20 November 2022
Aaron Burr House
80 West Bridge Street
New Hope, Pennsylvania 18938
Check-in Date: Tuesday, October 18, 2022
Check-out Date: Sunday, October 23, 2022
Lodging
Yes, this is the house where Aaron Burr fled to after he killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel. This newly renovated Victorian home is now operating as a bed & breakfast on Bridge Street in New Hope, just a few minutes’ walk to the center of town. We booked the Theodosia suite which is advertised as a king-sized room but omits the fact that it is in a converted basement. Nevertheless, the room was spacious and more than adequate for our stay. Breakfast was served daily at 9 a.m. in the second-floor dining room.
Anyone who has ever tried to find parking in New Hope will appreciate that the Aaron Burr House Bed and Breakfast has convenient on-site parking.
Travel
We booked our travel on Delta Airlines since we had flight credits from a previously cancelled trip, and we wanted to use them before they expired. I upgraded our seats to Delta’s Comfort+ so as to get more legroom. All flights were on-time.
Newark Liberty International Airport was a little easier to navigate than expected. In order to get to our rental car, we had to take the AirTrain Rail Link to stop P3 and then follow the signs to our rental car company. Our rental was reserved with National—the lot furthest from the rail stop.
Getting the rental car was easy, we just picked the vehicle we wanted which was a Hyundai Kona, got in and drove up to the gate where they scanned us out.
Highlights
New Hope, PA was well known in the 1960s and 1970s as being a hub for the counterculture movement as well as a haven for hippies and motorcyclists. Now however, bikers and hippies have been mostly replaced by artists and tourists who are looking for an escape from the ordinary and conventional in an effort to immerse themselves in a more eclectic vibe. In addition to being home to a thriving artist colony, the New Hope/Lambertville area has morphed into a hub for the LGBTQ+ community as well.
Of course, we were no strangers to the area since we lived in Tinicum Township, Bucks County, PA for many years. Even before that, I recall making many visits to New Hope in the late 1960s to get a taste of Haight-Ashbury without having to travel to California. As I remember one of the highlights of my many visits to New Hope was to check out the psychedelic store on Main Street. This store carried black light posters and other assorted hippie paraphernalia. I remember buying a Hendrix poster and the legendary Raquel Welch One Million Years B.C. poster. These hippie-oriented stores are long gone but many psychic shops remain.
You could say that the New Hope/Lambertville area acted as our hub of operations while in the area and that was certainly true. Furthermore, while you could also assert that New Hope/Lambertville is the centerpiece of the Bucks County/Hunterdon County region of PA and NJ there are many other quaint small towns and villages worth visiting such as Milford and Frenchtown on the NJ side and Upper Black Eddy, Lumberville, and Centre Bridge on the PA side.
Along with New Hope and visits to surrounding towns, one of the top priorities for our visit to the area was to drive Route 29 in New Jersey and Route 32 in Pennsylvania. Both roads wind along the Delaware River and are two of the most scenic drives in the NJ/PA area—some may even go as far to claim two of the most scenic drives anywhere (except for the Amalfi Coast in Italy). I would like to add the following to the list: Route 611 from Easton to Kintnersville; and Route 513 from Clinton to Frenchtown.
While driving along the roads in Bucks County, you couldn’t help but notice the politics of the local residents—almost 100% for Fetterman. If Bucks County was any indication, Dr. Oz wouldn’t stand a chance. The Bucks County/New Hope area is ground zero for the local progressive movement as illustrated by the following photos:
Other than New Hope and Lambertville, NJ, we spent most of our time exploring the nearby Delaware River towns of Frenchtown, NJ and Milford, NJ. In Milford, we checked out our old apartment on Carpenter Street and walked around the surrounding neighborhood. We grabbed some bagel sandwiches for lunch at Goldberg’s Bridge Street Bagels which were really good. We also had dinner one night with some Unisys alumni at Descendants Brewing Company at the Old Ship Inn.
In Frenchtown, NJ we mostly checked out the shops along Bridge and Race Streets. Since it was a chilly day, we stopped in for coffee at the Frenchtown Cafe. We also made some purchases at the Heart of the Home shop on Race Street. I picked up a unique Cat Castells pen hand made in Kingwood, NJ.
