I'm pretty sure that is the State Motto for New Jersey.  It's a variation of 'you can't get there from here."  Someone in highway engineering figured that left turns just screw everything up, so you pretty much can't make a left in NJ--until, of course, you can.   Confusing?  Definitely.  Most of the regular main roads are set up so that to make a left or a U turn you exit to the right and make a big loop.  There's a similar intersection at Kingston Road and Midland in Scarborough.  They post signs that you are to stay right unless you are passing--which you pretty much have to do constantly because everyone is so confused they don't dare go the speed limit in the right lane for fear they will miss their left turn.  I avoided this by mostly taking highways and only stopping in at places on the right hand side of the streets.  There are surprisingly few McDonalds on the right hand side of the streets in New Jersey, regardless of the way you are traveling.  This makes the sweet tea feel even sweeter.

I slept in this morning, meaning I got up at 8:30.  Leftover Cracker Barrel corn muffins make an awesome breakfast.  Having a fridge and microwave in the room almost makes up for not having a coffee maker.  I'm a researcher though, so having researched this hotel I had the wisdom to bring instant Starbucks. This would have been perfect had I also remembered to bring a mug.  Fortunately there is a Target nearby.  (For my Canadian friends, that's like Zellers)  I also picked up plastic utensils and some sweetener and some milk.  Now coffee is ready anytime!

Off to Woodbridge, NJ I went.  Like Woodbridge, Ontario, there are a lot of Italians.  My research though is about the Dutch and French in the area in the late 1600's.  This is family research, Pyatts,   Mostly I got confused.  Collateral (related by marriage) lines include Bloomfield, Drake, Martin, Dunham and Fitzrandolph and they all intermarried over and over again.  I will have to untangle the mess in my database. I did find a JMB Pyatt who was a member of the Sons of Temperance.  I found that amusing, given my family history.  Prior to my dad I doubt there was a dry Pyatt in the bunch.  This bunch also intermixed last and first names.  A child from the Pyatt/ Runyon marriage could be Runyon Pyatt, or if the mom was a Pyatt, perhaps Pyatt Runyon.  And that child's first cousin might be Pyatt Hardy, Martin Drake, or Dunham Bloomfield.  It makes me want to scream.

Next stop, Piscataway.  I fell in love with this little town.  Of course it is beautiful and historic, but it also has such wonderful energy.  It just feels good, and I felt like I belonged there.  I would claim that comes from genetic memory except that my genes aren't necessarily Pyatt genes.  DNA testing has proven that my ancestor, John S Pyatt born 1840 in Nicholas County, WV, was not the son of William Pyatt, the family head of household, nor his sons or brothers.  John S Pyatt, if a Pyatt at all, was not fathered by a Pyatt.  And yes, I often wonder why I continue to research Pyatts knowing this.

In Piscataway I did find a photo of a Roger Dunham who was about 3 or 4 in the photo taken in the 1920's.  He's not a direct line relative in any way, but he looks EXACTLY like my dad, his dad and grampa's brother Hickory.  I photocopied it and will add it to my online collection when I get back to Toronto.

Five pm meant time to start back south to the hotel since I was about an hour away.  I did manage to survive about 5 minutes of I95.  Fortunately I didnt have to stay on it any longer.  It isn't any better in New Jersey than it is in Washington, DC, Virginia, or North Carolina.   Off another road--I think it was highway 130--I pulled off and explored this area:

 (sorry about the size, I don't have my photo software on my laptop)

I think this is the Delaware River, and it's north of Burlington, NJ looking toward Pennsylvania.  This is roughly the area where Joseph Bonaparte, brother to the famous Napoleon, saw what he believed to be the notorious "Jersey Devil".  Another famous person, Commodore Stephen Decatur, saw the Devil not far from here as well. 

The Jersey Devil legend has many "beginnings", three of which are plausible.  In one, Mrs. Leeds of Burlington, NJ cursed the birth of her 13th child and this child became the Jersey Devil.  This overlook is just north of Burlington near Bordentown, Unfortunately, this location is not near the Pine Barrens aka Pinelands where so many reports have been made in the past 100+ years.  Hopefully by the end of the week I will have a better idea in which of the locations the infamous devil baby was born.

I did go into Burlington and it has some lovely old buildings.  None of them appear to be from the 1735 era when Mrs Leeds lived, but I found a cemetery with many old, unreadable stones.  I'll have photos of those online soon as well.

New Jersey is a fascinating place.  There are so many roads, one wonders how there is room for housing and shops.  Most cars are middle to high end--Toyotas to Mercedes and Cadillacs-yet the people driving them seem cheaply dressed and a little--well, blue collar.  Bright shiny modern buildings are next door to historical sites.  Even before the American Revolution, New Jersey was big on equal rights yet nearly every person I've seen working has been white while ever person I've seen sitting in doorways or on the street has been black.

And of course, you make a left turn by exiting right..