The stone marker sign at the entrance to the family cemetery. This cemetery is the final resting place of Captain John Outwater from the local militia who fought in the Revolutionary War and his family.
The memorial to Captain Outwater in the center of the cemetery dedicated to his contributions to Revolutionary War
Captain John Outwater during the Revolutionary War
When John J. Outwater was born on 9 February 1780, in Hackensack, Bergen, New Jersey, United States, his father, Captain John Outwater, was 33 and his mother, Hendrickje Dirck Lozier, was 34. He married Cathalina Van Bussum on 1 February 1813, in Old First Reformed Church, Passaic, Passaic, New Jersey, United States.
They were the parents of at least 4 sons. He died on 25 September 1842, in Wilson, Wilson, Niagara, New York, United States, at the age of 62, and was buried in Glenwood, Lewiston, Lewiston, Niagara, New York, United States.
The original entrance to the cemetery must have been on Moonachie Avenue in the distant past.
The original graves of Captain John Outwater and his wife, Louise Lozier
Across from their graves is the memorial to the family
Various members of the Outwater family including parents, brothers and sisters and children are buried here.
The grave of Jacob Outwater and his family
The tombstone of Jacob Outwater
The grave of Jacob’s son who died as an infant
The graves of George Outwater and his wife, Ann Van Note
I think this is the grave of George Outwater’s first wife, Mary
Buried outside the family plot is the grave of Henry Cordes
The Outwater family cemetery sits on a small hill overlooking a Quick Check store and gasoline station. Talk about modern progress.
I took a quick tour of the cemetery:
My video of the Outwater Family Cemetery and the grave of Captain John Outwater of Revolutionary War fame.
The Hopper Farm Family Cemetery is a reminder of what happens when time passes you by and the world changes around you. I went in search for the grave of Andrew Hopper, a veteran of the Revolutionary War. I could not find it.
This historic cemetery is hidden from the road behind two large homes on a tiny hill in the back woods. The only way to access the cemetery is to walk down the utility road off the main road, walk through the woods and walk up through the bush to back of two families back yards.
You can tell by the rotting fallen fence that this cemetery was once enclosed but the fence has since fallen and the cemetery in disarray. Still there is a quiet elegance to it.
The cemetery is in desperate need of clean up and repair as tombstones are broken, fallen and discolored.
Some of the family tombstones have fallen. Still you can see members of the Hopper and Demarest families buried here.
Members of the Vanderbryck family Maryann and Rachel
The grave of David Hopper
The grave of Susan Storms, wife of one of the family members buried here.
The grave of Peter Bogart, a member of the extended family
One of the broken tombstones that I could not read
Another tombstone in loving memory of a name I could not read
The broken stone of Fredrick Storms grave
The family cemetery sits quiet and neglected in the woods. Most of the tombstones broken and discolored and hard to read.
I took one last look as I walked down the hill and said a prayer to these forgotten people. One what must have once been the family farm sits a development of extremely large and well maintained McMansions. This is the irony of this once prominent family.
The family buried at this cemetery:
(Bergen County Genealogical Society website)
Copied July 4, 1913, By John Neafie New York City.
1. Abraham Verbryck, d. Jan. 8, 1843 ae. 63-11-8. 2. John P. Ackerman, d. Feb. 24-1829 ae. 34-1-4. 3. Rachel, wife of John P. Ackerman, d. Oct. 4,1844 ae. 49-11-22. 4. Martha Ann, d. Apr. 6, 1835 ae. 1 yr. 8 da. 5. Martha Ann, d. Feb. 5, 1837 ae. 2 mos. 7 da. 6. Rachel Ann, d. July 12,1838 ae. 6 mos. Children of Abraham and Susan Hopper. 7. Peter G. Bogert d. 5 Dec. 1859 ae. 76-6-16. 8. Mary his wife d. 5 April 1866 ae. 72-6-21. 9. David Berthoif d. 8 Jan. 1851 ae. 85-2-29. 10. Catharine Storms his wife d. 19 June 1864 ae. 87-2-5. 11. Peter, son of Stephen D. and Eliza Berthoif, d. 19 Nov.1843 ae. 1-7-2. 12. Elizer L. Ramsey (My Mother), wife of Stephen D. Bertholf d. 18 Dec. 1876 ae. 56-7-5. 13. Stephen S. Berthoif (Brother), d. 28 Oct. 1875 ae. 21-11-17.(same stone as above.) 14. Frederick Storms d. 20 Feb. 1826 in 54th yr. 15. Alice, widow of above, d. 6 Jan. 1859, ae. 81-6-25. 16. John, son of Frederick and Alice Storms d. 29 Apr. 1852 ae. 37-7-10. 17. Susan B. Storms, wf. of Stites Miller d. at San Francisco, Cal. 16 Dec. 1863 ae. 60 y. 18. Eliza, wf. of Philip Vantassel d. 10 Sept. 1830 ae. 29 y.21 d. 19. Samuel V. Codington b. 19 Jan. 1824 d. 30 Oct. 1834. 20. Mary Ann Verbryck, wf. of William Codington b. 9 Sept.1802 d. 17 Feb. 1835. 21. Samuel Verbryck b. 15 Nov. 1780 d. 16 June 1847. 22. Rachel his wife b. 5 Aug. 1778 d. 13 Dec. 1864. 23. Conrod Lines d. 20 Dec. 1839 ae. 66-2-8 (footstone C. L.) 24. Garret G., son of Philip and Jane Hopper, d. 17 Apr. 1833 ae. 15 mos. 25. Rachel Bogert d. 22 Oct. 1793 ae. 70 y. 22 d. widow of Lucas Bogert. 26. Rachel dau. of Lucas Bogert d. 21 Feb. 1791 ae. 30-10-4. 27. Lucas Bogert d. 2 Sept. 1777 ae. 57 y. 4 m. 28. Maria Mandevil, wf. of Steven Bartolf, b. 26 May 1736 d.22 Feb. 1813 ae. 76-8-27. 29. Aaron G. son of Patrick and Sarah M. Cronk d. 25 Nov.1861 ae. 6 m. 29 d.
The Sautjes Tave Begraven Ground Cemetery is an example of an early Dutch Cemetery of some of the first Colonists in Bergen County with some families arriving in the early 1600’s .
The entrance to the Sautjes Tave Begraven Ground Cemetery in Demarest, NJ
The historic sign at the entrance placed by the David Demarest Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution
The inside of the historic cemetery
These early families once owned farms under royal patents of hundreds of acres and these would be passed down from generation to generation. These small family cemeteries were once located on the edge of family land that have since been replaced by modern suburbs. This is now in the middle of a traffic circle surrounded by homes. The cemetery is a wonderful shape and is nicely landscaped.
The cemetery from the south side
Generations of a Bogarts, Blauvelts, Haring, Demarest, Du Bois, Van Scivan and other prominent families all inter married into each family were buried here.
The Bogart-Bauvelt family plot
The Bogart-Blauvelt family plot
The Demarest family plot
The Demarest-Haring family plot
The Ann Marie Demarest grave
The Cornelius Demarest grave site, a Revolutionary War veteran
Patriot Douwe Talema, who was killed by the Tories during the Revolutionary War
The Daniel Van Scivan grave, another Revolutionary War veteran
The Haring Family plot
The Haring family plot
The James Haring grave
The Sophia Haring grave
The Du Bois family plot
The Cemetery view from the southern corner
My video of Touring the Cemetery and its historic roots:
My tour of the cemetery
Leaving the cemetery you can see the landscaping offers these families privacy in both life and death.
After the tour of the cemetery, I explored Downtown Demarest, NJ and discovered a beautiful little town with small local stores and a beautiful set of parks surround the streams and the train station just off the downtown.
The town of Demarest Veteran’s display
The town of Demarest has its own rich beauty and you can see this by visiting its Downtown area and its parks.
The breathtaking Duck Pond Park attracted a lot of painters who set their easels by the banks of the streams.
The Duck Pond is really beautiful
They also have a really nice railroad terminal that is now a senior center
The historic Demarest Railroad Station
This wonderful community has so many wonderful attributes.
