Woke Up This Mornin’, Got Yourself A Vacation: Heading To New Jersey For An Authentic Sopranos Experience
If you don’t have the opportunity to go traveling with your buddies, the glue that can bind you together is a TV show that you all grew up with. Not any TV show, but the TV show to end all TV shows! If you aren’t aware of the antics of Tony Soprano, Paulie Walnuts, Silvio Dante et al, look away now. But if you’re fully on board, let’s give you an authentic experience of The Sopranos world through what New Jersey has to offer.
You Want To Eat?
You can’t relive The Sopranos experience without making the most of the various opportunities to eat. You could argue that the characters eat more than they kill, which is saying something! And if you want to get your fill, you could go to the Pizzaland parlor at 260 Belleville Turnpike, North Arlington. Or if you want to sit down with your buddies and have a proper Italian feast, Illiano Cucina provides fine Italian catering for the holidays and parties that come their way. Just don’t go overboard with talks of sit-downs and gumars, alright?!
Bada Bing (Bada Boom)!
Yes, you could go to the actual location where Tony Soprano ran his “legitimate business”- the Bada Bing Strip Club (real name, Satin Dolls located on Route 17), or instead, you can take the idea and make it a little bit less seedy. If you’re looking for some good nightlife, the Asbury Festhalle & Biergarten at 527 Lake Ave, Asbury, has a 6,000 square foot hall indoors that serves beer on tap and in the bottle so you can drink to your heart’s content. The club is positively booming with live music, giving you the opportunity to check out some amazing local talent and go for a similar experience that Adriana La Cerva wanted from her club, Crazy Horse (until it became yet another place for the mob to congregate).
Recreating The Title Sequence (In Reverse)
After all, New York is right next door, so if you want to check out the Big City, the one way to do it authentic Sopranos style is to recreate that title sequence. Heading from North Caldwell, you can drive by Kearny, into Jersey City through the Meadowlands, onto the Pulaski Skyway, and from there it’s onto the New Jersey Turnpike all the way to the Lincoln Tunnel. And seeing as numerous visits were made to New York throughout the series, it would be rude of you not to hit up the Big Apple to complete your authentic Sopranos experience. And even if you head there for the day, you get to come back the right way. All together now, “woke up this mornin’…”
Despite it being the setting for The Sopranos, New Jersey is still an amazing place to get to if you want some vibrant nightlife, amazing food, and you’re looking for the vacation to end all vacations with your buddies, you can use The Sopranos as a ruse, but at the end of the day, you’ll have an amazing time together!
