Greetings from scenic northern New Jersey, where I sit, all dressed up and shiny, at 6:30 a.m., waiting to head south to scenic central New Jersey for the Poetry Out Loud fest.

So far I have eaten dinner at the Coach House Diner, marveled at the glittery Manhattan skyline from the Weehawken shore, and laid my eyes on the actual rock that pillowed Alexander Hamilton's head after Aaron Burr shot him.

The town of Weehawken stores the rock directly behind the more photogenic statue of Hamilton's head on a column. The effect is very odd, more like accidental attic jumble than a display.

However, when I called my son to tell him about the rock, he was thrilled because he is in love with Lin-Manuel Miranda's "Hamilton Mixtape." He knows it all by heart.