What is sad about these small family cemeteries is that I am sure that the families never thought to the future when the land would be sold off and the family would move on. The Voorhis and Demarest names still dot the landscape of Bergen County but these tiny plots are lost to the current generations.
The gravesite of Lucas Van Voorhis
The grave of Mary Demarest, who was the wife of James
Every semester for my Business Marketing, Management and Communications classes, I create one big Team assignment for my students. In a Commuter College, it is a lot tougher for students to get to know one another between their studies and their jobs, so I create these projects to foster learning, creativity and especially Teamwork.
This was the first time I had ever taught International Marketing and it was a challenge I really wanted to tackle. With International Tourism in a state of flux due to the economy and politics, what type of creative programming and offerings do we have to attract a foreign customer?
Promoting Bergen County, NJ for tourism has been one of biggest challenges I have had and how we get all these places to enter the modern era with a fresh approach to getting people to visit their establishment. The ‘Bergen 250-the 250th Anniversary of the Revolutionary War in Bergen County’ has been our most ambitious project to date. We took the website and plans the County of Bergen had planned and expanded it in every direction.
We added in special events, fundraising ideas, scavenger hunts and walking tours along with a new direction in promoting these sites through Digital Marketing and outlets like Tik Tok, YouTube and using QR codes so that the younger generation can use their phones interactively.
In the past, I have created these projects under the Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. banner, the main consulting company, the Orion Malls banner, a Mall design company and the Buscomonzefi.com banner, my Tech Division. Each business does its best to be creative, forward thinking and have a thought producing presentations. I also challenge the students to top on another in their presentations and build on what they have seen others do in the past.
Professor Justin Watrel, CEO Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc.
Our Corporate site (created my one of my former President’s:
As my International Marketing class entered its second month and before I ran the Midterm, I introduced the Team Project, similar to the one I created in 2020 just as COVID hit “From Revolution to Renewal-Exploring Historic Bergen County, NJ”:
The project that we started right before COVID closed the college:
With that class, I had planned a series of field trips once we got back from Spring Break but we never went back to campus. That project was done with work that had to be done online and with what we had because we could not leave our houses at that time. This project was to do what that project could not accomplish.
So I approached Vivian Davis, of the Bergen County Historic Division, who I had worked with for years in my time at the Department of Disabilities Services for the County, and who I initially worked with on the first project and asked her to help me again. She is running the ‘Bergen 250-the 250th Anniversary of the Revolutionary War in Bergen County’ event. Would she let me help her coming up with a different angle on advertising the event and some new ideas for special events and a fresh perspective on looking at the event from the students viewpoint?
It would be one of the most ambitious projects that I had ever attempted for this company model. She agreed to let me help in my own way plus be available for being a listening ear for the students and assist us on the Team site visits and tours.
It was a great partnership as she got much needed research and ideas for advertising while the students learned something new about their communities that they did not know. Even I learned about historical sites that I never knew existed and I have lived here off and on for the last thirty years. Everyone got something positive out of it and it was a win-win partnership.
I put together the project and had Vivian look it over and with some adjustments, it was a go and I presented to my students two weeks before the Spring Break in March. We would work on this project for the next seven weeks along with a series of site trips to places in the ‘Bergen 250’ roster. It would be an eye opener project for everyone involved.
The initial project concept for the Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. Team Project “The Bergen 250”:
I chose my Executive Team from a series of what I call “Alumni Students”, who I had in other classes and I knew their work and how they had performed in other Team Projects that I had run. I chose the remainder Student Executives from a look series of papers I had them write for the class promoting Foreign Tourism and Advertising.
Paper Two: Promoting McDonalds Foreign Food items for the American Market:
These two papers are how I determined who would be on what Teams and how they might perform on that section of the project. For the most part I was right. I saw this at the end of the project.
I broke the class into the following Teams: Marketing, Talent, Historical and Food Service with each Team having their own responsibilities (Please read the project). They were led by the President and Senior Vice-President of Operations, who reported to me as their CEO. Both of these students had participated in previous projects that had been equally ambitious.
The two weeks before the Spring Break, the Student Consultants got their game-plans together, divided the responsibilities and started their research on the historical sites being promoted by the ‘Bergen 250’. There are a lot of historical sites in Bergen County that date back to the Revolutionary War and before To the time of Dutch settlements.
When we arrived back from the break, I arranged a series of Field Site visits that I took my student to so that they could experience and tour the sites up close. These were also location trips for of Food Service division who would be arranging a series of special meals at these sites.
The first place the Team visited was the Garretson Forge & Farm in Fair Lawn, NJ. This historic home and grounds were going to be one of the locations for a special event for the Food Service Division.
The Garretson Forge & Farm at 4-02 River Road in Fair Lawn, NJ
We had done a promotional project on the site a few semesters before with much success and now we would be arranging a ‘rustic’ Afternoon Tea on the grounds and promoting the gardens with a Flower sale.
The Student Consultants starting a tour of the Garretson Forge & Farm led by historian Vivian Davis.
The students touring the historical kitchen
The students touring the historical room at the Garretson Forge & Farm
Our class picture at the site
Our host and ‘Client’ Vivian Davis joining us in the group picture
The trip to the Garretson Forge & Farm was one of a series of trips that I thought would be important to the students to get a feel for these sites rather than just passing by. We also could incorporate layouts and use of historical items for our Scavenger Hunt that people could download to their phones that our Marketing Team was creating for their part of the project.
The next week we went out into the field again, this time to the Baylor Massacre site in Old Tappan, Nj and the Haring Farm Cemetery, a tiny family plot on what used to be the Haring Farm both in Old Tappan, NJ.
The Baylor Massacre site is where the Patriots had gotten ambushed by the British on a tip from a local resident and instead of following protocol of war, the British bayoneted the troops and through their bodies in a ditch. The bodies had been rediscovered only in the last fifty years when they wanted to develop the land.
With the Haring Farm Cemetery, this was the final resting place of Abraham Haring, a prominent farming family in the area, on what was once hundreds of acres of land of the Haring family. As Vivian explained to us, these families always assumed that the farm would be there and in the family hands.
The Baylor Massacre site at 486 Rivervale Road in River Vale, NJ
Walking around the site before the students arrived
The site of the graves
The location of the old mill where the bodies were thrown
Vivian’s counterpart in the Historic Division, Colin, joined us on this day for this tour and was better than me on explaining everything.
Before everyone got there, I had been to the sites the day before and while the Baylor Massacre site is well taken care of by the County, the Haring Farm Cemetery was a mess of fallen fences, fallen trees and branches all around the site, making it dangerous to walk around. I even touched a dead branch and it came crashing down.
The entrance to the Haring Farm Cemetery at Old Haring Farm Court in River Vale, NJ
The cemetery looked so much nicer when it was cleaned up
I always felt like the family was watching me as I had such a positive feel at the site
Even the family tombstones looked a lot better
Being married into the Haring family via my father’s older brother’s wife sister in law, I felt an obligation to clean this place up. So in a two piece suit the next day, I got to the graveyard early, removed all the branches, raked the whole site, fixed the fence and raked the entire site, cleaning the tombstones while I was doing all this.
There is a good feeling when you honor and respect the dead
After cleaning the site, I got myself together and went back to the Baylor Massacre site and started to meet the students. Some arrived early and started to walk around to get a feel for the site.
Colin and I talking to the students about the incident at the site during the Revolutionary War
The Baylor Massacre site was going to be used for a Jazz Concert to honor the soldiers and Patriots whom had passed with a food truck event to go with it along with historical walking tours that evening. The evening event was planned with luminaries lining the paths and the gravesite being lit for the evening to honor those who had passed.
First we walked the entire site to understand the logistics of the event
After the tour and discussion of the site we took a few group pictures of us at the site. In some cases, this was the first time almost all the students had visited the site. This shows how these sites need to be better publicized.
My class at the site with the Memorial in sight
The Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. Team Picture at the Baylor Massacre site
After the tour of the Baylor Massacre site, we headed up to the Haring Farm Cemetery, which was up the road. When we all got there, Colin explained to us that rather than burying their loved ones in a church graveyard, some families wanted to have their loved ones buried close by and again these families thought these farms would always be in the family hands.
