Great Road Food???

[applecrew]

 
I thought this might be interesting...

I'm planning my first road trip on my GS (from Penn Dutch Country to the Catskills in NY) with a buddy , and one of the things I love is great road food.  Stay off the interstates, and you can always find great places to chow down (some of my favorite TV shows are "Feasting on Asphalt" and "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives"). I'm currently searching for great places on U.S. Highway 209 between Stroudsburg, PA and Kingston, New York, so if you know of any "don't miss this" places along this route or in the Catskills, chime in! From what I understand, this is a pretty desolate stretch of road... but folks gotta eat, even in the smallest towns!

Hell, for that matter, this might be a great place to assemble all those great places you know of that everybody else might enjoy... so please feel free to write something up, even give us a few pics, and if we get enough responses, I'll compile a listing and post it.

Thanks!

[tt_four]

I'd start soaking in all the PBS you can for those kind of shows for your trip before our governor cuts them off with this next budget!

We also love watching those shows constantly.

[PachmanP]

But but the only thing to eat between delaware and the catskills is burgerkings in the turnpike rest stops.  Are you suggesting you can travel from southeastern PA north on anything but an interstate???!!!

[Trwhouse]

Yo applecrew,
Where are you man?
I'm in Lancaster.
We should say hi some time soon.
Best wishes,
Trwhouse

[applecrew]

PachmanP:

It's entirely possible!  Here's a link to my route:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=135+W+View+Dr,+Lincoln+University,+PA+19352&daddr=Hunter+Mountain+Fire+Tower&hl=en&geocode=%3BCSrAvLp4N45jFbyUgwIdZFaT-yG-KN-ewByjHw&mra=pe&mrcr=0&dirflg=t&sll=40.971604,-75.047607&sspn=3.981431,9.876709&ie=UTF8&z=7

On Google maps, you can set options to avoid highways and/or tolls. This map was created just by avoiding tolls. The whole purpose of this trip is the journey itself, so Interstates are to be avoided.  Anyway, there's not a real lot of time savings by including Interstates, either. I only save a half-hour. On an almost 6-hour trip, that's not a big deal; I'll take the back roads!  BTW, I can probably make it on one tank, each way!

For convenience, there is a 9.9 mile stretch on I-176 between Morgantown, PA and Route 422, which is desolate and pretty - I could easily avoid this by staying on Route 10. Most of the ride between East Stroudsburg and the Catskills are on US 209.  It is a pretty lonely stretch of road, only a handful of very small towns. Should be fun!

Trwhouse:

Will do! My son will be starting  at Franklin & Marshall this fall, so I'll have plenty of excuses to be in the area... Cheers!

[Dr.Sparkie]

I have found that the BEST road trip food is always when you avoid the big name places and visit somewhere that only exists in one location.
I havn't been down the roads you're taking, but I know there will be some mom'n'pop serving heart clogging tasties at some lonely interstate exit.

For example: wallygators in Ipperwash, Ontario, Canada. Farkin' awesome cheesesteak.
mmmmm... chessesteak.....must have...
thread highjack! : toronto, who's up for a ride to ipperwash? right now!

[Esteban]

On Google maps, you can set options to avoid highways and/or tolls. This map was created just by avoiding tolls. The whole purpose of this trip is the journey itself, so Interstates are to be avoided.  Anyway, there's not a real lot of time savings by including Interstates, either. I only save a half-hour. On an almost 6-hour trip, that's not a big deal; I'll take the back roads!  BTW, I can probably make it on one tank, each way!

Given that it seems as though you're "winging it", I'd recommend 2 areas if you're willing to deviate from your original itinerary:

1. New Hope, PA/Lambertville, NJ: Great area and lots of beautiful twisties along the Delaware
If you do go through here, make sure to stop by Washington Crossing State Park just south of New Hope (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington%27s_crossing_of_the_Delaware_River)
(http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=40.369043,-74.947529&spn=0.096782,0.222988&z=13)

2. Buttzville, NJ: Hot Dog Johnny's is a local hot-spot for great road food, http://www.yelp.com/biz/hot-dog-johnnys-oxford
(http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Hot+Dog+Johnny%27s&sll=40.821604,-74.97714&sspn=0.048065,0.111494&ie=UTF8&cd=1&ll=40.836866,-75.029669&spn=0.048054,0.111494&z=14&iwloc=B)

Here's a possible itinerary that has both:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=135+W+View+Dr,+Lincoln+University,+PA+19352&daddr=W+Bridge+St%2FPA-179+to:US-46+to:Hunter+Mountain+Fire+Tower&geocode=%3BFZXnZwId5SOI-w%3BFXQ9bwIddL6G-w%3BFbyUgwIdZFaT-yG-KN-ewByjHw&hl=en&mra=ls&via=1,2&dirflg=t&sll=40.392581,-76.327515&sspn=3.095846,7.13562&ie=UTF8&ll=40.971604,-75.014648&spn=3.069081,7.13562&z=8

[lilwoody]

Mom and Pop shops are the best. Whether it's food, cloths or anything else. More personal and they live and die by customer service.