Day 45 - Nerdy in New Jersey

Half-way point! Day 45 of 90. I can't believe it either.

It was time to leave New York and it had been a lot of fun. With so much to see and do, a holiday here is one hell of an experience. However, the manic, stressed, angsty atmosphere of a mega-city is something I am more attuned to than before and it reminded me of my old home in London. And maybe I'm getting too old for all this excitement!

Our next stop on the trip was next door in New Jersey. The daily morning and afternoon rain was not going to dampen my mood for lunch however. I was to enter the diner where Tony Soprano was last seen. We were eating at Holsten's. Otherwise known as the diner that was used for the last scene of The Sopranos. A TV series that I clearly enjoyed. The specific table that featured in the episode had a reserved sticker on it and so we made do at the back. Alice and I ordered food, I had a double decker chicken and bacon sandwich and Alice had a cheeseburger and chips. I was happy to be there and Alice was amused by my happiness. I was going to ask Alice to take a photo of me sitting at that table but that felt like too much in front of all the locals enjoying their Saturday lunches. Well... lo and behold, a key song that featured in that last episode started playing and a whole tour group came into the diner and took it in turns to sit at that table and have their photos taken by partners, friends, etc. That's why it was reserved! The 'nerd gates' had been blown wide open. As the line petered out I latched onto the end and had my photo taken by an obliging Alice. I am a lucky man. As a side note, the food was really good and cheap too.

Nerd stop number two was at Red Bank, New Jersey. I wanted to visit a comic store that is owned by Kevin Smith, a movie director. He is basically a self-confessed nerd and his breakthrough movie 'Clerks' was financed independently and shot with loans and starred his friends. Before he made it big he promised his childhood friend, Walt Flanagan, that he would buy a comic shore and he would make Walt the Manager. 'Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash' is that comic store and upon entering it was cool to see that Walt was actually in. He was posing for a photo with another fan and I took the opportunity to ask for one myself. He was a nice guy and and I spent a while in there deciding what to buy.

From here we were not far from our hotel. Once we arrived, we left again, and headed straight to an outlet mall. Even with the pound in free fall we found some great bargains. Dinner was from the food court at the mall, also cheap, and then we went back to the hotel so I could further bore Alice about Ashley's Adventures in Nerdland.

Song of the Day:
Chingy - Holidae In (where we're chillin, and the party beginin)Read more