Wednesday, April 9, 2014

LET THEM EAT CAKE

FRENCHTOWN
This is the second of our 8 part series visiting New Jersey sites of a particular statue honoring soldiers from World War 1. This year marks the 100 year anniversary of the start of this war. The extremely detailed “Spirit of the American Doughboy” Viquesney statue features a soldier striding forward into “No Man’s Land” holding a grenade above his head in his right hand and carbine in his left. The soldier carries a backpack and a gas mask pouch is across his chest. He steps between two tree trunks and the original statue had barbed wire laced between them. Around 300 of these statues were erected throughout the country to honor our war heroes and approximately 140 are known to still survive. New Jersey has eight.

The surviving statues are in various conditions. The last statue we visited in Secaucus was sort of leaning. The Frenchtown statue is in better shape, having been refurbished and cleaned a number of years ago and with a replacement bayonet added in the mid-90’s. This particular memorial and its “Spirit” statue honors 43 men from the Frenchtown area who served in the war and stands on the grounds of a local elementary school on Harrison Street, also known as Route 619.

THINKING of VISITING?
LOCATION
Frenchtown is one of several charming little Delaware River towns in New Jersey, all of which are potential destinations by themselves. It is a few miles north of my hometown of Lambertville, so technically this truly is a “vacation from home” as I personally consider all of this in my backyard. Why, just getting to Frenchtown is a joy as it is at the northern end of a scenic driving byway recognized by both the state and federal governments. The byway is basically route 29 and offers wonderful views of the Delaware River as it passes through historically important towns like Raven’s Rock, Stockton, Lambertville, Titusville and Washington’s Crossing State Park on the way to Trenton 34 miles south. Following an old track bed of the Belvidere-
Delaware River scenic byway
Delaware Railway and the old towpath of the Delaware and Raritan Canal there is a multi-use trail that goes the entire length of the byway and is ideal for running or biking, as long as you don’t mind dodging deer or an occasional snapping turtle on the wooded Delaware & Raritan Canal Park trail. Ending in Frenchtown are Routes 513, 12, which starts in Flemington, and 619 which goes north along the river towards Milford. Directly across the Delaware is Uhlerstown, Pennsylvania. An earlier entry of this blog talked about the Tinicum Park Polo Club just south from Frenchtown on the Pennsylvania side. The club holds matches at the park nearly every Saturday May through to October. Opening Day is May 17 this year.
slow down...
The Spirit of the American Doughboy memorial is on the grounds of the Frenchtown Elementary School on Harrison Street, which is also Route 619. If you come from Route 12 or 29, make your way to Bridge Street and then head north onto Harrison Street. A word of caution, the speed enforcement is spirited in Frenchtown and limits are strictly monitored, especially along Harrison Street and even more so near the school. Perhaps you should plan your trip when school is not in session where the speed limit drops to 15 mph? There is plenty of parking on the street or nearby. The school and the memorial are at the north end of town, near 8th street. It is a quiet town with many beautifully painted Victorian homes set on large lots. The downtown area features many shops, galleries and restaurants. It is a pleasant place. Some call the town a secret treasure. Frenchtown and its environs are well worth a day or overnight trip. There are several charming B&B’s in the area and although it is very rural here, New York City and Philadelphia are little more than an hour’s drive away.

(The Short) HISTORY                                                                              
The normally placid Delaware River has been a huge influence throughout the history of America. Today bridges cross the river in several places from Philadelphia to the New York state border, but during the colonial era commerce and people were transported across the river by ferries. Often the ferries were little more than a dock and boat and the site was named for the owner of the ferry at the time. The original name for my hometown, Lambertville, was Coryell’s Ferry and Frenchtown went by names like Calvin’s Ferry, Mechlenberg’s Ferry and Prigmore’s Ferry among others. Because Frenchtown’s ferry was so strategic during the revolutionary war the owner and his employees were exempt from militia duty. A grist and saw mill had started up in the area at that time and the growing settlement was called Sun Beam. Years later members of a prominent Huguenot family from Switzerland (although some have said they were from Belgium), arrived in the area and purchased large tracts of land. The (very short version) of the story says they were fleeing the French Revolution and its Reign of Terror and somehow settled on this western edge of New Jersey. Over the years Paul Henri Mallet-Prevost and his family became prominent members of Sun Beam and he even served as a justice of the peace. Because of his accent and his stature in town neighbors began to refer to Sun Beam as Frenchtown a mistake that has endured all these years.

