Ten Towns Less Travelled: Part Eight - Jersey City, New Jersey

Jersey City may not sound like a romantic getaway or even a fun jaunt with your bestie, but I've included it for a reason: it's New York without the high price tag.

Just jump on a PATH train ($2.75), and you're in JC. Farmers' markets, Starbucks, a mall, and handsome young commuters - what's not to like? If you want to visit Manhattan or even Brooklyn, hotels and motels can eat up your entire travel budget. But in Jersey City, you can stay at a couple of reasonably priced places, grab a bagel and cappuccino at a number of friendly (much more down-to-earth than TriBeca or the Village) cafes, and watch the world go by.

Here is my list of five to-do's in Jersey City:

1. Liberty Park: it's the only place in New Jersey where one can catch a ferry to either Liberty Island (where the Statue of Liberty is) or Ellis Island (where your ancestral records may lie). With the Manhattan skyline as a backdrop, Liberty State Park is one of the prettiest in the Garden State. At the end of the park you'll find the historic Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal, a two-mile promenade to walk or bike, and other visitor draws like a science center. Also, make sure to visit the Empty Sky 9-11 Memorial. When the twin towers fell on September 11, 2001, Jersey City had a birds-eye view of the horrors. The community lost some of its own and who are memorialized here - just some of the 749 New Jersey citizens who died in the twin towers, at the Pentagon or in Shanksville, PA.

2. Visit the Ellis Island Hospital Morgue. OK, it may sound like a downer, but if you're into history it's a ducky afternoon. Ellis Island was the most significant immigration station in America from 1892 to 1924, and its hospital was the first. It kept people from entering the country while they were too sick to be admitted, and to this day is considered a model in the health field. The medical complex, first opened in 1902, was shut for 60 years before opening for what are called "hard hat tours". Visitors can tour laundry facilities, morgues, kitchens, and hospital wards. Ellis Island is a bit north of the Statue of Liberty and south of lower Manhattan (the area where Wall Street is). Tours are operated by a group called Save Ellis Island, last 90 minutes, and cost $25.

3. Play frisbee, run with your dog, have a picnic on the green overlooking the Hudson. Grab a Starbucks extra foamy something or other and just take in the view. Jersey City is the best place to actually see Manhattan. The heart-skipping skyline will make you wonder why you still live in Des Moines or Fresno.

4. Eat at one of the city's divine ethnic restaurants. I had a doctor, my beloved Steven Tamarin who passed far too soon, on the Upper West Side. Dr. T was thrilled when I told him in 2006 that I was moving from 73rd and Broadway across the Hudson to Jersey City. He loved the restaurants there, he said, the cultural variety, the music, the people. I wish I could remember the names he shared, but find your own and

check out some of these: waterfront restaurants Liberty House and Batello, or further in the neighborhoods, Skinner's Loft featuring craft beers, an American menu and rooftop dining.

5. Visit the Farmer's Market at the Grove Street Plaza for some organic produce, delicious baked goods, and comaraderie. Monday and Thursday, 4:00 to 8:00 PM from May through December.

Note: to get to JC, take the PATH train and get off at Grove Street from Manhattan. Of course, you can also take a ferry or drive.

PHOTOS:Wikimedia Commons Images: Top - helicopter's-eye view of Jersey City, by David Jones, Apr 30 2012; Bottom: the recently reopened (for hart hat tours) hospital at Ellis Island, by Carlos Delgado, July 25, 2012, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/Ellis_Island_-_01.jpg.

>Tomorrow: Part Nine - Grand Junction, Colorado P

Contact me at www.lauriewiegler.com or lauriewiegler@gmail.com.