Today’s drive was a mixture of highways and back roads taking me from Pennsylvania, through New Jersey, into New York.  Shortly after leaving Carol’s, I headed north on U.S. 202 when I quickly realized that I was headed towards one of my favorite towns, a place I used to live—New Hope, PA, a quaint, historic little town sitting on the Delaware River full of eclectic shops and top-notch restaurants.  Nostalgia overtook me, and I just had to take a quick detour.

Back in the summer of 1988, I was newly separated from my spouse, employed as Controller of The Matrix Organization in King of Prussia, and was traveling to New Hope on the weekends to visit my brother, Don.  Quite frequently, we occupied barstools at Martine’s RiverHouse Restaurant where we, together with other patrons partied, laughed, and solved world problems.  I got to know Martine pretty well and, to my utter surprise, one day she offered me a job as a bartender!  I told Martine that I didn’t know how to make drinks, but she told me personality makes the bartender, learning how to make drinks is the easy part.

That offer, and my ultimate acceptance, changed the course of my life.  I was having so much fun that, after several weeks, I quit my job at The Matrix Organization and moved to New Hope.  I got a cute little apartment near the towpath and, to help make ends meet, I got a second job.

At John & Peter’s, I had to learn cocktailing in a crowded room while patrons rocked or swayed to music onstage.  According to their website, www.johnandpeters.com, since 1972, “For more than 4 decades we have featured live music seven days a week, 365 days of the year. That means we have showcased more than 48,000 musicians and entertained more than 640,000 guests since that first performance…. the longest running nightclub in the country dedicated to musicians who play original material.”

For the next ten years, I bartended in New Hope, Key West, Daytona, South Bend, and New Orleans.

Martine’s and New Hope look a lot different now than my memory from thirty years ago but I still felt the charm and quirkiness that I loved back then.

I crossed the Delaware about seven miles north of where George Washington crossed so many years ago.

Since I was still reflecting on my life, I barely noticed the New Jersey landscape  as I passed through into New York but that’s where my drive became interesting. I drove on the Palisades Scenic Byway eventually crossing through Bear Mountain State Park where, despite its name, I saw no bears.  Moving onto North U.S. 9 West, we rolled through Fort Montgomery which was the scene of a fierce Revolutionary War battle for control of the Hudson River.  We got out briefly and wandered around.  Further up the road, we saw signs for West Point; then, cruised through the darling little town of Port Ewen before crossing the bridge to Kingston.

So, we’re ensconced in our room when I heard a train whistle.  Looking out window, the Catskill Mountain Railroad train is crossing right across from our hotel’s parking lot.

Kingston, 91 miles north of New York City and 59 miles south of Albany, became New York’s first capital because, at the time, New York City was occupied by British troops and Albany (then the second largest settlement in New York) was under threat of attack by the British.  So, Kingston was considered safer.  However, the British never reached Albany but they did reach Kingston after the Battle of Saratoga and burned the city.

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