On the Map: A Day Trip to Chester, NJ
By Mark McNease
On the Map is a travelogue of places, restaurants and landscapes for your travel considerations. Sometimes near, sometimes far, always interesting.
My husband Frank and I have been enjoying day trips for several years now, especially since we moved to our New Jersey house full-time almost five years ago. And while we also like to take short two night getaways, which have fit well into my three-day-off weekly schedule, there’s a lot to be said for just getting in the car—or on a bus or train—and exploring towns and destinations that have you back by dinner.
This past Wednesday we headed to a city just an hour’s drive away: Chester, NJ. We found a town that’s perfect for short-term exploring and meeting friendly locals. This isn’t always the case, by the way. Heading off into the unknown for an afternoon means risking that you may not be so thrilled with the place when you get there, but that’s part of the fun. A surprise is what you’re looking for when it’s somewhere you’ve never been.
Chester is a borough in Morris County, New Jersey. As of the 2010 Census, the population was 1,649, not counting tourists and day trippers! Chester is completely surrounded by Chester Township, making it part of 21 pairs of “doughnut towns” in the state, where one municipality entirely surrounds another. The borough’s name is derived from the township, which was named for Chestershire in England. (Wikipedia)
Chester has a relaxed and quaint feel to it, with at least two coffee shops, some antique dealers, pet stores, restaurants, and a very welcoming atmosphere. It’s the kind of town you can stroll around in looking into windows, getting a haircut if you’ve got the time, stopping into the local general store, and having a very British lunch at a very British restaurant, Sally Lunn’s.
For a place named after a town in England, Sally Lunn’s was the perfect choice for a meal. It just so happens I recently discovered through 23andMe that I’m genetically mostly British and Irish. Time for a spot of tea and a tray of sandwiches!
The interior of Sally Lunn’s is like walking into a Victorian house, which was the founders’ intention. There are a number of tables for four, but also quite a few two-tops, and all of them are decorated to provide a sense of eating somewhere in London in the 19th century. Even the servers are slightly costumed to look as though they could be waiting on you while Queen Victoria passed by in a royal carriage.
The menu has plenty to offer, from a quiche of the day to chicken pot pie and a host of sandwiches and salads. Given the circumstances and the environment, we had to order the Basic Afternoon Tea, a selection of finger sandwiches (egg and cress, cucumber and cream cheese, fresh pink salmon and dill mayonnaise, with a warmed scone with Sally’s own homemade clotted cream and strawberry preserve). The service comes with a pot of freshly brewed tea, but they let us have the iced tea we’d ordered instead.
As we were leaving, I noticed their dessert case. These aren’t your typical desserts from the grocery store bakery, so we had to stop back in before heading home to get a slice of an amazing tres leches cake and some toffee cheesecake to go.
This was one for the repeat list: places we discover and make note of to return, by ourselves or with friends. If Chester is within day trip distance for you, put it on your calendar. You won’t be disappointed.