On my drives from New York City to the Catskills to go fishing on the Beaverkill River, I always took Route 17, because it was a little more interesting.
Off the George Washington Bridge, I’d take Route 4 in New Jersey and then NJ 17 near the Garden State Plaza. Once I crossed back into New York near Suffern, the surroundings started to change from urban to rural.
On Route 17 in Southfields, New York, was The Red Apple Rest. I probably first went by there in the late 70′s. I took this photograph around 1979. The Red Apple Rest closed in 2006.
Josepth Berger at the NY Times wrote about the Red Apple Rest’s location: “What made the Red Apple so essential a summertime port of call was not so much its food as its location. Before the New York State Thruway opened in 1956, the ride up to the mountains along the old Route 17 could take four or five hours and the Red Apple Rest was almost exactly halfway. While there were three or four other pit stops, the Red Apple, watched over by its founder, Reuben Freed, became the place to go.”
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Toolmonger
July 11th, 2011 at 7:13 AM
If there were a Thruway exit for the Red Apple, it might still be open today. Thus, the anti-business New York State government killed much business in the state, up until now.
May 20th, 2011 at 7:24 AM
Rmember stopping at Red Apple in the Mid 60′s on my way west to Port Jervis on Route 17. I then lived in Brgen County, NJ and always used Route 17 from Ridgewood Avenue, Paramus. In summer months it was always crowded with many times nowhere to park that I was not able to make the stop. I am sorry to see it has closed and appears to need much work if it were to reopen.
The last resturant I used in the Tuxedo area was the Orange Dinver where there always was a lot of parking. I don’t know if that is still in business today.