June 18, 2024 • 23 mins
Through my first 4 episodes of this show I’ve spoken with representatives from different counties or parks. So I thought I’d step up my game for the 5th episode and go for a whole state. This week I’m speaking with Jeff Vasser. He's the executive director of the New Jersey Division of Travel and Tourism.
That’s right. We’re heading to New Jersey. I’ve always thought this state gets a bad rap. It’s easy to make New Jersey the butt of a joke. Lord knows I’ve done it. But New Jersey has so many beautiful aspects to it. It’s so much more than just the turnpike, or the Jersey Shore. You can do everything in New Jersey. I can honestly say that I’ve always had a good time when traveling to the state. Not always on the roads necessarily, but always when I’ve made it to my destination.
New Jersey has a long and beautiful coastline filled with small towns to bigger resort areas. There’s boardwalks and incredible dining mixed in with mom and pop style shops. Outside of the shore you’ve got skiing in the northwestern portion of the state. You have countless breweries or wineries. The entertainment is incredible with music venues and new spots like American Dream. That’s the huge mall up by the Meadowlands. I hope you enjoy and are inspired by my conversation with Jeff Vasser.
That’s right. We’re heading to New Jersey. I’ve always thought this state gets a bad rap. It’s easy to make New Jersey the butt of a joke. Lord knows I’ve done it. But New Jersey has so many beautiful aspects to it. It’s so much more than just the turnpike, or the Jersey Shore. You can do everything in New Jersey. I can honestly say that I’ve always had a good time when traveling to the state. Not always on the roads necessarily, but always when I’ve made it to my destination.
New Jersey has a long and beautiful coastline filled with small towns to bigger resort areas. There’s boardwalks and incredible dining mixed in with mom and pop style shops. Outside of the shore you’ve got skiing in the northwestern portion of the state. You have countless breweries or wineries. The entertainment is incredible with music venues and new spots like American Dream. That’s the huge mall up by the Meadowlands. I hope you enjoy and are inspired by my conversation with Jeff Vasser.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
Hey, what's going on? Everyone? Welcome to Delightful Destinations. My name
is Jeff Saint Pierre. Delightful Destinationsis a show designed to give people an
inside or maybe a deeper look atvacation locations around Maryland, the mid Atlantic,
and of course some other spots aswell. My hope is to speak
with people who know these areas insideand out and hopefully inspire you for your
next trip. Through my first fourepisodes of this show, so far,
(00:23):
I've spoken with representatives from different countiesor parks. So I thought i'd step
up my game for the fifth episodeand go for a whole state. So
this week I'm speaking with Jeff Vasser, the executive director of the New Jersey
Division of Travel and Tourism. That'sright, we're heading to New Jersey.
I've always thought this state gets abad rap. It's easy to make fun
of New Jersey, right, Lordknows I've done it. But New Jersey
(00:45):
has so many beautiful aspects to it. It's so much more than just the
Turnpike or the Jersey Shore. Youcan do everything in New Jersey. I
can honestly say that I've always hada good time when traveling to the state,
not always on the roads, butalways when I've made it to my
destination. New Jersey's got a longand beautiful coastline filled with small towns to
bigger resort areas. There's boardwalks andincredible dining mixed in with mom and pop
(01:08):
style shops as well. Outside ofthe shore, you've got skiing. In
the northwestern portion of the state,you've got countless breweries or wineries. The
entertainment is incredible with music venues andnew spots like American Dream. That's the
huge mall up by the Meadowlands.I hope you enjoy and are inspired by
my conversation with Jeff Fassar. Greatto be with you, Jeff. So
we're coming off Moryal Day weekend.I can't hear all the stories about travel
(01:32):
being record setting. How did itgo for you guys in New Jersey?
It's been great. I mean everythingis driven by weather, and the weather
was perfect of Saturday and Sunday,and our beaches were full, our restaurants
were full. Everybody is just thrilledthat we have left the pandemic in the
rear view mirror, and everybody's lookingforward to what this summer has to offer.
(01:56):
Our labor. The labor issues we'vehad over the past few years are
gone, and we're just encouraging people, you know, to check out our
beaches, check out our boardwalks,and what we really would like all of
our friends from Maryland to do.And Maryland has always been a great supporter
of the Jersey Shore is you know, get out of your comfort zone.
Atlantic City, the Wildwoods Cape Mayyou know, have always been very popular,
(02:21):
but get up north a little bit, go to go to Belmar,
go see some other beach towns,check out the boardwalks and the great restaurants
you know that are right off ofit. For sure. I lived in
the Philadelphia area for about eight years, four of which I was in college,
so I didn't do too much travelingto the shore. But when I
was out of college, I spentquite a lot of time going through New
Jersey and heading over there, tryingall the different places. Wildwood was always
(02:43):
a hotspot. Atlantic City was fun, but yeah, we started getting a
little bit further north to try thingsout as well. And there are so
many options in New Jersey, evennot even just in the coastline, just
in the state in general. You'vegot so much. That's that's absolutely true,
and that's the message we're trying toget out. Cape May you know,
as I said, has been oneof our most popular beaches, and
(03:05):
actually most recently, Traveling Leisure magazinenamed it as one of the best beaches
in America. But the fun partabout New Jersey, Jeff, is we
have one hundred and thirty miles ofcoastline, and every town has a different
personality. You can go to familyfriendly beaches, you can go to rowdy
beaches. There are those you know, some with you know, boardwalks,
(03:27):
and but all of them, whatthey have in common are beautiful, white,
sandy beaches, and there's something foreverybody, whether you're a surfer or
a fisherman or just a lounge lizard. We've got it all again. You
know what we're trying to tell peoplewith our new campaign, which is we're
little state with a lot of wowis everywhere you turn around, there's a
wow factor that you didn't really realizewas there for New Jersey. And on
(03:53):
a cloudy day, don't cancel youryour reservation. Go check out a tasting
room in one of our great wineriesor breweries, Go check out the arts
and culture scene. There's a lotof cool things to do, and this
year there are a lot of festivalsto take advantage of and music scene.
