Wanderlust Around the Lake By E. Muller
Hurray! Spring is on its way! To celebrate, let’s surrender to our collective wanderlust. Between the heavy snows and frigid temperatures we endured all winter, together with the limitations we experienced courtesy of the pandemic, we’re all feeling a bit confined. It’s time to get out and do something! For inspiration, here are a few quotes by author, inventor, naturalist and explorer John Muir: “Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt.” “The mountains are calling and I must go.” And my favorite: “The snow is melting into music.”
If you’ve never been to the Lock 31 House near The Settler’s Inn in Hawley, you’re in for a treat. The old home is happily situated on the Delaware and Hudson canal and provides a beautiful walk on the towpath alongside the canal and beyond. The home was built in the early 1800s and began its life as a farm with over 260 acres of land. Once the canal was built directly behind the home, its value greatly increased. Since then, the building has seen many changes and is now owned by the Wayne County Historical Society along with one mile of the canal. The Society continues to work on making the Lock House into a living history museum. Until then, enjoy the sights and sounds of the canal! Go to waynehistorypa.org or call 570 253 3240 to learn more. If you feel the need to free your creative spirit, why not check out The Art Factory in White Mills? They offer classes in painting, drawing, pottery, alcohol ink, photography and acrylic pour, paint-and-sip classes and events, online shopping and a gallery. Find out more at theartfactoryofwhitemills. com or call 570 251 1181. Please note: pre-registration is required for all classes.
Speaking of spirits, the Wally Wine Fest is scheduled for April 10th and 11th. The fun is set to take place at Silver Birches in what they call “Wally Wine Fest 2021: Safely Spaced Sips and Savories!” Silver Birches will host the festival with a seated wine tasting while offering various small plates. A wine seminar complete with imported cheeses will be offered on Saturday at 1 and 3 pm and on Sunday at 1 pm. Domestic and International wines will be available to taste and to purchase, as well as live entertainment, a silent auction and a marketplace. Call 570 226 4388 or check out Wally Wine Fest on Facebook for more information. On a nice spring day, you may want to take a ride to see the oldest wire suspension bridge in the United States – the Delaware Aqueduct, which was built by John Roebling (the same Roebling who later engineered the Brooklyn Bridge). The bridge opened in 1828 and solved a number of challenges: the transportation of timber, alleviating traffic on the canal and reducing the time it took to travel on the canal by one full day, thus saving quite a bit of money each year. The bridge, which connects Lackawaxen PA to Minisink, NY operated for 50 years and underwent many changes thereafter. It was used as a vehicular bridge until 1979 but in 1980 the National Park Service purchased the aqueduct. It is now part of the Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River and is free and open to the public. Today you can cross the bridge either by car or on foot and enjoy the engineering masterpiece of the bridge itself as well as the views of the river.
“Lookin’ for fun and feelin’ groovy”? We’re lucky to have Bethel Woods Center for the Arts nearby in Sullivan County, NY. There you will find a museum, a performing arts center, an amphitheater, and lovely grounds on which the site of the 1969 Woodstock Music and Art Fair took place. The museum’s exhibits feature the counterculture of the 1960s with films, clothes and other objects of the time (think the Vietnam War, the Summer of Love and Armstrong’s moon walk) and of course, music! The museum is set to re-open on the third of April, but be sure to call before making plans. You can also call to find information on their 2021 concert schedule. Even if you just want to get out of your house, take a nice drive and go for a walk, it’s a great destination. Call 845 583 2000 or visit bethelwoodscenter.org; the center is located at 200 Hurd Road, Bethel NY 12720. Far out! Let’s head south to New Hope where there are plenty of parks and outdoor activities such as kayaking, hiking, fishing, bike riding and picnicking. The area is rife with cultural sights, restaurants, shops and other points of interest. (As always, please call ahead to check availability). New Hope PA and Lambertville NJ are a stone’s throw away from each other – all you need to do is cross a bridge to get from one neighborhood to the other. The Bucks County Playhouse is a wonderful venue to see Broadway plays, musicals and children’s shows. The Playhouse is a renovated grist mill and over the years, luminaries such as Robert Redford and Grace Kelly have graced the stage. The Playhouse is located at 70 South Main Street in New Hope PA; the phone number is 215 862 2121.
Peddler’s Village is a great place to spend the day. This shopping mecca is an old Colonial village with many small, locally owned shops, boutiques and restaurants lining old brick pathways. Peddler’s Village is located in Lahaska PA and you can find out more by calling 215 794 4000 or visiting them online at peddlersvillage.com.
Bowman’s Hill Wildlife Preserve is a 134 acre botanical garden and nature preserve with hardwood trees, wetlands, ponds, a meadow and a creek. Over 700 of Pennsylvania’s native plants can be found within the preserve. The scenic Stone Arch Bridge crosses the Pidcock Creek and is near an old log cabin which once the gatehouse to the park. A pavilion which was built in 1941 and dedicated to Captain James Moore stands near the meadow and the entrance to the preserve. Go to bhwp.org or call 215 862 2924 for details.
Head over to 32 West Bridge Street in New Hope and hop aboard a lovingly refurbished vintage train from the early 1900s. Go for a ride and enjoy the scenery as you look out your window. Different classes from first class to open air and from coach to caboose are available. The Traditional Excursion is an hour-long round-trip ride from New Hope to Lahaska. Call 215 862 2332 or check it out at newhoperailroad.com for more information. Not far from the New Hope and Lambertville area is Doylestown PA. If you decide to go there, you may want to see the James Michener Art Museum, housed in the old Bucks County jailhouse. The museum features Pennsylvania impressionist artists (such as Fern Isabel Coppedge) along with other exhibits. While you are there, you may want to visit the café, the shop and walk around the grounds of the museum. Call 215 340 9800 or visit them online at michenerartmuseum.org. They are located at 138 South Pine Street in Doylestown PA.
Another place you should try to see in Doylestown is the Moravian Pottery and Tile Works Museum, which is a working history museum and National Historic Landmark. Arts and Crafts Era mosaics and tiles are still produced using methods as close to those of Henry C. Mercer’s as possible and are available for purchase. The museum is located at 130 Swamp Rd in Doylestown; the phone number is 215 348 6090. You can also find the museum at visitbuckscounty.com. One last place you might want to visit is Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton NJ. It is a sprawling outdoor sculpture park, arboretum, garden and museum. You can easily spend the day there as there is so much to see and experience. Don’t be fooled by the name, but within Grounds for Sculpture is an excellent restaurant called Rat’s (yes, that’s right). Spend a few hours on the grounds, enjoy a meal at Rat’s and you’ll have a wonderful day. Grounds for Sculpture is located at 80 Sculptors Way in Hamilton NJ; their number is 609 586 0616. You can visit their website to learn more at groundsforsculpture.org. More information for the restaurant can be found at ratsrestaurant.com - their phone number is 609 584 7800.
As always, have a safe and wonderful time exploring! PAGE 12
TANGLWOOD LAKES | APRIL/MAY 2021
