 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
 |
Motorcycles, Travel & Adventure |
 |
||||||
 |
||||||||
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Motorcycle TourMagazine |
||||||||
About We're Outta Here We all work hard and hopefully we all play harder. Each month We’re Outta Here gives our readers some of the finer places that you and yours can get away to for that nice trip on the road. Whether it be a romantic inn for two or a super region for your whole riding group, this monthly column will give you thoughts and ideas to keep traveling on your motorcycle always a fresh and new experience. |
||||||||
|
313 Hope Johnsonburg Road/CR 519, Hope NJ 07844 • 908-459-4884 |
||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
But it does help to heed our own advice occasionally and, when this May came around so did Shira and my wedding anniversary – 19 happy ones for those interested – and with that in mind, after getting a lovely card and fresh cut lilacs on my desk that morning the pressure was on to do something good. Something special. It was time for us to take off and follow our own advice. We needed to get outta here! Not too far from our own home is the town of Hope, New Jersey, originally settled by Moravians in the 1700s. The Moravians were a religious group whose formal name was the "Unitas Fratrum" or Unity of the Brethren.
The center of the town’s commerce was the huge three-story grist mill, which was built in 1769. Today you can still see many of the workings of the old Moravian mill while you dine and relax at the Inn at Millrace Pond. That was the end plan to my game this day, but since it was a surprise I had to make it interesting. Now the Inn is just about 20 miles or so from home and that is why we haven’t stayed there before – which after a great night we realized how foolish that was – so to make it more fun and to toss Shira off the track on which my brain was running, I simply told her we were going for a ride and she should pack for an overnight with nice clothes for dinner that evening.
The afternoon was picture perfect, much like our wedding day, and pulling into the Inn at Millrace Pond Shira just looked at me and smiled; as she had wanted to come here for years, but being so close to home we always passed. As Backroads reaches so many readers and riders from so many different places let me tell you this is an inn worth the journey and if you are passing through northwestern New Jersey you owe it to yourself to stop by, whether simply for lunch or for dinner and the night. The place is beautiful and the inn has a great homey and comfortable feel from the moment you stroll up the brick path from the parking lot. A small brook is crossed by an old wooden bridge and the mill stands stately and strong, dominating the grounds, which have a few other cottages and buildings sprinkled around it. Entering the mill you can see how it has been remodeled and the combination of old Moravian charm and modern amenities flow seamlessly between each other. Innkeeper Jonathon Teed and manager Bill Kirkhuff have much to be proud of here. There are 17 rooms all together and our second floor room with its period antiques, wide board pumpkin pine wood floor and huge bed was very comfortable, while getting out of it the next day was a Herculean task. The room rates are reasonable and we took advantage of a Spring Fling special which got us the room, two cocktails at the Fireside Tavern, $60 off the dinner bill and breakfast the following morning. Rates vary so it is best to check their website to see what is being offered. The menu that night was absolutely awesome. Shira started with the Drunken Mussels, steamed with Butter and Bourbon and I enjoyed the Wild Mushroom Ravioli. The main course found the special Swordfish and a thing the inn calls New England Lobster Pie, which is a half pound of lobster meat in a traditional sherry sauce with a potato crust. Absolutely phenomenal, as were the zucchini that came with it. The wine list was ample and the wine cellar is well worth exploring as it rests deep in the old mill and is the prettiest cellar we have ever seen. Shira wants one just like it now. All in all we can’t think of a nicer place to escape, and with the fantastic roads of this part of New Jersey literally outside your window we’ll make sure to give you a fantastic ride there. In fact it will lead you on that very same route I surprised Shira with on our anniversary. You can find some of this Rip & Ride at SendSpace.com; just log onto http://www.sendspace.com/file/v6dml5 and turn on the route when you reach Rte. 206. Enjoy the inn. We sure did. |
||||
Rip & Ride • Inn at Millrace Pond 313 Hope Johnsonburg Road/CR 519, Hope, NJ • 908-459-4884 Palisades Interstate Parkway to Exit 16 Lake Tiorati Rd Cut around circle and up Arden Valley Rd. Left at Rte. 17 Bear right on Rte. 17A Left at Rte. 94 Right at Rte. 1A into Rte. 1 toward Port Jervis (Warwick Winery sign) Left at Rte. 6 into Port Jervis Left at Rte. 23 south into New Jersey Up the winding road to High Point Right at CR 519 south (Space Farms Sign) Take through Beemerville Right at CR 636 Upper North Shore Rod. Right t Rte. 206 north Left at CR 560 Straight at NPS 615 into Walpack Valley Bear left onto Millbrook Rd. Left at Gaisler Rd. Left at Mohicn Rd. Right at Rte. 94 Left at CR 658 West Chrisman Rd. Straight at Countryside Rd. Left at Polkville Rd. Right at CR 616 – Knowlton Rd over I-80 Stay on CR 616 Bear left at Koeck Rd. Left at Delaware Rd. Left at Serepta Rd. Left at CR 519 north Right at Lake Just It Rd. Left at Hissum Rd. Left at CR 611 Great Meadows Rd. Inn straight ahead in Hope at CR 519 |
||||
|
|
|
|
|
Each month we feature a cozy getaway for you guys. Usually it is to encourage couples to spend that “quality” time that we all crave deep inside and we hope that you guys follow our suggestions.
After arriving in the New World they set out to create a town which they could call home. After much discussion and debate they called their new village Hope.
With the bikes packed we took off – in the complete opposite direction. I told her that I had the toll covered at the Dingmans Ferry bridge, only to veer off south right before it. I had mapped out the most circuitous route imaginable on my Garmin Zumo and we rode pieces of pavement I had never ridden before as we, in a very roundabout way, headed to the town of Hope.