So it's going to be a fantasticsummer. And we encourage people to come
(04:14):
on down. And if you haven'tseen us in a couple of years,
come on up. You won't recognizeit. Yeah, and the shore itself,
I mean all along the coastline.It's not a place where people just
come for the summer. I meanthere's stuff there year round for folks.
And I was always impressed by theway people embrace the Jersey Shore throughout the
year and not just in the warmsummer months. Well that's a great point,
(04:38):
jet because what I tell people whenpeople ask me when's the best time
to go, I tell them SeptemberOctober. The weather is still perfect,
but the crowds have thinned out.You can get a parking spot right on
the beach block, you can geta reservation in your favorite restaurant. That's
the beauty of the Jersey Shore.And during the pandemic, people really discovered
(05:00):
that they wanted to get out of, you know, the cities. And
what we found was that, youknow, people really started spending a lot
more time. So what was ashoulder season in September and October, you
know has grown a lot. That'swhere we've seen a lot of our growth.
And then in the winter. Ilove walking on the boardwalk in the
wintertime. The salt you know,the salt air just you know, seems
(05:21):
that much crisper. And and ofcourse, you know the great shopping and
the towns are you know, reallygeared for, you know, the winter
season and the holidays and you know, going to Cape May and the holiday
season is just beautiful. It's it'sa wonderful thing to do. And you
know, we encourage people to checkout, you know, some of the
(05:41):
music scenes. You know the StonePony where that Bruce Springsteen made famous.
This is their fiftieth anniversary this year, and yeah, so that's pretty cool.
So you know, they're having alot of events at the Stone Pony
this summer, at the Jersey Shorethis summer and into fall, there's going
to be a lot of really coolmusic festivals. North to Shore is a
very popular one. It takes intoits fold three different communities Newark, Asbury
(06:06):
Park, and Atlantic City in threeconsecutive weekends in June and that's going to
be a lot of fun. TheBarefoot Country Music Fest in Wildwood that's June,
the weekend of June twentieth, that'sgoing to be fantastic and you know,
bring in some real big headliners andit just goes on and on.
So there is a lot to dooff of the beach, and there's certainly
(06:29):
a lot to do, you know, when you get out of the summer
months. One of my favorite venuesin New Jersey, it's not quite on
the shore, but it's up theresort of northern New Jersey, is the
Starland Ballroom and you always get achance to see some really cool artists,
not so much the A listers,but they're the growing people, right like,
they're the ones that are growing tothe A list, and you get
to see them in a venue thatholds about two thousand people. And it's
always been a great show when I'vegone to see the Starland Ballroom. That's
(06:53):
a great example. And you know, if you go up north in the
Newton there's some really cool old venuesthat that bring in some great acts,
but as you said, some thatare on their way up and frankly some
that are you know, coming offof being an a list, which is
cool, and Atlantic City has reallyfocused on entertainment the last couple of years
(07:13):
hard Rock and Ocean. They bringin tremendous acts every week. That's their
brand, you know, is bringingnew music to the area. So that's
that's been a great addition to ourtourism scene. And that is music.
And the other thing Jeff's been ahuge thing for us is the growth of
our restaurants. You know, we'reknown for our diners. We're known for
(07:35):
our Italian hot dogs. There's thatyou know push and pull of the is
it pork roll or tailor ham?You know, those are the really cool,
you know, beachy types of foods. But people aren't as aware of
the fine dining scene. And there'ssomething for everybody there too. The quality
(07:57):
and the diversity of our restaurants reallyreflect the diversity of New Jersey. There's
a different type of cuisine and it'sand there's again something for everybody. The
James Beard Award nominees include a Nigerianrestaurant, which is something that I had
never seen, but you know,it's there. They're kicking butt in what
(08:18):
they're doing, so it's a it'sa lot of fun to see the growth
of great restaurants and bringing a lotof new restaurant tours that are focused on
bringing fresh produce and fresh ingredients,and a lot of farms are being a
part of these restaurants. And NewJersey known as the garden State for a
reason. We have, you know, seven hundred and fifty thousand acres of
(08:41):
farmland, and a lot of theserestaurants are taking advantage of that and you
know, really promoting their farm totable experience as well as you know,
the fresh produce and you know,and other ingredients from you know, from
local farms. I'm glad you mentionedthat, and I'm glad you used the
word diversity too, because I dothink for people that don't spend a lot
(09:01):
of time in New Jersey, themental image of New Jersey is sure and
Turnpike, and that's what people think. But New Jersey as a state has
a little bit of everything that everystate in the country offers. I mean,
you've got the beach, you've gotthe farm land, You've got you
know, some mountain mountainous areas,you've got state parks, you've got a
little bit of a cities. Imean, everything is covered in this state
(09:22):
here on the Atlantic Ocean, andI love that you're able to give all
of the different opportunities to people thatare coming through. You pointed it out
exactly, and that's what a campaignis about. We are a little state.
You can you can ski in themorning up at Mountain Creek, which
is up in the northwest section ofthe state, and then in the afternoon
you could be walking on the beach. Where else can you do that.
(09:45):
Certainly, states such as California offerthat diversity, but not within a three
hour drive, and that's the beautyof it. And this type of year.
