New Hope, PA: Your Weekend Getaway Guide

The past few days at home gave me time to catch up on what I desperately craved: family, friends, and good Italian food. The first thing on the agenda coming straight from the airport was a dinner with my family, which was immediately followed by a second dinner (which I’m sure the hobbits from Lord of the Rings would approve of) at a late Friendsgiving hosted by a friend in New Hope, Pennsylvania. Now, driving home from the airport after a five-hour flight, followed by a 1.5-hour drive to Pennsylvania might seem like a stretch for any sane person. I, however, will do a lot of things for food. After consuming more than any adult should in one day, we decided to make the next day focused solely on hiking. This forceful determination lasted approximately thirty seconds as we stepped out, realized the temperature had hit the low 30’s, and made our way to the nearest town with a warm coffee shop.

Now, to anyone from New Jersey or eastern Pennsylvania, I highly recommend staying in either Lambertville (on the Jersey side of the Delaware River) or New Hope (on the Pennsylvania side) for a couple’s night away. Better yet, even make it a girl’s weekend and go shopping in both towns because the amount of vintage stores to choose from is enormous. Just don’t go to either of these two towns hoping for a crazy night out because what you will most likely end up with is an old-school dad bar serving up Coors Light drafts all night. This is a Netflix and wine type of getaway. Anyway, let’s start with Lambertville, the town my boyfriend and I stayed overnight in. 

Lambertville and New Hope, at first glance, appear one and the same. The only major difference I would say is that New Hope is slightly larger and thus has a great variety of shops for those Carrie Bradshaw types – like me. However, both towns are full of cozy coffee shops that, after you endure about five minutes of walking about in the cold November weather, appear extremely inviting. Although I believe there is one Starbucks in town, do yourself a favor and indulge in a likely less expensive and better made cup of coffee at one of these smaller establishments. Now, with the selection of coffee shops and dozens of antique and vintage stores and boutiques, you should have enough to keep yourself occupied for at least most of the morning. As we stayed at a wonderful Airbnb in the center of downtown Lambertville, we were thankfully located near numerous cafes that became a necessity after my jetlag fully kicked in. After indulging in multiple coffee stops, we made our way to my favorite landmark.

Arguably, the best part of visiting the two towns is the New Hope-Lambertville Bridge. The bridge sits directly atop the Delaware River and offers a terrific view of both Pennsylvania and New Jersey. I would definitely recommend visiting in the earlier fall months to really see the colored foliage in full bloom along the river. Of course, you can drive across the bridge from one town to another, but where’s the fun in that? There is a fairly wide pedestrian bridge where you can stop and admire the view (although during colder months, the admiration may be slightly curtailed).

Once you make your way across the bridge, you will find yourself in New Hope. We spent slightly more time here, as we wanted to do some holiday shopping and had learned about a novelty joke store in town called “Love Saves the Day.” Just a forewarning: try not to bring anyone under 18 into this store. The items in the store were unique and kitschy, ranging from vintage army jackets to classic records to boob-shaped beach balls. I ended up purchasing my sister a “freeloader fork,” which has the ability to stretch up to two feet to sneak food from other people’s plates – a frequent habit of hers. After successful visits to many other nearby shops, including a bookstore with two very sweet cats, we decided to stop for lunch at the Ferry Market.

Now, the market essentially contains every food station you could be in the mood for. I immediately made a beeline for the “Bonjour Creperie” cafe, whereas my boyfriend decided to make his way towards the poké bar. Although I liked my crepe (the Orlando, for anyone who was wondering), I have this quirk where I always tend to like my boyfriend’s food better than my own. Any other girlfriends with me on this? In preparation, he had already finished half of his poké bowl and started to move my crepe towards him before the words “I’m not sure how much I like this” were even off my lips. 

Anyway, after the inevitable food exchange had occurred, we snagged a cookie from The Big Cookie Company, I ordered one of the best chai lattes I’ve ever tried from SkyRoast Coffee, and we were on our way. Filled with both food and presents from our day thus far, we decided to drive to a small little hike leading to a famous outlook called Goat Hill. The trailhead is about a ten to fifteen minute drive from New Hope and usually isn’t quite crowded (i.e. I have always been able to find a spot without any trouble). Once you get around the large gate that marks the start of the uphill trail, you have a brisk ten-minute hike ahead of you until you reach the overlook point. Now, when we pulled up to the parking lot, an older woman had asked us if there was only one trail to the overlook. I confidently told her yes, as I had come here multiple times over the years, only to realize five minutes into our walk that there are, in fact, smaller diverging trails with different markers. Keep that in mind, folks. However, as long as you stay on the main path, you should just primarily continue going uphill until you reach a clearing at the top. (Which I hope that lady figured out. Anyway.) This clearing is fondly termed the Goat Hill Overlook. I will note here that if you come to the lookout spot assuming that there will be goats present, you will be sorely disappointed – as I was during my first visit here. However, you will instead be rewarded with a sweeping view of the Delaware Water Gap, the surrounding mountains, and all of the charming little towns that lie along the river, including both New Hope and Lambertville. 

We sat on the bench provided, taking in the sight, as long as our noses would allow before we agreed to head back to the car and defrost. We decided to make one more stop before heading home to New Jersey into a little holiday-themed wonderland called Peddler’s Village, which you will hear about in another post entirely, linked here.

The rest of my time at home was filled with binge watching Harry Potter movies with my family and eating extreme amounts of Chinese food on Christmas (I really do promise I try to stay healthy normally). While we’re on the topic of food, however, something I did mention sorely missing about New Jersey was the Italian food. I indulged at a restaurant on my last night (thankfully, no scenes from the Godfather were reenacted) and tried buffalo chicken pizza at one of my favorite neighborhood pizzerias, Denino’s Pizza Place in Matawan.

Anyway, onto the more serious stuff. Coming back to Arizona satiated – both with love and pizza – has given me a lot to think about in regard to graduate school. I still have yet to decide if I want to continue on my veterinary career track or try for something else. I guess we’ll just have to wait until my next update.