Vivian had explained to the students at the initial meeting that one of the past times people had during the Revolutionary War was picnics at cemeteries and graveyards. This is where we got the idea of graveyard tours with a box lunch. We would create an interactive map with QR codes that people could tour with their ‘to go’ lunch.
We arrived at a cleaned up cemetery
The renovation of the site was done by an Eagle Scout
We took some time to understand burial rights of farming families and get a feel for the family members
We toured the small site and Colin explained to the students that Bergen County was dotted with these types of sites because of the number of family farms that once made up Colonial Bergen County, NJ.
We took our group shot while respecting the resting place
After all my students left after the both tours, I went back for one more look and again, I felt such a positive presence as if the family were so happy that we visited.
The weather prevented the next field trip and we had to concentrate on the project so after lecture, the students worked with their groups. Throughout this part of the semester, I would alternate between lecture one day and being ‘out in the field’ the other. This the students had a better experience of being ‘in the industry’.
As the project progressed and started to come together, we took our last and most ambitious field trip to Park Ridge, NJ, to the sites of the ‘Farm to Table Dinner’. This site tour included the Wortendyke Barn, the Pascack Reformed Church, where the Candlelight Tour of the Wortendyke family graveyard would take place and then to the Pascack Valley Historical Society, where the Cocktail Party would take place to open the event.
Then after the site visit, I would be wrapping the afternoon with lunch at Pompilios Pizzeria in Downtown Westwood, NJ for a Team dinner. It was a long afternoon but the students got to experience so much and see a lot.
Our first stop was the Wortendyke Barn, one of the few surviving Dutch-American examples of early American barns.
The barn in the early Spring on one of the few nice days of the week
Vivian met us again for the first part of the tour and explained how the barn was designed, who the Wortendykes were as a family presence in Bergen County and the use of the barn since it became County parkland.
We then moved on to take the next tour at the Pascack Reformed Church, one of the oldest churches in the State of New Jersey. Our tour was hosted by Pastor Sharon Gross-Gill, who had joined the church and loved the idea of the project promoting the church and its historic values.
The Team touring the second level of the church
The team touring the bell tower of the church
Our Vice-President of Marketing ringing the church bell. Each Team member could ring the bell if they wanted to try it.
We were then joined by the church historian who gave us the tour of the Wortendyke family plot
Touring through the Wortendyke family plot
Our Team picture with Pastor Sharon Gross-Gill at the Pascack Reformed Church graveyard
We then moved on to a quick tour of the Pascack Historical Society, which has an interesting display of early Dutch artifacts and only Wampum making machine (Native American currency) in the United States Almost all my students had not seen these things before.
The Pascack Valley Historical Society at 19 Ridge Avenue in Park Ridge, NJ
I have to thank the amazing support of the Pascack Valley Historical Society Board for coming out in full force to help support this project.
The Board touring with us at the museum
The Team with Board member, Peter Meany, as he explains how the Wampum machine worked.
Our Team group picture with the Board of the Pascack Historical Society
I wanted to thank Board Members Kristin Beuscher, Peter Meany, Ralph Donnell Jr., Christopher Kersting and Patrick Dolan for being our hosts, leading the tours and some of them showing up for our presentation of the final Presentation.
After the tours were all over, I took the entire Team to lunch in Downtown Westwood for a Team building pizza lunch/dinner. It had been a long day and the students had worked so hard the whole day, it was nice to break bread with the Team plus the pizza here is excellent. We had a really good time at lunch and everyone got to know each other a little better.
Pompilio’s Pizzeria & Restaurant at 233 Westwood Avenue in Westwood, NJ
Members of the Talent Team with the Marketing Team
Members of the Historical Team dining with the Executive Team
The pizza here is delicious and I love taking my Teams here for lunch
This was the last of the field trips before the presentation two weeks later. One of the pitfalls of the projects that I did that semester was the Spring Break in March and then the Easter Break in late April which had some of my students traveling for the break. I am happy to say that everyone showed up and did their work.
The presentation went by really well and was well attended for an afternoon event. Several parents as well as boyfriends and girlfriends showed up. Vivian and Colin both showed up with their boss from the Division, so the real life ‘clients’ were there for the presentation.
The formal Presentation on YouTube of Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. “Bergen 250-The 250th Anniversary of the Revolutionary War in Bergen County, NJ”:
Senior Vice-President of Operations Gabriela Chavasco welcomes everyone
The Executive Team leading the Presentation
Vice-President of Operations Brandon Robertson leads the presentation of Foodservice Special Events
Vice-President of Marketing Bart Potensky leads the Marketing Team in their presentation of the Advertising gameplay
Vice-President Kate Trinidad leads the Talent Team on the inside operations of keeping the company well supported from Corporate
After the successful Presentation was over, we took the official Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. Corporate pictures.
It was a job well done for the entire Team. I also want to thank Vivian Davis and Colin Fitzpatrick from the Historic Division of the County of Bergen in New Jersey for all their support and guidance and feedback on this assignment. It really was a “Team Effort” from everyone involved.
I love visiting the Hudson River Valley so any event or tour that I can go on is an excuse to come up here. I had visited all the sites that I wanted to see on a trip two weeks earlier but wanted to see them in more detail plus I wanted to take some pictures. The weather finally broke, and it was a much more pleasant 83 degrees as opposed to the 96 degrees the trip before. That makes the trip much nicer.
I asked my aunt along so that we could share in the experience, and I could use her phone to take pictures of the all the sites. It is a much nicer trip when you have someone along who enjoys these things. The one nice thing about traveling to the Fishkill, New York area is that it is only an hour away and a straight run up the New York Thruway to Route 84 and then to Route 9. Just a couple of quick back streets and you will be there.
On my first trip up, I got there so early that no one was at the first site, The Brinckerhoff Homestead Historical site, the home of the East Fishkill Historical Society at 68 North Kensington Drive in Hopewell Junction, NY. I double back and stopped for a quick snack at G & R Deli Cafe, a small deli at 2003 Route 52 in a strip mall near the old IBM campus. I needed a snack. This was my go to place both in the summer and when I came back for Christmas. The owners are really nice and the food is excellent.
Since I already had dinner plans, I ordered a Sausage, Egg and Cheese on a roll ($5.95) which was a bit more expensive than in the City but it was delicious. The sausage had a nice taste of sage and gave it a lot of flavor. I just relaxed outside in the parking lot and ate breakfast. Another time that I visited, I had the same version with bacon and both times the sandwiches were excellent.
The breakfast sandwiches at G & R Deli are excellent
After my snack, I got back to the Brinckerhoff Homestead at 12:00pm when it was supposed to open but around 12:30pm there was still no one there and I kept knocking on the door. That’s when one of the county members let me know that they did not open until 1:00pm. Since I had a list of places to visit that day and the time had been posted all over the internet, I asked if we could please start early. He agreed and I got a personal tour of the house. When I came back two weeks later, I better timed it for the 1:00pm opening to take pictures.
The Brinckerhoff family is prominent in the Fishkill area and family members still visit the homestead so the house’s history is ongoing. The house is broken down into three sections as you can see by the picture. The original part of the home was built by John G. Brinckerhoff in 1755 and it consisted of the “Everything Room” on the lower floor with the hearth for cooking, a beehive oven and the large room upstairs for family living.
As John Brinckerhoff’s family grew, they moved out of the house and his brother, George G. Brinckerhoff moved into the home with his family. After the Revolutionary War was over and George G.’s assignment was over in the army, he returned to the house and in 1785 added the middle main addition of the house with four additional rooms. The larger rooms and high ceilings showed the family affluence in that they could heat the home.
When George died in 1812, his brother John and his family moved back into the house. In 1814, the family sold the house to the Purdy family. They lived in the house for the next 60 years and added the final addition onto the house to the left with a summer kitchen and an outdoor oven. It remained in the family until 1875 when it was sold to the Palen family who used it again as a farm. It was then again sold to the Moore family in 1926 and lastly sold to East Fishkill Historical Society in 1974 by developer Gustav Fink who was a developer in the area (East Fishkill Historical Society).
The rooms are decorated in period furnishings and when we started the tour, you begin in the oldest section of the home with the original kitchen area.
