It has been nine years since I had spent Christmas in Woodstock, NY and I missed going there. I had spent my Christmas’s here after my Father had passed and I needed to clear my head. The first year I had just needed to get away and the years after I just liked the peace and quiet and beauty to the area. It was a lot of fun to go to the parade and then drive through the Catskills on Christmas day. I find it so relaxing.
After all the running around with Christmas related activities and special events and visiting more decorated houses than I had seen in the past and a very long trying semester, I needed a break. So I returned to past Christmas’s and visited Woodstock, NY, Rehoboth Beach, DE and then finished the holiday in Cape May, NJ. All while the temperatures were dropping. This would be a massive picture taking mission for revamping pictures and revisiting old haunts. It was a lot of fun as I went back in time nine years ago and relived Christmas of 2016.
The first part of December was cool but mild like most Decembers are but around Christmas Eve, the weather dropped into the 30’s and the wind chill picked up. After the trip to Woodstock, a major storm came through and dumped six inches of snow at home. Thank God there was just rain when I reached Rehoboth Beach. When I arrived in Woodstock for Christmas Eve, it was crisp and cool but when I left on the morning of the 26th, I heard they had eight inches of snow later that afternoon. Yet when I arrived, it was a sunny Christmas Eve afternoon with a lot of excitement for the parade that evening.
The Woodstock Green on Christmas Eve morning
The Woodstock Christmas tree when I arrived in the late afternoon
The tree was nicely decorated for the evenings activities
The Dutch Reformed Church was also decorated for evening service after the parade was over
Christmas Eve services posted at the Dutch Reformed Church
Our family decided to cancel our family Christmas together so that everyone could do their own thing this year. So, this Christmas holiday was about picture taking and revisiting the Christmas’s of the past. I thought this was the perfect opportunity to update and revamp older blogs and see how things have changed over the last decade. It was an interesting look at what I had done and experienced over the years.
Downtown Woodstock that afternoon of the parade
I love going to Woodstock, NY for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I have always found it very relaxing and inspiring in the Catskills. It is so beautiful up in the mountains at any time of the year. In keeping with the past, I decided to stay at one of the places I had stayed in 2016, the Woodstock Inn at Millstream at 48 Tannery Brook Road right off the downtown.
The Woodstock Inn at Millstream at 48 Tannery Brook Road
I had really enjoyed my stay here in the past and had always wanted to go back. Funny enough, the room I had nine years earlier was open and I stayed there. Like time had not gone by. The rooms are comfortable and very clean and relaxing.
Rooms 8a and 8
My bedroom when I settled in
The whole property was decorated for the holidays from the buildings to the rooms to the grounds giving it a festive appearance.
The decorations outside my room
The decorations along the property
Once I checked in and got my bags unpacked, I was able to walk around the property and admire the grounds. When I was at the hotel in 2016, I never had that much time to look around. This time around I had two nights and three days this time to explore. The grounds around the hotel are really beautiful.
The upper stream area
The Millstream behind the hotel
I was so busy the last time I was here that I never remembered the beauty of the property or the rolling streams in the backyard.
The grounds from the other side of the property
The office and breakfast on the property
The beautiful pines by the hotel
When I arrived, the manager, Angela, told me to settle in and there would be a snack in the dining area starting at 3:00pm. That sounded good and I settled in and relaxed in my room. Then went to the office/breakfast room to see the offerings.
The Dining Room
After I settled in and before I left for the parade, I stopped in and had a snack. The hotel had small pastries and cookies and crunchy spicy pretzels for guests to munch on before the evening’s activities. I thought this was very nice of them.
The light snack the hotel hosts at 3:00pm in the hotel
Small pastries and spicy pretzels with mustard
My light snack with a view of the streams
This would be the view I would enjoy that day and over the next two breakfasts as I loved this table over looking the steams. This was amazing! I was trying to imagine what it would be like in the Spring when everything was in bloom.
I headed up to the Green to see the tree and the preparations for the event tonight. It was still early but there was a lot of excitement in the air as the parade would be in less than two hours.
They lit the tree as it was starting twilight when I got to the Green
You could see the sun setting in the background of the Catskills as the police and firemen awaited the last Trailways bus to pass through at 4:40pm on the dot to set up. In the background, the sun was setting and there was a golden hue to the mountains.
The 4:40pm bus came early and left exactly at 4:45pm. Then the magic started.
The parade is based on the Trailways bus schedules. The last bus leaves downtown at exactly 4:40pm (this bus left a couple of minutes before that) and the next one does not arrive until around 7:00pm just as church service starts at the Dutch Reformed Church. I have never seen such a well orchestrated parade down to the minute. The moment that bus leaves at 4:40pm, the fire and police departments go into action and those roads are closed. Then the parade starts at around 5:15pm on the dot.
The crowds start to grow at 4:30pm
Before the parade began, I figured I had better have a late lunch/early dinner because I was not too sure what restaurant might stay open that night. After looking around, I decided on Sharkie’s Restaurant. The place was really busy before the parade so I ate at the bar. It was a very festive and active restaurant that night.
Sharkie’s Meatballs at 43 Tinker Street in Downtown Woodstock
The temperature was already starting to drop and it was getting cooler out than usual and I needed something to really warm me up and fill me up for the evening of activities. So I ordered a traditional Meatball hero and Coke. It was a real treat.
My Christmas Eve dinner
Talk about a delicious Christmas Eve dinner. It warmed me up inside and out. The Meatball sandwich here was excellent! It was just what the doctor ordered on a cold night up in the mountains.
Their Meatball hero’s are amazing
Yum!
After dinner was over and the Trailways bus was now gone, the police and fire departments started to close the road to prepare the downtown for the parade. While we waited for the parade to start, there were carolers and music in front of the church. It put everyone in the mood for the holidays.
The anticipation of the parade starting and listening to the musical combo by the church
The video on the Christmas musical combo outside the Dutch Reformed Church on the Green
We all watched as the parade started in the distance along Tinker Street
More caroling by the Dutch Reformed Church on the Green. The crowds kept growing!
Then we heard the parade start in the distance and the excitement really started in the crowd. The music from the distance and the lights coming down Tinker Street, the main street in Woodstock, built the excitement of the beginning of the parade.
The start of the parade with Mrs. Claus greeting the crowds as she entered the center of town
We watched as the float carrying Mrs. Claus passed us and she was having a ball opening the parade and greeting the crowd. Some of her friends were calling out her name as she passed by. Her friends were all excited to see her in the parade.
Mrs. Claus greeting the crowd as she entered town
Mrs. Claus greeting the crowd
Mrs. Claus leading the excitement of the beginning of the parade.
Then in the distance we saw more floats heading down Tinker Street. The first float was a band of teenagers singing Christmas songs for the crowd.
The Teenage band as it passed by awaiting Santa
The Christmas band passes by
Then the big float came in the shape of a space ship directed by a team of women coordinating the path of the machine. Everyone was wondering how Santa would arrive and exactly where he was on the float.
The travel machine was being coordinated in precision to bring Santa to the parade
Santa arrives in Woodstock in style
The inside of the travel machine
A close up shot of the time travel machine
As soon as the music stopped and the count down began, Santa popped out of the roof to an applauding crowd. The whole crowd went wild with Santa’s greeting on this cool night.
Santa popping out of the travel machine
Santa greeting the crowd after his appearance
Santa’s message to the crowd before he dismounted to hear the wishes of families and children
Santa starting his dismount to greet families
The members of the Woodstock Fire Department helped Santa and Mrs. Claus in their chairs in the Woodstock Green and they talked to dozens of families and heard the wishes of people from all over the county.
Santa and Mrs. Claus looking at the growing crowd
Mother Nature helped guide the crowds of children and their families hear their wishes
Santa and Mrs. Claus greeting a young guest
The crowds were really large and the line was long but Santa and his wife got through all the guests wish lists with a smile and a wink. While Santa and Mrs. Claus were greeting guests, the student group from the float was singing Christmas carols with the crowd joining in.
The student group performing at the parade
Like all good things though, the line came to an end and perfectly timed at 6:40pm, twenty minutes before church service.
Santa and Mrs. Claus at the end of the evening
I already had my Christmas wish of returning to Woodstock for the Christmas holidays after an eight year absence and asked Santa and Mrs. Claus to take a picture for me. They could not have been more gracious considering Santa had a long journey ahead of him that evening.
Santa and Mrs. Claus taking a pose for me
As quick as it begun, it was over and not even five minutes after I took the picture, Santa and Mrs. Claus disappeared with the fire department, almost the entire crowd was gone and the police were opening the roads. The 7:00pm Trailways bus arrived just as I was crossing the street to the Dutch Reformed Church. Another parade over and another Christmas memory for me.
The front of the Woodstock Dutch Reformed Church at 16 Tinker Street in Woodstock, NY
The alter of the church decorated for the holidays
The alter decorated with flowers
The inside of the church decorated with bows and garland
Church service at the Dutch Reformed Church is very different from the services I have attended in the Catholic Church. Here the church starts with a concert performance and I have been here in the past to hear small quartets. I got into church before services and listened to the bell choir practice before the evening’s service.
The church bell choir practicing before the service
I love these historic churches at the holidays
The beautiful Christmas tree lit for the evening service
It really was a wonderful and very welcoming service. Reverend Renee introduced herself to me and the other parishioners who joined the packed church that night. It was a very inspiring service that emphasized love and encouragement during the holidays. Then the candlelight service began with the bell ceremony.
The start of the bell service and candlelight ceremony
I love when the Reformed Church does this type of service. The whole church gets dark and is illuminated only by the Christmas tree and the candles the parishioners lit. It is quite spectacular. I also find the service to be inspirational in that service was based on some personal experiences and encouragement about things getting better. I think we need more of that now.
The bell ceremony that evening
Looking at the outside decorations as I left the church
The service was over in an hour and most people left to join their families for Christmas Eve dinners. I walked out into the cold night and decided to walk around the quiet downtown. Within fifteen minutes, there was no one around as the church closed for the evening.
The Woodstock Green on Christmas Eve 2025
It got colder and quieter on the Green as I went to admire the Christmas tree and the decorations. You would have never known about five hundred people had just been here an hour and a half earlier to greet Santa.
Admiring the tree while watching the last of the crowds leave the church
Admiring the tree from Santa’s seat
The only problem with Woodstock at Christmas are the restaurant choices are limited especially on Christmas Eve night after church services. Everything had closed by 7:00pm downtown and there were two restaurants in the distance that were open until 8:00pm but that already passed.
As I walked around and down Tinker Street as I had in years past, this year nothing was open. Thank God I had had the late lunch at Sharkie’s or I would have starved. Even the former Joshua’s was closed for the evening and they used to be open until 9:00pm.
