Lambertville, NJ

[Markbnj]

When a friend from the Midwest came to visit (flying in to Philly then driving up to central NJ) the first thing he said was "there's a lot of trees here."

Too many damn trees, or at least it seems that way to me every fall.

 

[Perknose]

Yes, it's known for the gay. Hence it beats Perk's favorite gay place.

Not my fav gay place. My favorite gay place would be Provincetown, MA, out on the end of Cape Cod. Provincetown is very, very, very gay -- also beautiful.

Coincidence? I think not!

 

[Perknose]

Most of NJ is not what people think of when they think of New Jersey.

Absolutely! There are parts in the dusty South-East miles before the coastline that remind me of nothing more than the rural South.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

Essex, CT used to be on those lists. Then all the NYC ass hole weekenders came in and ruined it.

 

[Perknose]

Lawls, I went to find an old MusikFest schedule to show you folks just how awesome it is and came across this philly.com blurb from the 2013 fest:

Rock out at one of the biggest local music festivals, with more than 500 musical performances at the 30th Annual Musikfest.

This year’s lineup is incredibly diverse with artists for everyone to enjoy, including headlining acts like Carly Rae Jepsen, OneRepublic, Ke$ha, Darius Rucker and Avenged Sevenfold. Hundreds of other artists will also take the stages during the festival for a 10-day music bonanza.

If you are scraping for pennies but want to experience the summer festival buzz, don’t fret: all performances are free of charge except for headlining shows on the Sands Steel Stage. Musikfest is the largest free music festival in the United States, so you definitely do not need tons of cash to experience fantastic live music.

The "nationally known" acts at the one paid stage haven't often impressed me, but a lot of the free stuff features the cream of local bands and musicians, and can really rock.

And not only music, but street theater and whatnot as well.

I wondered about their claim to be the biggest. Wiki was coy:

Musikfest is a music festival that has been held annually in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania since 1984, and it claims to be the nation's largest non-gated free music festival.[1] The festival begins on the first Friday in August, and ends on Sunday ten days later.

Each year, thousands of visitors and residents of Pennsylvania make the trip to Bethlehem to participate in a celebration that weaves through a Moravian community that dates back to 1741. Festival visitors are treated to hundreds of free shows over the course of the event. Each night, the festival's premium stage, Steel Stage (formerly known as RiverPlace and Kunstplatz), hosts a nationally-known recording artist. These premium concerts, along with select shows at other stages, do require paid tickets to gain admission.

From their own web site re: the 2012 line-up, I think:

More free music than ever before awaits Musikfest guests when the nation's largest free, non-gated music festival celebrates its 29th year, Aug. 3-12 in Bethlehem. Over 500 performances will take place during the event's 10-day run, with great, free music on 14 of the festival's 15 stages.

There's a whole area with nothing but big food vendors that you descend down into, with some tolerably decent choices.

Additionally, the whole town participates and so you can walk down the main streets while various street musicians play and all the bars and restaurants have their doors permanently open to the crowds.

And like I said, beer is not only sold, it's officially endorsed for public consumption. Each year the fest sells an official fest beer mug that you can buy and tote around from watering hole to watering hole, if that's your thing.

I actually only have one, but I have friends who have multiple consecutive years worth.

 

[Inspector Jihad]

A friend of mine lived there for a while. Nice place. Went out on his boat a couple of times. Good bars in the area too.

 

[Scotteq]

Lambertville!?!?


Go to the Inn of the Hawke. Eat. Be Happy