A roller coaster ride in New Jersey I got back to Chicago tonight from New York. Whilst my fellow Addick was at Watford on Saturday I was in Manhattan today doing some work but not after a couple days in complete contrast staying with some friends on the New Jersey shore.

The Jersey shore stretches 127 miles from the bottom of New York in the North down to the Delaware Bay in the South. It is a rich stretch of bays and people - New Jersey has the highest population density in the US - and seaside homes fight for views of the Atlantic Ocean.

We stayed about halfway down the coast at a place called Seaside Heights, which had a soft sandy beach but not a very appealing murky sea. It was also my very first experience of an American boardwalk with arcades, bars and rides, so there I was Saturday night hanging on for grim death on the roller-coaster after eating far too much food.

An unexpected treat was a stop off on the way to the beach for an afternoon at Monmouth Park Race Track, where my friends' fiancee was having a family gathering. My bet won the first race but I promptly gave my winnings back the attractive blonde girl at the betting window.

Sunday afternoon we headed back to Manhattan where I met another ex-pat for drinks (Palace fan, I did only mention Jon Fortune's name a couple of times) in the evening.

New York is a place that I can't make my mind up about. It is very different to Chicago and the manic, smelly, rubbish strewn streets are in utter disparity to the windy city, however the big apple has that amazing electric draw for me too, walking back last night via Times Square, one just has that feeling that something is going to happen.

Then as I was staring up at the absolutely pitch black star-less sky, I bumped into, literally, the 6' 4½" actor Jeff Goldblum. I wasn't sure which made me more dizzy, banging into Jeff Goldblum or the boardwalk roller coaster?

*click on pictures for full view.  ¶ 01:06