Strange Jersey, Odd Jersey, Nude Jersey

Let's put it this way: if you go to a cemetery simply to hang out in hopes of seeing something happen, then you simply deserve to hear eerie laughter, see dancing flames and get the distinct feeling that you are not alone.

Then again, even if you don't deserve it, we're talk about New Jersey! A state that over the last few decades has become famous for its strange and unusual quirks and oddities. (And we're not even going to talk about politics! That's a whole 'nother story.)

The St. John's Church graveyard in Roseland, by the way, is the place where those spooky feelings described above are impressed upon visitors from time to time. But as far as spooky sightings, St. John's is (pardon the pun) not alone. In Morristown, a portly ghost has reported to be seen on the staircase of the Water's Edge Caf, and at Jimmy's Caf a woman from the mid-1700s is a frequent guest.

Also in Morristown, there have been reports of spiritual remnants of George Washington and his troops on the march. Actually, that doesn't sound too scary, unless you actually happen to see George and the boys.

Speaking of the Revolutionary War, it is sometimes mentioned that a young woman who lost her lover can be heard crying in the Bernardsville Public Library, which was the site of the old Vealtown Tavern. The woman's lover, it is further said, turned out to be a British spy, though it is unclear if that's the real reason she was crying. We may never know.

But rest assured (though preferably not in the Bernardsville Library), there are plenty of oddities, weirdness and curiosities that have absolutely nothing to do with ghosts and otherworldly beings.

For instance, an old U.S. missile base, which was built during the height of the Cold War, is now the site of studio space used by artists at Riker Hill Park in Livingston. Only remnants of the base remain, though with a little education and imagination one can easily ascertain how our suburban communities might have been shaken out of their innocent slumber had incoming missiles from the old U.S.S.R. been spotted. The Livingston missile base (there were others in Middletown, Old Bridge, South Plainfield, East Hanover, Wayne and Mahwah) was designed to destroy the incomings with nuclear warheads.

That should certainly give us food for thought. Which brings us to New Jersey's famous diners. You don't have to be a Garden State expert to know that New Jersey ranks high in good old-fashioned

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