State #1 — New Jersey: Where Our Family Took Root Through Every Season
STATE #1 · NEW JERSEY
Before New Jersey became the first state in our 50 States Journey, it became home. This was where Mark and I planted our family’s roots—where our children were born, where we bought and nurtured our home, and where friendships, careers, faith, and family traditions grew.
We remember those years through four seasons: cherry blossoms in spring, shore days and birthdays in summer, colorful leaves in fall, and snow days in winter. New Jersey gave us more than places to visit. It gave us a life together.
Spring · Blossoms & New Beginnings
After a cold winter, the first warm days always felt like an invitation to head outside. Branch Brook Park became our almost automatic destination for cherry-blossom watching. We returned year after year to walk beneath the flowering branches and take family photographs. Holland Ridge Farms brought another burst of color with its tulip fields.
Belmar’s seafood festival and visits to Cape May added seaside memories. From our New Jersey home, our annual spring trips to Washington, D.C. brought cherry blossoms and Smithsonian museum visits. We also visited Madame Tussauds, where posing beside wax figures gave us plenty of playful family photographs. We often ended our D.C. outings with seafood from Captain White Seafood City. Those were adventures beyond the Garden State, made possible by the home base we loved.
Summer · Shore Days & Family Celebrations
Oh, how we miss the Jersey Shore. Wildwood meant beach days, boardwalk food, amusement piers, water parks, and rides the children loved. Six Flags Great Adventure and Hurricane Harbor gave us an easy family adventure closer to home; in some years, annual passes made it a regular outing.
Summer also meant camping in our RV, bicycle rides, hikes, s’mores, and evenings around the campfire. We enjoyed hot-air ballooning on a couple of occasions, too. With three July birthdays in our family, our home and backyard often filled with cakes, games, friends, and laughter. Those celebrations became traditions we still treasure.
Our shore memories also include the annual Belmar seafood festival at Belmar Beach, with lobster, shrimp, and seafood shared as a family. Beach activities, fairs, and our church’s annual concert brought more chances to enjoy the season together.
Read the family story: Three July Birthdays, One Family Tradition.
Camping Through the Years
Our camping album brings together different years and different campgrounds: Ocean View Resort in 2010, Beachcomber in 2011, more camping memories from 2017, and a visit to a Yogi Bear campground. From our New Jersey years, we remember RV stays, a cabin stay, bicycle rides, beach play, and meals cooked outdoors. The places changed and the children grew, but time together remained the heart of each trip.
Fall · Farm Days & Beauty in Change
When the air cooled and the leaves turned red, orange, and gold, ordinary roads became beautiful. Fall brought apple picking, wagon rides, corn mazes, farm animals, warm cider, and freshly made cider donuts. Even a hayride felt like an adventure when the children were small.
Our drives sometimes took us beyond New Jersey into Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, and Vermont. Whether friends joined us or we traveled as a family, the memories were filled with conversation, shared food, and laughter. As the children grew and their interests changed, fall reminded us how beautiful a new season could be.
Winter · Snow Days & Warm Traditions
Cold mornings, heavy coats, and snow-covered streets became part of our routine. When enough snow fell, the outdoors turned into the children’s playground. They bundled up, built snowmen, and came home with cold hands and stories to tell.
Another favorite tradition took us across the river to New York City at Christmas, where we enjoyed the tree, holiday lights, and decorated storefronts. These New York memories belong to the wider story of our years in New Jersey. Winter’s warmth came from being together and having a home to return to.
Beyond the Seasons · Cities, Liberty & Learning
We explored Newark, Jersey City, Hoboken, Atlantic City, and other corners of the Garden State. Liberty State Park gave us views of Manhattan, Ellis Island, and the Statue of Liberty—especially meaningful to us as an immigrant family building a life in America.
Liberty Science Center brought hands-on learning and a memorable planetarium experience. Hoboken meant food and waterfront walks; Atlantic City meant another kind of boardwalk day. At Grounds For Sculpture in Hamilton, we enjoyed art among landscaped gardens. These places deserve stories of their own, and this page will be the starting point for those deeper footprints.
Travel, Taste, Believe & Cherish
Travel: New Jersey became our base for exploring the Northeast and beyond. A free weekend and a packed car could open the door to another state and another memory.
Taste: Shore food, seafood outings, cider donuts, and meals shared at home became part of the way we remember each season.
Believe: Church, children’s ministries, Christian concerts, and friendships gave us a community through the busy years of marriage and parenthood.
Cherish: Sports, music, birthdays, camping weekends, and ordinary family days helped our children grow in confidence and creativity. Those everyday moments became some of our most meaningful footprints.
Where Our Family Took Root
We eventually moved to Texas, but the memories came with us. Of the 48 states we have explored, New Jersey holds a place no other destination can replace. It was where we learned to grow together through the changing seasons of work, faith, marriage, and family life.
“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.” — Ecclesiastes 3:1
New Jersey was our beginning—State #1 and our family’s first great footprint.
Our 50 States Journey Continues
One page could never hold every New Jersey memory. We will share the deeper stories of blossoms, shore days, campgrounds, cities, and family traditions through individual journals and reels as we revisit them.
Follow our 50 States Journey from State #1 to State #48—and the final two states still waiting for us: Alaska and Oregon.
One state, one memory, one faithful footprint at a time.
With gratitude,
Emie ❤️
Travel · Taste · Believe · Cherish
