The town of Honesdale lies in Wayne County¹, in the north-eastern corner of the state of Pennsylvania, not far away from the Pocono Mountains and about three hours away from New York City. It's not a very large town, but since there are many summer camps in the area it has become a local centre for those people who come to work as camp staff. In general, it's a pretty nice little town, and you could probably spend a couple of fun hours there.

History

Considering the role that Pennsylvania has played in the coal mines and steel industry, it is no wonder that the history of Honesdale is commercial, and based around the local coal mines. Honesdale was laid out in 1826, originally under the name Dyberry Forks, and was incorporated in 1831. The main purpose for its existence was to have 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. It is named after Philip Hone, former Mayor of New York and president of the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company, and 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. The trial run of the Stourbridge Lion was set to 8 August, 1829. Unfortunately, during this trial run it was discovered that the locomotive was too heavy for the wooden tracks, and so the famous Stourbridge Lion was stored in a shed in town and never used again; nevertheless, history had been made.

A full-scale replica of the Stourbridge Lion, specially made for the 100th anniversary of its running, can be found in the local museum on Main Street, where you can also learn its story and 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, get on one of those routes, and with the help of a map you should have no problem getting there (but just in case you might want to check on how to get there, use this link). 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 pick-up, because the taxi service is expensive.

Around Town

As you get into the town, you'd notice that it is not very complicated. 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 simply 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 are still things to do in Honesdale if you stick around.

The main attraction seems to be the local Wal-Mart⁵, which lies about a ten minute drive – or about a 45 minute walk – out of town. Right next to it is the Route 6 Plaza, where you can find many other big chain-stores 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 movie theatre, Cinema 6⁶. And if you're in a silly mood and it's early in the day and everything else is closed, don't miss the Family Fun & Games Center for plenty of corny fun.

In the town itself there are no chain-stores, except for one CVS Pharmacy. There is a public library⁷, the aforementioned local museum, and many small shops.

Some shops worth a mention:

• The Other Shop is a very nice 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 outdoor shop that will surely appeal to those of you who enjoy spending money on outdoor gear. It is also a good place to enquire about organising bike trips, canoe trips and the like.

There are also a couple of stores that sell tacky country-lifestyle souvenirs, which are pretty fun to stop by.

Food

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

• The Coffee Grinder is a rather popular breakfast spot; it's got pretty traditional American stuff, such as waffles, pancakes, eggs and bacon.
• Café Déjà Vu is a cute little yuppie place with really good coffee for the coffee snobs amongst you, and it also has a gorgeous patio in 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. The coffee's awful, 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 and cheesesteaks as well as most other American junk food, but it's good. It sells very cool tie-dye 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 chain food store, your best bet would be 'Two Guys from Italy' (usually referred to simply as 'Two Guys') which offers pretty good pizza and is also slightly cheaper than Pizza Hut.

Watering Holes

For a drink (or many) on a night off the most popular choice seems to be Wayne Hotel, which has a big bar with cheap beer and a dance floor with bad music, as well as the possibility of getting a room upstairs⁸.

Other bars in the area are: Jennz Café, a smaller and more intimate place which is usually closed at night; Cordaro's on the way to Wal-Mart, which has karaoke nights every once in a while; and Fireside Bar, which is a bit out of town.

The Great Outdoors

There are some biking trails in the area, but not many hiking trails. 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 and drive some way away. There are a couple of places not very far away where you can also go canoeing or white water rafting, but nothing in the close vicinity, so you'll need a car to get there.

Sleeping Out

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 into a room, 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 and a lot of young people like to put up a tent there and have a bit of a swim whilst drinking themselves stupid. Two very popular campsites are Tanners Falls, which is pretty close to town, and Skinners Falls, which is further north near the Delaware River but which is supposed to be much nicer.

The Wayne County Fair

The Wayne County Fair takes place in early August, and it is one of the greatest local events of the summer. It's a pretty standard county fair actually – jam-packed with people, games, rides, junk 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 info, local news and the likes.
• There are not one but 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 a cute little site, quite similar to the former actually, 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.

Related BBCi Links

• For other travel destinations, why not browse with BBCi Holiday?