It is a very bougee place, that Bucks County.
When we were kids everyone said Sally Jessie Raphael had a house in Bucks County. When I interned at Woman's Day in college, older editors would ask me strange questions I could not answer about the place (have you ever brunched at blah, blah, blah? and so forth. No, I did not brunch!).
If you don't know Bucks County is huge. I lived in Central Bucks--and spent the entirety of my childhood driving either 30 minutes to New Hope and Point Pleasant or 30 minutes out of the county to either the Willow Grove or Montgomery mall. The roads are ridiculous--windy and narrow and treacherous. I am not sure how two Range Rovers can pass each other on River Road, but what do I know? I live in Jersey now.
Anyway, there are so many great spots to explore and re-experience with my kids, like tubing! If you recall, a few weeks ago, I went on a high risk adventure tubing on the Great (Questionable) Egg Harbor River. There were lots of obstacles. Someone nearly lost their pants. We had to be rescued by kayakers and it ended with a suspect dog, who reminded me of the super bad guy in a video game.
It was very intense.
But tubing on the Delaware is much more "idyllic," and you can even upgrade you tube to a "deluxe" tube. I did not upgrade mostly as an imaginary protest to the Range Rovers (I did not come from a family that would have ever owned a Range Rover--mostly because we did not live on an English Farm and therefore did not need to drive across the moors? and could just use a station wagon for trips to the grocery store and whatnot).
But, even with its resort like feel, my son did struggle to follow all rules and expectations and really did not use his tube much at all and he was constantly being yelled at by his three mothers (me plus his sisters) while my husband was the voice of reason, gesturing at the calm waters and the fact that everyone could stand if they chose. (It was often about 2 feet deep.).
When we reached the four pillars and finished our tubing adventure, I did feel a bit victorious and began thinking that tubing could be an Olympic sport. After tubing, we made a quick stop at Ralph Stover Park. The creek there is just so delightful. The slippery rocks are PERFECT for young children to play on and "almost" break things. No one broke anything; so we were able to head off to New Hope for dinner (and cocktails!) and ice cream.
Somehow, we spent $46 on fancy ice cream. I had lavender coconut (which was amazing!). Chloe tried to figure out how to break into a private patio on the river (nothing stops that girl! Except the lock.). Lily grew embarrassed to be seen with us. And then we went and fed the ducks nearish the Playhouse.
The whole time I was reminiscing of all times I spent in New Hope--on the very slow canal ride with my grandmother (year after year. She loved it. No idea why.), eating with Mike at Wildflowers (our first "place." Now it is something else, but still has the patio outback on the water), seeing Phantom of the Opera at the Playhouse, walking around after Fireworks, spending Friday nights with my girlfriends in high school and looking for trouble and now, remembering the last time we took our kids to New Hope in the pandemic and walked across the bridge to and from NJ.
As I mentioned all these memories, my children began to have a glazed over look on their faces, as children do when they are forced to listen to an elderly-adjacent person repeat herself.
I cannot wait to do it all again!
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