The Best Things in Life are Free: Mercer County, NJ Edition!

They say the best things in life are free, so we set out to find some unique complimentary tours and outings offered in the Mercer County, NJ area! This handful of ideas are all within an easy 20 minute-or-less drive from the Inn. Some require planning, so be sure to check the links for additional details!

Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory: Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) is a US Department of Energy national laboratory for plasma physics and nuclear fusion science. It is known for the development of the stellarator and tokamak designs. Public tours are offered the fourth Friday of most months at 11am. You MUST provide visitor information at least nine days in advance to comply with the site protection clearance process. 

WJHCS Heritage Tour: Witherspoon-Jackson Historical and Cultural Society (WJHCS) has placed nearly 30 Heritage Tour plaques in the Witherspoon-Jackson neighborhood. Since the early 19th century, African American residents of Princeton occupied this segregated district as a proud, self-sufficient and self-sustaining community. The self-guided Heritage Tour marks historic sites with memorial plaques in the Witherspoon-Jackson neighborhood and surrounding area.

Image courtesy of Princeton University Art Museum.

Princeton University Art Museum Outdoor Walking Tours: Princeton University is home to one of the most significant collections of twentieth- and twenty-first-century public sculpture in the country. Join a guided walking tour of the campus collections with an Art Museum guide and discover a variety of artworks by modern and contemporary sculptors, from Henry Moore to Maya Lin. Learn about materials and techniques and explore elements of design and balance.

Night Skies at Washington Crossing Simpson Observatory: Experience a tour of the night sky with the Amateur Astronomers Association of Princeton on Friday evenings from April to October. Check ahead for current status and parking directions as this is a weather dependent event. And remember no white lights!

Amazon Warehouse: Ever wondered what happens when you shop on Amazon? You can now tour an actual Amazon warehouse and see how people and technology work together to provide Amazon deliveries on a daily basis. If your preferred date is not available, check back mid-month when Amazon releases new tour availability!

Trenton Walks! Trenton Walks! is the name of a new program that features walks throughout Trenton between June and October 2024. Sponsored by the Trenton Green Team, with the support of the Mercer County Action Team, the community engagement program features walks in and around the capital city of New Jersey.

Drumthwacket: Serving as the stately home and grounds of the official residence of the Governor of New Jersey, Drumthwacket is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is one of the most elegant executive residences in our country. Tour the historic residence and learn about the collection of 18th and 19th-century furniture, paintings, and objets d’art.  

Puzzles, puzzles, and more puzzles!

You may have noticed Lydia's penchant for puzzles during your last visit to the Inn.  She is an admitted puzzle "addict" and was fully immersed into the craze during the pandemic!  Her favorite spot to piece them together was the dining room table. During the slow days of the pandemic this was ideal until the random guest would show up!

After a few too many interruptions from the brave, infrequent guest and a need for the dining room table, Lydia finally treated herself to a really cool puzzle board (holding up to 1000 pieces and large enough for a 21" x 27" puzzle) that now sits in the Office.  Guests of all ages give her a hand on these puzzles while they visit, and she completes each one.

Flash forward to today: Lydia now has about 40 puzzles that she has completed and we are running out of shelf space at the Inn. 

PLEASE help us!!!!! 

Bring Lydia a new puzzle (that you have completed) and feel free to take one (or two) home from our office shelf. Forgot your puzzle, that's OK, just remember one the next time you visit. And, if you are a serious puzzle fanatic (or know one), Lydia is happy to share information on her puzzle board!  

Not Your Grandmother's Bed and Breakfast

I had the recent experience of visiting a college campus with my teen daughter. We stayed in a bed and breakfast near the campus. Sound familiar? The campus visit was a success, the B&B not so much.

After we checked in and looked around, my daughter said, “Is this what you’re implying when you say your B&B is “not your grandmother’s bed and breakfast?” Maybe the stuffed peacock in the corner, or the extensive collection of glass figurines gave her that idea.

Listen, there’s a B&B out there for everybody, and some people LOVE the stuffed peacocks and glass figurines, but when we opened our doors, we wanted to be different. The best compliment we can receive, is, “We hate B&Bs but we LOVE your place!”

The Hunt Room

Our decor is eclectic. The antiques we do have are mostly sideboards, end tables, and accent pieces. Our artwork is a mix of modern and traditional. Any surface you sit on is new. Don’t worry about encountering a wobbly 100-year old chair or a creaky bed and springy mattress. OK, full disclosure, our floors are random width pine, and crooked, and you can see through the cracks. But, we call that character!

You will never see doilies, stuffed animals, dingy wall to wall carpeting, or drab wallpaper at the Inn at Glencairn. You will see comfortable rooms that complement the era of the building and enhance the ambience. And, rest assured, our electrical, plumbing and mechanical systems are all up to date and working properly! Sure, they didn’t have central air conditioning in the 18th century or flat screen TVs, but wouldn’t it have been nice if they did?!

So, when you book at the Inn at Glencairn. Keep in mind, this is “not your grandmother’s bed and breakfast” and enjoy your stay!

History of the Inn: Harry the Trapper

Ever wonder where we got the inspiration for naming our rooms? We dug into the archives of the nearly 300 years of Glencairn history and paid tribute to a few of its interesting inhabitants. The Baldwin Suite is named for perhaps the most fascinating character of Glencairn, Harry Baldwin, or more affectionately known as Harry the Trapper.

Harry lived in the Stone Wing of the house around the turn of the nineteenth century and was employed as a farmer on the property. The farm at that time ran up past Carter Road and onto the property now owned by Bristol Myers. Harry tended to the cows, chopped wood, and became known around the area as a first class trapper. He earned a fair amount of income from trapping animals and selling their fur. Children would bring their trapped muskrats, raccoons, and skunks to Harry, and Harry would skin them for 25 cents and sell them to a local buyer. Given his rough and tumble ways, Harry always smelled a little of skunk and had a habit of spitting tobacco wherever he pleased! Yet, despite his crude ways, Harry was also honest to a fault and known as a kind person.

The Great Room Fireplace

Years later, after we converted the farmhouse into the Inn at Glencairn, we were fortunate to strike up a friendship with a descendant of Harry, our dear friend Audrey. She loved Halloween, and made an annual pilgrimage to the Inn to stay in the Baldwin Suite hoping for a “visit” from her dear, departed relative. Harry never showed up, but we always enjoyed our visits with Audrey!

So, next time you walk into the stone side of the Inn and up to the Baldwin Suite, close your eyes and imagine a time when Harry was living there enjoying a good book by the fire or sharing some stories with the children who brought him their hides!

Better than Airbnb Sale: Stay five nights for the price of four! Weekends included!

It is time for our first "Better than Airbnb" Sale!  Book your five-night stay from now until April 2, 2020 and receive one night free. Take advantage of this great offer to stay at our award winning Bed and Breakfast!

The "Better than Airbnb" Sale cannot be combined with any other offers and must be made directly through us via phone. Face it: You know you are not going to get this fabulous breakfast at an airbnb!

Take advantage of our special and we bet you will be hooked! Need a reason to visit the Princeton area? Grounds for Sculpture, McCarter Theatre, and Palmer Square always have something exciting going on!