The “Everything Room” in the Brinckerhoff Homestead
This is where the family would cook, eat, do their work on farm affairs and socialize. There was also a small general store on the property as well. The upstairs was closed to the public.
You next moved into the main rooms of the 1785 addition which brought it the into then modern era with high ceilings and larger rooms so that the family had more living space and could entertain.
The Main Dining Room of the home which was set for Hot Chocolate service which again showed the family’s affluence as chocolate was very expensive then
We also toured the Living Room which was set for socializing and work women did for the home with needlepoint, weaving, and clothes making. There was still room for people to gather and entertain.
The Living Room of the 1785 addition to the home
Along the main corridor of the home in the addition was all sorts of artifacts from the Revolutionary War period and items from the time.
Our last part of the tour was the latest addition by the Purdy family when we toured the ‘Summer Kitchen”, which showed how the home had progressed over the years. Little by little each family brought it into the next ‘modern era’.
Both times I got to tour the grounds and the beautiful gardens that the volunteers maintained. Rock gardens and flower beds line the three acres of land around the house. Along with the flower beds, several historical buildings have been moved to the property including the one room schoolhouse from District 9 in East Fishkill that was built in 1826, the 1870 Icehouse which once supplied another home with its ice for the home to keep food fresh before the advent of refrigeration.
The Schoolhouse and the Icehouse and gardens
Another building that is still in use and is open when the house is open for touring is the John Hyatt Blacksmith shop from 1880. It still has some of the original tools and the blacksmith on duty still works the fire and performs tasks in the building.
The last building on the property is the Van Wyck Carriage Barn from 1845. It had been built by Judge Theodorus Van Wyck for his home that was built in East Fishkill that was torn down by the development of the IBM Campus in 1984. IBM paid to have the carriage house dismantled and moved to this property.
The East Fishkill Historical Society with the Brinckerhoff home in the center, the schoolhouse to the right and the blacksmith shop and the carriage house to the left
We took our time to tour the house and the grounds and on my initial visit I got to tour the schoolhouse, the ice house and the blacksmith shop to see the inner workings of these buildings and how they operated.
The docents had told me that they had recently held a ‘Strawberry Festival’ recently promoting the local fruit crops and serving complimentary strawberry shortcake that everyone enjoyed and was gone quickly.
I took what they said to heart and had planned to go to the Strawberry Festival the next year. Who knew it would be another three years before I attended the event (other things happened along the way like travel and Grad school), but in June 2025 I finally was able to attend the event. What a nice time.
The Strawberry Shortcake at the Strawberry Festival in the Fall of 2025
The grounds set up for the Strawberry Festival
The weather was a bit gloomy and cool for June but it ended up being a really nice day. They had all sorts of activities for visitors to watch and participate in. There were demonstrations in the Blacksmith Building and in the barn.
The demonstration in the Blacksmith shop
The Blacksmith during the demonstration
The wood and saw demonstration in the barn
There was wonderful entertainment on the patio of the house as a guitarist entertained the ever growing crowds that attended the event.
The guitarist on the deck playing music from the 1960’s and 70’s
A clip of the entertainment
I took a tour of the house and the schoolhouse as well. I never realized that things have not changed over the last two hundred years.
The old schoolhouse on the property
The inside of the school
Books and games
Maybe the current education system would benefit from this
Walking around the grounds that afternoon
Walking around the grounds that afternoon
The Strawberry Shortcakes were the star that afternoon and I had to say that the strawberries they used were so juicy. I had to practically elbow my way into getting one but it was well worth it.
The homemade biscuit and the sweet juicy strawberries
They really put a lot of strawberries in the bowl
Yum!
Before I left that afternoon, the Historical Society had a hayride around the property. I had not been on one in years, so I waited for the second trip. It was crowded on every trip it took and I forgot how much fun these were in the past.
The hayride around the neighborhood
Us on our turn on the hayride
The video of the start of the hayride
The video of the conclusion and everyone having a good time
I really enjoyed attending the Strawberry Festival and highly recommend if you can attend it in the future. It was an event I would have enjoyed as a kid and I did not see too many cellphones in site.
The Petting Zoo that afternoon
There are also Revolutionary War reenactments done on the property and for the holiday season the home will be decorated for the period Christmas holidays with an open house, so there will be things to do and see in the future.
When I returned in December of 2022, the curator invited me back to see the house decorated for Christmas. So while I was up seeing the decorated mansions of the Hudson River Valley the first, second and third weekends of December (read my blog on visiting the Hudson River Valley-Day Two Hundred and Fifty-Five-Christmas Again?):
The whole Brinkerhoff Homestead site was decorated for a Revolutionary era Christmas and the tables were set for an Afternoon Tea Fundraiser. The displays showed both a Revolutionary War and Victorian theme. With the fire places blazing, it made the whole house smell of oak and pine.
The Brinckerhoff Homestead decorated for Christmas
The Brinckerhoff Homestead Christmas tree
The Christmas display case at the Brinckerhoff House of Victorian toys
Santa does visit the first weekend of December
Our next stop on the tour of homes was the Van Wyck Homestead Museum at 504 Route 9, the old Albany Post Road. The house had stood on the main transportation line during the Revolutionary War period and it had served as General George Washington’s northern supply depot during the war because of this location.
Van Wyck Homestead Museum at 504 Route 9 (the Old Albany Post Road)
In 1732, Cornelius Van Wyck bought 959 acres of land from the original Rombout Patent and built the smaller section of the home to the right in 1732. As the family gained affluence in farming and trade, the larger section of the home to the left was built in 1757 with larger rooms and higher ceilings again to show a family’s wealth.
Because of the location of the house in Fishkill on the main road of transportation and the strategic location near the mountains to the south, General George Washington requisitioned the home as the northern supply depot for the Continental Army in October of 1776. Here supplies were run through, army regiments passed and people were buried who died during the war. The house was also used as the headquarters and court marshals and punishments took place on the property (Van Wyck Homestead Museum pamphlet). After the war was over, the house and farm was returned to the family.
The historical marker of the original home
The way the house was furnished was slightly different from the Brinckerhoff Homestead that looked more like you were walking into someone’s actual home. The old Living Room of the Van Wyck Homestead is being used as a meeting room and a place to display items from the Revolutionary War.
The Living Room and Meeting Room at the Van Wyck Homestead
The Revolutionary War Collection at the Van Wyck Homestead
Towards the back of the home is a Library/Research area and we were able to see all the old books and records that are part of the home’s collection. This is where most people do their genealogy work and family research.
The Research Library at the Van Wyck Homestead
What both my aunt and I thought was interesting was when we entered the older part of the house and the old Dining Room area. Many of the artifacts were old Van Wyck family heirlooms that had been donated over the years.
The Dining Room of the Van Wyck Homestead
Some of the recent additions were the crib which had been in the family for five generations and had just been donated to the home as well as the painting over the fireplace had just been collected by the home. Like the Brinckerhoff Homestead, there are many members of the Van Wyck family who come back to visit and still live in the area.
The Colonial kitchen and hearth are in the oldest section of the home from 1732. This is where the “Everything Room” was located. Back when this was the only section of the home, this is where all the cooking, dining, family business and social activities were located. All sorts of kitchen equipment lined the walls and shelves to show life in colonial times. It was funny that much of it has not changed over the years, just modernized.
The original family kitchen in the 1732 section of the Van Wyck Homestead
Outside the home, the organization planted the outside gardens and there is a recreation of the old beehive oven aside the home. It gave you a glimpse of how food came about for these large families before supermarkets.
The Van Wyck Gardens showed how the house was self-sufficient at one time
After touring the grounds, we walked back to see the displays one more time. On my initial trip, the tour guide let me see the upstairs rooms. In the newer part of the home, they had been turned into storage and offices for the docents. In the older part of the home, the old loft area was used for storage, and it was pretty dusty. The house was closed for Christmas but will reopen in the Spring.
After touring these two homes, we were off to Wappinger’s Falls further up Route 9 to visit the Mesier Homestead in Mesier Park just off the beginning of Downtown Wappinger’s Falls. There was a concert going on in the park and my aunt said she needed a break from visiting these old homes. Too many arrowheads and Revolutionary War furniture so she stayed and listened to the concert while I toured the home.
