Paramus Park

I'm about to hit the road for a quick overnight with my parents in NY. I have a meeting today in Paramus, NJ, and as schedules sometimes work out well, today is my father's 61st birthday. Perfect time for a (quick) visit!

Paramus is the land of Paramus Park and Garden State Plaza - the upscale behemoth of a mall that outshines Paramus Park when it was built in the late 80's, I believe. I distinctly remember trips to Paramus Park with my parents - it was more of an adventure than going to the Nanuet Mall because they had an enormous food court on the second level, a cool waterfall that you passed when descending the escalator, a funnel cake stand, and a Chick-fil-A store that I never knew was a play on words for "fillet" until I met someone at college who worked for them as a high school job (I always thought it was pronounced "fill-uh," one of my many obvious jokes I never quite picked up on over the years....a second one being the Kellogg's Nut-n-Honey cereal commercials where a man would ask his wife what she was eating, and would look bewildered upon hearing the response "Nuttin' honey." I honestly never got that. Now I do. Play on words.)

Thinking back over the past twelve months, I have taken this drive to NY much less than I used to during my previous job life. Between trips working with clients in NY or Hartford, I used to do the Masspike to 84 drive at least 8-10 times per year just for work...sometimes ending in Hartford, other times continuing onward. I can almost do the drive in my sleep, though that would be a bad idea.