Up in Mountain Creek, you cango hiking. You know, you
can do white water rafting, andagain, the spas are wonderful up there,
and it's just a different scene thatpeople don't really think of New Jersey.
(10:07):
As you said, it's you know, the beaches and the turnpike.
But we have beautiful farmland and youknow, we have more horse country then
can more horses than Kentucky. Ithink is the statistic that I've seen the
growth of the wineries and breweries inthose areas and the quality of the wines.
If you haven't had a bottle ofNew Jersey wine over the past fifteen
(10:28):
twenty years. You wouldn't recognize itbecause it's now award winning. They're focused
on high quality wines. We stillhave, you know, some of the
great fruity wines that you know,people you know know and love, but
it's a different scene and the fruitsand vegetables. Did you know that New
Jersey is the blueberry capital of theworld. I think I did. I
(10:50):
did hear that before somewhere, butyes, go on please. Yeah.
And in Hamilton, which is youknow, about a half hour from Atlantic
City, they that's that's the capital. They have wonderful blueberry festival, you
know, for a month, amonth long festival in July that focuses on
that. And then of course,you know, we're known for our Jersey
tomatoes and our Jersey corn. Again, people don't think of that, and
(11:13):
that's the beauty of it. Youknow. We really encourage people to come
and again get out of your comfortzone, see something different and go shopping
too. The growth of our shoppinghas been wonderful, and especially our international
visitors. They come here because they'llspend a couple of days in Philadelphia or
New York City and then they comeinto New Jersey into their shopping because we
(11:35):
don't have tax on you know,clothes and shoes, so they come here
and just take advantage of that andsee Americana. You know, we have
some wonderful small towns that people gothrough. They love to check out our
foods. I don't know if youknow that Anthony Bourdain, you know,
the famous chef who tragically passed awaya few years ago. He was a
New Jersey boy, and we createdan Anthony Bourdain food trailed after him where
(12:00):
we're highlighting some of his favorite placesfrom when he was a kid, and
we put that on our website.We had a ceremony where we gave everybody
a plaque and that's still one ofthe most visited micro sites that we have.
So Anthony Bourdain, you know,has really done a lot for us.
And we also have now a JerseyState Parks Passport for people to take
(12:24):
advantage of, you know, checkingout all of our all of the parks
in New Jersey and you could wina prize you go to a different state
park. You know, we havea geo tracking thing that you sign up
for, and we have the samething for breweries too. So you can
win a really cool New Jersey beermug, you know, or other gifts
(12:45):
just by you know, going intothe tasting room and having a beer.
Not the worst thing in the worldto do. Now, let's talk more
about that for a second, becausethis is this is my world, right,
the brewery world. This is whereI want to live. And I've
noticed that there are places where there'ssort of a collection of brewery is close
enough that they will do sort oftrails, you know, like a brewery
trail kind of thing. Is thathow yours is set up? Or is
it more like, like you said, a passport where you kind of go
(13:07):
in, get your beer, geta stamp kind of thing and move on.
Well, we have both, okay, we have you know, you
can go on our website, youknow, visit NJ dot org and you
know, check out the itineraries andsee the beer trail. But at the
same token, you sign up andit and it's not an app. You
don't have to download anything. Yousign up for the you know, the
(13:28):
beer passport, and again you stopat any one of the ones that that
either are of interest to you oryou know, or in the neighborhood where
you happen to be and you checkout a variety of them and you'll be
eligible for, you know, toget prizes sent to you. But we're
one of the fastest growing craft craftbeer states, second only to Kentucky.
(13:50):
Believe it or not. That's fine, you know, in the growth over
the past few years. That's excitingbecause it takes advantage of the farmland and
it encourages people to you know,get out and see different parts of New
Jersey that they're not familiar with.As you said, you know, we're
trying to take people, you know, off of the beaches, you know,
on a cloudy day, or ifthey can't get you know, get
(14:13):
a hotel room or an airbnb atthe beach. You know, don't pass
up New Jersey because there's so manyother things to do. And again,
as you said, that's the messagewe're trying to get out and we want
people to check out the Jersey BrewTrails Pass and you know, again it's
a free mobile guide and I thinkthere are fifty really cool breweries that are
on that pass. I always lovedbreweries, not to harp on them,
(14:35):
but I always love breweries in general. But then my wife and I had
a child and she's a toddler now, and I feel like breweries were invented
for parents because you're not going totake your toddler to a bar, but
she'll take your toddler to a breweryon a farm with lots of open space
where you can kind of sit outsideand hang. And I know people are
mixed feelings about that, but Ithink this is the perfect thing for parents.
Like, if you want to enjoya nice sunny day or any day
(14:56):
and have a nice drink and letyour kid run around for a little bit,
sometimes the right brewery can be theperfect place to go do that.
Absolutely. And you know what thebreweries and you know the wineries in particular,
if you sit you sit in oneof the tasting rooms or you sit
out in the vineyard, it justtransports you sure, you know, it's
it's you feel like you're in adifferent place. And that's pretty cool about
(15:18):
the variety of New Jersey's you know, tourism. It's really been successful for
bachelor and bachelorette parties that are youknow, taking a van, you know,
out of the cities and you know, touring around New Jersey and stopping,
you know, stopping at a varietyof different sites, going to some
restaurants, and again just seeing adifferent part of New Jersey than than they
would have in the past. Andmost of my interviews I've done for this
(15:41):
podcast so far have been with individualcounties or maybe a state park. In
particular, I'm talking to you aboutan entire state and that opens the door
for a lot of possibilities. AndI know we've been talking a little bit
more about the shore and some specificitems, but are there some certain areas
that you would say, hey,this is this is something that gets overlooked,
like this place is a beautiful place, and I think you need to
(16:03):
look at and not as many peopleknow about it. Well, there's a
lot, you know, not notto you know, sound cliche, but
you know again up in you know, the northwest part of the state.
