Central Park to Liberty Bell

We just received this detailed account of our April 5th stroll from Marjorie:

The day started promptly with the hotel shuttle to Newark Penn Station and the train to Cranford. Cranford is an historic commercial centre which had recently been designated as a ‘special improvement district’ and had made some attractive ‘Victorian style’ renovations. Most importantly it had a Starbucks and we had an essential caffeine stop – at the special request of Louise, before walking to the cosy Cranford Library in glorious sunshine. Much encouraged we were soon in Garwood, known locally as the “small town with a big heart”. It seemed a pleasant township and was notable for the school building with the ‘trompe d’oeil’ fake windows and doors, and very pretty décor in the library.

En route to Scotch Plains we walked though Westfield, where we had an impromptu talk from one of the members of the First Methodist Church. He told us that the township was being regenerated by an influx of wealthy people. There was certainly evidence of this in the up-market shops, memorials set in attractive gardens and a general air of prosperity. Scotch Plains did not look so prosperous but had a good pub where we had lunch and managed to pay the bill in cash thanks to high finance from Annie and Harry. Our route then took us via the Scotch Plains Library through Plainfield where we strolled though fine streets of lovely period houses. Originally a Quaker settlement, Plainfield still has some 18th century buildings including Nathaniel Drake House, 1746, known as George Washington’s headquarters during the Battle of Short Hills in June 1777.

Unfortunately for the last part of the walk to Dunellen we headed into a strong cold wind which hit us as we plodded for 3 miles along a long stretch of road bordered by derelict and semi derelict industrial buildings. For me this was the only low point in the whole walk and I did briefly question my sanity in being there! On reaching Dunellen Station there was a dash for the train and not only did we miss the last library but more than half the team were left behind in the scramble for tickets. Among the lucky ones, who did make the train, were the 2 team captains who had somewhat ‘red faces’ since they had abandoned most of their flock!

Thankfully Team Liberty Bell is made up of resourceful people and the abandoned ones took the time to practise their singing and zumba skills as well as sourcing coffee outlets and bathroom facilities for the next day’s walk. Real boy scouts.

Marjorie (with a little help from Harry) Clasper

I expected noise; I expected traffic; I expected cityscapes, but instead our group found secluded trails, green belted waterways and historic buildings during our walk through New Jersey largely parallel to route 29.  Being unaware of the historic water transportation system that linked the Pennsylvania coal fields to industrial centers of the next two states, I was surprised and delighted to find paths and cannels had been turned into a wonderful foot trail.  This was the Delaware and Raritan Canal, the path of mules and tugs that moved barges of raw materials over 50 miles of waterways.  The D&R was built across central New Jersey to provide an easy route for freight from Philadelphia to New York.  Early boats could navigate the Delaware River to Bordertown and the Raritan River to New Brunswick.  These cities were selected as the start and end points and in 1830 a cannel was dug between the two cities by the hands of Irish immigrants.  It was finished in 1834 with a complete system of water feeder cannels and locks to control water levels.  For 100 years, the D&R was one of America’s busiest commercial avenues but by the end of the 19^th century, the cannel had lost business to the railroad and finished operation in 1932.  The State of New Jersey took over the cannel and changed it into a water supply system replacing locks with dams and filling sections.  In l974, over 60 miles of the canal and a narrow strip of land on both banks were make into a state park which was designated a National Recreation Trail in 1992.  This was the historic path that we enjoyed for two days of our long walk.

We first encountered the beauty of the cannel at the 6 Mile Run Reservoir located at Somerset, New Jersey.  The area is filled with 18th century Dutch farmhouses, agricultural land, open space, forests, small towns and many things bucolic.  On day one we hiked about 12 miles on the old towpath constructed for barge pulling mules and we appreciated this soft footing after our days on concrete.  We ended our first day of walking along water at Blackwells Mills Cannel House, the site of a bridge tenders house and a picturesque wooden bridge which allowed use to cross the cannel.  We returned to Blackwells Mill for our second day of walking moving toward locks #8 and Carnegie Lake, the wide water enjoyed by the Princeton rowing teams.  We covered about 14 miles ending our day in the city of Princeton.  This part of the long walk was a pleasure to the eyes, ears, and feet and was a welcome surprise to someone expecting mainly urban experiences.

Cheryl Johnson, Co-captain du jour

It was a 4-mug trip. Mugs lying on Frank Lloyd Wright scarf.

Most folks will never receive a birthday card as nice as this one!

The card was designed by Louise.

Kathy calls this “The most creative of birthday cards”, and would like all of you to have a chance to view it.

Here we have some photographs taken by Louise during our walk:

We just received a nice group of photos taken by Harry and Marjorie, who took the journey all the way from England to be part of our walk.

Thank  you Harry and Marjorie!

*** Click on any image to open gallery and view full sized images ***

*** Click on any image to open gallery and view full sized images ***

Captains du Jour Annie and Judy led us to good stuff today including Bucks County Public Library in Yardley where we were warmly greeted. So intrigued they were with our Long Walk that they want to put us on their website. Fun.

At the library Artist Cheryl discovered an Art o Mat. A what? See pictures and explanations. What it is is a cigarette machine repurposed to dispense objects of art. Cheryl and I each bought $5 tokens to get a “cigarette” package of earrings made from postage stamps (random). Cheryl liked her earrings made from stamps from Denmark and I was particularly happy with my earrings made from Bermuda stamps because of the memories of the fun trip there that I took my Mother on as a Mother’s Day gift.

Enjoy the pics.

BestFeetForward, aka Kathy

*** Click on any image to open gallery and view full sized images ***

*** Click on any image to open gallery and view full sized images ***