After my long tour of the downtown and admiring the Christmas lights, I headed back to the hotel and went to bed. Santa was on his way and I needed my rest after a long semester. I went out like a light and had an excellent night’s rest. I was ready for a long drive on Christmas.
Christmas morning in Woodstock
I slept like a log and woke up late Christmas morning to a mix of sun and clouds. Gloomy as it was in the morning, it was still nice to look at the breathtaking scenery of the property and admire the Millstream that morning.
The stream rushing by as people were out taking a Christmas walk
Most of the guests at the hotel had family and friends close by and were heading off for their Christmas festivities. I was planning a long drive around the Catskills and then finding a place to eat for dinner. I find the ride around the area to be very relaxing.
The Breakfast buffet at the Woodstock Inn at Millstream
There was lots of choices
I enjoyed breakfast that morning. I always got the small corner table and enjoy breakfast while admiring the stream passing by. I wished some of the other guests a Merry Christmas and watched as everyone one by one left to start their day. The hotel had a nice selection of cereals, fruits and baked items and we could take what we wanted. The breakfast was part of our package and some of the items were organic and some gluten free and everything was delicious.
The view of the streams from the Breakfast room
I went back to my room and called my mother and both my brothers to wish them a very Merry Christmas before they left to start their days. I had talked to most of my friends just before I left for Woodstock and did not disrupt their morning with their families. After breakfast, I took the long winding trip around the Catskills to visit the small towns and see how they were celebrating the holidays.
My first stop was in Bearsville to see if anything would be open that evening. I wanted to see if Tibet Pho had changed their mind about opening but it was closed for the day. Only the Mexican restaurant was open that morning so off I went on my journey down Route 28.
My first stop was in Phoenicia, where for years I would crash the Phoenicia Fire Department’s early morning Christmas party to go to the bathroom. It was the only thing open in the downtown after the coffee shop closed at 10:00am. Still it was so peaceful and quiet in the downtown when I walked around.
The only thing open was the gas station and that was about it. The rest of the town was quiet that morning as it had in years past.
Downtown Phoenicia on Christmas morning
I then headed to Pine Hill to see if the ‘sonic boom’ of COVID had brought any gentrification to the town. I was surprised when nothing had changed in the town and it was still as run down as it had been in 2016.
The nicest part of Downtown Pine Hill I could find from any angle
I next traveled to Fleischmanns, a town once dominated by the Fleischmanns resort. The town also did not look like COVID boom had come to this town either. The town also looked as depressed as it did in 2016. Still I found this friendly snowman greeting me on Christmas morning.
The snowman just off downtown Fleischmanns greets you with a warm smile
The funny thing about Fleischmanns when I drove out of town was the line of beautiful large Victorian homes that lined the stream on the lower part of the hill. A piece of history from days gone by.
I made the turn off to go north on Route 30 in Margaretville, which had become much more vibrant with the expansion of the local hospital. Nothing was open that morning, but I had visited the town over the summer on my trip to Bovina Center and Ithaca on Labor Day weekend. The town had really bounced back over the years and was full of small restaurants and stores.
Downtown Margaretville as the clouds stayed to clear that morning
I made my was up Route 30 passing many small communities on my drive north. A lot of the farms decorated their barns of the outside of their homes. Rockville had really changed as all the Victorian homes in the downtown area were being renovated.
I made the turnoff on Route 23a and traveled through the towns of Hunter, where the big winter resorts were and then through Tannersville, where years ago was the only town that had any restaurants open on Christmas.
All that was open was a dumpy Chinese restaurant and a coffee shop where every table was dirty with breakfast plates on them. They must have been overwhelmed all day and had not had a chance to catch up. I traveled on through the small towns and the mountain passes, which Thank God were dry.
I headed south down Route 9 to see if anything was open in Saugerties. No such luck as the entire downtown was closed for business. There were two small Chinese restaurants outside the downtown area but one had no seating and the other had terrible reviews on TripAdvisor.
Then I remembered my standby every time I am in Kingston and stopped in the Stockade section of the downtown and had my Christmas dinner at Wing Shui, the tiny Chinese takeout which was the only thing open on Christmas Day in Kingston. The place was constantly busy that evening and the phone was ringing off the hook the entire time I was there.
My Christmas dinner was spent at the lone table inside Wing Shui which is layered with boxes. Not the fancy place you would expect to eat but the family who runs this tiny take out place is really nice and the food is excellent. I had to wait forty-five minutes to get it but it was well worth the experience. The crowds never stopped and the phone just rang the entire time I ate my dinner.
I had the Beef and Broccoli combination platter with Pork Fried Rice and Hot & Sour Soup. Sorry everyone but I loved this dinner and did not mind the plastic containers and piles of boxes. That was Christmas to me.
The Beef and Broccoli combination platter at Wing Shui
My Christmas dinner that night was so good!
I left Wing Shui about forty-five minutes late to see the same people standing there waiting for their food, the owners and their kids running around and the crowds swelling to almost fifteen deep (maybe more). There were so many people packed in that small space I could not count them all.
I drove back to Woodstock that evening as it got dark to see the lights on in the Green and the Christmas tree blazing. It was such a beautiful site.
The view of the town Christmas tree again
I stopped the car to enjoy walking around the Green one more time. I would be leaving right after breakfast for the second part of my six day, three trip journey to Rehoboth Beach to visit my mother for a post Christmas celebration. I slept soundly again at the hotel and it was so quiet I swore I heard the stream behind me.
The Millstream the next morning
Since I had a six hour drive ahead of me, I had an early breakfast, packed up the car and got on my way before check out. I had to make a pitstop at home for clean clothes and to pick up doughnuts at Mills Bakery for my mother. The usual request.
Enjoying the same breakfast in the same spot the next morning
Woodstock was a little more lively when I left but still not crowded. I want to come back in the Spring to the hotel again to see what it is like in the warm weather.
I could not believe how quiet the highways were the day after Christmas. I got home in record time, dropped off and picked up clothes and the headed to Mills which was decked out for the holidays. The store looked so festive this year with gingerbread men and women inside and outside the store and the shelves of Christmas baked goodies all over the store. It was hard to hold back from just the doughnuts but I promised myself I would be good.
Mill’s Bakery at 275 Valley Boulevard in Wood Ridge, NJ
I have to stop at Mills on every trip to bring butter cakes and doughnuts down to my mother’s. Since the holidays were still in swing I ordered them in advance.
If you have not tried the doughnuts at Mills Bakery you are missing a lot
While I was waiting for the order to be rung up, I admired the beautifully decorated cakes in the cases
They even had an igloo cake and I thought this was very clever
The trip down to my mother’s usually takes about for hours exactly ( with one bathroom break) but with the roads clear of holiday traffic, I made it down in just a little over three hours which meant I could relax before dinner.
I had negotiated with my mother beforehand to make ‘the dinner’ the first night and then I would take my mother and her partner out to dinner the next night as part of their Christmas presents. The bribe worked.
‘The Dinner’ is Fried Chicken Cutlets with Spaghetti with Marinara Sauce and a salad with oil and vinegar. My mom has been making this for us since we were kids.
Over dinner my mother and I caught up on what we did for Christmas, our plans for dinner the next night and then what my plans were for Cape May for the last part of my vacation. I swear, right after I went to bed. I was exhausted from all the driving. I went out like a light.
The beautiful decorations on homes in Downtown Lewes
The next day after breakfast, I explored both Lewes and Rehoboth Beach. I had missed a museum for my blog and wanted to see if it was open. All the Lewes Historical Society buildings were closed for the season and I would have to wait until the Spring.
I was determined to visit the US Lifeguard Station at 2 Shipcarpenter Street but it was closed for the season
I headed back to Downtown Rehoboth Beach to see the Christmas tree and see what was happening downtown. It was a really gloomy day but it was a little warmer and you could walk around the boardwalk. Not the most pleasant day to do it though.
I just wondered through all the stores and walked on the boardwalk as the cool breezes passed by. I was amazed how many people were walking around on this gloomy day but I figured by this point most people were getting cabin fever hanging around their families. This is the case at most holidays.
That evening I took my mother out for the second part of her Christmas gift to Saketumi, a Japanese/fusion restaurant at 18814 Coastal Highway in Rehoboth Beach. Their food and the service were wonderful.
We started with a Dim Sum sampler, that had an interesting mix of dumplings and Shu Mi.
The Dim Sum sampler at Saketumi
I ordered the Chicken Pad Thai and mother and I shared the Vegetable Lo Mein, both of which were delicious.
The Chicken Pad Thai
The Vegetable Lo Mein
I felt for our waitress though. The poor woman had the entire side of the dining room and was running ragged. She managed it with a smile on her face and since we were the last guests to leave that evening, had time to come over and talk about the holiday season. She seemed happy they were over. Saketumi is one of the few restaurants open on Christmas Day and she told us that they had over three hundred people eating there that day.
After a very relaxing night’s sleep (I was putting in about eight hours every night of sleep), it was time to leave and head over to the ferry to go to Cape May for two days as the last part of my trip. I said my goodbyes after breakfast and got to the ferry over an hour early.
I have to say one thing about the ferry company, the terminal building was nicely decorated for the holidays and their restaurants had such great menus. I felt like I was in a hotel. They make it very homey during the holidays.
It was a gloomy afternoon when I arrived
It was a cloudy day when I arrived in Cape May and a cold one. I had just been here three weeks earlier and it was just as cold and gloomy. The sun did just break through later in the day.
I love coming to Cape May at all times of the year. I like it especially at Christmas when everything is so festively decorated. It keeps you in the holiday spirit.
The Washington Street Mall during the holidays
My favorite place to stay in Cape May is the Chalfonte Hotel, which is one of the oldest hotels in the city. The hotel is now closed for the season so I stayed in the Southern Quarters, the B & B next to the main hotel. Somehow I always get the same room on the top floor, Room 7, which looks like Village loft.
My favorite place to stay in Cape May is the Chalfonte Hotel, which is one of the oldest hotels in the city. The hotel is now closed for the season so I stayed in the Southern Quarters, the B & B next to the main hotel. Somehow I always get the same room on the top floor, Room 7, which looks like Village loft.
The hotel itself was not open but was decorated to the hilt and the downstairs rooms were lit for the holidays.
The Chalfonte Hotel during the December holidays
As I said before, this holiday was all about picture taking and going back in time to create the same memories as the past but this time with pictures. Everything I did, visited and ate was reference to a previous Christmas holiday when I did not own a IPhone and now I was bringing all those experiences back to life down rooms that I stayed at and restaurant meals that I experienced.
I know it sounds a little crazy but I have seen a huge jump in the 2025 numbers to this blog as I have added more details to it. People from all over the world seem to like more pictures and visuals so that is why I am giving it to them. This includes staying in the same hotel rooms and eating the same meals at restaurants from years ago.
