Revolutionary Crawl Blends History And Hospitality In The River Towns

NEW HOPE, PA — New Hope turned the clocks back to the late 1700s on Saturday as a Revolutionary Pub Crawl made its way through the river towns of New Hope and Lambertville.

At noon, more than 40 crawlers gathered at Havana’s on South Main Street in New Hope to lift a pint with General George Washington before embarking on the ninth annual crawl, which took them to four local establishments where they learned about life during the Revolution while enjoying light fare, drinks and special music.

At Havana, General George Washington, portrayed by Sam Davis, spoke to the gathering about the dark days of the American Revolution, when victory seemed beyond reach.

General George Washington, portrayed by Sam Davis, at Havana's.

At the bar inside Havana's. (Photo by Jeff Werner)

At the Lambertville House, re-enactor Leon Vaughan shared the story of the Marblehead regiment which navigated Washington and the troops across the Delaware on that fateful Christmas night in 1776. The crawlers learned that without the help of the Marbleheaders and Colonel John Glover the crossing would never have happened.

Organizer Marianne Rosato joins re-enactors and event supporters inside the Lambertville House in New Jersey. (Photo by Jeff Werner)

George Washington shares a conversation with one of the crawlers. (Photo by Jeff Werner)

At the Logan Inn, Benjamin Franklin, portrayed by Rob Devitis, regaled the crawlers with life stories and told the gathering that every one of his ideas, institutions, and inventions were all done for the public good. Not one of them was for myself. The lending library. The fire department. And the hospital. Not many know that I started the very first hospital in this country and it's still here today - Pennsylvania Hospital."

The crawl concluded with stops at the Great Barn Taproom where they were greeted and entertained by historian and singer-songwriter Richard Jarboe and at Havana's for an After Party with live music and dancing to the Strange Brew Crew.

April and Peter Burkin of Morrisville Borough were taking their first Revolutionary Crawl and were having a great time.

"It's a great way to learn about history and do it in a fun way," said Peter. "I never knew some of the things that we are hearing today."

"And we love to dress up and drink so this is perfect for us," added April.

April and Peter Burkin of Morrisville Borough at the bar at Havana's. (Photo by Jeff Werner)

The crawl was created by Marianne Rosato for New Hope Winterfest as a way of keeping history alive while supporting and promoting local businesses. She now runs the local crawl through her own marketing company with plans for future pub crawls coming soon Morristown, Princeton, Easton, and Doylestown.

Rosato's next big event is a River Towns Soup Cook-off scheduled for February 24 from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. at Havana on South Main Street. Local chefs will be whipping up their favorite soups with the public getting to taste and vote for their favorites. The cost is $20 per person.

To order tickets, visit www.RevolutionaryCrawlAndEvents.com.

The Revolutionary Crawl makes its way north on Main Street in New Hope. (Photo by Jeff Werner)

On the New Hope-Lambertville Free Bridge. (Photo by Jeff Werner)

(Photos by Jeff Werner)