Plainfield New Jersey - Day 2 - I take a Docent led tour of the Drake House Museum

Good food - bad motel - lots of interesting buildings

It was a great day for photos - starting with this shot of the Park 22 Diner - the White Castle - which is located on the opposite side of rte 22 - so clearly reflected in the glass.

A great shot and a great breakfast - a perfectly prepared order of poached eggs, grits and corned beef hash - best diner breakfast so far this year.

Park 22 is open 24/7 - so I got an early jump on the morning , eating breakfast before checking out of my motel - The Ivory Tower Motel in Green Brook - THE MOTEL FROM HELL -

Three views of the disintegrating ivory tower.

I was recently bemoaning the disappearance of novelty themed motels - so I thought a night at the Ivory Tower, despite its one star Yelp rating, would be a last chance to experience a dying genre.

A Bit of History - built around 1963 - once a part of a chain - it is now the only remaining Ivory Tower Motel.

The place was clearly run down, but scattered piles of construction materials were lying about - so maybe they were restoring the place?

Apparently someone once cared about this business. They had taken the time to decorate the rooms with a retro ‘60’s look - a low budget mid- century bachelor pad motif - sadly, they just didn’t care enough to fix the falling down drapes.

If your thinking - I got what I paid for - your wrong - the room was not cheap - in fact at $140, it was the most expensive motel I’ve stayed in so far - about $50 more than I usually pay.

I should have seen the signs - in particular - these signs -

THERE WAS NO WORKING SHOWER

And by not working, I mean no water came out of the shower head or tub spout. Zip, zero, nada. no water. I’m not a stranger to old plumbing. I tried twisting, turning, pulling, pushing the handle every which way, the loose plastic knob just spun around in my hand, making no contact with the metal stem that needed to turn.

I gave up & just used the sink to wash up.

For the record, I’m a morning shower person, so I didn’t know about the water until it was to late to do anything about it.

The price of a bed, is the biggest expense of my little trips and the main reason they are kept to one or two nights away from home. I’m not that fussy - all I ask is a bed and a hot shower - Apparently some places think I’m asking to much.

Annoyed - but glad to be out of there - I got in my car & set out to further explore Plainfield.

The rest of the day went rather well - drove around taking pictures of some very cool buildings. . .

Built in the ‘40’s - it was originally a Blimpies, - it is the coolest looking Dunkin’ Donuts - excuse me - the coolest looking Dunkin’ I’ve ever seen.

Correction - I got the above information from the notoriously inaccurate Google AI. Reading it back I knew it couldn’t be right - so I went and checked - the first Blimpies didn’t open until 1964. Oh well - It’s still a good looking donut shop.

Next up - the red tower restaurant. . .

and the Red Tower II

both described as “iconic” on the internet. I didn’t get a chance to eat in either one, but I do like the buildings

And finally - the White Star Diner - I didn’t get a chance to go inside - will definable go back next time I’m in town.

Plainfield had so many great old churches - this was my favorite - the Seventh Day Baptist Church - Built in the 1890’s, in the Richardsonian Romanesque style - replete with the towers and turrets that seem to be a Plainfield theme.

Finally - the main event - a docent lead tour of the Drake House Museum , maintained by the Plainfield Historical Society .

The original house was built in 1746 by Issac Drake for his son Nathaniel. The Drakes were patriots and often entertained Washington in their home.

Over the years the house was expanded - additional wings, rooms, turrets, etc were added according to the fashions of the day

I love small local museums - they dish just the right amount of history - what I can comfortably absorb in a casual visit - each one has a slightly different story - taken together they provide an understandable picture of the past.

Some of what I saw on Sunday

The house still has its original lean-to kitchen, with its beautiful wide pine board floor. Lean-to kitchens were designed, so that they could be pulled away from the house if they caught fire, thereby saving the ret of the building. Fortunately this one never caught fire.

Washington may not of slept here - but definitely took a nap in this bedroom - don’t touch the coverlet - the green squares are dyed with arsenic - definitely don’t sleep naked under it.

A portrait of singer Jenny Lind circa 1865, in a gilded frame made by local craftsman Phillip Swain in 1868 - Swains framing still exists, and is still owned by the Swain family. Located in the Crescent Historic District, it’s one of the buildings I photographed on Saturday. -

My plan was to next visit the 1788 Friends Meeting House. I parked in a municipal lot nearby & decided to get a snack before I walked over.

Irma’s Restaurant

I walked by, peered in the window & was blown away.

The place was hopping - clearly one of the popular restaurants I’d ever seen.

On every table I could see the most mouth watering food.

The Quakers could wait - I was having dinner.

The staff was clearly being slammed - I had to wait for a table - but still the most friendly, professional service.

This giant plate of rice with shrimp, crab, octopus & mussels was $22. It was fresh - it was delicious- it was the best meal I’d had in months. I’m looking at this picture, wondering why I ever eat crappy food, when food like this exists.

And so ended day two of my adventure in Plainfield New Jersey.

As always, I needed to be in Swedesboro at 8:30 Monday morning. Originally I had planned to spend two nights in Plainfield. Unable to find a decent affordable place to stay, I drove down to Bordentown, where I got a nice clean, functioning room right off of rte 206 - for a mere $85. I took a nighttime shower and slept like a baby.