Frenchtown embraces its small “mistake” to this day with a Bastille Day celebration every July.



ATTRACTIONS, FOOD and DRINK
FRENCHTOWN
Most of Frenchtown’s business district is centered on a two block stretch of Bridge Street and Race Street, where many little shops and galleries are found, some with “French” motifs. Two yearly Christmas gift destinations for me in town are The Left Bank Home décor store and Sunbeam Toys, both on Bridge Street. Frenchtown lends itself to meandering strolls as it is quiet with little nuggets or stores or galleries worth exploring. There is parking along the towpath near the river just past the Bridge Café and along Bridge Street. Just park your car and start poking around.

Just south of town along Route 29 is the Frenchtown Roller Rink. It’s a dinky little place where my kids would go to skate when they were younger. Incredibly, this ancient relic recently produced two Olympians, Kyle Carr and Chris Creveling. They were inline speed skaters who transitioned to ice and competed in short-track speedskating in the recent winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Both Olympians started on the Frenchtown Speed Team when they were around 10 years old. In Sochi Creveling took silver with the Men’s 5000 meter relays.  The cash only rink is open throughout the week in the afternoon and evenings. Check their website for times and prices.

Over the past ten years the Delaware has flooded several times and will swell with winter melt or after storms. Residents of the river towns always keep an eye on the capricious Delaware and conversations in coffee shops often hover around its antics, but most of the time the Delaware is a placidly flowing, shallow river. During the summer the river brims with kayakers, canoers and tubing. Located in the same parking lot as the Frenchtown Rolling Rink is the Delaware River Tubing Company, where one can rent equipment. With your rental fee you get a couple of hot dogs at the RIVER HOT DOG MAN where you have to stand in line knee deep in the Delaware to get your food. There are several other rental houses on both sides of the Delaware, but this is the closest one to Frenchtown. This is a wonderful way to spend a lazy summer afternoon on the Delaware.


At the bottom of the hill is a parking lot and boat launch area for your own watercraft.

Food in Frenchtown is eclectic.  There are fancy places like the Frenchtown Inn, on Bridge Street and diners like the Frenchtown Café which serves wonderful breakfasts. Prepare to wait in line here. Both are on Bridge Street. The Bridge Café is also nice for a light lunch. It is in a renovated station house that once served the Belvidere-Delaware Railway. They have outdoor seating on the former platform with great views of the river and bridge. The National Hotel on Race Street serves interesting and diverse cuisine like crabcakes and Lebanese small plate appetizers. There is an upstairs formal restaurant and bar and downstairs in the renovated cellar is the Rathseller. Sadly their selection of beers is pedestrian. Hopefully this will change soon. Cocina del Sol is a byob Mexican restaurant on Bridge Street.

Usually if I travel the distance upriver I will go a little further to Milford where the Ship Inn is located. They are NJ’s first brew pub since the prohibition era. Very British and very nautically themed, the Ship Inn has a small selection of British style beers brewed on the premises served in 20 oz. British sized pints. There’s usually a couple on hand pump. According to their website, their beer is never too cold and never too fizzy. The menu has several British inspired foods like Scotch Eggs and Cheese and Onion Pies and not so British Nachos. Go on
THE SHIP INN
Wednesdays for their Fish and Chips special, when a pint is included in the price. The Ship Inn is in a renovated Victorian, doesn’t have a television, but it has an open mic night every Tuesday and live entertainment on Saturday nights. The wood for the bar came from a two lane bowling alley that was once in the building. It has a tin ceiling and brick walls and seafaring things hanging from the walls and pewter mugs hanging above the bar. You can buy locally grown food at the Ship Inn and then have your growler filled for $5.00. This cozy, local joint is a personal favorite. If you pass through Frenchtown on Harrison Street to see the World War 1 memorial, you just keep going north until you come to a traffic light make a left and the Ship Inn is on your right.




 Thanks for reading... hope you'll visit. The next stop for our tour of the NJ World War 1 statues is Dover.

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