Old York Cellars Winery & Vineyards
Driving through Hunterdon County on a glorious afternoon, we turn onto a dirt road that leads to a favorite winery. We sit under a large tent, drink local wine, listen to live music, and gaze over the vineyards to distant hills beyond. The food is reportedly excellent at Old York Cellars, but we stick to the tapas menu, saving our appetite for dinner and enjoying the warm light.
Leonard J. Buck Gardens
One-half hour away near Far Hills lies a hidden New Jersey treasure—the 33-acre Leonard J. Buck Gardens. The layout represents the combined expertise of geologist Leonard Buck and landscape architect Zenon Schreiber. Built in the 1930s, this naturalistic environment offers peace and tranquility (with the exception of traffic noise from nearby Interstate 287) to the public, free of charge. We get some good exercise walking the pathways, enjoying the many vantage points from different elevations of the central pond and surrounding rocky outcrops that were scoured out by glaciers over 20,000 years ago. It is a good place to ponder the vast expanses of time that surround the brief moments we exist here.
The Frog & the Peach
We like businesses that endure, and this New Brunswick restaurant has been one of New Jersey’s best since its inception in 1983, known for an extensive wine list and locally grown ingredients. We park and walk around downtown bathed in early evening light and then arrive at the restaurant and sit in its mezzanine section with a view of the bar area below, where we enjoy a sumptuous meal and savor a day well spent.