Trust me, it was a lot of fun reliving it all over again. This started with my room at the Southern Quarters and dinner that evening at the Washington Inn.
The restaurant is one of the nicest restaurants in Cape May and one of the best in the State of New Jersey. The food and the service are wonderful.
The inside of the Washington Inn at Christmas time
The experience was the same as it was back in 2021. The meal and service were both excellent without being stuffy or snobbish. It is a very laid back and very elegant restaurant to dine in. I had the same meal I had four years earlier and thoroughly enjoyed it.
My appetizer, the Seafood Bisque
The savory bisque had shrimp, scallops and lobster in it
The entree was the Washington Inn Crab cakes which I highly recommend. These two cakes were filled with chopped crab and spices. They were excellent!
The Crab cake entree paired with a California Cabernet Blanc
The Washington Inn Crab cakes are amazing and I highly recommend them
For dessert, I kept with the past and ordered the Bananas Foster. This simple light dessert was the perfect way to end the meal and I really enjoyed it.
The Bananas Foster dessert with English Breakfast tea
The Bananas Foster are a wonderful way to finish the meal with a lighter dessert
Even the Christmas tree by the bathrooms put you into the holiday spirit
The whole evening was wonderful and one of the best meals that I had over the Christmas break. It was not cheap but every once in a while worth the money as a special Christmas gift to yourself.
After dinner, I had to work dinner off. You can not go to sleep on a full stomach and since it was still so early, I decided to walk through Downtown Cape May which is always a fantasy world of lights and decorations.
The Cape May Fire Department firehouse decorated for the holidays
The Washington Street Mall decorated for Christmas
I walked off the Mall and down the street to the downtown park, Cape May Rotary Park, which is always dazzling in lights.
Cape May Rotary Park just off the downtown mall
The lights are always so dazzling at Christmas
The park puts you in the holiday spirit
The brilliance of the lights
My video of touring Rotary Park at the holidays and its elegant Christmas tree
The Christmas tree in Rotary Park always glitters and sparkles
The Cape May Christmas tree is quite a site
I then walked across the street to the Congress Hotel that is always decorated to the hilt at the holidays. I love walking through the halls and out on the lawn to see their ‘Santa’s Village’. It is quite a site.
The entrance to the Congress Hotel at 200 Congress Place
The whole property is decorated for the holidays and is a popular place for people visit
The backyards of the Congress Hotel at Christmas are decorated to the hilt and during the day there are train rides around the property, Santa is available to visit as well boutiques to shop at.
The lawn and all the decorations during Christmas after Congress Hotel
The Christmas tree at the Congress Hotel
Santa’s reindeer in front of the Christmas tree
The Winter Wonderland sleigh on the lawn
After my long walk around Downtown Cape May, I headed back to the hotel and relaxed and ended up falling asleep. I was out for the rest of the night.
The next morning in keeping with my picture taking mission, I headed over to the Mad Batter at 19 Jackson Street for breakfast. I wanted to order the Egg Croustade for breakfast that I had in 2021. The Croustade was a combination of eggs, sausage, peppers, potatoes and spices in omelet form on top of a brioche bun. An amazing breakfast.
The St. Carroll Villa Hotel decked out with Santa’s
The food and service at the Mad Batter is wonderful. I always enjoy the hospitality at the restaurant in all the times I have eaten here. The place was filled with post Christmas families and children were talking loudly all over the restaurant.
The bar section of the restaurant
The bar section of the restaurant
One of my favorite things that I like to order for breakfast is the croustade and I ordered it again that morning. Trust me, you will not go hungry here.
My breakfast that morning
The Croustade
It was nice to just relax and enjoy breakfast. I needed the calories for the long walk I would be taking around town that morning.
The front of the restaurant was really nice when I left
After breakfast, I returned to the Washington Mall and walked around. It had been a long trip for me and I just wanted to relax and enjoy the views. The Mall and all the business are so nicely decorated for the holidays.
The Washington Mall during the day
The Rotary Park during the daytime
I walked around Rotary Park during the day and even then the park is quite magical with the bows and ribbons and lights. The Christmas tree in the square.
The Gazebo during the day
It was a rather gloomy and cold morning when I left the restaurant but all the holiday decorations kept me in the holiday spirit. There were still more of the twelve days of Christmas and I wanted to enjoy them.
The Christmas tree in the gazebo
The Christmas tree up close
I then walked down past the Congress Hotel again and walked along the shore front. Even on a gloomy day, I loved the smell of the salt air and slight wind against me. It really is so good to breathe in.
I always find the beach so calming. It is nice to just walk around and hear the waves crashing. I find it so relaxing. It doesn’t matter the season. The salt air is so good for you.
I walked around town taking the route of the tour of inns and businesses that I visited three weeks earlier on my tour of town. I ended up back at the Washington Mall in time for church services for Christmas at Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Church. I always like the holiday services here and have enjoyed the Christmas Eve services here many times.
Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Church at 525 Washington Street
The mass was really enjoyable and I find the priest here to be very inspiring. A different service than the one on Christmas Eve but still I liked the sermon and the way the priest encouraged people at the holidays.
The front of the church is so nicely decorated
The alter with all the flowers and trees
The manger in the front of the church
Getting ready for Three Kings Day on January 6th
Looking at all the Christmas decorations at the church
After I finished church services, I toured around the other side of downtown and passed the Cape May Theater. They were performing a show entitled ‘Let’s Catch Santa’. I was bummed that the show was over the previous day.
‘Let’s Catch Santa’ ended the day before and I was bummed
Since the show was over, I found other things to do that day. I walked over to West Cape May and admired all the Victorian homes, many still decorated to the hilt also walked their parks as well and looked at their decorations.
The park and surrounding homes were decorated for Christmas and last year when I visited, it was a sea of lights and decorations.
The Santa’s sleigh in Wilbraham Park
It had gotten late when I looked at the time after touring all the shops and restaurants in the area and it was almost four o’clock. The weather had finally cleared and I decided to walk back to the hotel and drive out to Sunset beach and watch the sun set on the beach. It is something you can’t miss when you are here.
Even though if was cool outside that did not stop the diehard followers as the sun started to set. The colors were breathtaking.
The evening sky had cleared leaving a glow in the distance
The video of the sun starting to set
The glow of the sun in the horizon
The final view of the sun takes its bow
The sun makes its final disappearing act
While everyone else left for the evening, I stayed and watched the colors change in the sky to all sorts of reds and purples as it finally started to get dark by 5:00pm. In all the years that I have seen this since the early 90’s, I never get bored of it.
I headed back to town and stopped for dinner before I headed back to the hotel. I was not on the mood for the usual places and after such an expensive dinner the night before wanted to keep it reasonable. I remembered Mario’s from three weeks before and stopped there for dinner again.
Mario’s Pizza and Italian Eatery at 315 Ocean Street #7
The most amazing comfort food dinner. A Cheese Calzone and an order of Garlic Knots
The Calzone was perfectly cooked and the inside was filled with four cheeses and warmed me both inside and out
Yum!
The Garlic Knots were delicious. Small batches of pizza dough, brushed with garlic butter and smothered in more garlic and then baked. Taste like heaven and then kept the vampires away that night!
The owner was telling one of his good customers that evening that he would be open until this weekend and then closing for two months for a much needed break. There would be no business anyway until the first of March anyway. The whole town got colder and the rest of the shore rolled up its sleeves for the season. I could see why as it got really cold that night.
The winds really howled that night, and it must have gone down to 27 degrees. The winds and cold went right through those old windows and the old windows protection, which was now held by duct tape. The heat could not keep up, and the room got really cool. I learned from three weeks before, I covered the windows as much as I could and hid under the covers. At least the heat was on, and it just needed to balance! I woke up the next morning to a warm room.
I slept in my last night of the trip and checked out early. In keeping with the reason for this trip, I headed to Wawa in West Cape May for breakfast as I had in 2016 before my trip on the ferry. They have the most unrated and delicious breakfast items. I had a Bacon, Egg and Cheese on a hoagie with a Banana and Strawberry Smoothie. God, it was good on a cold day.
The Wawa at 3719 Bayshore Road in West Cape May on the way to the ferry
The Bacon Egg and Cheese hoagie and the Strawberry Banana Smoothie, which I had to eat on the hood of my car in 35-degree weather
This sandwich was over stuffed and huge
Even though it was cold out the Banana-Strawberry smoothie hit the spot
I know it sounds crazy to eat outside in the cold weather but there is no place to eat inside the building and I hate eating in my car. How we make do in the winter months. The breakfast was fantastic and the perfect way to end my trip. I headed on my way home.
Since I had plenty of time in the early morning and I had already left the Chalfonte, I decided to head to Seaside Heights and Point Pleasant to see what was happening there for the holidays.
Both Seaside Park and Heights were really quiet in comparison
I drove though both Seaside Park and Seaside Heights and the towns were both extremely quiet. Most of the businesses I had visited over the summer and late Fall around Halloween were closed up tight with signs that said ‘See you in the Spring’.
The Christmas decorations and the Seaside Park Christmas tree
The festive Santa in Seaside Park
I decided to walk over to the boardwalk to see if anyone was around. Only the arcade with a full staff all on their cellphones because of a lack of customers and one branch of Big Brother Pizza was open with again a bored staff. They have to do a better job of letting people know they are open for business. All the public bathrooms were closed, which was a pain.
The quiet boardwalk was fun to walk in the off season. It has a quiet beauty to it
The snowmen band was one of the few traces of Christmas on the boardwalk
The arcade’s Christmas tree was a real beauty
The one nice thing about the arcade being open is that they let everyone use the bathroom. So, there was a stream of people who were walking the boardwalk that walked in. That meant some business.
When I got back to the car, I headed north to Point Pleasant. The roads and streets of Seaside Heights were empty but I did notice all the construction in Downtown Seaside Heights. All the old motels are being replaced by upscale condos and businesses. This town will totally change in not even two years.
Downtown Point Pleasant and their Boardwalk were much more lively especially with their year round population. I parked in Downtown Point Pleasant which is such a great downtown.
Downtown Point Pleasant decorated for the holidays
Downtown Point Pleasant is always so nicely decorated for the holidays. I have been here at Halloween and the beginning of the Spring and the town does such a nice job making it festive looking.
The downtown decorations
The decorative pots dotted the downtown
I parked at the edge of downtown and walked to the boardwalk, passing the gazebo. It felt like I was just here looking at the Halloween decorations. The town’s Christmas tree was still up and looked beautiful.
The gazebo downtown decorated for the holidays
I loved the Christmas tree in the gazebo in Downtown Point Pleasant
Point Pleasant always does such a creative job decorating their downtown for the holidays. Even though Christmas was over it puts you in the Christmas spirit.
