NE Pennsylvania Weekend Vacation | The Beauty Around Us

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NE Pennsylvania Weekend Vacation: Day 2 – Clinton, NJ

Since Tuesday, I have been sharing with you photographs and details of our vacation in NE Pennsylvania. In addition to seeing three waterfalls in the Delaware Water Gap Recreation Area on Day 2 of our vacation, our NE Pennsylvania vacation took us into New Jersey. We drove to Clinton, NJ where we toured a historic mill, visited a state park and ate dinner with friends.

I had visited Clinton one time before. My first visit to Clinton was on March 17, 1987. I was living in Tinton Falls, NJ at the time. I stopped in Clinton en route Phillipsburg, NJ to visit a friend, who had recently given birth to a son. During that brief stop, I took one photograph — Clinton’s Red Mill.

The Red Mill (March 1987)

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Twenty-six years later, I took another photograph of The Red Mill … and a lot more!

The Red Mill (April 2013)

During our visit to Clinton this past Saturday, we went on a self-guided tour of The Red Mill Museum Village. Before touring The Red Mill we explored the buildings of the Mulligan Limestone Quarry and other buildings moved to the grounds.

Dynamite Shed, c. 1916
Dynamite was used to dislodge the limestone in the cliffs.

Screen House, c. 1900 – Stone Crusher, c. 1912 – Lime Kilns, c. 1860

Limestone rocks were sorted, by size, in the Screen House. The limestone that was crushed was used to bed railroads and paved roads. The Lime Kilns were used to burn limestone to make fertilizer.

Tenant House, c. 1860
This was a two-family house, built for quarry employees.
Each family had a kitchen and parlor, with two upstairs bedrooms.

Today the tenant house displays a general store, post office and a c. 1900 kitchen.

One-Room Schoolhouse, c. 1860

Corn Crib, c. 1860-90 and Carriage Shed, c. 1860-80

Log Cabin, replica 1976

We toured all four floors of The Red Mill.

There is a nice view looking across the dam from one of the windows.

The Red Mill houses a large collection of artifacts. Each floor tells a small part of the history of the building.

The Red Mill, c. 1810

The Red Mill was originally built as a woolen mill. It was later used to process grains, produce peach baskets, talc and graphite. The Red Mill generated electricity and pumped water for the town.

The Red Mill’s water wheel

After touring The Red Mill, we crossed over the Lowthorp Truss Bridge

The Lowthorp Truss Bridge

to the Main Street shopping area.

Main Street

We did some window shopping, listened to a musical quartet playing in an alley way (very good!), and ate lunch at the Towne Restaurant.

We had a few hours to kill before meeting our friends for dinner at the Clinton Station Diner, so we drove around looking for a park to visit. We found the Round Valley Recreation Area.

Round Valley Recreation Area

a Loon (!) at Round Valley Recreation Area

The reason that we spent the past weekend in Stroudsburg, PA was so Bob could meet up and ride with a fellow Vulcan Riders and Owners Club (VROC) member from New Zealand, who was visiting this part of the USA. The NE Pennsylvania VROC group put together the ride and dinner. Dinner was at 6:00 PM at the Clinton Station Diner. Nine of us enjoyed dinner and conversation. We made new friends. It was a great night! The ride took place on Sunday. The meet-up place was Triplets Family Restaurant in Stroudsburg, where those riding ate breakfast. I stayed behind. I would not have enjoyed the ride, as it was a very cold ride. In fact the guys cut the ride short because it was so cold. It was well worth making the trip to NE Pennsylvania. We enjoyed seeing the waterfalls and the sights of Clinton, NJ. It was great to meet up with some of the riders from the NE Pennsylvania VROC group, as well as meet the rider from New Zealand. What a great weekend we had!

This concludes my blogs posts about our weekend vacation in NE Pennsylvania.

NE Pennsylvania Weekend Vacation: Day 2 – Dingmans Falls

On Saturday, April 20, we saw three waterfalls. The first waterfall that we saw was Raymondskill Falls, which I blogged about yesterday. The other two waterfalls were located at Dingmans Falls.

As I mentioned in yesterday’s blog post, my Facebook friend, Craig. suggested that we visit Dingmans Falls. On April 17, the date that Craig and I discussed Raymondskill Falls and Dingmans Falls, the road from Route 209 to the Dingmans Falls Visitor Center was closed. Craig wrote that if we wanted to see Dingmans Falls that he knew the way in from the top. He said that hiking in from the top would be quicker than walking from Route 209 up the road to the falls. The directions that Craig provided followed loosely established, unmarked trails. Yes, trails! We kept Dingmans Creek on our left, as directed, and eventually came out at the top observation point.

Top Observation Point – the head of Dingmans Falls

From the top observation point we climbed down onto a wooden walkway.

This photograph of Dingmans Falls was taken shortly after reaching the wooden walkway.

