to work some more.
Shae – Staying by Seaside Heights but the entire beach and boardwalk not being dog-friendly even in the winter.
Favorite Hike
Stephen – We didn’t go hiking at all in NJ, so the closest we got to that would be walking around downtown Cape May just before Christmas.
Shae – We didn’t really do any hikes but I went on a mile-long walk at Monmouth Battlefield.
Favorite Quirky Thing We Did
Stephen – Visiting Big Rusty.
Shae – Seeing Big Rusty.
Favorite Memory
Stephen – Unpacking our stuff at our Airbnb in Seaside Heights, knowing we wouldn’t have to move again for another month!
Also, going up to New York City to be in the audience of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. I guess that doesn’t really count though because although it happened while we were officially staying in New Jersey, that was in New York.
Shae – Enjoying the Christmas Lights Trolley Tour.
Funniest Moment
Stephen – Definitely our dog Truffles being ridiculously excited about the presents under the tree for days ahead of Christmas Day. She’s continuously nose at her stocking, nose at her gifts, stamp her feet, whine, etc. She was like a spoiled little child, but it was hilarious that she knew what was coming on Christmas Day.
Shae – Truffles being unable to contain her excitement about Christmas. Facebook doesn’t seem to be letting us embed a video of her shenanigans that we’d uploaded, but you can view it here.
Thing We Most Regretted
Stephen – Having to work so much and not see as much of New Jersey as I’d have liked. Although NJ doesn’t have a great reputation, we did have some interesting-looking activities on our potential list of places to visit that we didn’t get to.
Shae – Not seeing even more of New Jersey – especially where Washington crossed the Delaware River.
Something We Missed And Want To See
Stephen – Pretty much all of New Jersey!
Shae – There were quite a few more historical sites across the state that I’d have liked to have seen and I’d have liked to spend a day or two in Atlantic City.
Our Biggest Surprise
Stephen – That dogs aren’t allowed on the beach in Seaside Heights even in the off-season. And that if you want to visit the beach in the summer, you apparently have to pay something like $15 per person per day, even if you’re staying there.
Shae – How easily I could live in NJ if it weren’t cold and expensive because it’s soooo close to all the good places like Philly and NYC.
My New Jersey Drinking Game Would Be…
Stephen – Take a drink every time we picked something from Cape May as our favorite thing from New Jersey!
Shae – Take a drink every time someone asks why you’re spending almost two months in NJ. That’s very specific to us but it’s true!
Summary Of New Jersey In 10 Words Or Less
Stephen – Seems to have potential, but I didn’t do it justice.
Shae – Great place to launch to even better places from!
New Jersey Cities We Visited In Order From Favorite To Least Favorite
Stephen – Cape May, Mt Laurel, Seaside Heights
Shae – Mt. Laurel, Cape May and Seaside Heights
I always enjoy reading your Best & Worst summaries, and I just wanted to comment that your Statue of Liberty photo is absolutely amazing!
Thank you! That’s one that Shae took with her phone and it’s one of my favorite photos we’ve published on here over the past 7 years.