You know, whether it's you know, Sussex County, Warren and Hunterdon Counties,
which you know border the Delaware River. Again, you can do a
lot of rafting and whitewater whitewater rafting, you know, hiking and biking and
(16:27):
you know trails and in the winterseason it's uh, you know, it's
skiing and even ice fishing up there, so that's that's a different area that
people aren't familiar with. When youwhen you move, you know, a
little further east, closer to NewYork City, you're into Morris County,
which you know, for our historyfriends, George Washington spent more time in
(16:48):
that part. Uh, he spentmore time in New Jersey than any other
of the original thirteen colonies, butmost of that was in what's now Morris
County and Morristown. So for thepeople that are getting ready to celebrate the
two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of America, New Jersey was central to that.
And more than you know, onehundred and fifty Revolutionary War sites are in
(17:08):
New Jersey and a lot of themare in either Mammoth County or Morris County.
Those are really you know, coolthings to see heading you know,
right outside of New York City.Some of the fastest growth of tourism has
been in Jersey City and Hoboken andWeehawken. The growth of the restaurants and
the hotels there and you know,some some really cool museums have popped up
(17:32):
there, and that's where we're gettinga lot of interest, especially from our
international visitors and you know. Thehook there is you're right on the Hudson
River. You've got a view ofManhattan, so you can stay there for
half the price of what a NewYork City hotel room would cost. You
know, It's a six minute ferryride, you know, across the water,
(17:52):
so you know, getting into thoseareas are huge coming you know,
in that area. Also is theMeadowlands where American Dream recently open, which
is one of the largest I thinkit's the third largest mall in North America,
and I'm hesitant to call in amall because it's so much more than
that. Yeah, I mean,sure it has more than four hundred retail
(18:14):
stores, but as an indoor skimountain, it's got three water parks,
it's it's got a variety of restaurants, you know, from top you know,
from you know, high end cuisine, you know, down to your
fast food takeaway. The new JerseyHall of Fame Museum is going to be
opening in American Dream, you know, in the next few months, so
that's going to be exciting. Andthen speaking of new openings later this year,
(18:38):
closer to you know, to ourBaltimore and Maryland friends, is the
new Fossil Park, Yeah, whichis part of Rowan University in South Jersey.
They discovered, you know, throughan archaeological dig, remains from a
variety of different dinosaurs and they excavatedit and created a a fossil park that
(19:02):
will be opening later this year andit's it's going to be a wonderful,
wonderful experience for kids. They're goingto bring a lot of school school children
over because it's they created something forkids that's interactive that you can you know,
actually dig and find yourself a youknow, a dinosaur bone. So
(19:22):
it's really cool. But it's youknow, again a new attraction, you
know, in an area that youknow, really hasn't you know been you
know, a focus for tourism.It's in you know, the south central
you know part of the state,you know, closer to Philadelphia. Also
near Philadelphia is the UH Adventure Aquariumin Camden, you know, which has
really grown in recent years. There'snow a hotel there, so they they've
(19:45):
done a great job of rebuilding theCamden waterfront. One of my favorite places
to hang out in the summer isthe UH the outdoor arena you know,
right on the river there, soyou know, go see some really cool
concerts there as well. New Jerseyis a magical place. I mean I
think I think a lot of peoplemake it the butt of jokes, but
there are so many opportunities there,and I'm really glad you highlighted a few
(20:06):
of those things, like American Dreamup around New York City and that Northwest
Corner. I feel like people thinkof Pennsylvania for a lot of the outdoor
stuff because of the Poconos. Thenyou get up into upstate New York where
you've got the cat skills and allthat, but they miss that part of
New Jersey that also has a lotof those same options and opportunities. There
are so many incredible things to NewJersey and transportation too. You mentioned the
(20:29):
ferry to New York City. Ifyou're coming from Baltimore, where I live,
you can hop on the AM Track. You can take a railway right
up in a New Jersey. Youdon't have to drive. You've got options
that if you want to spend aday in New York, hop over there.
You want to spend a day inPhiladelphia, there's railways that will take
you in New Jersey to Philadelphia.So you even got the local transportation there
too, public transportation that can helppeople out as well. We do.
(20:51):
By the way, it is FreedomMortgage Pavilion. That's right. But yeah,
you're absolutely right. Amtrak get youinto Philadelphia, get you into Newark.
Most of most of our you knowfriends from Maryland are used to you
know, coming up through you knowthe ferry, you know, into Cape
may which is a great option too. But we're also going to be coming
to you. We're going to bebringing our New Jersey Wow Mobile Experience will
(21:15):
be at A and Cambin Yards onJuly thirteenth for an Orioles game, so
you know, come on out andsee us. We're gonna have the full
mobile experience where you can step insideand seeing, you know, a full
immersion experience of New Jersey, aswell as some giveaways. So it's going
to be fun. So we'll bethere on July thirteenth. I believe the
(21:37):
Oriols are playing the Yankees that day. Oh perfect for you guys. Yeah,
yeah, well I'm a Phillies fan. Oh good good. You know
our Baltimore you know friends will allbe rooting to beat the Yankees. Of
course, of course, we canalways agree. The enemy of my enemy
is my friend, is that whatit is? Ye? Right? Jeff
Vassar, Executive director of the NewJersey Division of Travel and Tourism. This
is great, seriously, so muchgreat information. Think. I mean,
(22:00):
I've spent some time in Jersey andthere are things you've mentioned that I didn't
even know about. So I lovethe fact that you gave such a huge
overview. And it's a lot tocover because we are talking about an entire
state here today. But what isthe website that you would send people to
that probably has the best overview wherethey can find information. It's visit ja
dot org is our website and asI said, you can you'll see everything
(22:21):
there. You can get ideas foritineraries. You know, it's very easy
to navigate. So yeah, comecheck us out and sign up for you
the Jersey Brew Trails pass say thatye grank yous fat good luck for the
Jersey State Parks passport. So alot of fun things to do this summer.
