Flea-ing Lambertville and Exploring New Hope

A little over a week ago, I believe I'd mentioned I was heading east to Philly to meet a couple of blogging friends. Claire and J.D. turned out to be as interesting, pleasant and funny as their on-screen personas--- not a surprise there, really, as I'd been "talking" with them online for some time now.

So, today, come with us as we experience a road-trip filled with history, intriguing architecture, delightful food and, especially, a day-trip to one of my old haunts-- the Lambertville/New Hope area along the Delaware River.

While our Saturday-about-town in Philadelphia involved much rain and puddle-jumping, there was still a lot of to appreciate-- including Philadelphia's series of elaborate murals, and its eye-catching architecture. I loved the way the top of the building showcased its shape against the hazy skyline...


The facades of many of the buildings were very ornate, though like many old cities, they're found in varying levels of repair depending on neighborhood... This building dates from "MDCDI"-- or 1901...


And here's the Ocean Harbor, a popular dim sum restaurant in Philly's Chinatown where we enjoyed our Saturday brunch. It actually looks a bit sunnier in the photo than it really was. My squishy shoes can attest to that! As Claire is from England, she was used to the rain, but the humidity-- well, it left us all a bit overwhelmed. No reason not to duck inside to the restaurant!...


The food was extremely fun and memorable, with the waitstaff continually popping up with carts offering new rounds of delicacies, which they wrote down in some mysterious-looking system of circles on the check...


The long, lean and leafy veggies there are Chinese broccoli. It had a great fresh flavor, and a texture more reminiscent of a leafy asparagus than what we know to be mainstream U.S. broccoli. You can see some half-demolished General Tso's chicken here, plus the lovely dim sum dumplings filled with things like pork, a sweet bean paste, and other goodies.

Sunday, courtesy of our kind host J.D., offered a day-trip to Lamberville, New Jersey and New Hope, Pennsylvania-- a quaint and quirky area that straddles the Delaware River. It flea markets, antiques and gift shops, and on-the-water dining.

Our first stop was the Golden Nugget Antique Market. This was particularly amusing for me, because my parents and I used to come here when I was a kid living in New Jersey...

The memories all came flooding back as I saw the rows of tables, bearing everything from Victoriana, to leather-bound books, to a gaggle of troll-dolls, to fine china...

I don't know who the lady is above, but at least she's smiling. I think she's happy with her bag of flea marketed produce there.

In one of the flea market's out-buildings I uncovered a couple of vintage cooking and homemaking books I believe I'll be sharing with you all later, as future posts. I liked in particular that the one is sponsored by Shop Rite, a grocery store chain I used to go to when I was growing up in New Jersey....


We were wondering why the "Household Hints" stopped at 1003, and not 1000 or 1001. Perhaps they got so jazzed about their hints, that they simply couldn't limit themselves to your standard number of tips.

I also got me some knobs (Claire, stop laughing...)... er, glass cabinet pulls, rather... to go on my computer desk and "Shabby Chic" it up a bit. You can see the original knob is on the right top, and the "new" old glass knob next to it.


Once we had scoured the Golden Nugget fleamarket, we got back in the car, and headed to New Hope, Pennsylvania, via Lambertville. With his Colonial and then Victorian-influenced architecture, it might remind you a bit of New Orleans, or Key West...


Here, we're headed over the Delaware River to New Hope. That's Claire's head there in silhouette on the right...


Homes, restaurants and a playhouse line this river. And as you can see, it was a perfect day-- very different, weather-wise, from just the day before!...


Here is New Hope Station, just one of the landmarks of the historic Pennsylvania town...


And we were just in-time to catch a shot of one of the local trains chugging through...


The shop below is unlike any I'd ever been in before... the TearDrop Memories "Post-Mortem Gallery." Not for the feint of heart but fascinating just the same, the shop's emphasis is on the darker side of Victoriana-- with Victorian hair jewelry (made of hair, not to go in hair), post-portem photosand paintings from the 1800s, 100-year-old preserved funerary wreaths, eerie portrait art, theatrical props, books, pottery, and Victorian birdcages.


The shop taps in to the Victorians' maudlin embrace of death as well as life. The amount of memories preserved and accumulated here can seem almost impossible to take in. This doll certainly seems to be startled by it all, anyway...


The area offers something pretty much for everyone, though. From hand-blown glass gifts and clothing from various parts of the world, to stained glass window and lamps, art galeries, kitchy bobbleheads and hologram art, and every conceivable hot sauce brand you can imagine...


The above was just one shelf in an entire hot sauce store.

We stopped for a Rita's Italian ice and strode the streets where people dined in outdoor cafes, and where motorcycle fans parked their rides and chatted with fellow officiandos.

We took in a new type of... um... lawn art that is either making a statement that simply eluded me, or is the next fad to replace plastic lawn flamingos...