View of Dingmans Falls from the lower wooden walkway

What a beautiful view we had of Dingmans Falls from the lower wooden walkway! According to Internet sources, this waterfall is 130 feet tall and is Pennsylvania’s second tallest waterfall. It was while at this spot we learned from a man who was also visiting Dingmans Falls that the road in from Route 209 to Dingmans Falls Visitor Center was open. The road reopened a day after my Facebook conversation with Craig! The hike in front the top of Dingmans Falls wasn’t too bad of a hike. However, I was happy to NOT return to the car by the same route. Bob said he would hike back to the car and meet me at the Visitor Center parking lot. (I love that man!)

The walk to the Visitor Center parking lot was a piece of cake after the hike to the top of the falls 🙂

The boardwalk trail

Shortly before reaching the Visitor Center, there is another waterfall to see — Silver Thread Falls.

Silver Thread Falls is 80 feet tall.

Silver Thread Falls

Leaving Silver Thread Falls, you cross over a footbridge to the Dingmans Falls Visitor Center.

Dingmans Creek, as viewed from footbridge

Dingmans Falls Visitor Center

When Bob reached the Visitor Center parking lot, I took him over the footbridge to show him the Silver Thread Falls.

I will leave you with a video of Dingmans Falls and Silver Thread Falls. You will notice that the video is dated April 21, which would be Day 3 of our weekend vacation. I returned to Dingmans Falls on Sunday in order to capture some video of the falls.

There is still more to share with you about Day 2 of our NE Pennsylvania Weekend Vacation. In my next blog post, I will take you to Clinton, NJ, where we toured a historic mill, visited a state park and ate dinner with friends.

NE Pennsylvania Weekend Vacation: Day 2 – Raymondskill Falls

On Saturday, April 20, after a hearty breakfast at Triplets Family Restaurant, we drove north on Route 209 towards Milford, PA. Located 2.5 miles south of Milford is Raymondskill Falls. This was the first of three waterfalls that we saw that day. We also toured a historic mill, visited a state park and ate dinner with friends.

Raymondskill Falls, at a height of approximately 150 feet, is Pennsylvania’s tallest waterfall. I read that Raymondskill Falls is 4 feet shorter than Niagara Falls. What a beautiful waterfall, and it was relatively easy to get to!

The head of the falls

Raymondskill Falls is a series of three cascading waterfalls.

I wouldn’t have known about this waterfall had it not been for Craig, a Facebook friend. When I mentioned to Craig that we planned to visit Bushkill Falls, he suggested that we include both Raymondskill Falls and Dingmans Falls (the subject of my next blog post) in our itinerary. After seeing both of the suggested waterfalls, we opted not to visit Bushkill Falls. Anyway I wasn’t sure how my arthritic knee would react to all the steps at Bushkill Falls. We didn’t feel like paying $12.50 each to visit Bushkill Falls, when it cost us nothing to see Raymondskill Falls and Dingmans Falls. It was relatively easy to pass up Bushkill Falls, as we had visited those falls one time before in June 1998. Thank you very much, Craig, for suggesting that we visit Raymondskill Falls. By the way, Craig is an excellent photographer. You may view his photographs by visiting his Facebook page, Penn’s Woods Photography.

NE Pennsylvania Weekend Vacation: Day 1

We returned home yesterday afternoon from an extended weekend vacation in NE Pennsylvania.

We departed Warren, PA on the morning of Friday, April 19. I traveled by car; Bob traveled by motorcycle. We left home earlier than planned, with hopes of staying ahead of the massive rainstorm approaching from the west. We were successful. We encountered no rain during our drive/ride to Stroudsburg.

Upon reaching Stroudsburg, we stopped at Triplets Family Restaurant for lunch. Bob ordered a seafood entree: I ordered a chicken entree. Our meals were reasonably priced, served hot and tasted delicious. Service was excellent. After lunch, we checked into the Flower Field Motel & Cottages, our home for the next 3 nights.

Flower Field Motel & Cottages

We checked into Room #2.

Our hotel room
Photo obtained from Flower Field Motel & Cottages Facebook page

Our room had two queen-size beds, with a nightstand separating the two beds, a small round table with two chairs, microwave, refrigerator, a four-drawer long and low dresser, and a television on rolling stand. The bathroom was moderately sized. There was no telephone or alarm clock, and the door opened with a real key.

With the exception of going to Walmart to pick up beverages and snacks for the weekend, as well as a stop at Burger King for a quick dinner, we spent Friday afternoon and evening relaxing at the hotel.

Bob and I especially enjoyed sitting outside under the picnic shelter reading and surfing the Internet. You can see our car in the background. Our hotel was very close to the main street (Rt. 209); however, the street traffic did not disrupt our sleep at all. In fact, the noise level was very low throughout our stay at the hotel.

If you vacation in the Stroudsburg area, I highly recommend Flower Field Motel & Cottages. Your accommodation will be a simple, but clean, room. In addition to the absence of a telephone and alarm clock in the room, there is also no iron, ironing board or hair dryer in the room. All of these items are available in the office. A complementary continental breakfast also is provided. You will find that the price is very reasonable compared to other hotels in the area. The owners of the hotel are helpful and friendly. We enjoyed our stay for the few days that we were there.