​SMOG WEEKEND

Stay at a Haunted Hotel

July 25-26, 2026

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​Fellow Rogues and Scoundrels:

 

Want to get out more this year? Do you have an appetite for exploring great roads and new destinations with your motorcycle and friends, but never seem to find the time or opportunity?

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Summer Motorcycle Overnight Getaway (SMOG) Weekends are the solution!  Each monthly trip has a unique destination and a related theme.  We depart Gaby’s Café (gabyscafe941nj.com) in Frenchtown, NJ on Saturday mornings, travel great roads with uncommon objectives to unusual destinations, enjoy exceptional company at dinner on Saturday evenings, and then wander home on Sundays.

 

The SMOG Weekend of July 25-26 will take us to the 1867 Parkview Inn, a cozy, charming, and HAUNTED hotel in Owego, NY.  Listed on the Haunted History Trail of New York (click here), the Inn has been featured on national television and has garnered notoriety for its mysterious stories of spirits and haunted happenings, the latter of which have been confirmed by paranormal professionals.  Here are just a few:

 

• One spirit is that of a child named Marguerite, whose chair was too close to a warming fire in 1909 when a blanket on her chair caught fire.  Sadly, the young girl lost her life from burns she sustained.

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• Careful when you sit at the bar, you may rub elbows with the spirits of three cowboys who occasionally hang out there and are believed to have murdered a man in the building’s basement.  Not convinced?  A recent renovation there unearthed some old bones believed to belong to the victim.

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• Walls do talk...  A secret and mysterious sealed-off room was found only within the last few years during some renovations and another space has been identified by a paranormal professional as the site of a death long ago.

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The 1867 Parkview Inn has operated for more than 150 years and was restored to its former glory in 2019.  Over the years, the Inn has hosted respected dignitaries and famous individuals such as John D. Rockefeller and Oscar Hammerstein to name one or two.  Please note that the property has only has 16 rooms, so reserve yours now.  To take a virtual tour of the options available for this weekend and to secure your accommodations, just click here to go to the Inn's website.

 

Conveniently, this hostelry houses the Duggan House Restaurant and Pub where on Saturday evening we will enjoy a fine selection of refreshing libations and hearty victuals. Simply click here to preview the menu.

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Be prepared for a prompt "kickstands up" departure at 9:00AM on Saturday morning at Gaby’s Café (gabyscafe941nj.com) in Frenchtown, NJ.  The ride to the Parkview Inn will be a pleasant excursion totaling approximately 200 miles on the backroads of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York.  (Route details will be provided to participants as the date draws nearer.)  Naturally, we will stop for lunch along the way and have the opportunity to relax at the hotel before dinner. 

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If you are flying solo and want to share a room on Saturday night, let me know and I will put you in touch with other solo riders.

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"How do I participate in this experience?" you ask.  Here are the three simple steps:

 

• Advise me that you will be joining us (just send me an email at the address appearing below);

 

• Make your hotel reservation (remember to select the refundable option if you are sensitive to the whims of the weather gods); and

 

• Arrive at Gaby’s Café (gabyscafe941nj.com) in Frenchtown, NJ that Saturday morning with a full tank of gas and, as previously indicated, be prepared for a prompt "kickstands up" departure at 9:00AM.

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Is there a rain date?  Think positively.  However, we do occasionally reschedule our adventures when we encounter tempests, typhoons, cataclysmic seismic events, and other Armageddon-type inconveniences.

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If you plan to join us or have any questions, email me at WanderlustRidersNJ@gmail.com.  (Be sure to include the "NJ".)

 

Fred Larcombe

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