The Mesier Homestead is the home of the Wappinger Falls Historical Society, who maintains the home. The Mesier home is much like the other homes in that it had been added onto as the family grew and became more affluent. The original part of the home is currently going through a renovation and the President of the Wappinger Falls Historical Society explained that they just discovered the old hearth and oven and are currently restoring the historic windows.
The original part of the home is currently under renovation
Starting the tour at the front entrance of the home that leads to the formal Living Room that is decorated with Victorian decor. Again the large rooms and high ceilings showed the family affluence by showing how they could afford to heat their home.
The Living Room at the Mesier Homestead
The copies of the Mesier family portraits in the Mesier Living Room
The Living Room leads to the back Library where many additions of older books are held and where visitors can do research on their family history in the Wappinger Falls. Many are trying to trace their family’s history.
The Mesier Homestead Library and Research Room
The back area of the house is closed for renovations, but you can climb the stairs to the old bedrooms on the second floor. Here is where both the family and the family slaves then servants lived on the same floor.
The Adult’s Bedroom set during Victorian times
A woman’s boudoir during Victorian times
The rooms also showed a child’s place in the family where during Victorian times were treated like ‘little adults’ being trained for their future lives. Toys not just sparked the imagination but also prepared children for domestic life
Children’s playthings during Victorian times spurred imagination
On top of the recreations of the family life in both Colonial and Victorian times that the family lived through, there was an extensive collection of Native American items showing the original settlers of the region when the Lenape Indians lived, fished and hunted in this area before the arrival of the Dutch in the late 1600’s.
The Native American collection on the second floor of the Mesier Homestead
The last part of the tour ended in the formal Dining Room where the entertainment was done and the family took their meals. When I asked why these homes seemed so much smaller than homes like the Vanderbilts and Mills families, it was explained that these families were older, more established and did not have to show off their wealth. Since these were God fearing individuals, it was not acceptable to be ‘showy’. People knew they were affluent so they could show off but not flaunt it.
The formal Dining Room at the Mesier Homestead set for dinner
During the Christmas holiday season, the house is beautifully decorated for a Victorian Christmas with garlands and bows and period decorations. Most of these old homes are elegantly decorated as the families once had done during the holidays.
The Living Room at the Mesier Homestead at Christmas
During Colonial times, Christmas meant church services in the morning or afternoon and then a formal dinner in the afternoon. You might have pine, garland and berries decorate the house whereas during Victorian times, it was a much more elaborate affair. There would be a Christmas tree, garland and pine all over the home and gift giving. Christmas cards would have also decorated the home as well.
The Mesier Homestead foyer decked at Christmas time
The Dining Room table was decorated for Christmas lunch
After the tour, I took a quick walk into downtown Wappinger Falls which has a great downtown with terrific restaurants and a great view of the river and falls.
Downtown Wappinger Falls has such a unique look to it.
During Christmas time, the downtown had a quaint look to it with garland and wreaths decorating people’s homes.
Downtown Wappingers Falls during Christmas
The Christmas tree in the Wappingers Falls square downtown
The Bandstand decorated at night
Our last part of the tour was visiting the First Reformed Church of Fishkill at 717 Route 9 at the beginning of Downtown Fishkill, NY. This elegant old church with its historic cemetery was built in 1732 on land that had been set aside for the church.
The Fishkill First Reformed Dutch Church at 717 Route 9 with the DuBois House next door
The church was closed for the afternoon as services are at 10:00am on Sundays so I toured around the church and the cemetery. What was interesting about the cemetery is all the family plots and who was intermarried into whose families.
The cemetery behind the church is full of family plots including the Brinckerhoff and Van Wyck families
The cemetery in the Spring of 2025
Walking through this quiet but I intriguing cemetery
After touring the church and the cemetery grounds, I took my time and walked Downtown Fishkill which is lined with small but interesting restaurants and stores. The street had been lively the two times that I visited with people enjoying the outdoor dining and the perfect 80-degree weather.
The church was closed at that time as services had been at 10:00am but I did take the time to walk around its historic cemetery.
The Terboss family plot in the historic cemetery
The historic cemetery with familiar family names
The church just proved to me how time passes by and how some of these places are forgotten. The cemetery slopes down to the woods and highway.
The role these churches once played in the community as not just a place of worship but as a meeting and gathering place for friends and neighbors has changed over the last hundred years.
During Christmas time, I revisited the First Reformed Church of Fishkill and it was tastefully decorated for Christmas and for holiday services.
The church was decked with wreaths and garland
The church doorway looked like something out of a Christmas Card
Downtown Fishkill, NY decorated for Christmas
CIty Hall decorated for Christmas
I searched that entire downtown from one end to another and I could not find the Fishkill Town Christmas tree.
While walking around Downtown Fishkill, I came across the Fishkill Creamery at 1042 Main Street and needed a quick snack on a hot afternoon. The store was really busy with people eating outside on the benches and tables. I stopped in and had a scoop of Strawberry Cheesecake and a scoop of Birthday Cake ice cream. Did it hit the spot! The Strawberry Cheesecake was especially good with chunks of fresh strawberries in it.
The Fishkill Creamery at 1042 Main Street in Downtown Fishkill
After the ice cream, it was time for dinner (I always believe in saving room for dessert). Both times I tried Antonella’s Pizzeria & Restaurant at 738 Route 9 in Fishkill. You really have to search for the restaurant as it is located in the strip mall in the Shoprite Mall.
The food here is really good. When I came up on my own, I just wanted something small, and I ordered the Cheese Calzone ($8.95). The thing was huge! The Calzone was so large that it could have fed two people easily. It was loaded with Ricotta, Mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses and they make a terrific marinara sauce that accompanied it. By the time I finished devouring the thing, I was stuffed. This after all that ice cream.
We returned to Antonella’s when my aunt and I returned to Fishkill for the touring since I was so impressed with the food and service. My aunt had the Sausage, Pepper & Onion Roll ($8.50) and I had the Stromboli Roll ($8.50) which had ham, salami, pepperoni, Ricotta and Mozzarella cheeses wrapped in a perfectly baked pizza dough.
The Stromboli at Antonella’s
Both were served with their flavorful marinara sauce. After a long day of touring, it was just what we needed. We also took plenty of time to relax and digest on this trip.
The Italian Meat Stromboli at Antonella’s are excellent for lunch and dinner
Yum!
It was really a nice day and there is so much to see and do in this part of the Hudson River Valley. I had not really explored Fishkill, NY so it was fascinating to see all these old homes and historic sites and know their place in history. Take the time to tour these homes and hear the family stories.
Remember to head back during the Christmas holiday season and explore these homes and the downtowns when they are decorated for the season. There is a special magic in the Hudson River Valley during the holiday season. Check their websites for more activities during the year.
When I returned in the summer of 2023, I was finally able to visit the Hopewell Junction Depot Museum at 36 Railroad Avenue in Hopewell Junction, NY. This tiny museum tells the story of the growth of the local railroads and their impact not just on the local community but the country as well as farm produce and dairy products were able to be shipped all over the country.
The Hopewell Junction Depot Museum at 36 Railroad Avenue
The entrance of the museum and the old Waiting Room
The museum is broken down into three sections: the Old Waiting Room area with the working potbelly stove and gift shop, the Train Station Manager’s Office and the Western Union communications office and the back gallery where the old Ticket Booth was located. This is filled with all sorts of railroad memorabilia from old railroad lamps to a display from the Borden Dairy Company whose plant used to be located across the street.
The back gallery of the museum
The Borden Dairy display
In the back of the museum, there is an old caboose that the volunteers are working on restoring. It is not finished as of this writing but they let me take a peek inside to see how the work progress is coming along.
The old caboose that is being restored on the grounds of the museum.
The old sleeping area of the caboose
The museum has lots of local and county information on the growth of these lines and their effects on the New York State economy. The museum has a lot to do and see.
(Please read the accompanying reviews on VisitingaMuseum.com to see a full description on these homes).
Places to Visit:
Brinckerhoff House Historic Site/East Fishkill Historical Society
Even in the age of COVID I wanted to do something special for my birthday. I had not travelled since last Christmas and the idea of staying in a hotel did not appeal to me with everything going on. Watching enough webinars through my Alma Mater, Cornell University, I found out that everyone was taking all sorts of precautions to make everything safe for guests.
