This article is classified "Real"
Vineland is an entirely uninteresting town/city. While it is the largest city in New Jersey by land area, it isn't nearly as big population-wise. It's located smack in the middle of the New Jersey peninsula, in the middle of the area known by the locals as "South Jersey" (those who live in "North Jersey" are ignorant of any land south of Trenton, and therefore their concept of "South Jersey" is between the horizontal line starting at Camden and the north to Trenton). The inhabitants of Vineland range from the poor to the rich, with members of almost every possible culture. A few years ago, the local high school had calculated that one-half of the students who attended were of a minority, the other half being caucasian. The main street through the city, Landis Avenue, has deteriorated to being a way to get from point A to point B with lots of traffic lights in between. The businesses that are situated there usually cater to the center city residents, who are usually low-income minorities. There are, however, lots of suburbs where the income is generally average to above average, and there are even more than a handful of "mansions" scattered about. There are several small motels in the area, but most of them are somewhat filled by homeless people that the city has put there "temporarily." There is a Ramada Inn just off of route 55, but this hitchhiker has never actually gone in to investigate. The Inn's outward appearance is good, however, so it is probably a good place to stay if you need to stay at all and can afford to do so. There is only one "highway" that leads out of Vineland; route 55 leads from Vineland north-northwest towards Camden and Philadelphia. Other than that, the nearest major highways are at least a half-hour drive by motorized vehicle; to the north is the Atlantic City Expressway, travelling east-west between Philadelphia and Atlantic City, to the east is the Garden State Parkway, running north-south along the coast, and to the west there are quite a few major highways, most notably the New Jersey Turnpike which runs north-south between Wilmington (Delaware) and New York City (New York). Don't hitchhike through Vineland; it's not worth it. And definitely not at night. Places of interest: I counted at least three McDonald's, two Burger Kings, one Roy Roger's, one Friendly's, one Pizza Hut, and two Domino's Pizzas. If you must stay and eat, good suggestions are Sammy J's, at the Shop-Rite plaza on the northern end of Landis Avenue, and the Neptune, on Delsea Drive. The former is a retro-style ice cream parlor type of place that also does very good, relatively quick meals. The latter is a seafood restaurant that you will want to sit down and wait for. The only other redeeming feature of Vineland is that it's about an hour from the Wilmington area of Delaware, about 2.5 hours from New York City, an hour and a half from "North Jersey," an hour from the gambling areas of Atlantic City (and, in fact, many of South Jersey's fine beaches), and an hour from Philadelphia.