Bucks County has always been associated with wealth and privilege, but ordinary people live there (quite well, thank you!), and everyone can visit easily and inexpensively. This is a pleasant part of the world in which to live, and beautiful as well. With quiet streams, wooded glades, and gently rolling hills, the entire area is a pleasure to visit. If you love antiquing or shopping, you'll feel as though you have reached paradise just a bit prematurely.
From Philadelphia, Bucks County is just a short hop and skip (forget the jump) on state highways 611 and 263 northeast, the center of the county, Doylestown, being a mere ten miles or so from the county line and the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
By inexpensively, I don't mean that you can get by dirt cheap, but you can tour the area nicely on about $48.50 a day, I figure. This cost is based on sharing a $50 room at the New Hope Motel in the Woods, then having a $3.50 breakfast at Goodenoe's Farm Dairy Bar, lunch for $10 at The Spotted Hog and dinner for the same price at The Lobster Claw. (For details, read on.)
Highlights
Close as it is to Philadelphia, Bucks County is not as big on history as it is on the arts and contemporary culture. Home to the relatively new James A. Michener Art Museum and Sesame Place, the area appeals to all ages and most tastes. Sesame Place is in Langhorne, just a 30-minute drive from Philadelphia, and is open from mid May through October. For over 20 years, it has been the nation's only theme park based on the popular children's television program, Sesame Street. Mostly aimed at kids from 2 to 13, the facility includes live shows and water activities (bring your swimsuits). Handicapped accessible. The theme park is located at 100 Sesame Road, Langhorne PA 19047 [I 95 to Exit 29A (Route 1), then north to the Oxford Valley Exit]. Phone 215/752-7070, e-mail guestcomments@sesameplace.com, Web site www.sesameplace.com.
At the Michener Art Museum in Doylestown, view a superb collection of local artists and other works, much of which is 20th-century American, including paintings and sculpture. There are constantly changing exhibitions and ongoing cultural programs. (While here, you'd never know you were in the much-renovated former Bucks County prison!) Admission for adults is $6, less for students and senior citizens, and free for children under 12. Contact the musuem at 138 S. Pine Street, Doylestown PA 18901, phone 215/340-9800, Web site www.michenerartmuseum.org.
The Mercer Museum, housed in a kind of concrete castle, has a fine collection of "ordinary items," with displays of folk art, everyday furnishings, and tools of early America. Henry C. Mercer, the museum's founder and builder, believed that the story of human progress and accomplishments could be told by the everyday tools and objects that people used. Of the over 50,000 archived items, displays include a Conestoga wagon and a whale boat. Kids will love it, and this adult did, too. Admission for adults is $6, less for seniors and children. You can visit the museum at 84 S. Pine St., Doylestown PA 18901, phone 215/345-0210, Web site www.mercermuseum.org.
Lovers of tile and ceramics may want to visit Fonthill, Henry Mercer's nearby home completed in 1910. The 44 rooms contain decorated floors, walls, and ceilings composed of an astounding variety of Mercer-manufactured tiles and related works of art. Admission for adults is $7, less for seniors and young people. Located at East Court Street and Route 313, Doylestown PA 18901, phone 215/348-9461, Web site www.fonthillmuseum.org.
Even more tiles and pottery can be found at the Moravian Pottery and Tile Works, adjoining, with admission another $3 for adults. The contact information is 130 Swamp Road (Route 313), Doylestown PA 18901, phone 215/345-6722.
If manmade wonders don't impress you, consider the several small parks that dot the county, including (from south to north) Core Creek Park near Langhorne Manor, Peace Valley Park near Doylestown, or Nockamixon State Park near Sellersville. The latter is the biggest, with plenty of outdoor activity, both arranged and on your own. Visit the Department of Natural Resources' Web site to read more on the park here, www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/parks/nock.htm.
Restaurants
You may well love the Goodnoe Farm Dairy Bar as much for its old-fashioned soda fountain service and unique ambience as you do for the food. In operation for nearly 80 years, it has the usual comfort foods you want, from ice cream to pies, hamburgers to club sandwiches, and for well under $10 for almost everything on the menu. (Breakfasts from just $3.50.) Open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, handicapped accessible. Contact them at the corner of Durham Road and Sycamore Street, on the north side of Newton PA (their postal address is PO Box 219, Newtown PA 18940). Phone them at 215/968-3875, Web site www.goodnoe.com.
The Spotted Hog in Lahaska is well known for its pizzas and pastas, but they also serve up pretty good burgers, sandwiches, grilled items, salads, and desserts. Open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, with practically everything on the menu under $10. This is a country-style, family friendly place, combining a bistro and a tavern in its ambiance. (They have a good selection of microbrewed beers, and take-out, too.) Handicapped accessible, and non-smoking areas. Located at the corner of Route 202 and Street Road, Lahaska PA 18931, in Peddler's Village, phone 215/794-4030, e-mail info@peddlersvillage.com, Web site www.peddlersvillage.com.
