BACKROADS • MAY 2022
Page 14
Thisilldous Eatery presents
GREAT ALL AMERICAN DINER RUN
tasty places to take your bike
COCOON COFFEE HOUSE
8 SILK MILL DRIVE, HAWLEY, PA 18428 570-2266130 • HAWLEYSILKMILL.COM/COCOON-COFFEE-HOUSE/ A bit back we featured a very snazzy and picturesque hotel called Ledges in Hawley, Pennsylvania. Come morning we uncharacterizable got a later start than usual – mainly waiting for the Indian Summer sun to do its job and bring us from the 30s to the mid-40s mercury-wise. Next to the old glass factory, that is now Ledges, we took a tour of the old silk mill which is part historic and part commercial – but in a good way with a few very interesting shops mixed with the history of the mill than has a most unique honor. Built in 1880 and operated as a Silk Mill until 1956, the recently appointed National Register of Historic Places Hawley Silk Mill is, to this day, the largest laid bluestone building in the world. We went to call bull shit on this but… maybe not? The term “bluestone” is derived from a deep-blue-colored sandstone first found in Ulster County, New York. It can, however, appear in many other hues, mostly shades of grays and browns. Bluestone quarrying is of particular value to the economy of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania. Recently refurbished as an education center and office space, the mill has a rich history as an economic and historic resource to the Northeastern Pennsylvania Region.
Nestled in front of the massive structure sat an adorable little building that once sheltered the cocoons that supplied the silk. Today, it is the home of the coffee house, which proudly carries on the legacy in its name. It is called Cocoon and we want you to think of Cocoon as more a funky historic stop that also has some great food. Cocoon has both. While there certainly take a tour of the mill and stroll down to Ledges to see the hotel and, especially the magnificent waterfalls. Now, as Americans, we are all versed in how real silk is made, right? Exactly. It has to do with worms… tiny, itsy bitsy (tinier than our Marilyn) worms! Silk fibers are produced by silkworms when they spin themselves into a cocoon on their journey to becoming a silk moth. These ultra-soft fibers are harvested from the cocoon in their raw state by being
