Mansions among Boulders & a New Take on Chicken Pot Pie

Lake Hoptacong CT Bears, from left: Token2, Mac, Anonymous Ed, Anonymous Anonymous, CT Blogger, John J., Captain. I had wife Cynthia sew this season's gold rocker on my vest and so had to wear it for the photo; 15 years riding Polar Bear for me so far.

Motorcycle Polar Bear Blog, Polar Bear Grand Tour, ride to Lake Hopatcong, NJ, January 29, 2017.

By: Chris Loynd, a.k.a. CT Blogger

Approaching our Stratford, CT, Dunkin' Donuts launch pad I had the overwhelming feeling I'd forgotten something. As I turned into the parking lot I looked down at my handlebars and noticed the GPS mount was empty. Ah, ha!

Pulling up to our group I pointed to the blank mount and told Captain I couldn't lead this week. He made me no nevermind; alternative arrangements were already made. "I'm leading until we pick up Token2, John J. is sweeping, you're in the rocking chair," Captain dictated.

John J.'s appearance means just two things: 1) there's no football on TV and 2) there's no salt on the roads. As it turned out today, only the first condition held true. Sorry John. Hopefully those small town roads were only covered in sodium chloride, not magnesium.

(Monday Cynthia and I drove down to Newtown, Penn. for a family matter. On the way down, and back, we several times got stuck behind state trucks spraying that magnesium crap onto the roadway directly in front of us, all day long, in Connecticut, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, all for a couple inches of snow predicted for Tuesday. I stayed back from the trucks as far as I could but yikes! At 10:00 that night I washed the car then soaked it in SaltAway.)

Sunday as we motorcycled south on I-95 we had another bike unexpectedly drop into line, a rider whose name cannot be publicly mentioned. Next, Token2 was on the shoulder of I-287 waiting for us. He roared, no, wait, that's a Harley metaphor. He zinged to the front of our line and took the lead.

Token2 is our champion of alongside the interstate. I don't know if he's ridden all these roads before or if he's just very adept with his GPS. He knows Harriman State Park like the back of his hand and leads us through that epic scenery on Polar Bear runs when the destination's right.

Sunday we followed Token2 as he exited I-287 early, diving into a gorgeous slice of New Jersey. We rode tight and twisty roads up and down hills. Surrounding us were huge rock outcrops and fields of boulders. Interspersed with the boulders and hanging off outcrops were mansion after mansion. I am not using that moniker recklessly. Some were California style modern architecture literally suspended out from the cliffs.

Token2 delivered some of his signature two lane twisties. Up and down hills, around tight corners and through some serious scenery, Token2 did not disappoint. But it being winter, we pressed back onto the four lane highways to get to lunch and Polar Bear sign-in in time to get home before sunset.

Our host Upstream Grille did a fabulous job. Other bears must have adopted our EDP because there was a real rush soon after 11:00. The Upstream Grille staff set up long tables family style to make maximum use of their space. In addition they had a special Polar Bear menu of a hearty half-dozen choices. This keeps the kitchen efficient and reduces wait time. They missed only on keeping the coffee urn full.

I mistakenly bought two lunches. They had an onion soup and gumbo listed, then chicken pot pie, a hamburger, pulled pork sliders and a couple others I don't remember. A couple of our guys ordered the onion soup; I figured on a cup of gumbo "soup" instead. But it wasn't a cup. I ended up with a big bowl of gumbo loaded with sausage and topped with crawfish. It was delicious. Then for my "entree" I, and several others, enjoyed a really cool chicken pot pie.

Upstream Chefs did a very interesting take on chicken pie. You got an individual cast iron skillet filled with a soupy chicken and veggies topped with a beautiful puff pastry. Especially fortunate for me, juggling two meals, the iron skillet kept the chicken hot longer. And as Mac discovered, once you cut the puff pastry into the soupy chicken and veggies, you had a chicken pot pie with an incredibly flaky and light crust. Well played, Upstream, well played.