That's awesome, Jeff, thank youso much for your time. I
(22:41):
appreciate it. This is great,Thanks, Jeff, great to be with
you. Big thank you to JeffVassar for his time today. Again,
if you want to find out moredetails about New Jersey and start planning your
trip, just check out visitenjay dotorg. And thank you to all of
you for making some time with usduring your day. I appreciate you listening
to delightful destination. I'm Cheff SaintPierre. Until next time, take care,
Hey, what's going on? Everyone? Welcome to Delightful Destinations. My name
is Jeff Saint Pierre. Delightful Destinationsis a show designed to give people an
inside or maybe a deeper look atvacation locations around Maryland, the mid Atlantic,
and of course some other spots aswell. My hope is to speak
with people who know these areas insideand out and hopefully inspire you for your
next trip. Through my first fourepisodes of this show, so far,
(00:23):
I've spoken with representatives from different countiesor parks. So I thought i'd step
up my game for the fifth episodeand go for a whole state. So
this week I'm speaking with Jeff Vasser, the executive director of the New Jersey
Division of Travel and Tourism. That'sright, we're heading to New Jersey.
I've always thought this state gets abad rap. It's easy to make fun
of New Jersey, right, Lordknows I've done it. But New Jersey
(00:45):
has so many beautiful aspects to it. It's so much more than just the
Turnpike or the Jersey Shore. Youcan do everything in New Jersey. I
can honestly say that I've always hada good time when traveling to the state,
not always on the roads, butalways when I've made it to my
destination. New Jersey's got a longand beautiful coastline filled with small towns to
bigger resort areas. There's boardwalks andincredible dining mixed in with mom and pop
(01:08):
style shops as well. Outside ofthe shore, you've got skiing. In
the northwestern portion of the state,you've got countless breweries or wineries. The
entertainment is incredible with music venues andnew spots like American Dream. That's the
huge mall up by the Meadowlands.I hope you enjoy and are inspired by
my conversation with Jeff Fassar. Greatto be with you, Jeff. So
we're coming off Moryal Day weekend.I can't hear all the stories about travel
(01:32):
being record setting. How did itgo for you guys in New Jersey?
It's been great. I mean everythingis driven by weather, and the weather
was perfect of Saturday and Sunday,and our beaches were full, our restaurants
were full. Everybody is just thrilledthat we have left the pandemic in the
rear view mirror, and everybody's lookingforward to what this summer has to offer.
(01:56):
Our labor. The labor issues we'vehad over the past few years are
gone, and we're just encouraging people, you know, to check out our
beaches, check out our boardwalks,and what we really would like all of
our friends from Maryland to do.And Maryland has always been a great supporter
of the Jersey Shore is you know, get out of your comfort zone.
Atlantic City, the Wildwoods Cape Mayyou know, have always been very popular,
(02:21):
but get up north a little bit, go to go to Belmar,
go see some other beach towns,check out the boardwalks and the great restaurants
you know that are right off ofit. For sure. I lived in
the Philadelphia area for about eight years, four of which I was in college,
so I didn't do too much travelingto the shore. But when I
was out of college, I spentquite a lot of time going through New
Jersey and heading over there, tryingall the different places. Wildwood was always
(02:43):
a hotspot. Atlantic City was fun, but yeah, we started getting a
little bit further north to try thingsout as well. And there are so
many options in New Jersey, evennot even just in the coastline, just
in the state in general. You'vegot so much. That's that's absolutely true,
and that's the message we're trying toget out. Cape May you know,
as I said, has been oneof our most popular beaches, and
(03:05):
actually most recently, Traveling Leisure magazinenamed it as one of the best beaches
in America. But the fun partabout New Jersey, Jeff, is we
have one hundred and thirty miles ofcoastline, and every town has a different
personality. You can go to familyfriendly beaches, you can go to rowdy
beaches. There are those you know, some with you know, boardwalks,
(03:27):
and but all of them, whatthey have in common are beautiful, white,
sandy beaches, and there's something foreverybody, whether you're a surfer or
a fisherman or just a lounge lizard. We've got it all again. You
know what we're trying to tell peoplewith our new campaign, which is we're
little state with a lot of wowis everywhere you turn around, there's a
wow factor that you didn't really realizewas there for New Jersey. And on
(03:53):
a cloudy day, don't cancel youryour reservation. Go check out a tasting
room in one of our great wineriesor breweries, Go check out the arts
and culture scene. There's a lotof cool things to do, and this
year there are a lot of festivalsto take advantage of and music scene.
So it's going to be a fantasticsummer. And we encourage people to come
(04:14):
on down. And if you haven'tseen us in a couple of years,
come on up. You won't recognizeit. Yeah, and the shore itself,
I mean all along the coastline.It's not a place where people just
come for the summer. I meanthere's stuff there year round for folks.
