With the new book contract, I won’t be traveling anywhere for quite a while so I guess our trip down to New Jersey last week was my last road trip! My husband is from the Jersey shore, and so we go down once or twice a year. I’m not really a beach person, so in the summers, I generally take the days that we are there to explore and come home for dinner with everyone: I think my husband’s family thought this was odd at first but now they seem quite adjusted to my behavior. I’m just very curious about Jersey: it’s one of those states I have always driven through and seldom explored thoroughly, and there’s a lot to see. This time I was set on visiting Lambertville on the Delaware River, just about due west from where we were on the Shore, and I also wanted to go south (and west) to the other Salem, New Jersey, to see the Nicholson House: I made it to the former but not the latter, so next time. But I thoroughly enjoyed Lambertville, a really cool historic city which is also the antiques hub of New Jersey, as well as its adjacent towns on both sides of the Delaware River. This is a perfect road trip if you are not too far from the region: just drive up NJ Route 29 from Trenton to through Lambertville to Frenchtown, then cross over to Pennsylvania, and travel south along Route 32 through New Hope to the Washington Crossing Historic Park. Here’s my trip.
How perfect is Lambertville? Clean, every storefront filled, an interesting array of houses, perfect SIGNAGE, and city-council candidates who run on a platform of stopping overdevelopment!
Still in New Jersey, heading north on 29 past the John Prall House and Mill, now a wonderful public park, into Frenchtown.
Route 32 in Pennsylvania, past the Thompson-Neely House, where Washington’s troops waited to cross over the river prior to the Battle of Trenton, into Upper Makefield, site of the Washington Crossing Historic Park, ending up back in Jersey at the Johnson Ferry House. Obviously there was a lot more to see in Buck’s County, but I had to make it back to the Shore for dinner!
July 7th, 2020 at 6:12 am
Hi Donna,
Thanks for the delightful jaunt to the Delaware River Towns. I will have to check out the area on a map – never been there. Interesting how many houses/barns are made of stone. I guess we must have had a plethora of timber in our corner of New England, judging by the antique structures that survive.
Looking forward to your return visit and your exploration of nearby Salem. Great pics!
July 7th, 2020 at 2:02 pm
Helen, you would absolutely love this region—perfect for a history buff!
July 7th, 2020 at 9:03 am
So quaint with lots of charm! I love the stone houses that are more prevalent in that area. You’d make a great tour guide, Donna!
July 7th, 2020 at 2:01 pm
That’s one of those jobs that looks like it would be more fun than it actually is, I bet!
July 7th, 2020 at 9:56 am
Your pictures are wonderful. So enticing….such a charming area, would love to visit.
Thank you.
MJKelley
July 7th, 2020 at 1:59 pm
Oh, you would love it, I’m sure!
July 7th, 2020 at 10:32 am
So happy to see that you had the opportunity to visit my neck of the woods! I’ve been calling this area my home for almost thirty years. It truly is beautiful…filled with history, architecture and fabulous restaurants. Let’s not forget that when Washington crossed the Delaware, he landed just south of Lambertville.
July 7th, 2020 at 1:59 pm
It’s a great area–I look forward to returning for a longer visit!