The town of Honesdale lies in Wayne County¹, in the north-eastern corner of the state of Pennsylvania, not far from the Pocono Mountains and about three hours from New York City. It's not a very large town, but has become popular since the arrival of summer camps in the area.

History

Considering the role that Pennsylvania has played in the coal and steel industry, it's no wonder that Honesdale is steeped in commercial history, based around the local coal mines. The town was laid out in 1826, and was originally called Dyberry Forks. The main purpose for its existence was to provide a terminal for canal barges that carried coal to New York City markets. At one time Honesdale had the largest stockpile of coal in the world. Named after Philip Hone, former Mayor of New York and president of the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company, it takes pride in being the 'birthplace of American railroad' – the place where the first commercial steam locomotive in the US was operated.

That first locomotive, nicknamed 'Stourbridge Lion', was ordered from England in the 1820s by the D&H Canal Company, in the hope that it would replace the more old-fashioned gravity railroad² as a means of transporting coal from Carbondale to Honesdale over the Moosic Mountains. Sadly, during its trial run on 8 August, 1829, the locomotive was found to be too heavy for the wooden tracks and ended up spending the rest of its days in a shed in town. Nevertheless, history had been made.

A full-scale replica of the Stourbridge Lion, especially made for the 100th anniversary of its arrival, can be found in the local museum on Main Street, where you can also learn the history of the Delaware and Hudson Canal.

Getting There

Honesdale is right at the junction between routes US-6 and PA-191. If you have a car, take one of them and with the help of a map, you should have no problem getting there. If you're not coming by car, the only way to get into Honesdale is by taking the Shortline bus from New York, which will take you on a three-hour ride through about a million small towns and two million identical rest stops with McDonald's branches, straight to Honesdale Main Street. If you need to get anywhere else you should arrange for a lift, because the taxi service is expensive.

Around Town

The town's layout is beautifully simple. The main street is called Main Street. The street with the surprising number of churches is called Church Street. The street where the county courthouse is located is called, believe it or not, Court Street. A lot of the other streets around the town centre are just numbered. Not very difficult to find your way anywhere.

Not that there's much to see, honestly – most of it is residential, so you're quite likely to be spending your whole time in Honesdale walking up and down Main Street. That's okay though, it's a nice street.

Shopping, Recreation and What-not

Even though there are more attractive holiday locations in the vicinity, such as New York, Philadelphia, Niagara Falls³, or even the pretty dull city of Scranton⁴, there is still fun to be had in Honesdale if you stick around.

The main attraction seems to be the local Wal-Mart⁵, about a ten-minute drive or a 45-minute walk out of town. Right next to it is the Route 6 Plaza, where you can find several other big chains like McDonald's, K-Mart or Dunkin' Donuts, and plenty of other places to spend your money. This is where you can also find the local Cinema⁶. And if you're in a silly mood, it's early in the day and everything else is closed, don't miss the Family Fun & Games Centre for plenty of corny fun.

In the town itself there are no chainstores, except for one CVS Pharmacy. Instead you'll find a public library⁷, the aforementioned local museum, and many small shops.

Some shops worth a mention:

• The Other Shop is an interesting and incredibly cheap thrift store.
• Main Street Books can be a bit expensive but has an impressive collection of new and old books.
• Northeast Sports is a sports and leisure shop that will surely appeal to those who enjoy spending money on outdoor gear. It's also a good place to enquire about organising bike rides, canoe trips and the like.

There are also a couple of shops that sell tacky country-lifestyle souvenirs, which are pretty fun to check out.

Food

Besides all the fast food chains in the Route 6 Plaza, there are plenty of smaller places in town:

• The Coffee Grinder is a rather popular breakfast café; it offers pretty traditional American fare, such as waffles, pancakes, eggs and bacon.
• Café Déjà Vu is a cute little yuppie place with really good quality coffee and it also has a gorgeous patio at the back.
• Himalaya Café will probably appeal to the more spiritual new-age types – it's part of the Himalayan Institute, which is the local yoga centre. Across the street is a small organic food store. This researcher doesn't recommend the coffee here, though.
• Fat Daddy's is also very popular, especially late at night when it's practically the only food place open in town. It sells all sorts of subs (sandwiches) and cheese-steaks as well as most other American junk food, but it's good. It sells very cool tie-dye T-shirts too.
• Gravity Ice Cream on 6th St (right in the centre of town) is famous for their '1 Dollar cone'. The bowling alley right next to it is closed on Mondays.

If you're around the Route 6 Plaza and don't feel like going to a fast-food chain, your best bet would be 'Two Guys from Italy' (usually referred to simply as 'Two Guys') which offers decent pizza and is also slightly cheaper than Pizza Hut.

Watering Holes

For a drink (or several) on a night off, the most popular choice seems to be Wayne Hotel, which has a big bar with cheap beer and a dancefloor. The tunes are bad-taste and there's a possibility of getting a room upstairs⁸.

Other bars in the area include: Jennz Café, a smaller and more intimate place which is usually closed at night; Cordaro's on the way to Wal-Mart, which often holds karaoke nights; and Fireside Bar, a little further out of town.

The Great Outdoors

There are some biking trails in the area, but not many for hikers. Taking an independent hike through the woods is not recommended, not only because of the possibility of getting lost and being attacked by cougars or bears, but also because most of the land around there is private property – you'll notice the many 'Private Property, No Trespassing' signs everywhere along the roads. So the best solution is to either hike along one of the bike trails (or along a road, if you're not that picky) or to make the effort to drive to a National Park. There are also a couple of spots where you can go canoeing or white water rafting.

Hotels or Camping

Once again Wayne Hotel is the most popular spot, because it's big, it's right in the centre of town and everybody on a night off goes there to drink. They don't really check who goes up to the rooms and who's just going to the bar, so it's pretty easy to get extra people in, thus making it considerably cheaper; so if there's no vacancy, check around and see if you can crash with some of your friends. If there is absolutely no vacancy, people usually head to the Fife and Drum Motel, but this is a bit further away from the centre of town and it doesn't have a bar, so you'll probably find yourself walking back to the Wayne to drink.

You can also sleep outdoors – there are numerous campsites around⁹ the local kids like to put up a tent, have a bit of a swim and a few beers. Two very popular campsites are Tanners Falls, which is close to town and Skinners Falls, further north near the Delaware River but the preferred choice.

The Wayne County Fair

The Wayne County Fair takes place in early August, and is one of the greatest local events of the summer. Jam-packed with people, there are games, rides, food and souvenir stands, as well as various shows and evening activities. It is a cultural experience to enjoy if you have never been to a country fair.

Useful Links

• The official site of Wayne County - for general information and local news.
• There are two official sites for Honesdale:
  
  • Honesdale Online is the bigger site. It has a commercial emphasis, but also some excellent details about the town and the area - check out the virtual tour of historic Honesdale.
  • Historic Honesdale is quite similar to the former, only smaller and more user-friendly. Unfortunately, bits of it are still under construction.
• For historical information try the Wayne County Historical Society for some great descriptions about the gravity railroad and the Stourbridge Lion.
• The Wayne County Fair has its own website.