NORTHERN NEW JERSEY

The fall foliage is changing the color of the landscape of the Northeastern region as summer's lush green leaves ripen into autumn shades of red, orange and yellow. It is as if someone took a big paint brush and made several strokes across a canvas. It's no wonder that people here get so nostalgic about this time of year, it's  so picturesque.

This past weekend, my husband and I drove through Northern New Jersey to attend a cousin's wedding. On our way we took in all of the magical colors and beautiful rustic country scenery.

If you're not from the east coast, you may not know that New Jersey is the garden state. There are farms of all types dotted all across the region.

I think I can try to visit a new farm everyday of the year and not hit them all. The land here seems to be quite prolific, and it's wonderful to see how supportive the residents are of local farms.

 

When we arrived, the wedding reception was held at Blue Grillhouse in Bethlehem, PA, an upscale restaurant and wine bar that featured an impressive wine list. It's been a long time since I've seen such a comprehensive wine list. The wine menu showed a wide breadth and depth of choices with a slight focus on California cabernets including such wines as Jospeph Phelps Insignia,  Shafer 'Hillside Select' and Silver Oak.

I typically do not like attending these events because they can be overwhelming, but it was nice to meet members of my husband's family. It's amazing that one can live within an hour's drive and still not see each other for years. One cousin hadn't been in touch for 28 years! That's almost as long as I've been alive. We all have our reasons, but none of them seemed very good at the time. Although, I'm not sure how much it will change.

Sie la vie!