It's that time of year again (where I must travel East w/my family to participate in my wife's family reunion for a week or so). Every time I go east of the Mississippi, I struggle to find good ways to entertain myself. The time of year further complicates things (too-blasted hot, muggy & buggy [damn ticks!]). As usual, I'm looking for a place to shoot or fish or even sightsee a bit. Any suggestions here for interesting destinations? My fallback position (at the moment) is the East Branch of the Delaware for a little fishing, but that is a bit far from my lodgings in New Hope. Anything a little closer?

Gettysburg, not that far from where you'll be.

I do not get to that side of the state too often, but the Susquehanna is an excellent smallmouth fishery. Also, this summer has been a muggy-buggy one for the record books. I feel like we have been getting more rain this summer than we did in a year when I lived on the 'wet-side' of Washington state! I live on the west side of Pennsylvania though, so maybe the east side is not suffering as much as we are...

Lloyd3, I used to live in Bucks county before moving to Berks County. There is decent fishing in the Delaware for small mouths right in New Hope. There are areas of fast water there. Wet wading with felt soled boots is a must or you will be spending more time swimming than fishing.
The east branch of the Delaware is about 2 1/2 hours from New Hope. You can forget trout fishing during the day but you can have fun if you match the hatch in the evening until dark when you can no longer see. Late May early June there is a nice olive hatch in the morning, but now you might only be getting tricos.
Years ago fishing the Beaverkill, we would be walking out in the evening and guys would just be going in with head lamps fishing for the big browns. You really have to know the water to do that.
Have fun, better than sitting around.

As to shooting there is a nice sporting clays spot outside of Alllentown, Lehigh Sporting Clays. 2750 Limestone St. Coplay, PA 610-261--9616. Call to see when they are open during the week. Weekends are very crowded. Very nice place to shoot, asphalt along the whole course. They have an A & B at each station, one is harder than the other, and I believe it is B.

Mr. Williamson: Thankyou! My wife's clan is nothing but gracious towards me, however.....they are many and the drama is endless (teen girls and....my own son). Having a mission away from it all can be a wonderful respite.

Hit Belmar NJ, get on a charter fishing boat for black bass, blues, flounder and maybe stripers, although it may be a little late for them right now.

From New Hope, get on the jersey side from Lambertville, go down 29 to 1-95 and the Jersey Shore. You need to go past the Trenton Thunder minor league baseball stadium, stay to the left. Take 1-95 to Belmar and use your GPS to wherever you book your charter. It should take no more than about an hour and twenty minutes.1-95 is 65 miles an hour but don't go over 70 or the state troopers will ruin your day.

People on the east coast have almost no appreciation for just how close stuff really is.

I'm headed to Rhode Island to fish schooly striper tomorrow. It should take 5 hours or so and people think I'm crazy.


https://fishingbooker.com/destinations/l...UIaAj7DEALw_wcB

Yuengling brewery isn't far away if you like things of that sort.

Krieghoff USA headquarters is in Ottsville. Wing Pointe is a sporting clays and flyers location. Cabela's Hamburg is a good spot to visit. As with all visits, check the websites before you go.

Lloyd

i almost gave this hint on Clarks- but there you said to wet a line

if you have any interest at all in muzzleloading- visit

http://www.dixonmuzzleloading.com/

its almost next door in Berks County and right off Rt 78

there are enough originals hanging up high to put a kink in your neck

the end of July is the gunmaker's fair - can be a bit crowded - but the quality of the workmanship on display there is breath taking for any gun nut-

Mr. Osthaus:

I chase whitetails with a flintlock fairly regularly any more. Sure appreciate the tip.

Mr. Bryant: Used to really enjoy Yunglings, but a Lymes-induced wheat allergy has really cramped my beer-drinking style. Miss many things like that.

ROMACS got it. Get some male members of the clan together, leave the female drama behind and go fish the salt water. Nothing like spending the day on the ocean, you'll come home with great seafood and might see some whales, sharks, etc. It never ceases to amaze me what I see while fishing the ocean.

The best was back in the mid 1970's, I was a guest on the boat of my friends dad, we were fluke fishing off Montauk. The water started to boil a few hundred yards away, a nuclear sub breached on it's way back to Groton, CT.

