My aunt and I are making dinner plans for tomorrow night. She's suggested the Red Wolfe Inn and despite living in this part of New Jersey for most of my life, I have no idea where it is. I googled the place and stumbled across this fantastic description of the area in which I live.
I am often at a loss when trying to accurately capture the stealthy beauty and charm of this area, but this writer has done it. I am reprinting his words here without his permission (or that of the New York Times where it appeared), but I am hoping to be forgiven since credit is given.
The following is excerpted from "RESTAURANTS; Backroads Bonanza" written by DAVID CORCORAN and published (on nyt.com at least) December 1, 2002:
"AT THE RISK of sounding like a paid advertisement for the Chamber of Commerce, I urge you to take a drive to this corner of the state -- unless you already live here, in which case the following will not come as news.
Warren County, especially the western reaches that look across the Delaware River to Pennsylvania, is New Jersey before the era of the corporate campus, before the McMansion, before Target. Out here, U. S. 46 is actually a pleasure to drive: it hugs the plunging, silvery Pequest River on its way through tiny forgotten hamlets like Bridgeville and Buttzville, Sarepta and Manunka Chunk. Jenny Jump and Worthington State Forests are thick with woods and hiking trails.
This isn't exactly unspoiled New Jersey; it isn't Hunterdon County, say, or the outskirts of Princeton, which owe their rolling, preserved-in-amber beauty to wealth and zoning codes. The back roads here are edged with cornfields, orchards and Christmas tree farms, but also with body shops, abandoned churches and adult-video stores. It's hardscrabble New Jersey. And the Red Wolfe Inn fits right in. "
Footnote by Carole, February 2009: Sadly we do have Target out here now and McMansions too, BUT not as much or as many as other parts of the state and the rest of this description still holds true. Ok. Now I still need to go figure out how to get to this place.