Easton, Pennsylvania. The city was established in 1751 by Thomas Penn, son of Pennsylvania colony founder William Penn. Easton sits at the confluence of the Delaware and Lehigh rivers, and was a major hub for trade, along with being an important location during the Revolutionary War. It also offered access to the Lehigh and Delaware Canals, routes for locally-mined coal to be transported to New York City (via Wikipedia). With plenty of historic and cultural sites, as well a vibrant downtown with cool shops and restaurants, Easton makes for a fun day trip.
Longtime readers might remember our last visit to Easton, when we toured the Sigal Museum, shopped in Easton Public Market, and wandered through downtown. That trip happened in the dead of winter and we had a few items on our list best saved for warmer days. So with sunny skies and temperatures in the 60s, we headed west once again.
Let’s begin:
An Art-Filled Walk, an Amazing Lunch, and a Canal Museum
Located directly across the Delaware River from Phillipsburg, New Jersey, Easton is about an hour drive westward from our front door.On a beautiful Saturday morning in mid-April we left home and headed west, encountering mercifully little traffic.A little under an hour later we crossed into Pennsylvania. Side-note: what do you think of the new design style for Pennsylvania’s welcome sign? They are updating their license plates and statewide signage. I really like the new color scheme.After stashing the Acura in a nearby parking lot, we headed for a hike along the Two Rivers Trailway, a 30 mile trail system throughout Northampton County. We would be spending our time along the Karl Stirner Arts Trail section, a 1.75-mile path along the Bushkill Creek that displays 15 works of art.Upriver: Ripple Marks, Allentown Formation is a 2022 installation that represents the bedrock layer of ground in Easton, formed 500 million years ago when the area sat beneath the ocean.Visistors are encouraged to contemplatively walk the Karl Stirner Arts Trail Labyrinth. While my wife quietly strolled through the labyrinth, I may or may not have babbled out loud the whole time how the design did not make sense…By far, my favorite installation was Musical Path, featuring six sets of chimes, all of which work. Two of the sets will also play specific songs if played from west to east.Free Bridge uses the sunlight to create a silhouette of the nearby Northampton Street “Free Bridge,” a cantilever-design bridge built in 1896. After getting a nice workout from the hike, we hopped back into the car and headed across town for lunch.Our destination was Smile Cafe, a small restaurant serving breakfast and lunch. It had excellent reviews so we thought we’d give it a try.You know you are off to a good start when the beverages (freshly squeezed orange juice for my wife and homemade lemonade for me) are made in-house.Almost every item on Smile Cafe’s menu can be made gluten-free, so my wife indulged in a gluten-free order of Eggs Benedict. Was it good? I blinked and her plate was clean.Meanwhile, my order of chicken kabob was superb… as was the sublime pita bread. Fueled up, we headed off to our next stop.We crossed the Glendon Hill Street Bridge. Constructed in 1934, this one-lane bridge was designed for cars of a different era. Narrower cars, that is. “Suck it in, buddy,” I muttered to my TLX.We arrived at Hugh Moore Park, home of the National Canal Museum!The National Canal Museum, established in 1970, exists to preserve the history of canals in the United States. These man-made waterways were the primary heavy cargo transportation system in the earliest years of this nation.After paying our entrance fee ($8 for adults, $7 for seniors, $6 for children ages 3-15), we began our exploration.If you are traveling with children, the museum offers a number of interactive exhibits. Ever want to know what pig iron or anthracite coal feels like? Step right up!Interested in what ingredients go into concrete? You can also learn that here.Want to in try your hand at steering a canal boat without risking an actual crash? Take the helm!One of the coolest exhibits was this Una-Flow Type Steam Engine, built in 1926 in Harrisburg, PA. It produced electrical power for a furniture factory for over 30 years. Museum volunteers are slowly restoring it to working condition.The museum is interesting. Its small size makes telling the complete history of canals in this country impractical. I feel where this museum could have shone would have been to have focused exclusively on the nearby Lehigh Canal, much of which has fallen to ruin in the decades since it was last used in the 1940s. At $8 per person, it is also a bit more money than I would expect to pay for a museum of its size. However, I am also sympathetic of the financial challenges of operating an independent museum. I guess my final verdict is this: if you’re in Easton and