I left the Star-Ledger just a little over a week ago, walking out of the newsroom with a box in hand and a round of applause from my colleagues. I think it's the greatest gesture a journalist gets, and of course, it makes leaving the newspaper business all that much harder.
I think that's why I got out of Newark pretty quickly that day. But after a weekend of hanging around the house, I was right back in Jersey, visiting the Shore on Monday.
Island Beach State Park (http://www.islandbeachnj.org/) was incredible. The sun and warm surf were just right, and I loved the setting against a backdrop of sand dunes. We left afterwards for the boardwalk in seaside (both the Heights, http://www.seaside-heightsnj.org/, and the Park, http://www.seasideparknj.org/). I recommend the Casino Pier (http://www.casinopiernj.com/) over Funtown Pier (http://www.funtownpier.com/).
Casino's bigger, and the rides are better. It has a beautiful carousel, and Stillwalk Manor, a haunted house, is actually scary. Funtown has a huge ferris wheel, visible for miles, but other than that, the rides are lackluster. The Comet coaster pleased my thrill-seeking kids, but the Sponge Bob ride, a sort of funhouse, was very disappointing. My 7-year-old daughter and I got off calling it, "Sponge Bob rip-off!"
For snacks we had cotton candy and Kohr's frozen custard. I recommend mint. And for dinner, we had sliders at White Castle's on Route 37 in Toms River. From there, we stopped off in Lakewood, to see the old Ortega homestead. Our former house is once again up for sale (http://www.remax-nj.com/remaxnj/modules/internet/search/includes/mapsearch/listingpopup.asp?mlsid=211&mlsnumber=20923916&l=y). Sadly, most of the neighbors we knew are all gone.
We also stopped at St. Mary of the Lake cemetery (http://www.stmaryofthelake.org/) to visit the graves of my parents, and an old friend, Bob Romano.
The shore is such a contrast to north Jersey. Nothing quite as urban as Newark. Not even Asbury Park, which seems to be picking up, albeit slowly. The beach there too is very nice.
I went right to work at my new job in Hoboken on Wednesday, and spent the remainder of the week studying everything I could about hedge funds, which I'll be writing about for a corporate newsletter. I also abandoned my car for the train ride into Hoboken. It was long, but quite a switch from driving. I did more reading than I've been able to all year.
Hoboken is extraordinary. So many stores. So many restaurants. So picturesque. So affluent. It's so easy to spend money there. A big difference from Newark.
I've not spoken much to the folks at Newark's city hall or at the Ledger since my departure. All were a bit busy with several shootings. Hoboken got crazy too with this week's North Jersey corruption scandal (http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/07/peter_cammarano_iii_portrayed.html). Ironically, I'm at the new job just two days, and the mayor gets nabbed by the feds! Hoboken's city hall is right around the corner from my office too.
I did return to Newark on Friday, to see the Bears play the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs (http://www.newarkbears.com/gamecenter/gamerecap/). My family came too, and we sat in a sky box, with food included, as part of a corporate invite. The company that invited us is a printing firm, based in Newark for 25 years.
It was a fun time, with fireworks over the Passaic River at the end of the game. It's a nice image of Newark to hold on to. However, there's a lot more to New Jersey's largest city, beyond the rockets and explosions.
I didn't do enough to write about the city, in only seven months on the beat. I wish I could have done more. And I do miss it.
This will be my last posting on this blog. Thanks for reading.
Ralph Ortega
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