And we took in the more subtle details of the town, like this quiet, shaded veranda overlooking a canal...


We imagined spending the day there with a lemonade and a laptop, just rocking on a white wicker chair and documenting the world going by... Well, we're bloggers, after all.

But what a place to blog!

Well, that pretty much wraps up our trip to Lambertville and New Hope...

Otherwise, I hope to see you this coming Wednesday, for our next "Treasure Box" post. Thanks, my friends, for stopping by!

18 comments:

Da Old Man said...

Lambertville and New Hope are the best. I probably should blog about the day Mrs. C drove the train in New Hope.

Jenn Thorson said...

Da Old Man- Were you two planning some kind of escape? Or was this a law-abiding day of Mrs. Crotchety at the controls? I'd be interested to read that tale. :)

Carrie said...

Always a treat to go travelling with you!

Jenn Thorson said...

Carrie- Always a treat to have you come along! I do think actually about you all when I'm visiting and what various folks might enjoy seeing if you were there.

Lana Gramlich said...

Looks like y'all had a great time. I just wish I could have come with! Much of this post reminded me both of NY and New Orleans, which was pretty cool, too.

Rosemary said...

Hi Jenn,
Looks like it was a fun time!! That flea market looked like my kind of a place.
Love all of the photos!!
Happy Blogaversary!!
Have a great week!
Rosemary

Anonymous said...

Wow I want to comment on so much but I would take up 6 pages!!
It looks like you had a wonderful time!!
Glad to see you home safe and happy :)

Anonymous said...

Lana- Ah, that's right, you're IN the New Orleans area-- funny you see similarities, too! I think you would have enjoyed it. We even had good weather for half of it.

Rosemary- Hope you have a good week ahead of you, as well. Let me guess-- more glitter crafts? :) I bet you've inhaled about a pound of that stuff by now.

Evie- Well, I do appreciate your zeal! :) After about 3 hours into the return trip, I have to say, I was pretty eager to be getting home myself. It's not a bad drive, but not much to see on the Pennsylvania turnpike.

Lois said...

Hi Jenn!
Glad you had a good vacation. It looks and sounds like you had a great time. I liked your pictures. I really enjoy looking at old (and some new) buildings. I also love Flea Markets and Chinese food, so to me, you had the perfect outings. I just came back from vacation and got to visit a few shops that sold antiques and vintage stuff so I enjoyed my week a lot too. Anyway, I just wanted to pop in to see what you have been up to.
Have a good week!
Lois

Anonymous said...

Deja Vu for me. I live in Philly and just went to New Hope/Lambertville.

Great post and photos

Anonymous said...

Lois- Oh, I hope you had a terrific vacation. It sounds like you get the antiquing/vintage bug wherever you roam, too. :)

John W.- It really is a popular spot, isn't it? Here's hoping you enjoyed the sights and, if flea marketing, found some good stuff, too.

Miss Shirl said...

Love the doll. She's got character. Hope you had tons of fun.

Anonymous said...

Shirley- Oh, you would have had a BLAST at the flea market, too. Lots of folks with interesting old dolls. And I know how you love to go "junkin'". :)

That Girl Ang said...

OMGosh - you were not too far from me... Lambertville is just about an hour away... LOL
I went to school in Philly... gosh I love Philly... even in the rain! LOL

I am glad you had fun!

Ang

Unknown said...

NJ- I can certainly see why you'd love it. The options Philadelphians have for pretty much ANYTHING they'd want, it's amazing.

That Girl Ang said...

My mom LOVED the mix of the young college folk & older folks on Rittenhouse Square & also in the west, north & south parts of the city...

I loved the cheese steaks, the skyline, the eclectic shops... the river (yes the green one... LOL reminds me of the River Seine... LOL) the parties... oh I can go one & one... the trolley, the trains the thrift stores.... the schools... have I names enough? LOL

Heck & I have a ton of family who live & work there.... and probably a bucket full of college friends who never left... :)

Oh the memories.. thanks!

Allison said...

This may sound silly, but I am so glad you placed the freeway sign on this post. It gives a reader such as myself a real feel from either where you are at or where you are going. I wish more bloggers would do this. I live in northern Ca,and I don't get out of here much so it gives me the reader a feel for the place, the weather, and all that goes with the post. Thanks
Moon-Writer

Anonymous said...

NJ- I got my first official Philly cheesesteak when I was there. Great fun. In fact, I enjoyed a lot about the city. I can absolutely see why you'd miss it.

Allison- It is challenging to create a sense of "place" when you're online. Lots of photos help, certainly and trying to include wide-shots as well as close-ups. Signs are wonderful when you can get them. Sometimes I'm driving and have to assign one of my roadtripping buddies to take the pics.