Getting tired of not going anywhere but locally I got an invitation to go back to Staatsburgh, NY for another walking tour at the Mills Mansion on the day before my birthday. It was for the “Discovering the Estates Tour” where we walked the grounds of the park to see the abandoned Hoyt and Lee estates that abut the Mills Mansion estate grounds.
In the Fall of 2025, it was turning out to be a long and draining semester and I just needed a break. Plus this particular blog was the last one that really needed a good updating. With the reasonable rates at the Otesaga Hotel for the pre-Thanksgiving festivities, I really wanted to stay at the hotel again for some R&R. I booked the hotel for two nights and off I went.
Staatsburgh, The Mills Mansion, at 1 Mills Mansion Drive
Add to that wanting to go on the “Cemetery Walk” at the Dutch Church in Downtown Kingston Stockade District that is offered every Halloween, I planned the perfect early birthday present for myself. I thought I would go on the tours and treat myself to a early birthday lunch in Rhinebeck, NY.
The Old Dutch Church cemetery and grounds in Kingston, NY at night
Knowing I would be updating my blogs on my sister site to this one, “VisitingaMuseum.com” with these events, I decided to make this a working vacation/birthday weekend.
I checked the weather in Upstate New York and it was going to be a sunny warm weekend with a chance of rain on Monday because of the hurricane travelling up the East Coast from Florida. Being that the foliage was starting to turn in the Hudson River Valley I wondered how it would be further up into the state.
I took a look at my schedule and classes did not resume until that next Tuesday and I made a phone call to the Otesaga Resort Hotel, a hotel that I had always wanted to stay out and visit the National Baseball Hall of Fame while I was there. I don’t know if it was just fate or that I was destined to go there but the hotel was fully booked that week.
The Otesaga Resort Hotel in Cooperstown, NY
The woman from Reservations told me because of the Columbus Day holiday and that being a vacation week for everyone that the hotel was fully booked for the first time since March (remember hotels can only be at 25% capacity at this time). She then said she would put me on the wait list but just as she said this she said to hold on. She came back to me and said that they just had a cancellation for a room for the night I wanted and would I like the room?
I was able to book the room with a King sized bed and a partial view of the lake. It was fate and I jumped on it. That and the rooms were half the price they normally are so it gave me a chance to see Cooperstown, NY while keeping within budget.
In November of 2025, I had been wanting to come back up to Cooperstown to update this blog for five years and the stars aligned again. I had off from work the week of Thanksgiving and the rooms were priced at $155.00 for the room I wanted the days before Thanksgiving, so off I went again.
So off I went to another weekend in the Hudson River Valley and further Upstate to Cooperstown, NY. It was near Halloween and I was going to search for ghosts. The first stop the morning I left for Staatsburgh-The Mills Mansion was the Hyde Park Farmers Market. I was in search of the baker I had met a few weeks earlier who had that terrific peach and blueberry cream cheese pocket. I wanted to get another if he had it.
Don’t miss the Hyde Park, NY Farmers Market on Saturdays in Hyde Park, NY
Luckily enough I found him. I met Tom Greene from Tom’s Heritage Baked Goods & Jams again and told him how much I loved the fruit pocket from my last trip. He said unfortunately the blueberry and peach season was over but he had apple pockets this time. It was delicious. Loaded with a sweet apple mixture and cinnamon in a flaky pastry made every bite melt in your mouth. It is well worth the $5.00 price.
Tom Greene of Tom’s Heritage Baked Goods & Jams
After I walked around the market again seeing all the produce, wines and crafts, I drove up the to Mills Mansion for my next walking tour, “Estates of Staatsburgh”, a tour of the abandoned Lee and Hoyt estates on the park property. A perfect tour as we get closer to the Halloween holidays and search for a ghost.
The tour of the old homes started at the Mills Mansion with a little story about Ruth and Ogden Mills, the owner of Staatsburgh. Their home had only been used for about four months out of the year, usually when they left Newport after the summer was over and before Christmas when they would leave for New York City for the Winter Social season. They were records though that the family did spend some holiday seasons there.
We also toured the grounds where greenhouses, boat houses and ice storage houses once stood and there was a conversation about the role of the staff especially the gardeners and farm staff while the Mill’s were away. Estate was still a working ‘gentlemen’s farm’, where they raised sheep, pigs, chickens and cows for show and for food for the estate.
Then we travelled along the river and through the woods to the Hoyt estate which stood abandoned on a buff overlooking the Hudson River. The Hoyt’s were distant relatives of Ruth Livingston Mills on the Livingston side of her family. They had lived in the home for generations until the State of the New York bought their home and estate through eminent domain back in the early 1960’s. The house and the outer buildings now sit abandoned until renovations can begin for them as Educational Centers and storage.
The Hoyt Mansion does look a little like a haunted house
The Hoyt Estate in its heyday
After a visit to the Hoyt’s home we visited the estate of the Lee Family which was further down the path. The home had burned down in the 1950’s so all that was left was traces of the driveway and the ice house for the estate. It still looked ominous sitting in the middle of the woods.
The Lee Mansion in its heyday before it burned down.
After our tour through the woods, the tour guide told us of the improvements both families had done to their homes before they were either abandoned or burned down. There are still traces of old buildings on the grounds and paths and gardens. We also got to see traces of the old garden shed and cow barn that are now in ruin. Now all of it has let Mother Nature take over.
The Hoyt Estate grounds
At the end of the tour they finally opened the bathrooms for us (none of the men were too thrilled by this) and then we were left to tour the Mills estate or relax on the lawn and talk with other guests (socially distanced of course). I just relaxed and admired the beautiful views of the river on a warm sunny day.
The Mills Mansion back lawn facing the Hudson River
After my tour of the old estates, I travelled back to Downtown Poughkeepsie to take a better tour of the older historical sections of the City including Little Italy again, the Historic Union Street section and the older part of downtown. I never realized what a beautiful city Poughkeepsie is and the potential it has for a turnaround. The ‘Walkway Over the Hudson State Park’ is really bringing people back to the City. Plus it is one of the last towns along the Hudson River to gentrify.
Downtown Poughkeepsie is quite interesting in that none of the colleges that surround it ever opened a campus building in the downtown. Marist, Dutchess Community College, Vassar, Bard and the Culinary Institute of America are all located around the City. I can see by walking around the area closer to the Hudson River this is all beginning to change. It seemed that all the homes and businesses in area are being snatched up quickly as they are coming onto the market.
I parked in the Historic Union Street and started to walk around the neighborhood. There are a lot of old brick homes and mansions in the area. There are also a series of businesses that are being renovated in the area. People are really fixing the neighborhood and you can start to see by the beauty of the architecture.
Historic Union Street is changing fast
Union Street neighborhood
I then walked up the Main Street from the river to the historic part of the downtown and looked up at all the awnings of the buildings and you can see that many were built in the late 1880’s. These formerly boarded up buildings are being fixed up and turned into lofts and the store fronts are now art galleries and small restaurants.
The lower part of Downtown Poughkeepsie has its charms
The cast iron buildings of Downtown Poughkeepsie are being renovated
There are now three art galleries downtown, an arts building and now a fancy French restaurant and two upscale bars. Once you go about five blocks past the old Luckey Platt & Company Department Store building then it starts to get a little seedy. This is where most of the urban renewal most have happened and knocked the old area down. Still there are a lot of changes going on here too.
The Historic section of Downtown Poughkeepsie
I then walked around the old Little Italy which I had explored a few weeks earlier. There is not much left to it. There are two restaurants, a pizzeria, a bakery and a hair salon. There is an Italian Cultural Center in the neighborhood as well. Now artists and ‘hipsters’ are moving in with new arts centers flanking the area and there is a lot of renovations of homes going on here.
This lower part of Poughkeepsie is changing fast
Map of Little Italy in Poughkeepsie (not much left)
What’s left of Little Italy (but the area is being gentrified)
Little Italy from Walkway Across the Hudson bridge
Before I left Little Italy for Kingston for the Cemetery Walk, I stopped at Emiliano’s Pizza at 111 Main Street for a quick lunch (See my review on TripAdvisor). The pizza was quite good. It was really cheesy and gooey but the sauce could have used more spices. Their selection and prices are very fair and the service is really good.