And I was always impressed by theway people embrace the Jersey Shore throughout the
year and not just in the warmsummer months. Well that's a great point,
(04:38):
jet because what I tell people whenpeople ask me when's the best time
to go, I tell them SeptemberOctober. The weather is still perfect,
but the crowds have thinned out.You can get a parking spot right on
the beach block, you can geta reservation in your favorite restaurant. That's
the beauty of the Jersey Shore.And during the pandemic, people really discovered
(05:00):
that they wanted to get out of, you know, the cities. And
what we found was that, youknow, people really started spending a lot
more time. So what was ashoulder season in September and October, you
know has grown a lot. That'swhere we've seen a lot of our growth.
And then in the winter. Ilove walking on the boardwalk in the
wintertime. The salt you know,the salt air just you know, seems
(05:21):
that much crisper. And and ofcourse, you know the great shopping and
the towns are you know, reallygeared for, you know, the winter
season and the holidays and you know, going to Cape May and the holiday
season is just beautiful. It's it'sa wonderful thing to do. And you
know, we encourage people to checkout, you know, some of the
(05:41):
music scenes. You know the StonePony where that Bruce Springsteen made famous.
This is their fiftieth anniversary this year, and yeah, so that's pretty cool.
So you know, they're having alot of events at the Stone Pony
this summer, at the Jersey Shorethis summer and into fall, there's going
to be a lot of really coolmusic festivals. North to Shore is a
very popular one. It takes intoits fold three different communities Newark, Asbury
(06:06):
Park, and Atlantic City in threeconsecutive weekends in June and that's going to
be a lot of fun. TheBarefoot Country Music Fest in Wildwood that's June,
the weekend of June twentieth, that'sgoing to be fantastic and you know,
bring in some real big headliners andit just goes on and on.
So there is a lot to dooff of the beach, and there's certainly
(06:29):
a lot to do, you know, when you get out of the summer
months. One of my favorite venuesin New Jersey, it's not quite on
the shore, but it's up theresort of northern New Jersey, is the
Starland Ballroom and you always get achance to see some really cool artists,
not so much the A listers,but they're the growing people, right like,
they're the ones that are growing tothe A list, and you get
to see them in a venue thatholds about two thousand people. And it's
always been a great show when I'vegone to see the Starland Ballroom. That's
(06:53):
a great example. And you know, if you go up north in the
Newton there's some really cool old venuesthat that bring in some great acts,
but as you said, some thatare on their way up and frankly some
that are you know, coming offof being an a list, which is
cool, and Atlantic City has reallyfocused on entertainment the last couple of years
(07:13):
hard Rock and Ocean. They bringin tremendous acts every week. That's their
brand, you know, is bringingnew music to the area. So that's
that's been a great addition to ourtourism scene. And that is music.
And the other thing Jeff's been ahuge thing for us is the growth of
our restaurants. You know, we'reknown for our diners. We're known for
(07:35):
our Italian hot dogs. There's thatyou know push and pull of the is
it pork roll or tailor ham?You know, those are the really cool,
you know, beachy types of foods. But people aren't as aware of
the fine dining scene. And there'ssomething for everybody there too. The quality
(07:57):
and the diversity of our restaurants reallyreflect the diversity of New Jersey. There's
a different type of cuisine and it'sand there's again something for everybody. The
James Beard Award nominees include a Nigerianrestaurant, which is something that I had
never seen, but you know,it's there. They're kicking butt in what
(08:18):
they're doing, so it's a it'sa lot of fun to see the growth
of great restaurants and bringing a lotof new restaurant tours that are focused on
bringing fresh produce and fresh ingredients,and a lot of farms are being a
part of these restaurants. And NewJersey known as the garden State for a
reason. We have, you know, seven hundred and fifty thousand acres of
(08:41):
farmland, and a lot of theserestaurants are taking advantage of that and you
know, really promoting their farm totable experience as well as you know,
the fresh produce and you know,and other ingredients from you know, from
local farms. I'm glad you mentionedthat, and I'm glad you used the
word diversity too, because I dothink for people that don't spend a lot
(09:01):
of time in New Jersey, themental image of New Jersey is sure and
Turnpike, and that's what people think. But New Jersey as a state has
a little bit of everything that everystate in the country offers. I mean,
you've got the beach, you've gotthe farm land, You've got you
know, some mountain mountainous areas,you've got state parks, you've got a
little bit of a cities. Imean, everything is covered in this state
(09:22):
here on the Atlantic Ocean, andI love that you're able to give all
of the different opportunities to people thatare coming through. You pointed it out
exactly, and that's what a campaignis about. We are a little state.
You can you can ski in themorning up at Mountain Creek, which
is up in the northwest section ofthe state, and then in the afternoon
you could be walking on the beach. Where else can you do that.
(09:45):
Certainly, states such as California offerthat diversity, but not within a three
hour drive, and that's the beautyof it. And this type of year.
Up in Mountain Creek, you cango hiking. You know, you
can do white water rafting, andagain, the spas are wonderful up there,
and it's just a different scene thatpeople don't really think of New Jersey.
(10:07):
As you said, it's you know, the beaches and the turnpike.
But we have beautiful farmland and youknow, we have more horse country then
can more horses than Kentucky. Ithink is the statistic that I've seen the
growth of the wineries and breweries inthose areas and the quality of the wines.
If you haven't had a bottle ofNew Jersey wine over the past fifteen
(10:28):
twenty years. You wouldn't recognize itbecause it's now award winning. They're focused
on high quality wines. We stillhave, you know, some of the
great fruity wines that you know,people you know know and love, but
it's a different scene and the fruitsand vegetables. Did you know that New
Jersey is the blueberry capital of theworld. I think I did. I
(10:50):
did hear that before somewhere, butyes, go on please. Yeah.
