I grew up knowing about Toms River, NJ.

My aunt & uncle moved there early in their marriage almost 60 years ago when it was very sparsely populated. My uncle got a job working for the Garden State Parkway and was somehow able to retire quite comfortably at age 60. He tried to talk my parents into moving us down there, where he could've gotten my 'former marine' father a good job with the police dept. For some reason my dad preferred working in a factory and renting cheap from his in-laws to providing his family a better life and so that never happened.

Anyway, we visited about once a year and as a kid I remember seeing nothing but wooded area behind their backyard...where my Italain uncle planted and still plants tomato/basil/peppers/cucumber etc. annually. I remember passing a few stores and 'Toms River Liquours' on Route 37 on the way to their house. The liquor store was the landmark my father used to know at which jughandle to make the turn.

In the early 1970's other relatives moved down there and by then lots of building and modernizing was going on. That uncle got a good job w/ Toms River Chemical. They started calling our North Jersey area 'The City', because still seemed so quiet & peaceful down there, except of course at tourist time during the summer shore season. Again, our family was beckoned down to take part in the abundant opportunities but not enough motivation to relocate in either of our parents.

Now we drive down there to visit BOTH families and Rte. 37 seems as bustling as any major highway up here. Plenty of businesses, houses and unlike those early days, probably not an acre of undeveloped property!!

And to think...but for a decision that was not mine to make, I could've been a part of it all!!!!



Me???? Born & raised in Palisades Park, NJ...NOT home of the famous 'Palisades Amusement Park', home of the (then) 'World's Largest Saltwater Pool', in which I never got a chance to swim

It which was actually located in Cliffside Park, where high rise apartment buildings now reside.

Did anyone actually get through this streamofconsciousness post?????

Apple