At the Lobster Claw in Doylestown, fresh fish is always available for prices also under $10 for the most part, with fried and boiled seafood platters, deli sandwiches, crab cakes, a seafood market, and take out. No liquor license, though, but you can bring your own bottle of wine. Lunch and dinner only. Contact them at 800 N. Easton Road, Doylestown PA 18901 (in Cross Keys Plaza), phone 215/345-7977, e-mail TheLobsterClaw@aol.com.
Fisher's Tudor House Restaurant in Bensalem is one of those nice, old-fashioned places, with casual dining in three beautiful rooms. They serve up seafood, pasta, meats and poultry, and goodies from their own bakery, most of the items being under $10. (The place is also a nightclub late in the evening!) Some non-smoking areas and handicapped accessible. Lunch and dinner only. Contact them at 1858 Street Road, Bensalem PA 19020 (one mile west of I 95, 2 miles east of Route 1 & Pennsylvania Turnpike at Exit 28). Phone them at 800/774-1313 or 215/244-9777, e-mail manager@fisherstudor.com, Web site www.fisherstudor.com.
Hotels
The New Hope Motel in the Woods is just a quarter of a mile from downtown New Hope, so it really isn't in a forest. The 28-unit motel does sit on five beautiful acres, complete with pond. Some of the units have outdoor porches. All have TV with VCR, stereo/CD, phone, refrigerator, and private bath. Rates per room range from $50 to $70. Also available is a lounge, a heated swimming pool, non-smoking rooms, and a tolerant policy toward both kids and pets. There's a minimum 2-night stay on weekends, three nights on holiday weekends. Contact the motel at 400 W. Bridge Street (Route 179), New Hope PA 18938, phone 215/862-2800, fax 215/862-3962.
The Courthouse Motor Inn is right in Doylestown, and has 45 rooms, each with private bath, cable TV, phone, and refrigerator. Rates are between $55 and $70 per room, breakfast included. Some non-smoking rooms are available. There is a restaurant on the property, with a cocktail lounge, too. Contact the inn at 625 N. Main Street, Doylestown PA 18901, phone 888/673-8683 or 215/348-9222, fax 215/345-5072.
The Villager Lodge is near Bristol and Sesame Place, not to mention a nearby shopping mall and restaurants. Each of the rooms here is nicely furnished, if not very elegant, and the cable TV includes hookups to ESPN and CNN. Some rooms have a kitchen attached. Rates per room range from $55 to $75. The lodge is located at 5361 Route 13, Bristol PA 19007, phone 800/328-7829 or 215/788-9272, fax 215/788-7822, e-mail hitesh0218@aol.com, Web site www.the.villager.com/bristol10362.
Right in the heart of central Bucks County is The Warrington, a beautiful country lodge with a fine restaurant and cocktail lounge attached. On the premises is also a swimming pool and fitness center. Each of the rooms (some of which are non-smoking) includes free HBO, and there is a playground site for the kids. (There's also a group of Sesame Place packages available for them, too.) Rooms run from $75 to $95. Located at 701 Easton Road, Warrington PA 18976 (on Route 611, just north of Route 132, which is also Street Road). Contact the lodge at 800/333-1827 or 215/343-0373, fax 215/343-0211, e-mail manager@thewarrington.com, Web site www.thewarrington.com.
The Inn at Lahaska is a fine B&B, but with only six rooms, each with private bath. Located about five miles from New Hope, the inn is just across the road from Peddler's Village, a popular tourist target. Rooms are air-conditioned, and continental breakfast is included in the rates, which run from about $75 to $95 per room. The Buckingham Mountain Microbrewery and Restaurant is on the premises. Some rooms are non-smoking, and children are welcome. Contact the B&B at 5775 Route 202, Lahaska PA 18931, phone 215/794-0440, fax 215/794-9063.
For more B&B information, contact one of these two reservations services in Bucks County:
B&B Inns of Bucks & Hunterdon Counties (represents 15 inns)
Phone 215/766-9332
Web site www.bucksinns.com
Bucks County B&B Association of PA (represents 46 inns)
Phone 800/982-1235
Web site www.visitbucks.com.
Summing Up
For more information on Bucks County, write to
Convention Visitors Bureau
152 Swamp Road
Doylestown, PA 18901
Phone 888/359-9110 or 215/345-4552
Fax 215/345-4967
E-mail bccvb@bccvb.org
Web site www.buckscountycvb.org.