Lloyd3, You'll be within an hour ride of the Little Lehigh Creek in Allentown PA for trout fishing, the water levels are good with the recent rains we've had here recently. Due to the hot weather early morning/ evening would be best. You're right near Lake Nocamixon which contains bass, crappies and muskellunge. Another option for shooting is Powderbourne Gun Club in East Greenville PA 18041 (215) 679-9860. As for sights to see, Bethlehem PA has a historic area centered around the Moravian Church/ College and also the Bethlehem Steel area with an industrial museum, casino and the Steel Stacks entertainment venue. In keeping more inline with this forum ,you're also within an hours ride of Griffin and Howe in New Jersey or a ride South to the Havre De Grace Decoy Museum.
Options abound, enjoy your visit.

No insight from me, but, do have a safe trip, Lloyd.

Best,
Ted

Little Lehigh is also a good idea, just be careful as some sections are fly fishing only designated zones if I remember correctly.

Lloyd:

I'll second the recommendation of Lehigh Valley Sporting Clays. From New Hope, it's probably only an hour and a quarter, maybe an hour and a half at worst. An extremely well done sporting clays range set up in an old limestone quarry complex, incorporating both the quarry itself and many of the old buildings in the setup. Guns, shooting glasses and ear protection are available for rent and shells are available for purchase at a fairly reasonable price.

If you're a trap shooter, there are several trap clubs in the area. Bucks County Fish & Game (http://www.bcfg.org/trap.html), which is about 30 minutes from New Hope; Branch Valley Fish, Game & Forestry Association (http://branchvalleyfgfassoc.org/), which shoots trap on Wednesday evenings and has a group that shoots international wobble trap (a one station wobble trap set to international speeds - a ton of fun is you don't mind missing as many as you hit) on the first Saturday of each month, about 45 minutes from New Hope; Langhorne Rod & Gun Club (http://langhornerodandgun.com/), also about a half hour from New Hope; and Flourtown-Sandy Run Sportsmen's Association (http://fsrsa.com/), about 35 minutes from New Hope, which shoots skeet and trap on Wednesdays noon to 9:00 P.M. and Saturdays 9:30-4:00 P.M. Flourtown is members only, but I'm a member and if you are interested, let me know and we can set up a time to meet and shoot.

If you're looking for more culture, Philadelphia is about 1 hour from New Hope, with a world of museums and history (and Camden, NJ, just across the river, has the USS New Jersey moored on its riverfront, if you are interested in such things).

In terms of high end gun shops, Griffin & Howe is about a 2 hour drive to northwestern New Jersey and both British Sporting Arms and Safari Outfitters are less than three hours' drive up near the New York/Connecticut border.

For fishing, the Little Lehigh River is less than two hours from New Hope and there's a phenomenal little stream called Mud Run in the Hickory Run State Park about 2 hours from there as well.

Hope this provides some help.

Rem

You folks are all spectacular! Thank you so much.

A couple more things to do.
1. Historical Philadelphia. It's easily walkable and parking is not out of hand. The new-this-past-April 19th Museum of The American Revolution (a couple blocks east of Independence Hall) is worth the time and price of admission. The artifacts they've displayed are pretty mind-blowing. Like this portrait of GW (on loan from the Brooklyn Museum) https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/450 and, right below it behind the same glass, the blue sash he wore in the painting. And the piece de resistance, GW's personal command tent which he used for most of the war. I went there in early June and spent a couple hours; not too crowded.
2. Reading Terminal Market in downtown Philly: good sit-down food in a farmer's market setting.
3. Double-plus on Dixon's muzzleloader thing. IIRC, the big gunmaker's weekend is this coming weekend (28-30 July).
4. I fished the Little Lehigh a lot when I lived down that way. It's not what it used to be, but it's still very good. There is a fly shop in a springhouse on the banks who will sell you local favorite flies. https://www.facebook.com/daves.heritageflyshop If you're feeling ambitious, you can pop a couple terrain compartments north from the Little Lehigh and check out Cedar Creek, which runs through the municipal rose garden. A little late in the season for the roses, but still nice....
5. The historic part of Bethlehem is another very walkable area. Check out the Sun Inn (Washington, both Adamses and about half the other signers of the Declaration slept there, Lafayette recuperated there after being wounded) and especially the Moravian Bookstore http://shop.moravianbookshop.com/index.htm (across from the Hotel Bethlehem), the oldest continually-operating bookstore in the world.
6. Pennsylvania Longrifle museum in Jacobsburg State Park, a couple miles north of Nazareth, about 2 minutes from the of-ramp from PA 33. http://www.jacobsburghistory.com/society-collections/pennsylvania-longrifle-museum/ Limited Hours - one weekend a month, basically. Located on the grounds of the old Henry Rifle factory.
7. Martin Guitar factory tour - Nazareth. https://www.martinguitar.com/about/visit-us/

Wow Dave! That long-rifle thing sounds great. Heck....it all does. I really wasn't looking forward to this trip, now I am.

