New Jersey Fall Foliage Tours

This weekend is going to be nice and should be prime fall foliage time in the Skylands of the state. Here are two recommended trips:

NJ Fall Peepage Tour #1: The Lake & Gap Tour

View New Jersey Skylands Fall Peepage Tour 1 in a larger map

Highlights:

START

1. High Point State Park Monument

On the left is the view from the pond shore (with a certain DVD) and right is the view of the monument.

2. Delaware Water Gap view- Upper Yard Creek Reservoir. If you want to hike for the better view, go to Mount Tammany. Check out this photo by flickr user Karen Peterson.

3. Lake Mohawk Drive. This realtor youtube video to give you an idea.

4. Lake Hopatcong

5. Ort Farms - It should be pretty busy with activities and so delicious local food.

6. Round Valley Reservoir

End at the Red Mill in Clinton

NJ Fall Peepage Tour #2: The Rolling Hills River Towns Tour

View New Jersey Skylands Fall Peepage Tour 2 in a larger map

1. Start at the Red Mill in Clinton. Best pictures are during the morning hours, when the sun is shining on the mill.

2. Milford

3. Green Sergeant Covered Bridge - Oldest remaining covered bridge in New Jersey. Here's a State bilking guide for this route.

4. Lambertville - Might be a good time to stop by the River Horse brewery. Or if you're here on Saturday, watch out for traffic. The Pet Masquerade is in the afternoon.

Take it easy on the River Horse, on Sourland Mountain, Lindbergh Rd. is narrow and treacherous!

5. East - West Jersey Dividing Line Marker. Only one of the lines that divided Jersey, the Keith Line.

I purposely did not write down exact routes. There are some detours and very narrow roads. Use caution and have fun leaf peeping!

The Deli Time Divide

I love living in Lambertville. It's a walkable town, where I can park my car for the weekend and never move it. There is an assortment of great restaurants, coffee shops and art galleries.

It's got the old time charm with antique shops, cool historic houses and a hopping Halloweenville.

It's far enough north of Trenton to not be included in many people's dividing line, but far enough west to provoke debate.

But there is one thing I haven't gotten used to here and in the surrounding areas:

The time it takes to make a breakfast or lunch sandwich.

After living in North Jersey for 6 years, I have become preconditioned, and may never be able to go back.

In Hoboken, every morning I got coffee and a sandwich at JP's Bagel Express and was in and out in a flash. In Maplewood, it was Bagel Chateau. I grabbed some grub and had just enough time to talk to the local fixtures about the NFL scores, trades and predictions for the week.

For lunch, I've been pampered by Millburn Deli. It's the most unbelievable delicatessen I've ever been to in my life. During busy times, you take a number and are still served quickly. Order a Gobbler and you'll be greeted like Norm from Cheers. Or go on Thursday where the staff are wearing wacky hats.

During my South Jersey days, I never got a deli sandwich so fast. One exception was the White House Sub Shop, but that is a tourist fixture and caters to a busy lunch crowd. So it's true, staffing size and proximity to a city matter. They can cross geographic or imaginary boundaries.

However, the slow and sometimes excruciating wait times around here got me speculating. One of the biggest things people told me in New Jersey: the Movie interviews was that South Jersey was slower than North Jersey. However, many could never elaborate on what that meant.

Could it have been service time at delis?

Go ahead try it. Get a stopwatch and time your deli during a lunch or breakfast rush. Tweet it to me or post a comment here. Will we see a pattern?

As someone who is on the cusp on the Internet/ texting/ instant gratification generation, this may matter to many businesses bottom lines in the future . . .