After leaving Dutch country we drove north across Pennsylvania listening intently to our tour guide in the GPS when she told us to keep to the left or right so we wouldn’t miss the freeway exit. And while that sounds easy, it’s not. There are hundreds of them. While we would describe the exits from our freeways by place names -Marulan, Sutton Forest etc or colloquially as the one with the BP, the one with the Maccas or the one with the very large sheep, there are so many exits on each freeway in the states that they are numbered. We took lots that were in the 50s and 60s. As we headed further north towards New jersey, the freeways turned into highways and the houses started to look suspiciously like the ones we had seen around Rhode Island except more moneyed -in fact it reminded us of a US version of the Southern Highlands and it was a similar commuting distance from NYC as Bowral is from central Sydney. And when we arrived in New Hope that became much clearer. (The Bazaar – the Tea Party – this is from my favourite Tea Party Album, Transmission where they discovered electronica to complement their impressive collection of world music instruments).
New Hope is like the Southern Highlands or Blue Mountains on steroids. Alternative fashion and lifestyle stores, vintage stores full of funky clothes and bric-a-brac sit comfortably amongst upscale eateries with fairy-lit outdoor dining. We arrived in town as the sun was setting. We drove along Main Street until we found a man place to park. It was Friday night and the place was clearly teeming with New Yorkers escaping the city for the weekend. We drove to the end of the street and found an empty lot where the owner was charging a few bucks for parking. He was also sitting there all evening so we figured all our gear would be safe in the hire car. We walked across a bridge above what looked like it used to be a working loch. And the first shop I came across was a Christmas shop. Of course I had to buy something for my tree. The shop was quaint and sold similar products to those in the Edinburgh Christmas Shop, at the Santa village and at the Bredbo Christmas Barn. The challenge of course was to find something a little bit American without being too commercially crass. Which would have been very easy. In the end I chose a candy cane over the coca cola or M&M decorations. After that we took a wander up Main Street -lots of the shops were still open -it was by now about 7pm so we were hopeful that our pilgrimage to New Hope to find the last remaining Love Saves the Day store. Love Saves the Day used to be in New York’s East Village. In fact the vintage shop which houses one of the most eclectic selection of clothes and bric-a brac and was featured in one of my fave 80s movies, Desperately Seeking Susan, was really an NYC institution. Was. About a year and a half ago after several decades they closed their doors in NYC and kept only the New Hope store. Which also was not open. It did have an awesome storefront though. And we took pics. The main difference between here and the Southern Highlands? The Southern Highlands would never let a Starbucks set up shop. TC and I were relieved New Hope did. We grabbed a couple of hot chocolates and kept meandering along. As the remainder of the shops began to close, we decided to bid farewell New Hope, a town to which we would like to someday return. (Know Your Product -The saints -with Ed Keupper they rock -Chris Bailey and friends just isn’t really The Saints).
