Day Trip Ideas
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for Your Summer Weekends
JARRAD SAFFREN | STAFF WRITER
I f you are reading this, welcome to your chance to
join an exclusive club — the club of people who
choose not to go down the shore on summer week-
ends and, instead, go on day trips to cool towns.

Down the shore on a June, July or August weekend,
you will encounter hordes of bodies and minds all do-
ing the same activities at the same times. You will be
charged for any and all actions that you take in public.

And if you happen to power through all this chaos and
make it to the beach, you will bake in the midday sun
and writhe in sunburn for the remainder of the month.

But in a cool downtown on a June, July or August
weekend, you will be able to park without turning in
your savings account. You will be able to maneuver up
and down the sidewalk without weaving through people
like a running back in search of a fi rst down. And you
will be able to stay cool, literally as well as fi guratively, by
ducking into restaurants, bars and shops as you please.

Choosing cool towns over the shore on summer
weekends is not merely a fi guratively cool thing to
do. It’s also a decision to summer it up while retaining
your sanity and respect for other people.

God imbues all humans with dignity according to
the Torah and our nation’s founding alike. But a sum-
mer weekend at the shore makes it easy to forget that
principle. Don’t forget it. Choose the day trip. Here are some
local towns you can visit.

Doylestown The county seat of Bucks County also has its most
beautiful and active downtown. There are count-
less places to eat, drink and eat dessert. Pick an
outdoor option so you can eat and take in the
scenery at the same time.

Newtown Once just a typical suburban town with not much
to do, this Lower Bucks County locality has trans-
formed its downtown area into an upscale dining
and shopping scene in recent years.

Media The Delaware County version of Newtown.

Ardmore The ever-changing Suburban Square is a desti-
nation unto itself, and the stores along Lancaster
Avenue are a mix of upscale and quirky.

Merchantville, New Jersey’s downtown
heartbeat area
PHOTOS BY JARRAD SAFFREN
22 JUNE 16, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
Phoenixville Phoenixville combines so many of the amenities
that make a main street great: eateries, places to
drink, history and beautiful scenery.




West Chester
Known largely as a college town, there’s much
more than meets the eye, with plenty of dining
options and picturesque streets for walking.

Narberth After a brief absence, Narberth’s iconic
Independence Day fi reworks are back. Although
upscale condos are going up seemingly every-
where, Narberth remains a quintessential smalltown
USA kind of place, with a main drag featuring three
pubs, as well as a park with basketball courts where
Wilt Chamberlain and Kobe Bryant once played.

Ambler Just ask anyone who lives near Ambler: It’s back,
and you should visit.

Maple Shade, New Jersey
Maple Shade’s main street is small but exciting.

You can eat pizza at Tacconelli’s, grab a beer at
Dr. Brewlittle’s Beer Co. and go thrifting, if you’re
into that sort of thing.

Burlington City, New Jersey
A micro city on the Delaware River that Benjamin
Franklin used to frequent off ers a lot of history for
local buff s. It also has a burgeoning scene of eat-
eries, bars and shops. Be sure to stop and stare
out at the Delaware for a few minutes halfway
through the loop.

Burlington City, New Jersey
Bordentown City, New Jersey
An Italian restaurant, a candy shop and a brew-
ery are among the amenities at this other South
Jersey micro city. And like Burlington, its history
is alive as you walk through it and see the old
buildings. Bordentown also displays signs that explain
that history. One fun fact is that it was once the
home of Thomas Paine, the man whose pamphlet
“Common Sense” helped inspire the American
Revolution. Lambertville, New Jersey
New Hope across the Delaware River is the
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