day 33
beemerville, new jersey

"There's a girl who just escaped from the 80s outside." -a.
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New Jersey:
Nickname: Garden State
Land Area: 7,419 sq. ft.
Highest Pt.: High Point
Height: 1,803 ft.
Population: 8,078,300
Capital: Trenton
Largest City: Newark

Claim to Fame: Home of the very honourable Brian Stack, Mayor of Union City. Thanks for the turkey, Brian!

Chrome Diner of the Day
The Butler 23


Persians: The Tim Horton's Recipe
Leslie Cooke-Bithrey, former resident of Thunder Bay and former employee of Tim Horton's Donuts, claims that she was responsible for making persian icing.

Strawberry and Whipped Cream, says she.

However, says we, Tim Horton's Persians are blatant knock offs of the original. This is why when you order a persian at Timmy's, you usually spit it out and say "what the hell is up with this icing?"

If there's anyone out there who works for The Persian Man, we'd love to hear from you to set us straight, once and for all.

Follow previous persian coverage:
Day 11
Day 10
5 days prior
1 week prior
The Thunder Bay Page

A Town With My Name All Over It
Sept 28 - It feels so great to be able to share some of the weirdness of our adoptive state with everyone. Most New Yorkers don't know where Jersey is. Those that do were probably born in Passaic.

But one thing that everyone knows is that Jersey is the home of two things: chrome-plated diners and wacked-out roadside attractions. That's right: the Garden State is home to doozies like: The Jet In The Woods, Tripod Rock, The Route 23 Poles, and our favourite...

Have you ever wondered where circus animals go when they retire? No? Well, we found out. They go to Space Farms Zoo and Museum! Today we headed back to one of our favourite spots to see if it's as strange as we remember. Any coincidence that it's located in Beemerville, NJ? Space Farms is home not only to retired circus animals, but also to:
The Winner...
Ass Number 6!

With a total of 21 votes!
Ass Contest Results
As you will recall on Day 7, we posted six Labour Day Asses for you to choose your favourite ass. This little ass of choice was the surefire winner!

Half-Assed: View Our Runner's Up


- Antique Cars and Motorcycles
- Old-fashioned Carriages and Wagons
- Eskimo Exhibits
- Snake Den
- Fluorescent Mineral Theatre
- Civil War Weapons and Rifles
- Primitive Tool Barn
- Doll Museum
- Blacksmith Shop
- Complete Miniature Circus
- Indian Arrowheads and Artifacts
- Toy Museum
- World's Largest Kodiak Bear (stuffed)
Plus over 100,000 more unique items! The fun just doesn't friggin' stop!

What's with the freaky name?
Well, Space Farms originated in 1927 when Ralph Space (ahhhhh) bought the first 1/4 acre of a complex that now extends to 400 acres. What began as a general store, wild animal reserve and repair garage (a strange enough combination for the 20's) grew to become New Jersey's largest combined zoo and museum (there are others?). The Space's children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren now continue the legacy by continually adding large collections of freaky shit.

Any visitor to this Zoo/Museum/Mecca of Americanism will be thrilled with this roadside find. Try to arrive early so that you'll have time to digest (gulp!) everything that this place has to offer. And one last tip: When you're feeding the cute little deer and fawns with your little bag of corn munchies and his little mouth is eating out of your little hand, make a point of being over at the Jaguar cage later for feeding time.

Today Beemerville, tomorrow Dingman Falls!


the zoo to the shoe...

Ha ha ha skinny pig!

This is the Hall of Heads

King of the Hallow-junk

Old Woman Under the Shoe
more photos in the archive...

We've got mail...

Once upon a time, many many years ago, actually in 1971, there were two great restaurants in the Westfield NJ area. The Golden Artichoke in a basement bar on the main square of Westfield or maybe Clark (Superb Cheeseburgers), and The Jolly Trolley (great house salad with little shrimp) next door to a fire station somewhere nearby. Chances of them still being around are pretty remote, but thought I'd pass them on anyway.
- Fraser, Dunrobin ON


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Current Location
(get out your push pins)

Beemerville, NJ

Next Stop: Philly, PA

see the full map...

Today's Weather:
Evil clouds. Little rain.

Daily Stats
Distance:186.9km
Gas: $17.35
Emus: 4
Height of Bear:12ft
Dolls:Creepy

Sleeping Quarters
Stokes State Forest

The elusive Stokes. We've made plans twice to stay here before this and didn't make it. We think bears had the tent surrounded most of the night, due to the frequent awakenings by snapping branches.

Cost: $10.00

Bkfast: 
Smith's Bar
Manhattan
K's Order:Eggs, Bacon
Home Fries, Toast
Coffee
A's Order:Grilled Cheese
Toast
Coffee
Cost:$12.62
Lupper: 
Arby's
Route 23
K's Order:Combo #1
A's Order:French Dip
Large Curly Fries
Cost:$10.18

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© 2001. Kevin Beimers and Aimee Lingman. Crossing the Hudson so New Yorkers don't have to.