The Point Pleasant Beach Jenkinson Boardwalk by the aquarium
The Point Pleasant Beach Boardwalk was active as there were people heading to the aquarium to see the lights and tour the displays. The whole side of the Jenkinson Boardwalk was open and the restaurants, shops and arcades had families popping in and out of them as the day got nicer.
The snowmen announced the coming of Winter
These festive penguins greeted me at the restaurant
The Christmas tree in the restaurant across from the aquarium
Even though it was the holidays, I thought the prices at the restaurant were a bit ridiculous for hamburgers and pizza considering what was coming out. I walked around the boardwalk and looked over the amusements that would be opening in four months. I could not believe it would be that short of a period of time.
Santa was there in the restaurant greeting patrons
I walked around the boardwalk and the downtown one last time. I decided to head home for dinner. There were some places I wanted to try in Point Pleasant but I would wait until the weather was warmer and I could enjoy the afternoon with some warm weather.
I was surprised that the traffic from the beach back to North Jersey was not that heavy and I got home in just about an hour. I decided to have my pre–New Year’s Eve dinner in Hasbrouck Heights.
Downtown Hasbrouck Heights during the holidays
I went to Dumpling Chinese Restaurant for dinner that evening. All this driving around and exploring towns and admiring holiday decorations and the spirit these towns represent, I was exhausted. I just wanted to stay closer to home.
During the holiday season, I had run from the Jersey Shore to the Hudson River Valley and all through New York City and even to Delaware to find the best of the holiday season and now I needed a break from my vacation.
The lunch and dinner specials here are really good. The food is excellent and the portion sizes are really generous. I ordered the Chicken Lo Mein combination platter for dinner with Hot & Sour Soup. The spiced the better since I was fighting a cold.
The Chicken Lo Mein dinner combination
The Chicken Lo Mein dinner
The Hot & Sour Soup was excellent
After dinner I got home and finally was able to unpack and unwind. It had been a long holiday season of running around and attending and revisiting every thing I had seen in the past years. Now I would be able to concentration visiting new places and discovering other parts of the region.
I spent New Year’s Eve at home just relaxing, doing laundry and reading. It was time to put it all into perspective and look back at the last year and all I accomplished. I thought I gave my students the best education and experiences I could and visited as much of the places that I wanted to see. The Team projects had been successful and the blogs all hit new highs with all of them reaching new goal’s and toppling last year’s numbers.
That’s where I than you the readers for joining me on my journeys. I hope you got a glimpse on what places to visit in the future. I watched the ball drop in Times Square from home and felt I lucked out on not having to spend a freezing evening in Times Square. I would be back over the weekend rested and relaxed. New Year’s Day was Soup Day with my best friend and her family. I have such a great time with her family. I just feel really lucky to have all this in my life.
Merry Christmas everyone and a very Happy New Year!
My post New Year’s Day walk around Manhattan:
Pictures of my post Christmas walk around Manhattan! Whose says Christmas is over on December 25th? I just wanted to stretch after a long series of travels and picked a day in January to walk around Manhattan to see what decorations were left around the island. People really do believe there are twelve days of Christmas.
Engine 65 in Times Square which inspired my book ‘Firehouse 101’
Schneider’s Bakery at 157 Main Street in Cooperstown, NY
The front window of Schneider’s Bakery
I have only visited Cooperstown, NY twice but I have made my annual visit to Schneider’s Bakery part of my annual visit. The doughnuts, danishes, twist and croissants here are excellent. I stop in for breakfast, desserts and snacks there when I am in town. It is not just the taste of the pastries, it is the way the store is displayed too.
The inside counter for coffee and drinks
The only problem with the store is that there is no place to sit down to enjoy all these delicious treats. You have to take your pastry to go. The other problem is the choices. There are so many yummy things to choose from it is hard not to walk out with a bag full of goodies.
The cases of cookies
I loved the creativity of the designs of the cakes and cookies in the store. I thought the Fall, Thanksgiving and Christmas themed cookies looked like little pieces of art. They really put you on the holiday spirit.
The delicious selection of doughnuts
The history of Schneider’s Bakery:
(From the Cooperstown’s Downtown website)
Since 1887, Schneider’s Bakery has been serving Cooperstown residents and visitors alike some of the tastiest baked goods around! Everything from moon pies and cupcakes, to chocolate chip cookies and homemade donuts, can be found at Schneider’s.
The doughnuts and croissant’s were really good and very fairly priced. That was the one thing about Schneider’s Bakery, their prices are very reasonable.
The fantastic Apple filled jelly doughnut
On my first day in town, I stopped for a quick snack of one of their Apple filled doughnuts and these are just mindblowingly good. I was impressed by the fresh apple filling and it almost tasted like a cross between an apple pie and apple turnover.
The lemon zested Glazed Doughnut
It was so good, I had to go back and get another treat to take back to my room at the hotel. I took one of their Glazed Doughnuts back with me and it had a unique taste. It tasted like there was lemon zest in the dough. It had a very unique and sweet flavor to it.
On my last day at the resort, I stopped in for some breakfast items to take back to the room with me. I did not want a big breakfast for the three hour trip home and just something light to tide me over until I got on the road.
The Ham and Cheese Croissant
I started with one of their Ham and Cheese Croissants for breakfast and it was delicious. Filled with sharp Cheddar Cheese and sweet ham, it was the perfect savory item. They should think about putting eggs in it.
Yum!
The Raspberry Long John
This was excellent and tastes even better than it looks
I finished breakfast with one of their glazed Raspberry Long John’s, which is an elongated doughnut with a thick, sugary glaze. I swear I saw stars when I bit into it. The Raspberry jam tasted like it was freshly made and the dough was so soft and sweet. It was excellent.
Afterwards, you can walk these off with a tour of picturesque downtown Cooperstown. It was all decorated for the upcoming Christmas Parade. I am sure that Santa would link to get his treats from here as well.
Walking in Downtown Cooperstown, NY Thanksgiving week in 2025
Downtown Cooperstown, NY decorated for the holidays
I started October with one game plan, not to over do it this year with loads of activities. At this point, I had been to almost every activity in the area over the last five years and I needed to concentrate on work and my writing this time around. I was still catching up with blogs from the summer and work with my 102 students at the college was getting over whelming. I took it easy this Halloween and did not cram as much in as previous years.
That and the fact that over the last five years I have been to every haunted house tour, cemetery graveyard walk, themed meal event and musical performance that I can find in the tri-state area. I had been to them multiple times and I wanted to find new things to do. Plus work was taking up a lot of my time, so I learned to better pace things this year.
The month started off with a tour to see the foliage both in New Jersey and in Upstate New York. The first trip I made was for the Apple Festival at the Gandy Farmstead which I had toured during the Firemen’s Convention two weeks earlier and two weeks after that it was back to the Hudson River Valley for the Annual Sheep and Wool Festival.
My blog on the Apple Festival at the Gandy Farmstead:
I had a very busy weekend of running around South Jersey. I have been updating my blog on the Historical Sites of South Jersey and trying to visit as many of this small museums and special events venues before they close for the season. Like any of my blogging trips, I planned the weekend like “D Day”. I lucked out as the weather was wonderful both days, clear, sunny and in the mid 80’s. I could not think of a better time to go to the shore than post-Labor Day weekend. My goal was to attend the Apple Festival that I had heard about at the Gandy Farmstead Museum when I toured the home for my blog, VisitingaMuseum.com (see blog and reviews).
The JW Gandy Farmstead Museum at 26 Tyler Road in Greenfield, NJ
Two weeks after my initial visit to the Gandy House during the Firemen’s Convention, I returned for the Historical Society’s Annual Apple Festival on Saturday, October 4th. The event reminded me of the Brinckerhoff House Strawberry Festival I had attended in May , a very nice family and community event that attracted everyone.
The East Fishkill Historical Society-Brinckerhoff House Strawberry Festival 2025/Exploring Fishkill, NY blog:
Since there were a lot of shore towns I wanted to revisit while the weather was nice, I arranged to stay at an Airbnb in Ocean City so I had plenty of time to do what I needed to do and relax afterwards. Plus when the event was over, I could visit Ocean City and explore both the downtown and the boardwalk.
I could not believe how crowded the roads were as so many places were having either Fall festivals or October Fest. Route 9 was like a parking lot near Smithville, NJ as the town was having their ‘October Fest’ over both days of the weekend. Traffic was backed up for about two miles trying to get in so I got off Route 9 and traveled down the Garden State Parkway.
I got to the Apple Festival around noon and the parking lot was packed with people. One of the members said later that afternoon that he could not believe the consistent crowds as it was still busy at 2:15pm (the festival was over by 3:00pm). The crowds were filled with several generations of family members who I am sure were traveling from one event to another on this spectacular sunny morning. People were still arriving even as the event was winding down that afternoon.
The sign welcoming you to the event
When I arrived at the festival, the parking lot was still filling up so I had to park way in the back so I could get in and out easily.
On the Gandy family property on the other side of the home, they had an antique car show, a mini train ride around the tracks of this part of the property and a Caboose train car that you could explore.
The train tracks around the farm property
The train set up and tracks to tour around the farm
The train rides were really popular with both the small and ‘big’ kids
This small train trip had a nice sized line to it as families were really enjoying themselves
The back of the Gandy Farmstead with crafts and entertainment
Entering the Apple Festival with a Farmers Market and Apple sale
The Farmers Market of locally grown produce
There was a stand that was a mini Farmers Market with locally grown apples, pumpkins, squash and tomatoes on top of other produce. It was so nicely displayed and the prices were really reasonable.
They had a wonderful duo interesting the crowds that afternoon
There were all sorts of crafts stands around where the entertainment was performing
The local crafts people were really talented and included crocheted, painters, floral arrangers and jewelry markers. There were all sorts of handmade items and there were stands to buy homemade jellies and pickles and the prices were not like North Jersey, where a jar of jam at a Farmers Market will run you $15.00. The prices here were closer to $5.00 for certain items, which I thought was very fair.
One woman sold flowers from her gardens and arranged bouquets
This woman painted her own crafts and did beautiful work for both Halloween and Christmas
Here beautiful holiday crafts
I loved this Santa tree and was going to get it for my mom
This woman had the most beautiful handmade doll clothing and knit items for the holidays
What is an Apple Festival without food? I went to the concession stand for lunch and ordered a hot dog with a glass of locally made Apple cider and had an homemade Apple Shortcake, which I found out later the members had made the night before.
The concession stand where all the food was made
Enjoying my lunch. Both the hotdogs and apple cider were locally made and that’s why it tasted so good! The apple cider was from a local farm and I wished they had sold this at the festival. I think the farmer would have sold out!
Hot dogs taste so good off the grill!
