Quick get-away in New Jersey?

March 13, 2007 6:01 PM

Mini-vacation near Princeton, NJ?

My wife's singing gig at a local church has finally ended. Hooray! For the first time in over a year, we have Sunday morning all to ourselves. I'd like to treat her to something special. She has an audition in Princeton Saturday afternoon, so I'm looking for somewhere romantic to stay within about a 2 hour range.

A few years ago, we stayed at a spa near Pismo Beach, CA. We hiked up mountain to watch the July 4th fireworks, then soaked in a spring fed hot tub after. I'll never top that night, but I'm looking for something similar. Think rustic over glamorous.

posted by Eddie Mars to travel & transportation (11 comments total)

I'm definitely a partisan, but how about Philadelphia? There are all kinds of cute bed and breakfasts around (e.g. the Thomas Bond House), and some amazing brunches to be had (e.g. Farmicia). Not quite as awesome as Pismo, but just a suggestion.

actually: I see you're in Wayne, so Philadelphia isn't so much a vacation. Hmm. My other suggestion was going to be Cold Spring, NY (on the Hudson), but that's about 2 hrs from Princeton, so at the outer limit of your range. Beautiful, though.
posted by The Michael The at 7:38 PM on March 13, 2007

New Hope, PA (or anywhere else in Bucks County) is very close. It's a very short drive, will be warm, beautiful, you can hit a few pretty historic spots - inns, waterfalls, there's a theatre and some little art museums, historic houses and country drives, have a romantic lunch, then take a quick walk near the canals and over the bridge to Lambertville, NJ where cute cafes and nice little art galleries abound. Washington Crossing, PA is also nearby with a beautiful park, etc. Bucks County, PA is my favorite place in the world...
posted by bunnycup at 7:58 PM on March 13, 2007

Grounds for Sculpture is about 30 minutes from Princeton, and a relaxing place to visit for half a day. There's a Turkish decor restaurant inside that might be called (unfortunately) Rat's, IIRC.
posted by of strange foe at 8:13 PM on March 13, 2007

Uhhh...what's wrong with spending some time in Princeton? Stay at the Peacock Inn right in Princeton. Take the Orange Key tour of the 250+ year old campus. It's a beautiful place! You can always mix that into the plan to go to New Hope and the Grounds for Sculpture. You could spend a day venturing into NYC or Philly, too.
posted by SciGuy at 8:17 PM on March 13, 2007

Champagne Glass Whirlpool Bath for Two
posted by dreaming in stereo at 9:25 PM on March 13, 2007

If you take SciGuy's advice and stay in Princeton (and it's good advice), make sure you don't miss the Princeton Art Museum.
posted by maxreax at 11:25 PM on March 13, 2007

What SciGuy said. Princeton is a beautiful place to explore; you certainly don't need to drive to Philly for a romantic weekend. Consider staying at the Nassau Inn right in the center of town.
posted by amro at 6:20 AM on March 14, 2007

New Hope. Rustic, good food + antiquing.
posted by filmgeek at 7:34 AM on March 14, 2007

How about Skytop Lodge? It's a getaway-type place where there are lots of activities if you're interested, or you can just relax and read a book. It's 2 hours from Newark, so it's close to your timeframe.

If you do stay local in/near Princeton, I 2nd Grounds for Sculpture. It's amazing. And the brunch at Rats is excellent.
posted by Sprout the Vulgarian at 10:22 AM on March 14, 2007

Lambertville, near Washington's Crossing, is a quaint village with some decent places to stay and eat. You can walk across the bridge into a counterpart village in PA. Lambertville is 10 miles due West of Princeton.
posted by dws at 1:09 PM on March 14, 2007

Thanks for all the ideas.
I looked into B&Bs in Princeton, but they all required a two night stay. We ended up only have Saturday afternoon through Sunday morning available.
I found a nice hotel in Lambertville, and we spent the afternoon walking around New Hope. Very relaxing, and just what we needed.
posted by Eddie Mars at 11:33 AM on April 2, 2007