My new logo for this blog project:

My logo for “Smile! You’re Visiting New Jersey!” created my very creative nephew, Artist Kyle McFarlane

I have found that the way we market the State of New Jersey boring. Most of the tourism books created by the state tourism board and the local county tourism boards just don’t capture all the wonderful things to do and see in the State of New Jersey. From our quirky beach communities to our unique small downtown based towns, each section of the state is so different.

When most tourists think of New Jersey, they think of the opening scene of “The Soprano’s”, with the glimpses of Newark Bay and the skyline of lower Manhattan or the more urban sections of the state that have their share of problems. What we miss about our great state is that every part of the state has so much to offer. We even run into the paradox of North and South Jersey, where part of our state roots for New York teams and the other for Philadelphia teams and never the two should meet (except over the summer when I was in Cape May when Philly played the Mets to a very mixed crowd of fans).

We range from big cities, university towns and commuter townships to historical small towns and Revolutionary War era villages that rival anything in Vermont or New Hampshire with their town squares and “Greens” to the 18th century architecture with signs that read “Washington Slept here”. Don’t write off communities such as Newark or Paterson, which have a host of great things to do and experience. We have so much to offer.

So from this point, I have created this site to mirror the work I am doing on blog “MywalkinManhattan.com, which is walking every inch of the Island of Manhattan and surrounding parts of New York City, to creating this site to do the same with every corner of the State of New Jersey.

I have recategorized all my New Jersey based blogs from museums and cultural sites to festivals and special events that I have experienced and walking tours that I have enjoyed that I want to share with readers. This also includes great restaurants, delis and bakeries that dot our great state. If you have not been to New Jersey then you are missing a lot.

So join me as we explore the great State of New Jersey and say “Smile! You’re Visiting New Jersey!”