The delicious homemade Apple Shortcake with homemade apple topping were made by the members
I also stopped off at the apple stand where cases of apples were being sold. It looked like many people were going to make pies and sauce with these and the stand looked like they were selling out.
I managed to buy one of the Mango sweet apples they were selling individually
The apples were so hard, fresh and sweet that it made the perfect addition to dessert. Nothing is better than a Jersey Apple right off the vine. I could not believe how fast they sold out of the boxes of apples and the individual apples were selling just as fast.
The Mango Sweet apples
Talk about delicious
After lunch, I ran into the Board members who had helped me with the tour two weeks early and I took a quick tour of the first floor of the home. The laundry room was not open the day of my private tour, so I toured this part of the house on top of taking a better look at the first floor.
Touring the outside grape arbor
The grape arbor on an early Fall day
Touring the first floor laundry room
An early washing machine
How to do laundry at the turn of the last century
After having lunch, touring the house and visiting all the vendors I relaxed for the rest of the afternoon and listened to the entertainment perform. The duo performed a combination of 70’s hit songs, country music and some James Taylor.
The duo performing classic hits
The first part of the song “Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl)” from the 1970’s before people walked in the way
The rest of the song performed. They did an excellent job with it
Before I left just after 2:00pm, I stayed to see who won the Apple pie contest. There were only three contributors but I wanted to get a slice before I left. They did not slice them up while I was there. Bummer! I really wanted a piece of fresh Apple pie.
The winners of the Apple pie contest
The Apple Festival sponsored by the Upper Township Historical Society happens every October. It is a wonderful family event and fundraiser for the Historical Society. I know I had a lot of fun and it reminded me of the events that I went to as a kid in the 1970’s, which was long before cell phones.
It was funny that the only person who had a cell phone glued to his hand was me but then I was there to cover this event. It really was a relaxing and wonderful afternoon with good food and entertainment. It was just like the 1970’s all over again with families enjoying each other’s company. Sometimes I think that people underate these local events which are so much fun. I don’t know about everyone else, but I had a ball!
Two weekends later, I headed up to the Sheep and Wool Festival at the Duchess County Fairgrounds and the followed by the Graveyard Walk at St. James Church in Hyde Park. There is such much to see and do this time of year.
The Sheep and Wool Festival is not as big as the Dutchess County Fair but had a lot of the same food and merchant vendors. On a smaller scale, it is much more manageable but with the number of people who attend this every year, they could use more food vendors for the event.
The sign and directions in the fairgrounds
The foliage was so beautiful that afternoon
The Festival takes place the second week of October just when the Duchess County foliage is coming to its peak. The fairgrounds were covered in golds and reds.
Entering the Midway at the Sheep and Wool Festival where the food vendors were located. The foliage was at peak color.
The Midway was not as packed with vendors as the fair but is had a nice selection of food vendors
Entering the middle of the festival was getting busy
The foliage was amazing both inside and outside the fairgrounds
I got up to the fair late this time, not arriving until 2:00pm ( I thought the festival ended at 6:00pm but it ended at 5:00pm) and needed to get done lunch. Amongst all of my choices, I still always head to Janek’s, the barbecue/hamburger truck that has been my favorite for years.
Janek’s food truck is always at the same location
For years I have been getting the Piggy Back burger with Cheddar cheese and pulled pork on top(which I highly recommend) but I decided to do something different and have the Burger with freshly made Pastrami and Swiss Cheese. A very nice substitute.
The Pastrami and Swiss burger
The burger was perfectly cooked with slices of smoked pastrami on top
Yum!
After a good lunch and getting my energy back, I headed over to the animal pens and the craft stalls to see all the handmade products. My first stop was the Sheep pens, where sheering was going on and they were many contests to showcase the livestock. The Sheep were being shown, sheered and were talking amongst themselves as we walked around the pens admiring them.
I found that the sheep looked really relaxed and seemed to have more fun staring at us
This little guy kept smiling at me watching him
While the livestock contest was going on to a huge crowd, I toured the Crafts stalls. In the Summer for the fair, this was full of cows and goats, it now had all sorts of wool vendors, knit items, handcrafts and cosmetic items.
The colorful wool items on display
These wool dragon sculptures I thought were really interesting
After the show was over, I decided to tour around Rhinebeck. I just wanted to take a quick walk around the downtown before I took a tour I had done a few years earlier at the St. James Church graveyard. Since I was Upstate, I figured I would do both the same day since the weather was nice.
I got to St. James Church in Hyde Park at 7:30pm so I had plenty of time. I had taken this tour back in 2021 just as everything had opened up and it was a lot of fun, plus I wanted to update my pictures of the church and the graveyard. It also gave me time to talk to the docents and get some background on the church.
St. James Church before twilight at 6:15pm
The staff was just setting up the lights at the cemetery (technically a graveyard)
The inside of St. James Church in Hyde Park, NY, parish of the Roosevelt family
I got to the church an hour before my tour and just relaxed and admired the beauty of the church. I never saw an hour fly by before my tour started. Then darkness came and my tour started.
Darkness came by 7:30pm and the cemetery looked much different
We started the lantern tour with a talk of the spirits who were buried in the grave yard. Each of the actors was waiting for us at each stop. I still could not believe these actors were waiting alone in the dark in a graveyard for people to walk by the them.
Each of the actors told their tales of when they were living and stood beside the place that they were buried. It was very intriguing.
The first person we met was Mrs. Emma Victoria Pitkin Marshal
Mrs. Marshall was once known as the ‘Poet Laureate’ of Dutchess County. She was well known in the world of publishing.
The second spirit I met was Mrs. Harper, Mrs. Mill’s housekeeper up at the Staatsburgh mansion. She told us the story of her life working for the Mills and Livingston families.
Mrs. Catherine Kennedy Harper
Mrs. Harper told us about her life working for the Livingston family and her relationship with Ruth, who she was her nanny and then housekeeper.
Our conversation with Mrs. Harper
Our next spirit we visiting was the ghost of Gertrude ‘Gerdie’ Livingston who talked about her time in the Hudson River Valley and in New York City.
Gertrude ‘Gertie’ Livingston
Mrs. Livingston telling her tales of the Hudson River Valley
In between our conversations with the spirits of the past, we walked through the graveyard as twilight gave way to darkness. The graveyard was illuminated with lanterns and lights to follow the paths. It is easy to trip over a tombstone while you are walking around the paths. They did give us lanterns to light the way but there were not enough to go around.
The vaults are illuminated at night to follow the ghostly trail
Our next with the spirits was the ghost of Reverend John McVickar, who was the Rector at St. James Church starting in 1811. He married Eliza Bard, the daughter of Dr. Samuel Bard of Bard College and raised their nine children together.
The spirit of Reverend John McVickar telling his tales of his life in the church
Walking past the church at night
The last apparition we met that night was the spirit of Mr. Augustus C. Colman, the son of a sailing captain who invested heavily in Manhattan real estate on the advice of his boss. John Jacob Astor.
The spirit of Mr. Colman telling his tales of the City
Both himself and the Reverend went at it in the graveyard
The stained glass windows at the church
The church at the end of the tour
I decided to head home after the tour via the Kingston Bridge and drive into downtown Kingston, NY for dinner. I stopped at my favorite go to restaurant in The ‘Stockade District’ Wing Shui at 53 North Front Street. The food is consistently wonderful and extremely reasonable and you can sit down inside the restaurant.
Wing Shui Chinese Restaurant at 53 North Street in Kingston, NY
I was surprisingly hungry even after the big burger at lunch. It got cooler that evening so I ordered the Wonton Soup, the Steamed Dumplings and one of their wonderful eggrolls. It was such a great meal and really warmed me up. For such a small hole in the wall restaurant/take out place, the food is excellent.
My dinner that evening at Wing Shui
The Wonton Soup had for large wontons that you could barely fit in your mouth in the rich chicken broth. That warmed up after a graveyard walk in the dark.
The Wonton Soup with the oversized Wontons and rich chicken broth
The steamed dumplings were plump and moist and filled with spiced pork mixture.
The dumplings here are delicious
Their egg rolls are always a treat and are the first thing that I ever tried here years ago.
The egg rolls here are excellent
Yum!
I was nice to sit in the restaurant and just warm up. The temperature really dropped that evening and it was a rather cool October in comparison to other years. There is nothing like Chinese food after a long walk in a graveyard.
After dinner, I walked around Downtown Kingston some more and admired some of the decorations and store windows decorated for the holidays. It seems like Halloween is now the lead into Christmas rather than Thanksgiving (some places have already decorated for Christmas).
The ‘Jack Pumpkin’ decoration that looked like it out of “The Nightmare before Christmas” in Downtown Kingston, NY
A lot of windows were decorated for the Halloween holidays. The merchants in Downtown Kingston are so creative and here are some of my favorites.
This was displayed in the window on a North Front Street store.
The faceless entities in the windows
They face this witches hat
The skulls and pumpkins in the window. The merchants get quite creative at the holidays in the downtown area.
The Thursday before my birthday, we had a special late night at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and I finally got to tour the new Rockefeller Wing of the museum. After almost three years and COVID, the galleries have been mounted. The Oceania and African collections had been remounted with a new layout and pieces of the collection that had been in storage had been brought out. The collection looked a brighter and you could appreciate the art better.
I just needed an evening in the City to clear my head before my official birthday and I figured a night at The Met would help. It was nice to finally see these works again after several years of hiding. The galleries looked so much nicer and the works brighter and more vibrant.
Artwork that reminds you of the Halloween holidays
After I left the Met for the evening, I walked through the Upper East Side neighborhoods west of Madison Avenue and the creativity of the brownstone neighborhoods rivaled anything in that suburbs.
Walking on the Upper East Side before Halloween:
The Pumpkin glare
Black cats and Witches
From twilight to darkness, I walked all the side streets to see how people decorated. There were some very clever displays.
Outside of the grocery store
Then it got dark and the real magic began
Just at twilight
I walked down the Upper East Side from East 79th Street to East 60th Street from Madison to Third Avenues. It depended on the block but some streets were really competitive. These are the best displays I saw.
Guarding a building
Creatures that bump in the night
Halloween land
The doorway
The Headless Horseman
Guarding ghosts
Jolly pumpkins
I loved this ghoul guarding the house
I just hoped he didn’t come to life
Skeleton Parade
Ghostly lights
A happy ghost
More jolly pumpkins
The elaborate Halloween Kingdom
The Evil Witch guarding the house
Here is the witch explaining her wicked ways
More ghouls guarding the homes
A Christmas Halloween
From both angles
Boo!