Emiliano’s Pizza at 111 Main Street
The pizza is wonderful here
I arrived in the Kingston Stockade around 5:30pm and started to explore the historic Stockade and the changes that are happening there too. Kingston is going through a transformation as well. All the old what I would call ‘granola’ businesses like the all natural coffee shops and restaurants and old clothing stores have since closed. There was a lot of empty store fronts since last Halloween when I visited for the Puppet rehearsals at the Rokeby estate.
A mural in Downtown Kingston, NY really makes a statement.
What has started to replace them is an incredible amount of smaller restaurants which are really expensive and a few furniture galleries that looked like they got priced out of Hudson, NY. I can see that this part of Kingston is getting more expensive like the Roundout section.
The downtown was in bloom when I visited in the summer of 2023.
I wanted another quick snack before the Cemetery Walk, so I stopped at Wing Shui Chinese Restaurant at 53 North Front Street which is one of the last of the ‘old’ businesses left in this section of the neighborhood. I just ordered a few egg rolls and I have to tell you they were some of the best I had eaten in a long time.
Wing Shui Chinese Restaurant at 53 North Street
They were loaded with chopped roast pork and fresh vegetables and fried to perfection. I have to go back in the future. I have not had egg rolls this good since we went to Chan’s in Dunellen, NJ back in the 1980’s. They made a real impression on me when something is this good.
The egg rolls at Wing Shui Chinese Restaurant are excellent!
I wish I could have said as much for the ‘Cemetery Tour’ at the Old Dutch Church. I had been to the church in the past for Sinterklaas fundraisers so I had been inside many times and just walked around the cemetery during the day. I was hoping this would be a more spooky type of event with the actor giving an approach from the dead’s point of view.
The cemetery at night during the walk
The problem with the actors who were playing the roles of the people buried at the Old Dutch Church cemetery was that they wanted it both ways. They wanted to play the roles of people in their own era and this spread out in a three hundred year period and then they wanted to bring modern politics into it which I did not want to hear their opinions and would not what someone would have thought in their time frame.
The famous cemetery during the daytime
The actors who played the roles of Emily Chadbourne, Father Divine and slave Jenny started to equate their characters to modern times which took the twist out of it. It made it less spooky and more political. The only actor who stayed in character was the one playing Calvert Vaux, the landscape designer of Central Park and a architect of many buildings.
The Old Dutch Church in the daytime is very interesting
The cemetery itself was very lurking after the event was over and everyone had left. The actors were gone as well as everyone else in about an hour and the church was locked up. Then it really did look gloomy with only the moon light and street lights to illuminate it. I was parked outside the church (did I luck out with parking that evening) and passed it again as I walked the downtown one more time. There are more changes coming to Kingston.
I spent the night in Hyde Park again and I highly recommend the Quality Inn. In the era of COVID I want to say that I was not too keen about staying in a hotel. The hotel does a great job in protocols and the place was as clean as a whistle and followed all the standards set by the CDC.
The room was spotless (I have stayed here many times and the hotel has excellent standards) and there was a air purifier in the room as well as the window was open and smelled very nice. I also had a nice view of the woods and the rock wall outside.
I highly recommend the Quality Inn at Hyde Park, NY
I swear though trying to find an open restaurant after 9:00pm in Red Hook, Rhinebeck or Hyde Park was next to impossible. Everyone seems to roll up the carpet at 10:00pm. I ended up at the Hyde Park McDonald’s (see review on TripAdvisor) trying the new Spicy Chicken McNuggets which I highly recommend. They were really delicious especially with the new Spicy Sauce.
Don’t miss the Spicy Chicken McNuggets; they will make you want to come back to McDonald’s.
All that running around and driving on the first day of my trip wore me out. It was just to the Rhinebeck and Kingston areas and I was pooped. I was running from one thing to another and when I got back from McDonald’s, I hit the pillow and slept soundly. This hotel is so comfortable.
I checked out early the next morning. Talk about a good night’s sleep, I was ready to go. I went back to Downtown Poughkeepsie again to try Alex’s Restaurant at 1 Market Street which has been a fixture in the City since 1911. I wanted to go someplace different for my birthday breakfast.
Alex’s Restaurant at 1 Market Street in Poughkeepsie, NY
The one complaint I had about the restaurant was that when you are a single person they give you the worst table. With COVID, we were not even allowed to eat at the bar and I was stuck at a table in the back by the bathroom. That made the meal less enjoyable.
Still the food here is really good (See review on TripAdvisor). I had a dish called a “Breakfast Sampler”, which was two slices of French Toast, a pancake, two scrambled eggs, two slices of bacon and a rather big sausage patty. Everything was delicious and the waiter, Michelle, was really nice and was able to handle the crowd that morning.
I took more walk around Downtown Poughkeepsie before I had to cross the river again to the Kingston Roundout. As part of a gift to myself, I wanted to explore sites on my bucket list. My first stop was the Trolley Museum of Kingston. I had missed it on my last trip to the Roundout. Between the cruise and the Maritime Museum, it took up the whole day.
The Trolley Museum at 89 East Strand Street
The Roundout was busy that morning. It looked like New York City had emptied out and everyone came up to Kingston for brunch. The Trolley Museum at 89 East Strand Street is a unique little museum that tells the history of the trolley car not just in Kingston but all over the country.
The inside of the Kingston Trolley Museum
The first part of my visit is the trolley ride up the Hudson River which on a beautiful clear sunny day is just amazing. We took a small trip to the center of town to pick up more people and then we took a ride through the woods and followed the river up to Kingston Point Park.
The ride up the river was fun
We were able to take a break and just walk around Kingston Point Park, looking at the foliage along the river and watching the sailboats go by. It was another cool morning but I learned my lesson and bundled up. It was just breathtaking.
The views are breathtaking
We only had about a half hour to enjoy the park and then it was back to the Roundout. I was able to explore the displays around the small museum and then walked through the subway cars and buses that were on display outside. I know that the kids seemed to loved it.
I wanted to stop back at the Dorsky Museum at SUNY New Paltz again to finish seeing the ‘Artists of the Hudson River’ exhibition so off I went again to New Paltz. When I left Kingston you literally could not find a parking spot as that’s how busy it was all getting at the Roundout.
The Dorsky Museum on the SUNY New Paltz campus
The Samuel Dorsky Museum at New Paltz is one of those terrific college museum’s that is tucked inside a campus building. The museum opened early that morning so I saw the exhibition with no one else around. The local artists had a nice showcase for their art. The college did a nice job mounting the display. There were some interesting pieces in the exhibition. This one below is made of locally made bricks from an old building.
The “A Living Collection” is a great exhibition
After a quick tour of the exhibition, it was time to take the trip of to Cooperstown, NY. I had taken instructions from Google maps and took the trip up the local highways. What should have been a two and half trip ended up taking four hours.
I went from Route 9 North past Saugerties and Catskill and then headed up Route 145 where I went through every small town in all the farming communities. I had never seen areas so depressed before. These were areas where progressed passed by.
The Dorsky Museum Main Gallery
The one thing I started to notice in all these small towns along the highway that in each of the towns I saw old Victorian homes being fixed up with rainbow flags outside of them. Either people were coming home or the reaches of people moving out of New York City reached these lengths.
The only positive thing coming out of this pandemic that I noticed was that by people leaving the City and moving into these small communities is they will progress, with new businesses and money to these small towns. These changes have been happening to small towns all over Upstate.
The views along Route 145 on the way to Middleburgh
Even thought many of these towns were falling apart they had their charms as well. There were small downtown’s surrounded by Victorian homes telling the story that these were once prosperous farming towns with their own businesses and social lives. The town that stood out the most was Middleburgh, NY right near the end of Route 145 near the Interstate 88 turn.
The farms of Middleburgh, NY meet the Catskills right near downtown
When I arrived back in town after five years, I noticed a big change in the stores and with the homes surrounding the downtown. So many of them had been snatched up and renovated. A lot of the older buildings downtown were now becoming upscale businesses and a lot of renovated storefronts waiting to be opened.
