Backroads Of New Jersey

Beyond New Jersey’s bustling cities and busy turnpikes are lesser known marvels of nature and history, all within easy reach of a traveler consulting this book. Let Backroads of New Jersey guide you to the natural wonders, historic sites, and other secrets of the Garden State, from scenic lake country and bountiful farmlands to woodland forest preserves and the glistening white-sand beaches of a 127-mile Atlantic Ocean shoreline. One of the original thirteen colonies, New Jersey was the site of some of the most famous battles of the American Revolutionary War. Today you can walk in George Washington’s footsteps and revisit milestones of the Revolution at Washington Crossing State Park, the historic Morristown area, and the great Princeton Battlefield. This book’s twenty-nine backroads tours also invite you to experience nature at its most splendid, in the Meadowlands, the Delaware Water Gap, the Great Swamp, and the Pine Barrens region--the largest wilderness area east of the Mississippi River. Follow the multitude of seaside routes along the boardwalks and beaches of the Jersey Shore from Sandy Hook in the north to Cape May in the south. Or turn inland and stop at a world-famous diner, buy farm-fresh Jersey tomatoes at a roadside stand, or explore the hidden corners of old, industrial cities like Paterson, Hoboken, and Newark. And don’t overlook the state’s oddities and folklore: Grovers Mill, invaded by Martians in Orson Welles’s infamous “War of the Worlds” broadcast; Flemington, where the Lindbergh kidnapping trial took place; and Leeds Point, birthplace of the mythic Jersey Devil. Whether you’re planning a day trip, looking for unusual destinations, or simply want to learn more about the region, all routes in Backroads of New Jersey will lead you to the true heart of the state.

In Backroads, New Jersey, Di Ionno leads readers off the congested interstates with their commonplace scenery to the seldom-explored secondary roads, where the real life of the state can be found. These inter-county or 500 series roads are a 6,788-mile network of mostly one-lane highways. Marked by blue-and-yellow five-sided shields bearing county names, they make up more than 20 percent of New Jersey's public roads. They are never the fastest or most direct way to get anywhere, but when you break out of the towns and hit the country, they are a pleasure to drive.

Beyond New Jersey’s bustling cities and busy turnpikes are lesser known marvels of nature and history, all within easy reach of a traveler consulting this book. Let Backroads of New Jersey guide you to the natural wonders, historic sites, and other secrets of the Garden State, from scenic lake country and bountiful farmlands to woodland forest preserves and the glistening white-sand beaches of a 127-mile Atlantic Ocean shoreline. One of the original thirteen colonies, New Jersey was the site of some of the most famous battles of the American Revolutionary War. Today you can walk in George Washington’s footsteps and revisit milestones of the Revolution at Washington Crossing State Park, the historic Morristown area, and the great Princeton Battlefield. This book’s twenty-nine backroads tours also invite you to experience nature at its most splendid, in the Meadowlands, the Delaware Water Gap, the Great Swamp, and the Pine Barrens region--the largest wilderness area east of the Mississippi River. Follow the multitude of seaside routes along the boardwalks and beaches of the Jersey Shore from Sandy Hook in the north to Cape May in the south. Or turn inland and stop at a world-famous diner, buy farm-fresh Jersey tomatoes at a roadside stand, or explore the hidden corners of old, industrial cities like Paterson, Hoboken, and Newark. And don’t overlook the state’s oddities and folklore: Grovers Mill, invaded by Martians in Orson Welles’s infamous “War of the Worlds” broadcast; Flemington, where the Lindbergh kidnapping trial took place; and Leeds Point, birthplace of the mythic Jersey Devil. Whether you’re planning a day trip, looking for unusual destinations, or simply want to learn more about the region, all routes in Backroads of New Jersey will lead you to the true heart of the state.

Presented in three sections—North, Central, and South—the rides cover a variety of distances, terrain, locations, and traffic conditions, from 12- to 25-mile rambles to a 227-mile epic from northern New Jersey to Cape May.

#1 New York Times bestselling author John Feinstein returns to his first love--college basketball--with a fascinating and compelling journey through a landscape of unsung, unpublicized and often unknown heroes of Division-1 college hoops. John Feinstein pulls back the curtain on college basketball's lesser-known Cinderella stories--the smaller programs who no one expects to win, who have no chance of attracting the most coveted high school recruits. To tell this story, Feinstein follows a handful of players, coaches, and schools who dream, not of winning the NCAA tournament, but of making it past their first or second round games. Every once in a while, one of these coaches or players is plucked from obscurity to lead a major team or to play professionally, cementing their status in these fiercely passionate fan bases as a legend. These are the gifted players who aren't handled with kid gloves--they're hardworking, gritty teammates who practice and party with everyone else. With his trademark humor and invaluable connections, John Feinstein reveals the big time programs you've never heard of, the bracket busters you didn't expect to cheer for, and the coaches who inspire them to take their teams to the next level.

Florida has been called "The State Without A Soul." The people that moved to Florida left their roots at the place they came from. This history of the long ago features people with their roots who were born here, walked the sands of time and will be buried here at the Cedars of Lebanon Cemetery. Their headstones already mark the spot where their roots will remain for eternity. Dessie Smith Prescott, whose picture is in the "Women's Hall of Fame" in Tallahassee said, "If you find yourself on a back road, get off and walk the main road." Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings is also in the Hall of Fame because Dessie helped her to survive long enough to write "The Yearling" and many other Florida books. Some of the history tells of the memories and roots that people brought to this area to build "The State With A Soul." This book is written so that the old stories don't get lost. It links the threads together of the Soul or Spirit of Florida.

“Enlightening and inspiring.” — Walter Isaacson “Barry probes the American soul, finding its biases, but also, nurtured by its complicated past, our better angels — with an opportunity to move forward.” — Ken Burns Bringing together two of America’s unifying loves — road trips and Abraham Lincoln — Frank Barry takes readers on a thought-provoking journey into the heart of our democracy and the soul of our country A year into his marriage and having never driven an RV, Frank and his wife Laurel set out from New York City in a Winnebago to drive the nation’s first transcontinental route, the Lincoln Highway, which zigzags through small towns and big cities from Times Square to San Francisco. Using the spirit of Abraham Lincoln to guide them across the land, they hope to see more clearly what holds the country together — and how we can keep it together, even amidst political divisions have grown increasingly rancorous, bitter, and exhausting. Along the way, Frank and Laurel meet Americans whose personal experiences help humanize the nation’s divisions, and they encounter historical figures and events whose legacies are still shaping our sense of national identity and the struggles over it. This unforgettable journey is full of what makes any great road trip memorable and enjoyable: music, conversation, and laughter. By the end, readers will have a clearer picture of how we have arrived at a period that carries echoes of the Civil War era, and — using Lincoln as a guide — where the path forward lies.