Last year I did the ‘luxury’ birthday with dinner at Perrine at the Pierre Hotel and Afternoon Tea at the Lowell Hotel on top of my haircut at York Barber, and my trips to the Central Park Zoo and the Met. This year I was just content with staying home and relaxing. I have been doing nothing but running around from one thing to another in between classes.
Maricel asked me what I wanted on my birthday this year and I said ‘rest’. Having over a hundred students between three classes at various stages of their classes can be daunting for anyone especially for me. I had done the whole luxury birthday thing last year and on my birthday this year, it poured so badly during the day that I just stayed home and crashed. I stayed home and watched Michigan State get crushed by UCLA. That was rough!
For my birthday dinner that night, I kept it low key and went to Sofia’s, a Greek restaurant in Hasbrouck Heights. It was perfect because it was relaxing that night and the food was excellent.
For dinner I had the Shrimp Saganaki, which is a shrimp appetizer which is cooked in a tomato sauce and topped with cheese. I have loved this dish since they first opened.
The Shrimp Saganski appetizer
It is as delicious as it sounds
For dinner, I had the Gyro sandwich, which they put on their freshly made pita’s. Their sandwiches are delicious and they do not skimp on anything. I really enjoyed my meal.
My birthday dinner, the Gyro sandwich
For dessert, I had a change from the $35.00 slice of pink Dior cake at the Lowell and indulged in a slice of Baklava at Sofia’s, who much they make homemade and in house.
The Baklava at Sofia’s served as my birthday cake this year
This sweet cinnamon indulgence has layers of flaky and sugary phyllo and nuts and lots of honey. The perfect way to end the meal and the cap to my birthday dinner.
The next day Maricel took me out for a breakfast birthday at the IHOP in Hasbrouck Heights. I had not been there in a long time (and was a little shocked at the prices on the menu). I was just expecting pancakes, but Maricel knows me well enough and made the morning even more special. She greeted me with balloons. Turning 60 seemed to be a bigger deal to her than it was to me.
Maricel greeting me at IHOP on my 60th birthday
It is amazing how something as simple as this could mean so much. I love when my friends just do the simple things that touch me so much.
Now for people who say they do not like IHOP, you have never been to the one in Hasbrouck Heights. Their food and service is consistent and delicious. I have been coming here for years and have never once had a bad meal there. I love breakfast and could eat it all day long.
I had the “Two for Two” with two pancakes, two French Toast, two sausage and bacon and they even through in a side of toast. Talk about a perfect breakfast.
My birthday breakfast at IHOP at 111 Route 17 South in Hasbrouck Heights, NJ
The staff got caught up in the excitement of our meal and came over to sing “Happy Birthday” to me and brought me a dish of Vanilla ice cream with a candle in it. I was really touched. Sometimes the simplest things people do are the most touching.
The staff at IHOP really made the morning special with kind words, a nice song and their delicious Vanilla ice cream treat! That is good customer service!
This is what a best friend is for!
She saved the best for last and gave me a birthday present. Folks, I hate getting presents! Everyone always gets me what they like and never what I like. I always have to fake a smile and my older brother says I am the worst at it.
Maricel surprised me with a Hermes gift pack of Verte cologne, which is my favorite. I used it for years at Macy’s and Tiffany’s when I could afford it. I swear she totally surprised me. I told her she ‘nailed the birthday and made it perfect!” I love when people can read me.
Maricel by the balloons
After my birthday surprise, I took turning 60 with a badge of honor. When I look at my grandparents at my age, they always so much older to me. I guess it was just the times and their life experiences. They had it so much rougher than I did and I am always grateful to them from what I can remember of the love and support they had for us when we were little. With the exception of my father’s mother, none of them lived into my adult hood.
October also meant Midterms, Team Projects and Term Papers, which some of my students just could not handle. It was a struggle in each class to get the students to do their homework. Let’s hope they get to the finish line on December 17th.
My blog on the Bergen County Firemen’s Home Association:
The grounds of the NJ State Firemen’s Home decorated for the Fall holidays
The next weekend, I was in Boonton for our quarterly Bergen County Firemen’s Home Association meeting. Both the outside and inside of the Firemen’s Home was decorated for the Halloween holidays. They really did a nice job with it. After the meeting and entertainment were over, I went up to visit Downtown Boonton to see how it was decorated for Halloween. They do such a good job. The town was decked out with ghosts and ghouls all over the Main Street.
The horrible ghoul in the center of downtown
The town was not decked out for the Halloween and Fall holidays. It was not just the Halloween holidays but the beauty of the change of seasons and the Fall foliage.
The Hill section of Boonton
The Hill section of the town in October
The beauty of the Victorian homes
Each street was so beautiful
The homes were the colors of gold, red and copper
The businesses did a nice job with the scarecrows this year. The ghosts and ghouls dotted the downtown.
The Annabelle doll
The ghouls are out
The cat in the hat
Pumpkin head
Mars Attacts outside a restaurant
This strange Teddy was outside the library
Boonton does a wonderful job of decorating during both the Halloween and Christmas holidays. The downtown is decorated with all sorts of interesting and creative artwork and beautiful lights. I recently walked around the Downtown at the start of the holiday season and it was really festive. I always get a kick out of the scarecrows decorating the town.
My blog on Exploring Downtown Boonton (a very unique downtown):
The fire department, even after I retired after 19 years, still keeps me busy. We had our Fire Department Relief Association meeting the night of ‘Halloween in the Park’ and after our meeting was over at 7:30pm, I headed over to Woodland Park in our town and watched everyone get on hay wagons and ride around Woodland Park being chased by ghosts and ghouls. I do not think I have attended this since before COVID. “Halloween in the Park” is an event our town sponsors that bring hay wagons thorough Woodland Park’s small bundles of trees and woods and scares them with costume characters.
It used to be spookier but when neighboring town, Wood Ridge, built a series of condos on the border of our towns and they took down all the trees on their side of the park, all you see is the windows of condos at the back of the park. Still, its a lot of fun and residents get a kick out it.
Woodland Park in Hasbrouck Heights, NJ at night
Halloween starts for me in Hasbrouck Heights with the town’s Annual Halloween in the Park, an event that takes place each fall in Woodland Park in Hasbrouck Heights. First thing to note that since developers have built new condos on the parks edges, it has taken some of the allure from the park. You can see the lights and people moving around.
We ‘stand by’ with the fire department for lights for the event and emergency calls when we have to leave. Still it is a lot of fun watching everyone get on the hayrides and start screaming in the distance. We watch from the equipment while eating a pizza dinner which we share with our Ambulance Squad who is on hand incase someone gets hurt. The last ride of the night, we get to go on when everyone else has left.
Patrons waiting at the Pavillion
The fireplace roaring at the event
Ghouls waiting for you
The park decorated for Halloween
The DPW takes families around the park in hayride fashion with bales of hay in the trailers and everyone on the trailer is chased and harassed by various ghosts, ghouls and witches. You spend most of the evening being chased with someone with a knife or chainsaw.
The start of the haunted hayride
Video of Halloween in the park
Ghouls and creatures of the night chasing everyone
This popular event is always sold out and residents get such a kick out of it. I of course was working that night and got there in time for the last two rides and people were still screaming at 9:30pm.
Halloween in the Park in Hasbrouck Heights, NJ in Woodland Park
I did more traveling down the shore to see what was happening in both Point Pleasant and Seaside Heights beaches. The boardwalks were decorated for the holidays and there were scarecrow contests and pumpkin carving on the Boardwalks. The day started off sunny but then a giant cloud came over the towns which did not clear until 4:00pm. Just as I was leaving, the sun came out again.
Both Seaside Heights and Park and Point Pleasant and Point Pleasant Beach are getting more active during the Fall Holidays as more people have moved down the shore permanently. There are a lot of events for kids and their families families to participate in.
When I visited Seaside Park and Seaside Heights, I stopped in just after a Scarecrow Making Contest. The contest was already over by the time I got there but people were still looking them over. The kids did a really nice job with the contest. While Seaside Heights and Park don’t have the activities that its northern neighbor Point Pleasant has, the activities led to some creative ingenuity of the kids and there were interesting decorations all over the towns over the Halloween weekend.
The town even decorated the Boardwalk more this year with skeletons and other creatures. There were not many activities on the Boardwalk on the Halloween weekend but the decorations were fun. Even on this warm afternoon at the shore, it put me in the Halloween spirit.
Skeletons on the Boardwalk
Zombies on the Boardwalk
The Boardwalk was busy with people who had just participated in a Pumpkin carving contest. The weather was overcast by the late afternoon but most of the businesses on the Boardwalk were open and there was a choice of places to eat and shop along the way. The two bars were packed with people who were watching the Giants game. I big change from when I was in Cape May and it is all Philly fans.
My full blog on Visiting both Seaside Heights and Seaside Park:
After my visit to Seaside Heights and debating on where I wanted to go to lunch, I drove up the coastal highway through the other beach communities to Point Pleasant and Point Pleasant Beach. The downtown arts community always knows how to decorate the downtown and Jenkinson’s does a nice job on the Boardwalk.
When I visited Downtown Point Pleasant, I was able to admire the decorations on both the downtown Main Street and then walk to the Boardwalk. The downtown is always so nicely decorated and I love the whimsical scarecrows that decorate the downtown. The windows are filled with creative displays that always seem to be begging for Christmas decorations even before Halloween is even over (like most stores everyone wants to rush the holidays).
Downtown Point Pleasant in the Fall of 2025
The Point Beach Arts community gets very creative in Downtown Point Pleasant with the Gazebo decorated for Halloween
I walked their downtown and saw that their Arts Commission added more scarecrows to the downtown light posts.
The scarecrows from 2025
Another creative scarecrow
There was a lot of creativity in this downtown contest
The scarecrows came in all styles
Barbie display
The Phantom bride
More unusual scarecrows
They get very creative in Downtown Point Pleasant
When I walked to the Boardwalk a couple of blocks away, it was a little cooler than last year but there was still a good crowd walking around the Boardwalk. The afternoon activities sponsored by Jenkinson’s kept everyone active with their series of programs at “Boo at the Boardwalk”. They decorated the Boardwalk for the Halloween Holidays and kept all the stores and restaurants open adding to the festivities. With the Fall holidays getting warmer, it is a smart business decision to extend the Summer activities further into Fall.
Halloween is always fun on the Jenkinson Boardwalk. There was always something going on. The towns really get into the Halloween holidays. The park really knows how to celebrate the holidays.
My blog on Exploring both Point Pleasant Beach and Point Pleasant:
It was a lot of running around the shore from Boardwalk to Boardwalk but it is interesting the amount of activities these towns have been doing and the creativity that goes into them. This led me to visiting another shore town the next week when I visited Long Beach Island the Town of Beach Haven.
