Goodbye, Manhattan! We had a ton of fun, and were so grateful to have such a convenient spot to have parked our RV in the city for the 3 nights we stayed here. As we drove out of the city, however, we were reminded of the stress associated with getting into the city, with busy roads, impatient drivers, and double-checking our route against the trucking GPS app to make sure we didn't inadvertently drive onto a parkway or low clearance road (indeed, we had to change our route at one point). But we finally breathed a massive sigh of relief as we successfully left Manhattan, and a sign on a bridge on the New Jersey Turnpike proudly welcomed us to New Jersey (state #45!).
Alstede Farms, New Jersey
We were in New Jersey to celebrate Lisette's cousin, Brian, who had turned the big 50! We'd planned to be at his birthday when we'd received the invite a couple of months ago, making some tweaks to our route to be here on this day (fortunately, we were already going to be in the northeast of the country). Brian's birthday celebrations would be at Alstede Farms, a farm that was founded in 1982 by the Alstede family, which produces a ton of fruit and vegetables. We'd been to family-run farms before--visiting a place where people could pick fresh strawberries in Oregon, a couple of blueberry farms in Michigan, and our most recent visit to a family-run cranberry farm, which we enjoyed immensely.
Alstede Farm is also a farm, but it's like the Disney World of farms in comparison! The road leading up to the farm was busy and there were police setting up traffic cones all around the outside, so we ended up turning onto a side road for a pause, with Lisette jumping out to ask for directions. The policeman had to move some of the traffic cones out of the way, halting oncoming traffic for us so we could weave our way inside, Then, when we drove in, there were a bunch of workers in fluorescent vests guiding vehicles into the hundreds of parking spots on the property. Of course, we were the only RV on the farm, so we parked at the overflow parking, only to be told we had to move to another area. It was a bit stressful, because we weren't getting clear instructions of where to go, but we eventually got to our designated spot, in a lot that was already starting to fill up with dozens of other vehicles.
Once we got onto the Disney World x farm grounds, it was already abuzz with families, who were lining up to purchase freshly grilled corn, coffee, apple cider donuts, and other foods, walking around with freshly-picked produce, rushing to the animal petting zoo, sitting around listening to the live music, or getting on one of the many tractors and wagons taking folks to the fields to pick produce. Wow! It was super busy; clearly this is one of the mega farms that caters to people from cities nearby. And it seems like it's a destination for most of the year, including picking berries starting in late May and during the summer, peaches and vegetables (eggplant, tomatoes, peppers, corn) from summer to early fall, and ending the year with tree cutting in November and December!
We found the party tent area, seeing Lisette's cousins, including Brian and his wife, Jessica and Shane (who we'd seen last week in Connecticut), Kim and her husband Rich, plus their kids. We also caught up again with Brian's mum/Lisette's aunt and her husband who we haven't seen since for years, and other guests. The day was unseasonably warm, and perfect conditions to be outside picking fruits and vegetables! Everyone soon piled into the two big wagons, where we sat on hay bales that drove us to where we could pick apples. Who knew there were so many varieties of apples!! In the orchards there were signs for Winesap, Honeycrisp, Fuji, and so many other varieties. We were each given a small bag to fill up with what we picked, and we could also eat as we picked. Lisette noticed that there were also eggplant and tomatoes growing nearby, so nabbed a massive heirloom tomato to add to the dozen or so apples we plucked from the trees.
Heading back to the party tent, there was a yummy buffet lunch waiting for all the guests, so we went back to the RV to grab Sheila (dogs aren't allowed at the orchards). When we got back, another of Lisette's cousins, Rob was there (yay, reunion!), and we stuffed ourselves silly with salad, mac & cheese, rice, fish, fruit, and all sorts of dishes.
There were a couple of speeches to celebrate Brian, before we sang "Happy Birthday" and the candles were blown on a very tall and dense cake perfect for the season, decorated with apples on top. In case folks had an extra sweet tooth, there were also cupcakes! And for the kids, there were a couple of piñatas to hit, who all excitedly scrambled to pick up the candy that fell on the ground once the piñatas broke. It was a ton of fun, and so wonderful that we were able to arrange our trip to synchronize with Brian's birthday bash!
Pretty Pics in Princeton
After Brian's birthday celebrations, we headed to Princeton University to check out the Ivy League campus. We've mentioned this before, but universities in the US are so gorgeous! It's made Lisette almost wistful and want to go back to school. Almost! Strolling around the grounds, Michael commented that Princeton could be his favorite university campus among those we'd visited--the architecture is historic and stunning, the grounds are immaculate, and it has a very cozy and cohesive feel to it.
Some of the highlights of Princeton University that we visited included Cannon Green, a gorgeous quadrangle, the University Chapel, and the Princeton University Art Museum. Before we knew it, the sun was setting, so we rushed back to the RV, and ended up driving through some very dimly lit (if at all!) streets, before landing at a Walmart, which was set away from the highway, and turned out to be one of the most tranquil Walmart stores we'd slept at so far on this trip. After just coming from Manhattan, we were happy to have some peace and quiet for the night!