One morning we decided to take a ride over to Peddler’s Village in nearby Lahaska, PA. Since it was getting close to Halloween, we were able to catch the “Scarecrows in the Village” event. Since it was another chilly day, we decided to cut our visit short and head over to Flemington, NJ to possibly get some lunch and check out the Liberty Village outlet center. Contrary to what you may see online, the entire outlet center has been abandoned, and appears to have been for a long time. After that disappointment, we decided to have lunch at House of Yeung our old favorite Chinese take-out/eat in restaurant near the ShopRite on Route 202.
After we picked up our daughter at Lehigh Valley International Airport Friday morning, we stopped by our old house on Upper Tinicum Church Road followed by lunch at Amanda’s Riverside Cafe on River Road in Upper Black Eddy, PA.
Last but not least, we made a trip up to Clinton, NJ. The Town of Clinton, known as one of the best places to live in New Jersey, is home to the Historic Red Mill nestled against the South Branch of the Raritan River. We had lunch at the River Mill View restaurant.
We spent most of our time in New Hope/Lambertville having coffee in Dunkin’ Donuts, walking the bridge, and dining. We had our first night’s dinner at Lambertville Station along with a nice walk across the bridge back to our B&B. We ate many times at the Lambertville Station but our dinner this time was much better than on previous outings. Obviously, they upped their game.
After having our bagel sandwiches for lunch in Milford, we were looking for something lighter for dinner that evening. I overheard a conversation at breakfast, that the nearby Spring & Vine “pure vegetarian” restaurant came highly recommended. Since it was a short walk from our B&B, we decided to try it. We both ordered the Green Curry-Coconut Milk Soup and Shredded Napa Cabbage Radicchio salad for our main course. Surprisingly, both the food and service were excellent.
Fortunately, we were able to get a reservation at the Italian Cucina restaurant on Friday evening. The Italian Cucina is a small upscale Italian restaurant tucked away on Stockton Avenue near the railroad station. As a matter of fact, the railroad tracks run right in front of the restaurant so you can’t miss seeing the trains pull out of the station. We ordered the Burrata Salad, Manicotti and Meatballs, Butternut Squash Ravioli, and Scallops.
We decided to splurge on dinner for our last night in town, so we made reservations for the Oldestone Steakhouse on Main Street. The Oldestone Steakhouse, formerly Marsha Brown’s, is located in a 150-year-old church building giving the restaurant its unique atmosphere. Make no mistake, this is a real steakhouse, and the prices reflect that fact: 8 oz Petite Fillet $48, 10 oz Petite Fillet $54, 14 oz New York Strip Steak $62. For sides they offer One Pound Loaded Baked Potatoes and Loaded Mashed Potatoes!
By the way, we did take a short ride on the New Hope Railroad.
One notable New Hope shop is Diana Michaels Jewelers located on N. Main Street just past the Dunkin’ Donuts. What makes this store unique is their custom-made jewelry.
Hilton Short Hills
41 John F. Kennedy Parkway
Short Hills, New Jersey, 07078
Check-in Date: Sunday, October 23, 2022
Check-out Date: Monday, October 24, 2022
Lodging
I picked the Hilton Short Hills hotel because of its close proximity to Newark Liberty International Airport and that it was directly across from the Short Hills Mall. We stayed in Room No. 533/K1. Everything about this hotel is first-class. Our room was spacious and clean more like a suite than just a regular room. Since we only stayed for one night, we didn’t take advantage of any of the hotel’s amenities.
Travel
We took Route 22/I-78 directly from Lehigh Valley International Airport.
Highlights
Other than the hotel, the highlight of our stay in Short Hills, NJ was the Short Hills Mall. We walked over to the mall from the hotel since it was such a short distance. We had dinner that night at the Legal Sea Foods restaurant right in the mall. Given it was a Sunday night, the mall was crowded and the restaurant was full—we were lucky to get a table.
Paul Miller Porsche had a car on display in the mall, a stunning Porsche Panamera S Turbo in matte black. Beautiful!
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