And in Hamilton, which is youknow, about a half hour from Atlantic
City, they that's that's the capital. They have wonderful blueberry festival, you
know, for a month, amonth long festival in July that focuses on
that. And then of course,you know, we're known for our Jersey
tomatoes and our Jersey corn. Again, people don't think of that, and
(11:13):
that's the beauty of it. Youknow. We really encourage people to come
and again get out of your comfortzone, see something different and go shopping
too. The growth of our shoppinghas been wonderful, and especially our international
visitors. They come here because they'llspend a couple of days in Philadelphia or
New York City and then they comeinto New Jersey into their shopping because we
(11:35):
don't have tax on you know,clothes and shoes, so they come here
and just take advantage of that andsee Americana. You know, we have
some wonderful small towns that people gothrough. They love to check out our
foods. I don't know if youknow that Anthony Bourdain, you know,
the famous chef who tragically passed awaya few years ago. He was a
New Jersey boy, and we createdan Anthony Bourdain food trailed after him where
(12:00):
we're highlighting some of his favorite placesfrom when he was a kid, and
we put that on our website.We had a ceremony where we gave everybody
a plaque and that's still one ofthe most visited micro sites that we have.
So Anthony Bourdain, you know,has really done a lot for us.
And we also have now a JerseyState Parks Passport for people to take
(12:24):
advantage of, you know, checkingout all of our all of the parks
in New Jersey and you could wina prize you go to a different state
park. You know, we havea geo tracking thing that you sign up
for, and we have the samething for breweries too. So you can
win a really cool New Jersey beermug, you know, or other gifts
(12:45):
just by you know, going intothe tasting room and having a beer.
Not the worst thing in the worldto do. Now, let's talk more
about that for a second, becausethis is this is my world, right,
the brewery world. This is whereI want to live. And I've
noticed that there are places where there'ssort of a collection of brewery is close
enough that they will do sort oftrails, you know, like a brewery
trail kind of thing. Is thathow yours is set up? Or is
it more like, like you said, a passport where you kind of go
(13:07):
in, get your beer, geta stamp kind of thing and move on.
Well, we have both, okay, we have you know, you
can go on our website, youknow, visit NJ dot org and you
know, check out the itineraries andsee the beer trail. But at the
same token, you sign up andit and it's not an app. You
don't have to download anything. Yousign up for the you know, the
(13:28):
beer passport, and again you stopat any one of the ones that that
either are of interest to you oryou know, or in the neighborhood where
you happen to be and you checkout a variety of them and you'll be
eligible for, you know, toget prizes sent to you. But we're
one of the fastest growing craft craftbeer states, second only to Kentucky.
(13:50):
Believe it or not. That's fine, you know, in the growth over
the past few years. That's excitingbecause it takes advantage of the farmland and
it encourages people to you know,get out and see different parts of New
Jersey that they're not familiar with.As you said, you know, we're
trying to take people, you know, off of the beaches, you know,
on a cloudy day, or ifthey can't get you know, get
(14:13):
a hotel room or an airbnb atthe beach. You know, don't pass
up New Jersey because there's so manyother things to do. And again,
as you said, that's the messagewe're trying to get out and we want
people to check out the Jersey BrewTrails Pass and you know, again it's
a free mobile guide and I thinkthere are fifty really cool breweries that are
on that pass. I always lovedbreweries, not to harp on them,
(14:35):
but I always love breweries in general. But then my wife and I had
a child and she's a toddler now, and I feel like breweries were invented
for parents because you're not going totake your toddler to a bar, but
she'll take your toddler to a breweryon a farm with lots of open space
where you can kind of sit outsideand hang. And I know people are
mixed feelings about that, but Ithink this is the perfect thing for parents.
Like, if you want to enjoya nice sunny day or any day
(14:56):
and have a nice drink and letyour kid run around for a little bit,
sometimes the right brewery can be theperfect place to go do that.
Absolutely. And you know what thebreweries and you know the wineries in particular,
if you sit you sit in oneof the tasting rooms or you sit
out in the vineyard, it justtransports you sure, you know, it's
it's you feel like you're in adifferent place. And that's pretty cool about
(15:18):
the variety of New Jersey's you know, tourism. It's really been successful for
bachelor and bachelorette parties that are youknow, taking a van, you know,
out of the cities and you know, touring around New Jersey and stopping,
you know, stopping at a varietyof different sites, going to some
restaurants, and again just seeing adifferent part of New Jersey than than they
would have in the past. Andmost of my interviews I've done for this
(15:41):
podcast so far have been with individualcounties or maybe a state park. In
particular, I'm talking to you aboutan entire state and that opens the door
for a lot of possibilities. AndI know we've been talking a little bit
more about the shore and some specificitems, but are there some certain areas
that you would say, hey,this is this is something that gets overlooked,
like this place is a beautiful place, and I think you need to
(16:03):
look at and not as many peopleknow about it. Well, there's a
lot, you know, not notto you know, sound cliche, but
you know again up in you know, the northwest part of the state.
You know, whether it's you know, Sussex County, Warren and Hunterdon Counties,
which you know border the Delaware River. Again, you can do a
lot of rafting and whitewater whitewater rafting, you know, hiking and biking and
(16:27):
you know trails and in the winterseason it's uh, you know, it's
skiing and even ice fishing up there, so that's that's a different area that
people aren't familiar with. When youwhen you move, you know, a
little further east, closer to NewYork City, you're into Morris County,
which you know, for our historyfriends, George Washington spent more time in
(16:48):
that part. Uh, he spentmore time in New Jersey than any other
of the original thirteen colonies, butmost of that was in what's now Morris
County and Morristown. So for thepeople that are getting ready to celebrate the
two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of America, New Jersey was central to that.
