October 1 - 7

OCTOBERFEST! Festivals all month long in Northwest New Jersey’s Skylands add up to one giant celebration of autumn. Arts, harvests, history – pretty much everything that needs expressing is expressed this month, beginning in a big way this weekend. There is much more listed on our calendar for this and coming autumn weekends.

Garlic galore at Olde Lafayette Village.

Garlic Fest!

Olde Lafayette Village hosts the ANNUAL GARDEN STATE GARLIC GATHERING on Sat & Sun (10/3-4). Educational displays & exhibits and a diverse garlic tasting table graced by raw garlic, pesto, roasted garlic, garlic dips and heirloom tomatoes highlight these "two stinking days of fun." Rt 15, Lafayette, 973/383-8323

Westfall Winery

Wine Fest!

Complimentary brats & dogs, with discounted wines by the glass, go well with live music my McMule this Saturday and Sunday at Westfall Winery in Montague. 1 - 4pm. $5 per person. 141 Clove Road. 973/293-3428.

There's plenty more to see while you're in the area. Northwest Sussex County is New Jersey's wild land. It reaches the primitive core of our beings. Its landscape is largely untamed, only the hand of the plow turns its soil. It's a land whose beauty inspires the imagination and motivates creative fulfillment. Its colorful history is living. More...

Ride that train!

Ride Fest!

This fall the Phillipsburg Steam Train Excursions along the Delaware offer several options for family fun.
Take a Mine Train Journey to the Ol' Susquehanna Mine and try your hand at Gemstone panning! Each ticket holder gets a bag of mine tillings, guaranteed to have 4-5oz of real gemstones.
Or take the Corn Maze Ride behind New Jersey's only operating Steam Locomotive to a 13 acre corn maze with over 15 miles of trails. Come get lost! See if you can find all the check points to complete the game.
The October Pumpkin Train the train will travel to a beautiful pumpkin patch located in front of the historic Carpentersville Lime Kilns. Every child can pick their own pumpkin for FREE.
Hour-long excursions aboard a historic steam train. Rides board Saturday & Sunday at 11am, 12:30pm, 2pm, 3:30pm; Lehigh Junction, 1 Elizabeth St., Phillipsburg. More details call 877-TRAINRIDE or click.

More about Phillipsburg in the fall...

Swoon

Road Show

The Theatre at Raritan Valley Community College will present FREE performances by Melbourne-based Strange Fruit, a company that produces and performs a remarkable work called Swoon fusing theatre, dance and circus all while perched atop four-meter high flexible poles. Bending and swaying in the air, they will captivate and fascinate you. (youtube) In addition to an afternoon on the Raritan Valley campus, four hosts in four different communities will hold two performances each, each twenty minutes in length.

• Wed., Sept. 30, 1 & 3PM, Liberty Village Premium Outlets, Flemington
• Thurs., Oct. 1, 5 & 6PM, Gebhardt Field, Halstead St., Clinton
• Fri., Oct. 2, 5 & 6PM, Hamilton & E. Main, Bound Brook
• Sat., Oct. 3, 3 & 4:30PM, Visitor Parking Lot, RVCC Campus
• Sun., Oct. 4, 1 & 2:30PM, Arts & Main St.: Fall Street Fair 2009, Somerville

Millbrook Village

Millbrook Days

Get away from it all in the most beautiful part of our state at the most beautiful time of year. The Millbrook Society’s premier event at Millbrook Village features a variety of activities, displays, demonstrations and exhibits of  the way of life at Millbrook Village, a rural 19th century farming community typical of the region. Free. 12 mi north of Rt 80 at Old Mine Road and Rt 602. Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, 908/496-4458

View from St. Anthony's Nose north of Easton, PA, looking north up the Delaware River toward Martin's Creek. Marble Mountain is straight across the river in New Jersey. Photo: Bob Koppenhaver

Roads Best Traveled

The historic and scenic river towns of Easton, Portland, Columbia, Belvidere and Phillipsburg all merit in-depth exploration of their own, but this forty-eight-mile loop tour emphasizes the old roads connecting them. Try it this fall...

Pond at Miquin Woods. Photo courtesy Alan Edelson

Trickle Down

Spruce Run reservoir is known for great fishing, sailing , camping and hiking. It is named for the mountain stream that feeds it. Spruce Run Creek is a sparkling ribbon of natural beauty whose course through rich agricultural land interspersed with hardwood and evergreen forests still embodies the area's early history and provides sanctuary for many species of wildlife. Follow the Spruce Run from the top of Schooley's Mountain to the reservoir that bears its name. More...

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Northwest New Jersey and destinations just beyond those borders, in Pennsylvania and New York, are equally intriguing and convenient offer colorful ways to get out and enjoy the pleasures of the season. Keep an eye on our calendar for great things to do all the time! And we've got a crop of new stories to help you on your way.

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