My Top Ten Favorite Moments of the Year!

December 30, 2017 newjerseyisntboring

I apologize in advance for this somewhat indulgent moment…but I wanted to celebrate all the things I got to accomplish this year with New Jersey Isn’t Boring. In March 2018 I will have been doing NJIB for 4 YEARS, and it blows my mind how the website has grown year after year, getting to do more and more amazing things and meetings more and more amazing people.

Here are just a few of my favorite moments and experiences of the year (in no particular order):

1. I got to cross off 4 items from my New Jersey Bucket List. The first was attending the Battleship New Jersey Craft Beer Festival hosted by the Garden State Brewer’s Guild. The event featured ONLY NJ craft breweries AND I got to be on the USS Battleship NJ which I had never been on before. To read more about that, click HERE

I got to go to Blairstown, the original home of Friday the 13th! I ate the Blairstown Diner, got to see the movie on the big screen, and saw props from the original movie at the Blairstown Museum. For more on that, read HERE

I visited Bookends in Ridgewood! To read more about that, click HERE

and I finally got to see Milltown Mel! Did you know New Jersey has our own groundhog for Groundhog’s Day? To read more about that, click HERE

2. I started doing NJIB merch and got to participate in amazing events to sell them! Those events include Marketspace Vendor Events, 3 year Anniversary Forgotten Boardwalk, Two different Maker’s Markets at the William Center, Marketplace JC, Drafts and Crafts Festival at iPlay America hosted by the Garden State Craft Brewers Guild, A sb ury Park Bazaar, and my first ever event at South Jersey Made.

3. My husband and I renewed our vows at Laurita Winery in New Egypt. Sure, we haven’t been married that long, but since Laurita Winery is so beautiful (even in the Winter), we didn’t want to miss out on this FREE opportunity. To read more about that, click HERE

4. In May I got to attend the NJ Meet Up in Atlantic City, where I also got to display my own photography at the Arts Garage.

At the event I got to meet other NJ photographers, whose Instagram handles I recognized, and hang out with the fellow NJ bloggers and Instagram Hubs like the Moon Beast, Jersey Collective, NJ Spots, and South Jersey Adventures. So much fun!

5. So many new breweries this year! I got to check out over 15 breweries this year Tuckahoe Brewing, Ludlam Island Brewery, Slack Tide Brewing, Garden State Beer Co, Rinn Duin, Vinyl Brewing (before they opened), Atco Brewing, the opening for Manafirkin Brewing, Trap Rock Brewery & Restaurant, Troon Brewing, Lone Eagle Brewing, Eclipse Brewing, Third State Brewing, Icarus Brewing, and Common Sense Brewery.

6. I visited over 50 diners, including my 150th diner (the Vincentown Diner). Looking forward to hitting 200 next year! Ain’t nothin finer than a NJ Diner…

7. I got to experience history! I got an amazing opportunity to go on a hard hat tour of the immigrant hospital at Ellis Island in Jersey City. Very amazing history lesson…I highly recommend it. Definitely one of the most emotional things I did this year. For more information, click HERE

I also got to go to Thomas Edison National Historic Park in West Orange. For more on that, click HERE

8. I attended not one, but two amazing food tours! One in Rutherford and the other in Jersey City with Jersey Girls Food Tours. New Jersey has some AMAZING restaurants. Why not visit them all in one day?

9. I enjoyed my favorite Summer activities from fireworks, to movies on the beach…

to eating a ridiculous amount of ice cream for my NJisntBoring Ice Cream Quest. Oh Summer…

10. Last but not least…all the Day and Weekend trips! I went to Cape May and saw dolphins, spent an overnight in Atlantic City for my anniversary and dined at Cuba Libre, and a full weekend trip trip to AC in October where I ate at amazing restaurants and enjoyed time on the beach!