It was rather quiet in town when I visited Beach Haven the week before Halloween. Usually there was a lot more going on but it was probably reserved for the weekends. Some parts of the of the town were decorated for the holidays but I did not see the activities of the other shore towns that day. Still there were reminders of Halloween here and there throughout the town.
My first stop was Woo Hoo at 211 South Bay Avenue for some ice cream. The store was all decorated for the holiday, and they even had a specialty ice cream flavor for Halloween, Spooky S’mores. The ice cream here is a real treat as it is made in small batches on premise.
Woo Hoo carries some non -ice cream merchandise
They have now cut the menu down to just ice cream. There is no longer any ‘meal’ items like sandwiches and fries. The woman at the window explained, they will be only the homemade ice cream on their menu. I had no problem with that. Woo Hoo was preparing for the Halloween and the shop was decorated for the holidays.
Games for kids
They decorated the interiors
The store was surrounded by ghosts and ghouls
I looked over the menu and I saw a flavor I remembered from the past, Spooky S’mores, which I had when I visited the island a few years ago for Halloween. It is a Marshmallow Ice Cream with a Chocolate swirl with graham crackers and Halloween M&Ms and you only see it at this time of the year. I had to have that.
The Spooky S’mores flavor
It was delicious
The Spooky S’mores was loaded with graham and M&Ms in every bite and the ice cream was so rich and creamy. Going to Woo Hoo at the holidays is the best!
They now have ice Cream making classes
The service could not be friendlier. The staff is very accommodating and will help you make a selection from the various choices. Not only that but the staff knows the island really well and can point things out for you to see.
I spent the rest of the afternoon exploring Beach Haven, walking through the stores and amusements areas which were still open this late into October. The warm weather over the weekend really attracted a lot of people and watching people play miniature golf this late into the season was interesting. The shore towns in New Jersey really are going full season.
Beach Haven Bay during the day
It was a nice snack to enjoy after walking on the beach or exploring the island. I walked down the block at the end of Dock Road and enjoyed the views and watched the boats sail by. I also got a great tan.
Beach Haven, NJ by the bay is just beautiful
Just sitting by the bay relaxing
Admiring the boats while I digested
The creative artwork by the shore
It was fun to just walk around Beach Haven’s downtown that afternoon and enjoy the warm weather. They had a Chowder Cook off going on down the road, so the town was packed with people that afternoon.
My blog on Exploring Long Beach Island and Beach Haven, NJ:
I saw by the weather report that Hurricane Melissa was coming up the coast and I knew that this would knock the foliage down all over the state so I made one last trip down the Route 46 Budd Lake to the Delaware Water Gap. I started at the Delaware Water Gap to take the pictures of the foliage in the sunshine and then I worked my way back, stopping at farms along the way and in Hackettstown to take more pictures. I wanted to get the pictures of the foliage before the storm knocked it all down.
The Delaware Water Gap at River Road off Route 209 in 2025
I was able to stop at the U turn on Route 80 West and park in the beginning of the trails that go through the park. Since it was so gloomy out and it was getting late in the afternoon, I stuck by the Visitors Center, which was closed for the season and walked along the river. Most of the foliage had been knocked off the trees by the two recent storms but there were still hues of gold and yellow with the trees that were left. It is a breathtaking view of the mountain range.
The foliage from the highway
When I returned in October of 2025, I timed it so that the trees would be at their peak and it was before a major rain storm the next day. I figured this would be the best time to come. Plus it was going to be the last nice day of that week. The trees were just past peak but because there had not been much rain that summer, the leaves changed earlier than in past years.
The mountains at the Delaware Water Gap from the Visitors Center in the Summer months
I continued my path down Route 46 East, taking pictures of foliage and stopping at the Marshall Farms to see the Halloween decorations. Sometimes you will pass a farm stand and you see the standard pumpkins, peaches and apples outside. When you pass Marshall’s Farm Stand in Delaware, NJ, you see a whole farm experience with orchards of fruit, corn fields and a property that is decorated for the upcoming Halloween holidays.
The side of the Marshall’s Farm Stand at 114 Route 46
The other side of the farm stand stocked high with pumpkins
The festive pumpkin sat on the roof of the building
The whole front of the farm was stocked with all sorts of early Fall produce, honey, jams and jellies and delicious baked goods including pies, cakes and rolls and their specialty, their mini Apple Cider doughnuts.
The fresh Jersey produce
The cream rolls and homemade pies, including apple, berry and Shoo Fly pies
The best is their mini Apple Cider doughnut. One bag of these and you are content for the afternoon. I can barely get out of the parking lot with indulging in one or two of them before my drive down Route 46 to the Delaware Water Gap.
The farm stands addictive Apple Cider doughnuts
These sugary delights are so good!
What I also enjoy is their delicious apple cider. I found out though that they do not make it in house but a farm close by makes it both for their farm and Marshall’s. It is sweet and very refreshing and only comes in gallon containers.
I love walking through the stand, walking past the pumpkin, produce and the crafts display.
The pumpkin display in the parking lot
After I put my purchases in the car, I walked around the farm, looking at all the decorations they had for the upcoming Halloween holidays. The farm has pumpkin picking, corn mazes and a hayride where the $5.00 cost includes along with the hayride a cup of apple cider and a doughnut. I could handle that.
The sign for the weekend hayrides
The witch sign in the parking lot near the Corn Maze
The witch painting at the start of the corn mazes
Ghosts decorating the field
The Corn Maze was still tall and green and I am sure led all around the property. Each part of the front part of the farm was decorated for Halloween festivities which would happen the next weekend.
The cemetery in the back of the farm stand
A horrible ghoul
All the Halloween decorations at the start of the hayride
Here is my blog on the whole trip down Route 46 East and West from Budd Lake to the Delaware Water Gap:
Hurricane Melissa came up the coast the week of Halloween and a lot of functions were either cancelled or had to move inside. I had no desire to go into the City when it was pouring rain. So I missed some of the museum and Central Park events that had been cancelled and stayed home. We really lucked out on Halloween night, and the weather was a brisk 58 degrees. It was clear and the perfect night for the parade. The parade this year went off without a hitch. I got to the parade after a long day at work and I made it into the City by 4:00pm.
We started the sign in for volunteers at 4:00pm
I met my counterparts at the start of the shift and I really lucked out. We had a really good group of people who would answer ‘no’ to people. I was able to see a little bit of the puppet rehearsals before people started to arrive for the event. There was a lot of excitement as everyone got ready to start the parade.
The puppets ate the beginning of the parade
Puppet rehearsal before the parade kick off at 7:00pm
I met many creatures, witches and things that go bump in the night at the beginning of the parade and they enjoyed showing themselves off.
This Sea Maiden joined us at the beginning of the parade
This group of friendly witches and warlocks joined the parade early
As the sun went down and the parade was about to begin, balloon creatures joined as the Good Witch led the way. The parade of costumed characters was in full swing by 5:30pm as people entered the gates for the parade.
The Good Witch with the balloon creatures
The Good Witch with the insect
Even Frankenstein joined the parade
Moon creatures joined this Witch of Darknes
Ghosts and ghouls with balloons
Then the parade start was getting closer between 5:30pm and 7:00pm, it got crazy at the gate and people tried every which way to get into the gate. I kept and to talk and finally yelling at people to keep it organized. I swear I have never seen adults act like little children. We have more people try to sneak through the gate with every excuse. I have learned to put my foot down and it is by pass only.
Then the golden hour of 7:00pm came and the parade started. As the floats were heading uptown, people were still scrambling, trying to get in. At 8:00pm, this woman walks up to the gate one hour into the parade and tells me she was here as a volunteer. I told her we were closed at that point and have a nice night and see her next year. It amazes me how people use excuses to get in.
Watching the parade from inside
We finally closed the gate at 8:30pm and the police took over security from there. I was able to walk in and watch where the parade begins. It is always interesting to see how the parade works and how this organized.
Watching the parade progress uptown from the sidelines
The chutes where the floats come out combined with the number of costumed people is carefully done and I have never seen so many people marching in the parade. Later on, someone told me the police were turning people away because too many people were showing up.
The parade from Dominick Street heading uptown
I could not believe how crazy it got in the park as the parade progressed. I have to give the guys who are the volunteers who coordinate the parade so much create. They do an amazing job. They really are worth their weight in gold.
More of the floats heading uptown
The video shows the true magic that goes into the parade from behind the scenes
The last of the floats heading uptown
The last of the floats start to head uptown by 9:00pm and after that, it is all costumed people, not just New Yorkers but people from all over the world who had come to walk our unique parade.
People walking uptown in full drag
The weather cooperated and their was an over flow of people marching and enjoying the parade
The costumers enjoying themselves
I loved the creativity of the costumes
The last of the floats heading uptown
I loved these costumes. The headless guy was pretty gruesome
A better look at the headless Spector
The last of the floats heading uptown
The last of the floats starting uptown before the costumers took over
I left the parade route and walked through the parade to get to at least 8th Street before I veered off on to Seventh Avenue. I walked uptown to join some of the volunteers after the parade for dinner.
Walking through the Village and looking at the decorated windows and homes
Some of the private homes are so beautifully decorated in Greenwich Village
Another great decorated home in Greenwich Village
The West Elm right next to the restaurant on West 12th street
I am sorry but to decorate your store to the hilt on Halloween night is really rushing the holidays. They did this the year before as well. Who ever heard of looking at a Christmas tree on Halloween night?
Still the store looked gorgeous and their visual people did a marvelous job
It was nice to sit down to dinner that night. I was starved rushing from work to the City and then to the parade route. I did not get to eat anything and was famished.
Joining friends for dinner at Da Umbertos at 107 West 17th Street
It was nice to meet some of my counterparts and swap stories about the parade.
Meeting with friends for dinner that night
The restaurant had a wonderful buffet that evening
The Penne Vodka and Sautéed Shrimp were wonderful
The dinner I enjoyed was wonderful
After dinner and some wonderful conversation, I said my goodbyes. I had been going strong since 4:30am that morning and was beginning to run out of steam. I just wanted to head home and go to bed.
I decide to walk back to the Port Authority from the restaurant since it was such a beautiful night. The weather really cooperated and it was a crisp and beautiful night.
Even the Empire State Building was decorated for the holiday
I was lucky that I walk fast. I made the 11:50pm bus out of Manhattan and got home by 12:30am. It had been a long night. The night was still young and I still did not see the spirits of the night except parading up Sixth Avenue.
Even when I reached Hasbrouck Heights, the decorations were still up and lit. It was nice to see that holiday spirit strong in town.
The houses were still lit and decorated when I got home
Residents love to decorate their homes in Hasbrouck Heights
It always amazes me of homeowners creativity
Post Halloween:
There were still traces of Halloween even after the holidays. Stores and homeowners kept their displays up but the lure of Christmas and the warm weekend meant that people started to take things down so the Christmas declarations could go up.
