These are the times that try men's souls.

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Our hotel, The Inn at Lambertville Station, sits right on the Delaware River. My dad, who loves American history, mentioned that we couldn't be very far from where George Washington crossed the Delaware. Intruiged, I checked out a local map from our hotel. Sure enough, the famous crossing took place about eight miles downriver from us. We've come all this way; why wouldn't we go check it out?!

My parents, my Aunt Carol, my Uncle Mike, and I set out at about noon. We took Bridge St from our hotel in Lambertville, New Jersey, and crossed the river into New Hope, Pennsylvania. We headed south on Main Street (River Road) for about 7-8 miles. It was a beautiful drive that followed the Delaware River. Along the way, we passed some state parks and a wild flower preserve that I would assume is beautiful in the spring and summer. Our weather was more authentic for reminiscing of George Washington's crossing. It was snowing!

Just before reaching the bridge at the street named "General Washington Memorial Boulevard," we spotted what appeared to be a visitor's center on our left, right on the river. Honestly, we didn't see any signs for it, but we spotted a statue of George Washington and figured we should start there. We pulled in (parking is actually across the street from the visitor's center, on the west side of the road). Outside of this large, brick building was a plaque and the statue of George Washington. We strolled through a path bordered with flags from each original colony along with the "Betsy Ross" flag with thirteen stars and stripes. We treaded down by the river, and, if I ignored the bridge and traffic to the south, I could look out and see what things looked like to our continental army over 200 years ago. There was no ice flowing through the river, but it was cold and damp.

When we needed to warm up, we stepped inside the visitor's center. I hoped to ask if there was anything in particular we should look for. As it turns out, there is more than we'd hoped! We learned the visitor's center had been renovated and just re-opened this past Sunday with a new theater. We also learned they did tours! We paid $6 each for a tour which, let me say now, was well worth the money!

The tour started with a video in the new theater that refamiliarized us with the legend of the famous crossing. Our first President (then general), George Washington, had suffered numerous defeats in New York and New Jersey. The continental army continued to retreat west, and they couldn't lose our then-capitol, Philadelphia. They retreated just across the river into Pennsylvania and hid or burned every boat they could find along the river's shore to keep the British army (well, the Hessians) from advancing after them. General Washington planned an attack on the Hessians on Christmas Day, 1776. His army crossed in large durham boats, and they transported canons and horses across by ferry. For 8 hours, they trudged through cold mud, with 2/3 of the men without shoes. They attacked the Hessians in Trenton that morning and won. Nearly 900 surrendered. During a 10 day period, General Washington won three major victories, including Princeton, changing the course of our Revolution.

After the video, we took a look at a full-sized digital reproduction of the famous painting, "Washington Crossing the Delaware." Then our tour guide, Tom, took us outside and into the cold. We looked at replicas of the durham boats the soldiers had used to cross. He also demonstrated how the men loaded the canons. We wandered over to McConkey's Ferry Inn which, we learned, is rumored to be where Washington and his men dined before crossing the Delaware. McConkey's Ferry Inn was set up to look like it would in colonial times, with old-fashioned games and leather beer pitchers.

Our tour guide, Tom, talked about McConkey's Ferry Inn from some personal experience. We learned that he grew up literally 50 yards from these historical buildings, right on the Delaware River. Back then, in the 30s and 40s, these historic sites weren't preserved. He said it McConkey's Ferry Inn was a restaurant/pub when he was growing up, but it was too expensive for his family to eat at. The original building was made of wood, but was renovated in the 19th century and developed with stone. He talked about the bridge just south of us, which used to be wooden. I loved hearing him describe the noises of people and vehicles riding over the wooden slats of the bridge. The river, he said, used to be very dirty and polluted. Due to concerns of polio, he was never allowed to play in it as a child. In time, it was cleaned up, and now people play and water ski in the river, and it's used for drinking water for tens of millions of people!

Tom talked about the reinactments done of Washington's crossing every year on Christmas Day. I believe he said the first one was done in 1953. He said the people who did it used one boat, and they were completely sloshed. In the late 60s, his friends and he joked that it would be funny if "the British attacked." In 1969, they rigged up a boat with cherry bombs, smoke bombs, and a British flag, and they led a surprise mock attack on the reinacters in their loan boat. The following year, he says, the reinacters were accompanied by police boats! The whole story was both outlandish and hilarious.

These days, he said, the reinactments are done really well. The people who do them are dedicated to what they do, and people come from all over to see them. On the reinactment days, they open up the old stores and buildings, and there are reinactors who act as blacksmiths and who knit. It sounds like a good time! Tom said they're currently wiring the area to broadcast the speeches and talks of the reinactment to all the people who come and wait out by the river.

Our 45 minute tour probably ended up being an hour-and-a-half. I could have hung around all day with our guide! He was so informative and had a lot of personalized information to add to the tour. It was absolutely worth the $6. Luck really worked out in our favor. We set out hoping to see something and ended up with a tour by a guide who grew up right there and could tell us everything we could possible want to know. Seriously, what are the odds of having a tour guide who literally lived right near the site of the crossing for most of his life?

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Photos

Washington's Crossing Visitor Center
The visitor's center underwent a multi-million dollar renovation and just reopened this past Sunday.

A Statue of George Washington & Commemorative Plaque
My dad loves plaques.

Digital Reproduction of "Washington Crossing the Delaware"
The original painting hangs in New York, but this is a full-sized digital replica of the painting that hangs 12' x 20'!

Where General George Washington Crossed the Delaware
The plaque reads, "Near this spot/ WASHINGTON/ crossed the Delaware/ on Christmas night 1776/ the eve of the Battle of Trenton."

Our Tour Guide, Tom
Tom grew up right on the Delaware River where George Washington famously crossed to attack the British.

Replicas of the Durham Boats
These boats are huge! I believe he said they're 44' long, 8' wide, and 6' deep. The ones used by the Continental Army to cross the Delaware were even longer.

McConkey's Ferry Inn
This is located just behind the visitor's center. Legend has it, George Washington and his men ate here before crossing the Delaware.

Leather Mugs and Old-Fashioned Checkers
McConkey's Ferry Inn is now set up to represent what life would have been like in colonial times.

The Site of General Washington's Famous Crossing
More than 236 years later, and I doubt the view is much changed. It's a cool feeling to be where George Washington and his continental army once were.