And more than you know, onehundred and fifty Revolutionary War sites are in
(17:08):
New Jersey and a lot of themare in either Mammoth County or Morris County.
Those are really you know, coolthings to see heading you know,
right outside of New York City.Some of the fastest growth of tourism has
been in Jersey City and Hoboken andWeehawken. The growth of the restaurants and
the hotels there and you know,some some really cool museums have popped up
(17:32):
there, and that's where we're gettinga lot of interest, especially from our
international visitors and you know. Thehook there is you're right on the Hudson
River. You've got a view ofManhattan, so you can stay there for
half the price of what a NewYork City hotel room would cost. You
know, It's a six minute ferryride, you know, across the water,
(17:52):
so you know, getting into thoseareas are huge coming you know,
in that area. Also is theMeadowlands where American Dream recently open, which
is one of the largest I thinkit's the third largest mall in North America,
and I'm hesitant to call in amall because it's so much more than
that. Yeah, I mean,sure it has more than four hundred retail
(18:14):
stores, but as an indoor skimountain, it's got three water parks,
it's it's got a variety of restaurants, you know, from top you know,
from you know, high end cuisine, you know, down to your
fast food takeaway. The new JerseyHall of Fame Museum is going to be
opening in American Dream, you know, in the next few months, so
that's going to be exciting. Andthen speaking of new openings later this year,
(18:38):
closer to you know, to ourBaltimore and Maryland friends, is the
new Fossil Park, Yeah, whichis part of Rowan University in South Jersey.
They discovered, you know, throughan archaeological dig, remains from a
variety of different dinosaurs and they excavatedit and created a a fossil park that
(19:02):
will be opening later this year andit's it's going to be a wonderful,
wonderful experience for kids. They're goingto bring a lot of school school children
over because it's they created something forkids that's interactive that you can you know,
actually dig and find yourself a youknow, a dinosaur bone. So
(19:22):
it's really cool. But it's youknow, again a new attraction, you
know, in an area that youknow, really hasn't you know been you
know, a focus for tourism.It's in you know, the south central
you know part of the state,you know, closer to Philadelphia. Also
near Philadelphia is the UH Adventure Aquariumin Camden, you know, which has
really grown in recent years. There'snow a hotel there, so they they've
(19:45):
done a great job of rebuilding theCamden waterfront. One of my favorite places
to hang out in the summer isthe UH the outdoor arena you know,
right on the river there, soyou know, go see some really cool
concerts there as well. New Jerseyis a magical place. I mean I
think I think a lot of peoplemake it the butt of jokes, but
there are so many opportunities there,and I'm really glad you highlighted a few
(20:06):
of those things, like American Dreamup around New York City and that Northwest
Corner. I feel like people thinkof Pennsylvania for a lot of the outdoor
stuff because of the Poconos. Thenyou get up into upstate New York where
you've got the cat skills and allthat, but they miss that part of
New Jersey that also has a lotof those same options and opportunities. There
are so many incredible things to NewJersey and transportation too. You mentioned the
(20:29):
ferry to New York City. Ifyou're coming from Baltimore, where I live,
you can hop on the AM Track. You can take a railway right
up in a New Jersey. Youdon't have to drive. You've got options
that if you want to spend aday in New York, hop over there.
You want to spend a day inPhiladelphia, there's railways that will take
you in New Jersey to Philadelphia.So you even got the local transportation there
too, public transportation that can helppeople out as well. We do.
(20:51):
By the way, it is FreedomMortgage Pavilion. That's right. But yeah,
you're absolutely right. Amtrak get youinto Philadelphia, get you into Newark.
Most of most of our you knowfriends from Maryland are used to you
know, coming up through you knowthe ferry, you know, into Cape
may which is a great option too. But we're also going to be coming
to you. We're going to bebringing our New Jersey Wow Mobile Experience will
(21:15):
be at A and Cambin Yards onJuly thirteenth for an Orioles game, so
you know, come on out andsee us. We're gonna have the full
mobile experience where you can step insideand seeing, you know, a full
immersion experience of New Jersey, aswell as some giveaways. So it's going
to be fun. So we'll bethere on July thirteenth. I believe the
(21:37):
Oriols are playing the Yankees that day. Oh perfect for you guys. Yeah,
yeah, well I'm a Phillies fan. Oh good good. You know
our Baltimore you know friends will allbe rooting to beat the Yankees. Of
course, of course, we canalways agree. The enemy of my enemy
is my friend, is that whatit is? Ye? Right? Jeff
Vassar, Executive director of the NewJersey Division of Travel and Tourism. This
is great, seriously, so muchgreat information. Think. I mean,
(22:00):
I've spent some time in Jersey andthere are things you've mentioned that I didn't
even know about. So I lovethe fact that you gave such a huge
overview. And it's a lot tocover because we are talking about an entire
state here today. But what isthe website that you would send people to
that probably has the best overview wherethey can find information. It's visit ja
dot org is our website and asI said, you can you'll see everything
(22:21):
there. You can get ideas foritineraries. You know, it's very easy
to navigate. So yeah, comecheck us out and sign up for you
the Jersey Brew Trails pass say thatye grank yous fat good luck for the
Jersey State Parks passport. So alot of fun things to do this summer.
That's awesome, Jeff, thank youso much for your time. I
(22:41):
appreciate it. This is great,Thanks, Jeff, great to be with
you. Big thank you to JeffVassar for his time today. Again,
if you want to find out moredetails about New Jersey and start planning your
trip, just check out visitenjay dotorg. And thank you to all of
you for making some time with usduring your day. I appreciate you listening
to delightful destination. I'm Cheff SaintPierre. Until next time, take care,
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