Where’s Caviar, NJ? Couple follows song lyrics to obscure Garden State towns

This sort of road tripping I had previously only seen by the likes of my dear friend and colleague, Joe Votruba. But this Jersey couple may have outshined him.

Mike Salkewicz and Devin McEnteer discovered an obscure song from Dave Van Ronk released in 1985 called “Garden State Stomp.” In the folk song, Van Ronk names (sometimes poorly) various places around New Jersey in a list similar to "We Didn’t Start the Fire."

The duo made it their mission to visit each location mentioned in the song as a way to both bring the song to life and to stay occupied during the pandemic.

“Cabin fever hit the best of us around April 2020” Mike told News 12 New Jersey in an interview.

Their goal: “To locate and visit all 80 locations named, no matter how obscure or distant,” says their video’s description.

The whole production took about 10 months to put together, the process required “studying vintage maps and historical resources, and thousands of miles crisscrossing the state of New Jersey.”

I’d say the result was worth it for this fun and cute video of the couple!

Though it should be said that Mike and Devin didn’t put this together for their own gain. They truly believe in the beauty and history of the Garden State, highlighting specifically how interesting they find the Native American connections in certain towns.

In the interview with News 12, Mike says the point of the video above anything else is to “urge people to look outside your radius” and really take in every part of the state, not just the parts you’re used to.

Mike summed up his love of exploring our state perfectly in a comment on the New Jersey subreddit: “The diversity in culture and landscape is unmatched for a state of this size, and even as a lifelong Jerseyan this adventure exposed me to so many new things."

There is always something new to find out there, If you’re willing to look!”

Check out their video below:

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5's Kylie Moore. Any opinions expressed are Kylie's own. You can follow Kylie on Instagram.