Back Roads, Charming Towns : Retirement, Relocation, Vacation : Back Roads, Charming Towns Blog : Vikki Grodner

We recently hosted a high school graduation party for Alex at my sister Sheri and brother-in-law John's getaway place at Smith Lake in Warren County, Alabama. As is so typical of me, before the weekend was over, I was scheming and dreaming about building a place of our own along these same shores.

   

Ken's reaction? Sell that book you're writing and then we'll talk. While this wasn't an unenthusiastic response (although it might sound that way), this Sunday's Parade magazine offered even more practical commentary on the "dollar and sense" of such a purchase.

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NJ: Fran and I are both professional refugees of the B.C.  As two Jersey girls, when we decided to get together for lunch earlier this week, it made sense to find a midway point in our state to rendezvous. Due to the hour time difference between charming Middletown, her neck of the woods, and Basking Ridge, mine, we had to do a little research to find a location. To our good fortune, we discovered the perfect spot in the quaint and tasty Metuchen Inn (above).

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NY & NJ: When Alex went with his friend Sam to the Goldsmith
family lake house in Ithaca, New York a few summers ago, he
naturally enjoyed the seasonal pursuits of splashing, running and relaxing that such a location inspires. But one of the more surprising outcomes of his trip was a visit to the Corning Museum of Glass, a first-rate museum and educational center with one of the world’s premier collection of art and historical glass. Here Alex witnessed glass being blown, twisted and made into objects both artistic and functional, and even got to try his own hand at the art. A delicate crystalline flower in swirls of blue, yellow and white is an object of great pride that continues to evoke a smile and memories whenever it catches his eye.

While Corning may be a more recognized name for some in the annals of glass lore, glass production is equally indigenous to the small southern New Jersey community of Millville. And there, one will find the very special WheatonArts.

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NJ: We recently had reason to celebrate. Alex was accepted to his first-choice university for the fall of 2007 (Roll Tide!), so naturally we wanted to head to one of his favorite spots. In this case, the Minute Man Restaurant on Highway 202 in Bernardsville, NJ filled the bill.

From its caramel-colored, wood-slathered walls to the mile-high pies in the front case, a trip to the Minute Man is like a big, friendly hug.

     

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NJ: An electrical outage along the rails this morning meant that I was detoured on my way into the B.C. It wasn't an unpleasant experience, providing an excuse to take the walk I am usually too rushed to enjoy from the station to the office. The weather today was beautiful and the atmosphere was brisk.

But I am getting ahead of myself. First, before I could get to excuses for taking walks, I had the pleasure of enjoying a train station, reimagined on this particular morning as a charming town center. 

    

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NJ: Even on an overcast day, there is a glow permeating Wightman’s Farms in Harding.

Perhaps it results from the rush of activity brought on by youthful exuberance, perhaps it emanates from the brilliance of the season’s rich autumnal hues.

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As offered by BRCTraveller Stirling Grodner

NY: We had been gone all weekend and I just wanted to go home. But my dad and my brother had other ideas. They wanted to go play at Taughannock Falls, a waterfall outside of Ithaca, New York, and the waters surrounding it. In spite of my weariness, I certainly wasn’t going to let them have fun without me!

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CT, NY, VA & AL: The fashion gurus tell us that monograms are back "in."

For a girl raised in the South, it was never really out of fashion. For me, there are few things in life that don't look better with a little personalized pizazz! A gold filigreed monogram ring. Bath towels. Guest robes. A sofa slipcover. Engraved glasses and silver platters.  

 

 

Small-town shops in Connecticut (Personal Best Monogram Shoppe), New York, Virginia (The Monogram Shop) and Alabama (Oodles of Ribbon) are offering ideas and choices for anyone who wants to add monogrammed accents to their home, their life, their style.

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PA: Travelling the Dutch Country of Pennsylvania on Highway 22 near Hershey, an unusual sign catches your eye around the borough of Shartlesville. “Roadside America Exit Here” it quietly beckons. Always a glutton for “out-of-the-ordinary” attractions, I found the allure too much to resist – I had to explore further. Pulling into the driveway and crossing the attraction's threshold, I had some initial reservations. After all, this was about as 1950s, Americana kitschy as it gets. And yet something made me stay.

 

Roadside America is the ultimate roadside tourist attraction. It is not a destination in and of itself (although for one family this was not the case – more on that later) but rather a diversion in one’s travels. And yet it is just this sort of place that truly showcases the creativity of some Americans.

(And down the road is Ina Stoudt's not-to-be-missed antique store, crammmed to several sets of rafters with antique and vintage furnishings, household decorative items, unique tchotchkes and eclectic vintage clothing.) 

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NY: On the approach into Woodstock, New York, it would be easy to overlook the sign pointing you towards the Hawthorn Gallery and Red Barn Antiques. But don't make that mistake -- this is one place you won't want to miss.

Tucked in next to the gas station-turned-Sovreign Bank is
Elwyn Lane. Follow this road around the bend and through a residential area and all the sudden in a clearing to your right, the red barn that houses The Hawthorn Gallery beckons. On first approach, what immediately catches the eye, beyond the striking red building, are the intricately carved wooden and stone architectural fragments that lean against walls, nestle into ground covering and rise mystically from overgrown flower beds.

And that is just the beginning of the treasures to be found
in this unique place.  Continue Reading...

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Somehow it seems appropriate to begin this blog in conjunction with a holiday associated with family, friends and fun, all things we hope will be enhanced by your visits to Back Roads, Charming Towns.

With my sister and daughter in tow, we took a 12-hour road trip today, the Saturday of Independence Day weekend. We ruled out the beach (we knew that would surely be a shore bottleneck) and the Amish country (the "monsoon of June" had just swept the Delaware River over the banks of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, leaving a soggy, muddy mess by Saturday). We opted for the Catskills and specifically, the village of Woodstock. While there was the anticipated traffic on the New York Thruway, it was only when we got to Exit 16 that matters went from bopping to bleak.  

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