Hidden Delights

We made a VERY quick trip to Trenton, New Jersey this weekend. It was so fast I didn't even have time to post anything! Josh really wanted to see the last baseball game of the season for the Washington Nationals against the Philadelphia Phillies. The game was great and the Phillies made it into the playoffs for the first time in a long time. Since Josh's uncle, John, lives only 45 minutes away in Trenton we decided to make a trip of it. The big game is not the story, though. The big story is Trenton.

Despite the fact that Trenton's role in the manufacturing industry has seen a great decline in the past 50 years, there is no denying it's important role in American history. It dates back to 1679 as a Quaker settlement but took the name of "Trent-town" in 1719. During the Revolutionary war, Trenton was the site of Washington's first military success and in the famed painting "Washington Crossing the Delaware" he is actually crossing into Trenton. Later on, in the late 1800s and early 1900s, Trenton was a key city in the manufacturing of a variety of industrial products including steel and rubber. Unfortunately for Trenton, economic hard times in the manufacturing industry have taken its toll and Trenton has fallen out of favor in the eyes of many Americans. Thanks to John, though, we were shown a brand new side of Trenton and the Trenton area that has us looking forward to our next visit!

As we were driving to what would be a wonderful dinner in Imlaystown, New Jersey we passed a seemingly innocuous park no different than any other. To our great surprise, it was actually designed by Frederick Olmstead who also designed the grounds of Central Park, the U.S. Capitol, and the grounds of the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago that we saw not but a few weeks ago! Further down the road, we passed a neighborhood of enormous historic homes that were beautifully lit for a home tour on a street that looked like it would be delightful to walk down with Maya during the day. After picking up a friend of John's, Jeff, we headed out to Imlaystown. I had never even heard of this place but it made me feel like I was right back home in Tennessee. It was a tiny little town out in the farmland that consisted of a very short and narrow main street and I think two or three stores and the inn where we ate dinner. It was dark so I have to admit, there may have been more, but what I saw was enough to make me all warm and fuzzy inside remembering my home state. We ate at the Happy Apple Inn, a historic in that had been there since the mid 1800s. While the dinner was a little on the expensive side, it was definitely worth the cost and if you are ever there you should pay it a visit. I had some wonderful crab cakes with twice baked potatoes and Josh had the biggest pork chops I think I have ever seen in my life.

We wrapped up the night with cake, tea, coffee and wonderful conversation at Jeff's house (another historic home!). As we walked back to our car through the beautiful garden behind Jeff's house I realized that sometimes it just takes a local to show you the hidden wonders of a place. I never really expected that Trenton would be on my list of places I really want to go back to for reasons other than to visit family, but now that I've been introduced to an entire different side of it and I can't wait to go out again.