The Martin Guitar Factory Tour is well worth it for anyone at all interested in guitars, music or hi tech production of instruments that were historically 100% made by hand. The company trained their employees in new the techniques while some things still require the masters touch.

It's about an hour, led by retired employees. At the end you can play any guitar in the showroom and everyone gets a Martin branded drink coaster made from the wood left when they cut the sound hole in a guitar top.

When leaving Pennsylvania take one of these here 'Kentucky' rifles home with ya, Lloyd.

http://www.allenmartinrifles.net/gallery-of-guns/herman-rupp-rifle-lehigh-valley/

http://www.allenmartinrifles.net/gallery-of-guns/schimmel-rifle-lehigh-valley/

Dang! Those McKean county whitetails would be lining-up for the honor of being shot with one of those Schimmel rifles. Very lovely!

You are in the heart of some great Revolutionary War historical areas. Washington's Crossing, Trenton, etc. Worth the time even if you are mildly interested in the history. A good dinner at Washington's Crossing Inn just South of New Hope, G&H is East of there about an hour's drive in Bernardsville, NJ.

That's for sure!!!

FWIW, here's the seminar lineup at Dixon's this weekend: http://www.dixonmuzzleloading.com/complete-seminar-schedule/
They're about 10 miles as the road goes from Cabela's.

Griffin and Howe have moved from their New Jersey location.

Griffin and Howe closed their shop in Bernardsville New Jersey and moved the retail showroom and the gunsmithing services to their Hudson Farm location in New Jersey, where their shooting school is located. I was there this Spring and it is quite an operation.

Here is the information from their website, when I was there they were finishing the setup of the gunsmith shop in a newer building at the farm location.


270 Stanhope Sparta Road
Andover, NJ 07821
USA

(Physically located in Hopatcong, NJ)

Landline: +1.973.398.2670
Fax: +1.973.398.0685

Hours of Operation
Monday to Sunday
9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Very good stuff folks, Thank You!

Mr. Osthaus: Dixon Muzzleloading was great fun. Was sorely tempted by a .36 caliber Schimmel built by a local. Shame that .36 is too-small to hunt deer with here. Also, caught a really nice fish on the Little Lehigh.

Lloyd3

Glad you enjoyed it. The shop is great but the fair weekend is incredible. I always left there with my arms full and pockets empty

Glad the fishing worked out for you as well.

Glad you had a good time. There's a lot to do, and you got some of the best.

A nice restaurant about a mile from Krieghoff serves 75 cent vodka martinis at lunch.

"Some weasel took the cork out of my lunch." — W. C. Fields

Mr. Osthaus: have you ever had a longrifle bespoke?

no

i have built a few- first guided by a talented local builder, the last under the tutelage of Peter Alexander ( and have one in process I have not touched for a while )

I used to spend a lot of time in that world

if you were going to have one built- first decide what school and era - then you can go look at a builder - there are some incredible artists - Alen Martin's Lehigh and Schimmels are fantastic - but don't take your wife to his shop- its cleaner than most kitchens and my wife wanted to know why mine wasn't

Ian Pratt makes iron mounted rifles(with hand forged mountings) that you have to watch him make to believe

and there are many other great makers - so you can find one to build any school

I am quite drawn to the Shimmels. Dixon's had a lovely one in .36 that I was very impressed by, but I'm a southpaw and I intend to hunt it. Colorado requires a .40 and Pennsy a .45 so.....I'm now looking.

for deer- personally i think a .45 is minimal anyway, the flinter I have taken most of my deer with uses a patched .490 ball

you won't find a better gun by nicer guy than Allen Martin but quality is not cheap and the good ones have waiting lists - no different than the good double gunsmiths

find a copy of Muzzleloader magazine - since it changed hands you can find it on some newstands or http://www.muzzleloadermag.com/

they highlight some good up and comers a few times a year and many makers advertise in there

you can find some examples of some makers' work here - http://www.longrifle.com/

or watch the for sales posts here -
http://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php

you'll see a mix of used ones by known makers and some decent guns by good hobby makers

Appreciate that Sir, thank you.