11. Entertainment

Illustration by John S. Dykes

Who needs Philadelphia or New York City to experience the best of live performance? Garden State audiences enjoy a steady stream of concerts—from superstars to newcomers—at a remarkable array of venues, from sold-out arenas to Atlantic City showrooms to NJPAC, meticulously restored theaters and local clubs. Some may think Jersey is lowbrow, but classical music thrives here too, thanks to world-class organizations like the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, the Baroque Orchestra of New Jersey and the Princeton Symphony Orchestra.—JB

12. Feathered Friends

Each year, bird lovers are drawn to Jersey for a glimpse of native and migrating species as they swoop about the fertile nesting and feeding areas of the southern Shore and Delaware Bay region. The World Series of Birding, sponsored by the New Jersey Audubon Society, is the nation’s largest birding competition, attracting dozens of teams each May. It’s no flight of fancy that birding brings tens of millions in tourism dollars into the state annually.—BM

13. Fine Dining

Lobster cocktail at Laurel & Sage. Photo Courtesy of Laurel and Sage.

Dining in New Jersey is finer than ever, except in the outmoded sense of formality, ostentation and strict classicism on the plate. The top tier of New Jersey restaurants, as exemplified by NJM’s annual Top 25, embrace seasonality and sustainability as guiding principles in procuring ingredients. In preparing those ingredients, our best chefs are Janus-faced, reviving time-honored techniques of curing and fermenting (foraging locally, drawing inspiration globally) while employing the latest kitchen technologies and serving food in settings that infuse the rustic or the industrial with casual elegance, sometimes including tablecloths. But not so fast. At places like the Fromagerie in Rumson and the Manor in West Orange, exquisite fine dining is making a comeback.—EL

14. Full-Service Gas

Illustration by John S. Dykes

Nothing says winter in Jersey like sitting in your warm car (hopefully empathizing) as a shivering gas attendant fills your tank. Back in 1949, New Jersey banned self-serve for safety reasons (pumping flammable liquid was a bit more dangerous then). Oregon followed suit in 1951. The ban in both states has persisted over six decades, despite the other 48 embracing self-serve. Enjoy it—even if you hate the increased gas tax.—JB

15. Gay Rights

Photo courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons: torbakhopper

New Jersey has been a leader in enacting legislation to protect gay rights. In 2013, the Garden State became second in the nation to outlaw the practice of gay-to-straight conversion therapy. That same year, we became the 14th state to legalize gay marriage, after six prior years of allowing civil unions. In 2015, New Jersey was ranked a top state for protecting LGBTQ (Q stands for Queer or Questioning) rights by the Human Rights Campaign and the Equality Federation—notably for taking steps to aid the well-being of LGBTQ youth who are homeless or discriminated against.—LY

16. Geniuses

Photo by Detlef Van Ravensway/Getty Images

New Jersey has a long history of attracting big brains—starting with Ohio native Thomas Edison, holder of 1,093 patents, who spent his inventive years in deep thought and productivity in Menlo Park and West Orange. German-born Albert Einstein sought refuge in the United States in 1933 after the Nazis came to power. He settled in Princeton, where he worked on unifying the disparate laws of physics at the Institute of Advanced Studies. Perhaps Einstein inspired Brooklyn youth Carl Sagan, who spent his formative years in Rahway, where he first became enamored of science and the cosmos. Big thinkers still grace our state, including Princeton mathematics professor Shou-Wu Zhang and Tenafly resident Lior Haramaty, inventor of the audio transceiver.—LY

17. Gun Control

Photo courtesy of Pexels

New Jersey boasts some of the most restrictive gun laws in the country—and they appear to be working. In 2014, New Jersey had the sixth fewest gun-related deaths per capita among the 50 states. Residents who want to buy a firearm have to apply at their local police department; the process includes background and mental-health record checks. We have strict concealed- and open-carry rules with an extra application process, meaning most people have to keep their guns at home. Want to carry a gun in your car? It must be unloaded and locked in a case or the trunk.—JB

18. Jazz

Sarah Vaughan. Photo by William P. Gottlieb/Library of Congress

The giants of jazz flocked to New Jersey in the 1930s and ’40s to perform in cities like Newark, Camden and Asbury Park—convenient stops as they travelled between New York and Philly. In time, the Garden State nurtured talent of its own, including homegrown giants such as Count Basie, Sarah Vaughan, Dizzy Gillespie, Wayne Shorter, Bucky  Pizzarelli and contemporary star Christian McBride, who this year was named artistic director of the Newport Jazz Festival. Jersey’s venerable jazz institutions include Newark-based radio station WBGO, NJPAC’s annual TD James Moody Jazz Festival, the Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers-Newark and the first-class jazz program at William Paterson University in Wayne.—KS

19. Jersey Attitude

To be from New Jersey is to be an amalgam of paradoxes. You would gladly drop every obligation to help a friend in need, but you would not hesitate to key the car of the dingbat who stole your spot at the mall. Call it aggressive generosity (emphasis on aggressive). We’re not mean, we just have deep feelings—and we’re not afraid to express ourselves. Well, maybe we’re kind of mean, but in a charming way, don’t you think? Like really, what do you think? Hey! I’m talking to you!—MM

20. Jersey Firsts

Thomas Edison takes the cake, with 1,093 patents, including the phonograph, motion-picture camera, universal stock ticker and incandescent lightbulb. But Jersey inventiveness doesn’t end with the Wizard of Menlo Park. Here are 19 other game-changing innovations hatched in the Garden State:

Air-conditioning
✸Willis Haviland Carrier
Antitheft tags
✸Dr. Philip Anderson
Band-Aid
✸Earle Dickson
Bar code
✸N. Joseph Woodland
Bubble Wrap
✸Marc Chavannes & Alfred Fielding
Condensed soup
✸John T. Dorrance
Drive-in movie
✸Richard Hollingshead
Flexible film strip
✸Hannibal Goodwin
Flight simulator
✸Richard Dehmel
Interferon
✸Sidney Pestka
Liquid Crystal Display
✸Friedrich Reinitzer
Magnetic Recording Technology
✸Oberlin Smith
Multitrack Recording
✸Les Paul
Streptomycin
✸Selman Waksman
Teflon
✸Roy Plunkett
Television
✸Allen B. DuMont
(perfected the long-lasting cathode-ray tube, basis of the first commercial televisions)
Tetracycline
✸Lloyd Conover
Transistor Radio
✸John Bardeen, Walter Brattain & William Shockley
TV Dinner
✸William L. Maxson