Ah, it was only a few weeks ago that I was saying it wasn’t worth it to schlep for miles to shop for salvage. Well, then I lost a bunch of stuff due to the storm. Now that I have to shop all over again, I seem to have forgotten my own advice.

And so I was off to southern NJ and Philadelphia yesterday.

My first stop was Recycling the Past in Barnegat, NJ. The town is chock full of antique shops and when I pulled up to this particular architectural salvage oasis, it did not disappoint. It was like being a kid in a candy shop (see photos)! Only when I found out the prices I realized that mommy didn’t give me enough money to buy any candy. That’s not to say they are overpriced, but their prices are more on par with some of the larger Manhattan places rather than the salvage guys I’m used to in Brooklyn.

Light fixtures were in the $200’s-$1000’s. Some were really beautiful and well worth it, but when you’re working with a negative $15k budget, you ain’t buying thousand dollar light fixtures. Not that I do anyway because I am a bargain diva. Claw foot tubs in bad shape were $400. You can get one for half that at Vaccaro’s and even less at Eddie’s.

So why do I travel? Because those guys don’t have some of the newer crap that I need. Tiles and molding in semi decent shape. Kitchen cabinets. I have yet to luck out at Build it Green on those items. BTW, I’m not too impressed with BIG Gowanus prices, so I usually stick to Astoria.

In Philly, I went to a ReStore and the Urban Artifacts Warehouse which looked closed. I walked in and a couple of guys moving furniture said I probably shouldn’t be there. I didn’t argue since I realized it was one of the higher priced salvage shops anyway.

It was actually the Bucks County Restore where I hit the kitchen cabinet jackpot. Well, as much of a jackpot that I could fit into my Rav 4. So, all in all, I came back with 2 base cabinets for $55 and spent about $65 in gas and tolls.

You do the math. Yeah, I know.

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Yeah, I like to travel BIG just as much as anyone. But sometimes an overseas vacation is more stressful than it’s worth. That’s why I’m a huge fan of local travel. Just go. Get out of the city for a few days. No better way to relax. Instead of my usual “Weekender” post, I’ll let you do your own research. Here are some planning resources for ya….

GORP covers the great outdoors. The site lists activities on Long Island, in NJ and Upstate. For those of you who can’t get away, there are resources for biking, kayaking and horseback riding right in the city.

EscapeMaker isn’t greatly informative, but it does cover lots of ground. A nice place to start before narrowing down where it is you want to go.

I Love NY. Who doesn’t?

Discover Long Island here.

And New Jersey here.

Retreats for the highly stressed.

Or follow the culture.

Parent Zone has a nice guide for child friendly weekend trips.

And Blue Sky Dogs is a travel agent. For dogs.

Cyberrentals and VRBO are THE two vacation rental sites. Filter by price, kids, pets, area, etc.

Have fun!

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Forgive me. I’m lumping one big county together here in a pretty vague post because 1) I’m not really up on the geography of Bucks County, 2) I haven’t visited in a few years and 3) Pennsylvania is doesn’t count as the tri-state area so you’re lucky you’re getting this at all.

Way back yonder when we were living in Park Slope and started looking for a country place, our first stop was Bucks County. We had a friend who moved from Hoboken to an old farmhouse on 7 acres and we loved visiting. This was pre-internet (we are so F*in old!!) and I remember driving around with a big MLS book looking at homes. There was nothing for under $300k and our range was more like $100k so we gave up the dream.

I wanted to see what’s cooking in the real estate department over there these days. Yes, I managed to pull up some pretty cool homes for under $500k. But to be honest with you, I have no idea where they are. I know that my friend is near Frenchtown, NJ (in Tinicum, PA) and chose PA over NJ because both home prices and taxes were lower just over the river.

So when I say Bucks County, I guess I mean “Upper Bucks”. Anyway, it has a different feel from Upstate, NY. The land is less rugged. Instead of mountains, the landscape provides windy tree lined roads and the Delaware River snaking through the area. To add to the charm, Bucks County is home to a ginormous amount of covered bridges. And historic homes.

It takes about 90 minutes from NYC. Trans Bridge Bus Lines was the only form of public transit I came up with in my search and I don’t know how user friendly the bus lines are once in Bucks County.

There’s no shortage of great restaurants, antiques shops, galleries and even wineries here. New Hope is a crowded tourist trap, but if you plan on going sans automobile, this might be the place to hit. Doylestown and Frenchtown, NJ also have much to offer with less of a tourist feel than New Hope.

Bucks County is definitely worth a weekend visit at the very least. Here’s a list of gay friendly B&B’s that I’m sure accepts heteros too. And if you fall in love with Bucks (which you will), see home prices in the following post.

Time Out article
Bucks County.org
Bucks Views
Doylestown Alive

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$130k: Quakertown 4BR

$259k: Morrisville 3BR

$399.9k: Doylestown 4BR w/barn

$439.9k: Erwinna 1865 brick w/barn & stream

The post Bucks County Listings appeared first on reclaimedhome.com.