Our chosen home town-Stockton NJ
I told my husband when I met him, I thought our karma was to enjoy our golden years together. And we are. One of our first dates was a day trip to New Hope PA-both of us have always loved this area. I used to come with my first father, he loved all the antiques, and it was a place you could come and be yourself-very LBGT friendly way before that was a thing! Dan used to come up with his friends, and we both brought our kids on numerous occasions.
We ended up with a lovely little house on the other side of the Delaware river in Stockton NJ-New Hope's neighboring town. Our little town of Stockton, (I am not kidding about small, Wikipedia has it as .612 square miles, so yeah if you sneeze, you miss it) was named Stockton in honor of a US senator Robert Field Stockton who was instrumental in the creation of the Delaware Raritan Canal which used to be used to transport goods by mule barge. This man made water way allowed our mills and quarries to grow, many of which stand today, the Prallsville Mill is a spot for local art shows, discussions and at times an escape room! Our home is very quiet, one very cool neighbor family directly next to us, and others down the road. If you practice Feng Shui, as I do, this house is seen as very Yin, nurturing, restful!
This area of NJ in Hunderton County is amazingly beautiful. Rich in history, rich in farmlands it has everything we want. Local farms abound, and on the weekends the Stockton Market has everything you could need (including sometimes me doing chair massage). Market Pizza makes amazing pizza, Blue moon acres has all the fresh produce you can imagine, Siascia Confections has some of the best chocolates I have ever had, their hot chocolate is literally the best ever. And of course my sweet friend Fig and her Botanicals-oils that smell like heaven, and bath salts....mmmmm!
The Stockton inn which is for sale now, and used to be one of our favorite watering holes, was one of the oldest inns in the area, established as a home in 1710, it later opened for lodhing and gained notoriety when Richard Rogers wrote the song "There's a small hotel with a wishing well" for the Broadway play "On Your Toes".
Nearby and slightly younger, is the Woolverton inn, where I am starting soon as the part time evening Innkeeper (and yes, I am living my 30 something fantasy of being Lorelei Gilmore-except my daughter is 30, and lives in Australia, so our witty back and forth is over facebook messenger, not at Luke's). This estate was originally built by John Prall of the aforementioned Prallsville mill, and has 14 guest suites and cottages, 5 adorable sheep, and is surrounded by 10 acres of rolling hills, amazingly appointed rooms and have won awards for our meals and service. We also hold lovely weddings and have meeting space.
We also love the outdoors here, not just the eating and drinking (which this area has plenty of), the tow path on either side of the river offers a long stretch to walk, or bike, and is maintained lovingly. Tubing in the river is also one of our favorite things to do, and can be accessed on either side of the river. We are fond of the Delaware Tubing Company in Milford just up the road, where they will rent you tubes, life jackets etc., drop you off and pick you up, and you get a voucher in the form of a bracelet for meal half way down the river, as long as you can dock your self at the pontoon boat on the little island-not gonna lie I almost missed it once! But its a fun break to grab a hot dog or burger with your friends, and they have vegetarian options too!
There are amazing and beautiful wineries around too, in Flemington we have Old York and Unionville, in New hope we have the Sandcastle and the New Hope winery to name a few, all offering tastings, and often entertainment and special events!
Nearby are the towns of Lambertville, also full of wonderful restaurants and antiquing and fun shops! Two of our favorite spot for a drink are the Lambertville Station's wine cave and the Boat house. The wine cave feels like you are in an old wine cave, and takes their wine very seriously, they have a variety of flights and a large selection of fortified and dessert wines, -they also serve tapas and other drinks if wine is not your thing! The boat house is tucked away down an alley and super cute, and also serves a great drink!
Across the river is New Hope which, as I said was a haven for people to just be themselves! At least thats what it was to teenage me-I discovered my first witchy shops there and bought my first tarot deck in New hope when I was 13! Full of fantastic restaurants and great little shops it is a small town not to be missed! Check out the Salt House, and Nectars, two of our faves, and Marsha Browns- a Cajun spot that is in a rehabbed church with amazing murals! To be honest, there are so many too choose from!
North of us is Frenchtown, which to me has a very creative feel, some art galleries, a great yoga studio - Yoga Loka, and used to be home for Eilzabeth Gilbert who wrote Eat Pray Love! Frenchtown is also home to some of our loved restaurants, Lovin Oven, Frenchtown Inn and the National Hotel which often has great music and a club downstairs the Rathskeller!
I have not included links in this article (other than the ones embedded in the first four photos attached) for fear of it being a giant list! Info on all of these favorites of ours can be found online. There is so much more to this area than what I have space for here, future posts will dig deeper, and I highly recommend a visit! And if you are heading to the west coast of NJ, pop us a message on social media and if we are not traveling ourselves, we will meet ya for a drink!