want to learn a bit about history (or you have science-minded children you are looking to entertain), then definitely stop by.Owing to upcoming construction on the Glendon Hill Bridge, the museum is only operating through May of this year. Given the short operating season, the Josiah White II canal boat (still pulled by two mules!) will not be running this year.A quarter mile from the museum is the Locktender’s House. Built in 1928, it was most likely the last such house in the United States, constructed at a time when rail and air traffic had largely eliminated the need for canals.The Lehigh Canal, first established in 1818, was a major transportation route for coal mined in eastern Pennsylvania. While the Erie Canal may get the lion’s share of attention in the history books, smaller canals such as these were the lifeline for developing the United States as an industrial powerhouse in the 19th century.Before heading home, we decided to amble through downtown Easton. This garage photo is as close to a “glamour shot” as I was able to get of the TLX this trip.Our first stop? Coffee! We decided to try Terra, a highly rated cafe on Northampton Street.That’ll be an iced oat milk latte for me (left) and an iced almond milk latte for my wife (right). The coffee was excellent! Fueled up, we continued our exploration.We also ambled through Easton Public Market. So much great food! If we hadn’t both still been full from lunch, there would have been a lot of snacking happening.Far enough removed from the front lines of combat but easily accessed by water, Easton was an important stronghold of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. The Old Reformed Church, built in 1745, served as a military hospital during the war.A little over an hour later, we were back home. My Acura TLX has crossed the 73,000 mile mark… 75k is just around the corner. Onward!
Welcoming Summer
Last week temperatures on the East Coast soared into the 90s, creating mid-July conditions in April. My wife and I decided to head to dinner at one of our favorite shore restaurants. No matter how many times I drive New Jersey Route 36, this view of the Atlantic Ocean will never get old.As we headed north through Gateway National Recreation Area – Sandy Hook, we passed by houses that were once officers quarters when this national park was once a military base. The houses are being slowly renovated to serve as vacation rentals. Each house offers a commanding view of Sandy Hook Bay.Our destination? The Mule Barn Tavern! This cool bar and restaurant is housed in what was once a barn where the military base’s livestock was housed. Serving excellent drinks and awesome food, this is quickly becoming one of our favorite spots to eat at the shore.We started with an order of Tuna Nachos – marinated tuna, avocado, sliced jalapeños, shredded cabbage, and wasabi seeds, drizzled with wasabi and ponzu seeds. It is our go-to appetizer.While I devoured a Lighthouse Burger (an angus burger topped with pepper jack cheese, jalapeños, onion, and avocado), my wife thoroughly enjoyed her Blackened Mahi Mahi Tacos.Of course I took the opportunity to snag a glamour shot of my car in front of Sandy Hook Light – the oldest functional lighthouse in the United States.As we headed home, we were treated to a gorgeous preview of Jersey shore summer sunsets to come.
Garage Updates
Before closing, I wanted to offer a long-promised update on Grace, our 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee. After returning home from our winter trip to the Midwest, I found an oily substance on the garage floor beneath the Jeep. We took it to the shop and the diagnosis was made that the hydraulic motor mounts – responsible for minimizing engine vibration – were torn and leaking fluid. Since the motor had to come out of the vehicle for the repair, it was also recommended that the power steering lines, which were getting pretty rusty, should be replaced as well. The shop had her for several weeks, but all is sorted now and Grace is back to speed, recently crossing 133,000 miles on her odometer. Onward!
For a little more in-depth information about Grace, you can check out her proper introduction on my YouTube channel as well:
Finally, during a training at work we were encouraged to experiment with artificial intelligence, and I thought I would share the results here (this image was created with Google Gemini). I call it Back to the Future.
Wrapping Up
If you are looking for a fun city to visit on a day trip, Easton has plenty to offer. From great restaurants, to historic sites, museums, fun hiking trails, art installations, to plenty of shopping, the city has a something for everyone. While you can certainly see a lot of the city from your car, it is best experienced by parking and exploring on foot.
Thanks, as always, for coming along on another journey down the open road ahead.
The Open Road Ahead 