Leaving Route 145 from Midfleburgh
Once I got off Route 145, I got on the Interstate and then went on a back road maze of streets that the directions sent me until I decided to just stay on the main road and drove up Route 7 to Route 18 to Cooperstown. I must have seen every small town in Upstate New York.
The views of the mountains in November 2025
The view of the old barns on Route 145
I finally arrived in Cooperstown at 6:00pm almost four hours later and I was exhausted from all the driving. I stopped in Downtown Cooperstown for directions and then it was off to the hotel. I got into town before it got dark so I got to see the views of the hotel. The Otesaga Resort Hotel at 60 Lake Street is right on the bend of the southern most part of Lake Otsego.
The Otesaga Resort Hotel is a grand hotel
The Otesaga Resort Hotel was taking every precaution as well. The hotel was only at a 25% occupancy and you could tell by the parking lot it was not that full. When I entered the lobby there were only a few people there and the front desk gentleman was behind a Plexiglas sheet with a mask and gloves on. Sterile but smart.
The lobby in 2025 decorated for the upcoming Christmas holidays
In 2025, the lobby was fully open with a fire place to warm yourself. Like before, the hotel was really quiet the beginning of the week of Thanksgiving, so I was able to sit in the lobby and just relax. I tried to get some work done but I still felt a buzz from the wine at dinner and then had a long conversation with a woman who was from Ithaca. I ended up back in my room and collapsed for two hours.
The hotel in November of 2025
The hallway at The Otesago looked like the ‘The Overlook’ hotel when I walked down the hall
My room was everything that I hoped for. I had a third floor partial lake view room on the third floor which I found out after I left the hotel is one of the haunted floors. The hotel’s bio said that there the voices of small girls laughing in the hallway. I heard dead silence of a floor that was not that full. I settled in before I left to find a restaurant for my birthday dinner.
My room at The Otesaga Hotel
My large bathroom
The Hawkeye Bar & Grill , one of the signature restaurants of the hotel, was the only one that was open with a very limited menu. I decided to come back later for a drink at the bar and headed into downtown a block away. There was not much open on a Sunday night at 7:00pm. It looked like the whole downtown closed up.
The Hawkeye Bar where I ate my dinner that night
In 2025, I arrived on Monday night and most of the restaurants were closed that evening. I stayed in for dinner and I had a Cheeseburger with fries at the bar. After a long trip and a glass of wine. I felt I could tackle and ghost especially with a wonderful dinner like this.
The Hawkeye Bar on my visit in 2025
Yum!
In 2020, it was a cool night and I wanted simple comfort food. I was in the mood for a hot turkey sandwich and I found it at the Doubleday Cafe at 93 Main Street. Talk about being socially distanced there were only about ten people in the restaurant and a few more walked in after I got my dinner. Like I said, there was not much open. The restaurants were either too expensive or had boring menus.
I had the same idea in 2025, plus it was one of the few restaurants outside the resort that was open at night but still closed by 8:00pm. The same comfort foods were my dinner that night and I repeated the same dinner. I would not be having a turkey dinner on Thanksgiving, so I decided to have it here.
The Doubleday Cafe at 93 Main Street in Cooperstown
The sign outside
The service here is really friendly and personable. After that long trip, I really needed this. The food was delicious (see review on TripAdvisor).
The New England Clam Chowder was perfect on a cool night
I started with a cup of New England Clam Chowder to warm me up. It was thick and rich and warmed me inside and out. Both in 2020 and 2025, I had the hot turkey sandwich really hit the spot. It was loaded with fresh turkey on white toast with a side of mashed potatoes. It was the perfect comfort food on these cool nights.
The inside of Doubleday’s Cafe
I got to watch the end of the Giants-Dallas game while I was eating (Giants lost again) and watched the last of the stragglers walking around the downtown.
The Hot Turkey Sandwiches here are delicious
After both the game and dinner were over, I took a long walk around the downtown. My family and friends had been calling me all day to wish me a happy birthday so I ended up talking to my brother while I was walking around.
There was no one around that night and I swear there must have been about ten people walking around Downtown Cooperstown. The place was so quiet.
I walked back to the hotel that evening and it was all illuminated for the evening. The hotel looked busier than it was and in the lobby people were talking by the fire, working on their computers by the couches and the fire pit bar was packed with people who were socially distanced.
The lobby in 2025
I had talked with one of the waiters earlier who said a friend of hers had seen a ghost in the hotel and said the Fifth Floor made people working at night a little uncomfortable so off I went to the Fifth Floor to search for a ghost.
All I saw was an empty hallway and people talking in rooms. Nothing going bump in the night. So I headed down to the Hawkeye Bar & Grill on the lower level of the hotel for a drink. I had a Cosmopolitan that really knocked me out. I was tired from all that driving.
I had the same thing in 2025, along with dinner and a nice glass of Chardonnay with the burger. I was so relaxed and ready for a long night’s sleep.
A glass of vino with dinner
The ‘haunted hallway’ outside my room
My walk down the ‘Haunted Hallway’ of the Third Floor
I was going to sit out at the fire pit but no one else was outside at that point and they were ready to close. They closed the bar at 10:00pm. At least I got my birthday drink in with a cheery hello from the bartender (see review on TripAdvisor).
The Fire Pit bar was very popular that night
If there was a ghost in my room, it could not have waken me with an atom bomb. I went into such a deep sleep that I awoke at 8:30am rested and refreshed.
In 2025, after a long week at work, a ton of gardening and outside work putting the garden to bed for the year and the trip upstate I went out like a light again. The beds are so soft and the hotel so quiet.
I had a 9:30am breakfast appointment in the Glitterglass Room, the hotel’s dining room for breakfast. What I loved about the package I chose was breakfast was included. In 2025, it was back to normal.
The Glimmerglass Room in 2025
I had the best waiter. He said to me that since the buffet could not be done, I could order anything from the A La Carte menu and as much as I wanted. BIG MISTAKE! I love breakfast and I was starved.
The best seat in the house
The Omelet Station
I started with a three egg omelet with ham and Cheddar with a side of bacon, potatoes, rye toast and tea and orange juice.
My breakfast that morning
The Omelet was amazing
After I ate that, I also ordered Fresh Waffles with blueberry compote.
The Waffles with the Blueberry and Strawberry Compete with Sausage
The Waffles were made right in front of me
I even saved room for pastries
I think I shocked the waiter by eating everything. In 2025, I ate the same breakfasts to show everyone the meals and then tucked in a third breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon and potatoes because I was still hungry. I had to add on more pastries too. No lunch for me!
The Apple Muffins were the best way to end the meal
The Glitterglass Room for breakfast is beautiful
The beautiful chandeliers in the room
After breakfast was over and before I checked out of the room, I walked around the grounds to admire the foliage and the lake. It cleared up outside and it was sunny with blue skies. The grounds of the hotel are just breathtaking.
The views of the mountains and the lake are so scenic and graceful. The golfers, COVID or not, were out in force and already playing rounds of golf. It would have nice to use the pool or swim in the lake but that was out of the question.
The grounds of the Otesaga Hotel in November 2025
It was gloomy and a bit cooler in 2025 on my second day at the resort but it was still nice to walk around.
The grounds of the resort in November 2025
I dropped my bags in the car and walked down to the National Baseball Hall of Fame for the morning. The downtown area was still really quiet and I had timed tickets for 12:30pm. I thought I would be there for about two hours. I was there for almost three.
National Baseball Hall of Fame at 25 Main Street
The National Baseball Hall of Fame is a true testament to the sport. There are artifacts from every era of the sport starting with early traces of bat and ball sports going back to the Egyptians and Greeks. The progress of the sport since the end of the Civil War to today is reflected in the memorabilia that has been donated over the year by teams, players and fans.
“The Captain” Derek Jeter
The museum opened in 1939 and has been growing ever since. I really liked the Hall of Fame room with all the plaques of celebrated players. Recently Derek Jeter was inducted into the Hall of Fame but because of COVID, the ceremony was cancelled.
I was looking for Reggie Jackson, “Mr. October”, who was induced in year ago. I just remember the thrill when he went in as a Yankee. I found the plaque of my childhood hero.
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