Actually, southern NJ is quite nice.
On our way home we stopped off at an Irish pub (sorta) that turned out to be very comfortable and pleasant, reminiscent of upstate NY. I was kinda sorry to have to leave.

The scariest part of all of it, though? These people think that this sort of lifestyle is normal. They see nothing remarkable about it. To them The Rack would have appeared to just be another woman taking pains with her appearance. They wouldn't see her as the grotesque parody she was to my eyes.

The other thing I noticed was that very damn few people there really appeared to be happy. They were either drunk and shouty or looking drawn and anxious. Considering that the rooms we stayed in normally go for about $250 a night, that's scary- why would they pay that much money to be miserable?

Another funny moment: along the boardwalk are benches spaced every twenty feet or so. I saw a couple standing by the railing, and the woman stood on top of the bench to see over the tops of the dunes- while standing five feet away from a walkway out to the beach.

The boardwalk was swarmed, but the sand was empty.

Bizarre.
( The Resident Loon Not a demographic. Do not measure., Wed 22 Apr 2009, 17:40, Reply)