A bike ride into the 1800s and the shadow of George McClellan and Joseph Bonaparte

Sometimes it doesn’t take much to learn someone’s story.

In this case, it was the Brit shouting out “nice flowers” to a man weeding by the D&R Canal in Trenton.

And before we knew it, Charles (who apparently is also known for growing garlic) was explaining how schoolkids he works with had grown and planted the mix of red and white vincas and petunias now in the star-shaped frames and how he wanted more stars along the D&R Canal, perhaps 13 for the 13 colonies, and then more for the various military branches, and and .. but that navigaviting state and city bureaucracy (within a few yards ownership shifts from the state — particularly the D&R Canal State Park but apparently others also have a say — to the city) is a nightmare.

Wow.

30 minutes later, with the heat rising noticeably, we were back on our bikes (with me feeling grateful that I’ve been able to get some things done in my town of just under 30,000).

We had started out just before 8 a.m., trying to beat the heat on a 21-mile ride from near the Princeton Junction train station to Bordentown and grateful for the shade on the D&R Canal towpath (part of the developing 3,000-mile East Coast Greenway). Plenty of runners had the same idea. So did a couple of fishermen, one with a five-gallon bucket strapped to the back of his bike, presumably for his haul. I always wonder just how safe the fish are to eat, but then the canal is a source of drinking water…

We haven’t been this far down on the towpath in quite a while. I’m always thankful for that bike/ped bridge over Route 1 and wonder what made the state build it back in 2003. Further south, the trail narrows, sometimes just one skinny single track. There’s the awful crossing at Whitehead Road, due to be improved in a few years, then Mulberry and the towpath turns to pavement, built in 2009 to close a longstanding gap (the canal runs under Route 1 at that point). And of course there’s a warehouse being built on spec and looking for a tenant — so many of those in Central Jersey these days.

The goal is Bordentown, where D&R Greenway has acquired part of Joseph Bonaparte’s former estate and has opened the Discovery Center in his gardener’s old house. (And yes, he’s related to that Bonaparte; Napoleon was his brother.)

But first we head through downtown Trenton, along Warren Street, where Alexander Hamilton launched cannonballs in that surprise attack that saved the Revolution. Almost 250 years later, we’re surprised by some lifelike Seward Johnson statues like this one, just a few doors up from a deli that sells real hot dogs.

We eventually end up on Centre Street, where this catches my eye:

We now head for Riverview Cemetery, where some of Trenton’s grandees were laid to rest back when Trenton was much grander and could live up to those words on a bridge over the Delaware River: Trenton Makes, The World Takes.

George McClellan is buried here. Remember him from U.S. history? He’s one of the early Union generals in the Civil War (better at organizing the army than taking on Robert E. Lee) and Lincoln’s kinda-peacenik opponent in the 1864 election. Turns out he also was a New Jersey governor (a job he hadn’t sought but then accepted the Democratic nomination and then won handily.) Sounds like he didn’t do much in his three years there either beyond cutting taxes, always a good political move. And then .. term limits. Even back then.

Another historical tidbit: McClellan’s son did a turn as New York City mayor early in the 20th century.

Then we discover there is a Bonaparte connection to Riverview Cemetery: Joseph once owned part of what’s now the cemetery.

We realized too late that we could also hunt for the resting spot for some of the Roeblings, the family that built, among other things, the Brooklyn Bridge. Their company town, named of course Roebling, is several miles south of Bordentown, reachable on a gorgeous trail. (You can also keep going to Philadelphia.)

A reason to go back.

We also need to go back to Bordentown, which we reach using the final section of the D&R towpath. Joseph Bonaparte, once the king of Naples and the king of Spain, landed here after escaping Europe (and a trip to Siberia) in 1815, after his brother’s defeat at Waterloo. He lived the lavish life in Jersey and left Point Breeze for the last time in 1839.

Unfortunately for us, guided tours at Point Breeze are only offered on Thursdays and Sundays, and this Sunday is supposed to be a washout. Guess we could have tried wandering around the grounds on our own, but with the real feel approaching 101, it was time to find an air-conditioned spot for food and then hop the train back home.

Too far for just one bike ride? Make a weekend of it in the Princeton area with these ideas. Bike the Lawrence Hopewell Trail. Go into Monmouth County and discover Bruce Springsteen’s Freehold. And if you want to camp, there’s that too.