I went down to Mill’s Bakery to check out their Halloween treats and there was still some things left. The sweetest things were available in all the bakery cases.
The front of Mill’s Bakery at 275 Valley Boulevard in Wood Ridge, NJ
I loved the festive Frankenstein cake. Talk about creative!
The festive and creative cupcakes
The fun loving cupcakes
I loved the Halloween cookies and a little pricy at $5.00 each but were well worth it. I bought a few for snacks.
The mummy cookie was so good!
So was the Pumpkin
The ghost was good too!
Mill’s Bakery does such a good job at any holiday
I took my cookies and went back to Downtown Hasbrouck Heights to tour the window paintings from the contest a week earlier. The sweetness of the cookies gave me a sugar rush.
Walking in Downtown Hasbrouck Heights for the Halloween holidays
Downtown Hasbrouck Heights was still decorated for the Halloween holidays with festive window displays and the kids window paintings from the recent Window Painting contest.
Some of the window painting downtown
These kids are so creative
The weekend of Halloween (Halloween fell on Friday night this year), I took my best friend, Maricel to the “Pumpkin Blaze” on Croton on the Hudson, NY. I go to this annual event as part of my membership to Historical Hudson Valley. I love walking through the old Van Cortlandt Estate and seeing the creativity of the carvings and displays.
We started off early and had dinner at one of my favorite Chinese restaurants that I feature on my blog, DiningonaShoeStringinNYC@Wordpress.com, Dong Happy Gardens at 440 South Riverside Avenue in the ShopRite Mall. The food and service are excellent and the family who run it are really nice.
I love the food here. It is white tablecloth quality for a small take out place in a strip mall.
I had the Orange Chicken with Pork Fried Rice and an egg roll and Maricel had the same with but with Barbecue Spareribs. I can’t tell you how wonderful the food is in this tiny take out place but you have to try it for yourself. I have never had a bad meal here.
The Orange Flavored Chicken with Pork Fried Rice is excellent
Then we shared some Panfried Pork Dumplings. They really hit the spot on a cool night.
The Panfried Dumplings were a nice addition to dinner
Dinner was a chance for us to catch up and talk. So much has been happening in our lives and we never get a chance to talk.
After dinner, we headed over to the ‘Blaze’ and then the fun began. The parking lot was packed with people and the weather really cooperated. It was cool but not cold and walking through the pathways was nicer than we thought.
The Spider display
A close up shot of the spider
Maricel in front of the rainbow flag that was on display at the entrance of the displays
We started our tour through the Blaze walking through the rows of pumpkin carvings. I noticed there were less of them this year than in years in the past. Still there was some interesting pumpkins.
The first row of carvings I thought were interesting
An interesting face
Another interesting face
The Haunted Pumpkin Windmill
Frog swimmer
The Pumpkin Octopus
Visiting the Hudson River Sites
Pumpkin sling shot
Me in front of the Statue of Liberty sculpture
The Statue of Liberty sculpture
Walking through the Light Tunnel
Maricel and I in the Tunnel of Lights
This is the experience you get when you walk through the Tunnel of Lights
Then we reached the Van Cortlandt Manor, home to the Van Cortlandt family. The house had been closed for years for touring since the renovation but been open for the Blaze.
The cemetery was moved from here to earlier in the tour with a Circus in its place.
The ‘Under the Big Top‘ pumpkin sculpture
The beauty of the Van Courtlandt Manor at night
The Wonderful Lightshow at the manor house
We then toured the amusement area. The Merry Go Round with its eerie sounds and glowing pumpkins made it foreboding.
The eerie Merry Go Round
The Merry Go Round
Maricel though it would be more cheerful with a picture of me
We then looked over the Halloween Circus train that passed us by. I loved looking at all the Circus animals.
The Haunted Circus Train
My video of the Circus Train
We then walked through the end of the display with all sorts of ghosts and ghouls that included a Pumpkin man and the Headless Horsemen.
The Headless Horseman
Chasing poor Ichabod Crane
The evil Pumpkin man showed himself towards the end of the tour
The end of the tour looking back at the lights and displays. There were all sorts of lit pumpkins as we exited the tour.
This was my favorite
Me at the end of the Pumpkin Blaze with one of the flying monkey’s behind me.
It may have been a Halloween with less activities and far less running around but it was far better than my years of Trick of Treating as a kid! Yuck!
It was a beautiful afternoon in the Hudson River Valley with the leaves changing and a clear sunny sky. I was exhausted from all the running around with classes and needed a break from everything. With Midterms next week, I figured that I needed a change of pace and decided to head to the Sheep and Wool Festival at the Duchess County Fairgrounds.
Looking at the beautiful foliage on Route 87
I finally was able to sleep in after many early mornings and relax and enjoy breakfast. I got on the road after 10:00am and it seemed like everyone was headed in the same direction. The highway was packed until we got to Route 84 and then things calmed down.
Route 87 going up to New York
I had to stop several times just to take pictures of the foliage on the New Jersey side of the border. Unfortunately the best angles I could not get due to the fact there was no shoulder to step at on the highway. Still the colorful mountain was a site to see.
The foliage on the way up
With a rain storm coming up the coast, I wanted to be sure I got pictures of all the foliage with this brilliance.
The mountains were so beautiful I had to stop the car and photo them
Going through Hyde Park first, I stopped at the Hyde Park Farmers Market. I have been coming to this Farmers Market for years and it is always so nice.
It must have been just as the Market was closing because it was so quiet. All the vendors had time to say hello to me.
Walking by all the tents of produce and freshly made products
There were all sorts of produce, baked goods and craft products. The one thing I did notice was how expensive things have gotten. Egg Custards for $3.50 and breads for $10.00.
The colorful display of Fall produce
The Fino Farms who always has such great product
I took a quick walk through the market and then headed to the fairgrounds. That was just as packed as well.
The entrance of the festival on a beautiful sunny afternoon
The Sheep and Wool Festival is not as big as the Dutchess County Fair but had a lot of the same food and merchant vendors. On a smaller scale, it is much more manageable but with the number of people who attend this every year, they could use more food vendors for the event.
The sign and directions in the fairgrounds
The foliage was so beautiful that afternoon
The Festival takes place the second week of October just when the Duchess County foliage is coming to its peak. The fairgrounds were covered in golds and reds.
Entering the Midway at the Sheep and Wool Festival where the food vendors were located. The foliage was at peak color.
The Midway was not as packed with vendors as the fair but is had a nice selection of food vendors
Entering the middle of the festival was getting busy
The foliage was amazing both inside and outside the fairgrounds
I got up to the fair late this time, not arriving until 2:00pm ( I thought the festival ended at 6:00pm but it ended at 5:00pm) and needed to get done lunch. Amongst all of my choices, I still always head to Janek’s, the barbecue/hamburger truck that has been my favorite for years.
Janek’s food truck is always at the same location
For years I have been getting the Piggy Back burger with Cheddar cheese and pulled pork on top(which I highly recommend) but I decided to do something different and have the Burger with freshly made Pastrami and Swiss Cheese. A very nice substitute.
The Pastrami and Swiss burger
The burger was perfectly cooked with slices of smoked pastrami on top
Yum!
The dining areas of the festival were busy from the time that I got there until the festival closed that evening. Even up to closing time and just after, people were ordering food.
The crowds kept getting bigger at the Midway at lunch and dinner time
After a good lunch and getting my energy back, I headed over to the animal pens and the craft stalls to see all the handmade products. My first stop was the Sheep pens, where sheering was going on and they were many contests to showcase the livestock. The Sheep were being shown, sheered and were talking amongst themselves as we walked around the pens admiring them.
I found that the sheep looked really relaxed and seemed to have more fun staring at us
This little guy kept smiling at me watching him
While the livestock contest was going on to a huge crowd, I toured the Crafts stalls. In the Summer for the fair, this was full of cows and goats, it now had all sorts of wool vendors, knit items, handcrafts and cosmetic items.
The colorful wool items on display
These wool dragon sculptures I thought were really interesting
Bonny’s Beasts were back with more creative gifts
Bonny’s creative beasts
More creative beasts
I also revisited my favorite wood carvers to see their Santa wares. This was the first year that my mother did not want something!
The Santa Carvings
The Santa Carvings
After touring the stalls and the open museums on the fairgrounds, I decided just to take a walk around and see what things were open since the fair.
The 4H Building was closed and there were no milkshakes now. Just coffee and hot beverages. I thought I saw someone walking around with a milkshake.
The foliage around the fairgrounds was just dazzling
By 4:30pm, they kept making announcements that the show would closing by 5:00pm, so I just wondered around and observed everyone having a good time on this warm and sunny afternoon. I had been watching the football games on my phone to watch Michigan State lose again to number three Indiana. Cornell won the Bucknell game so I figured Bucknell must have been pretty bad.
The last of the patrons at the end of the afternoon with the beautiful foliage in the background by the food vendors
As I left at 5:00pm at the end of the show, I observed the old signs from previous shows. Time has flown since my first show a decade ago. I still can’t believe it will be 2026 soon.
The shoe sign from 2021, post COVID
The last show I went to pre-COVID in 2019
After the show was over, I decided to tour around Rhinebeck. I was going to attend the Cemetery walk at St. James Church again in Hyde Park at 7:30pm so I had plenty of time. I had taken this tour back in 2021 just as everything had opened up and it was a lot of fun.
St. James Church before twilight at 6:15pm
The staff was just setting up the lights at the cemetery (technically a graveyard)
The inside of St. James Church in Hyde Park, NY, parish of the Roosevelt family
I got to the church an hour before my tour and just relaxed and admired the beauty of the church. I never saw an hour fly by before my tour started. Then darkness came and my tour started.
Darkness came by 7:30pm and the cemetery looked much different
We started the lantern tour with a talk of the spirits who were buried in the grave yard. Each of the actors was waiting for us at each stop. I still could not believe these actors were waiting alone in the dark in a graveyard for people to walk by the them.
Each of the actors told their tales of when they were living and stood beside the place that they were buried. It was very intriguing.
The first person we met was Mrs. Emma Victoria Pitkin Marshal
Mrs. Marshall was once known as the ‘Poet Laureate’ of Dutchess County. She was well known in the world of publishing.
The second spirit I met was Mrs. Harper, Mrs. Mill’s housekeeper up at the Staatsburgh mansion. She told us the story of her life working for the Mills and Livingston families.
Mrs. Catherine Kennedy Harper
Mrs. Harper told us about her life working for the Livingston family and her relationship with Ruth, who she was her nanny and then housekeeper.
Our conversation with Mrs. Harper
Our next spirit we visiting was the ghost of Gertrude ‘Gerdie’ Livingston who talked about her time in the Hudson River Valley and in New York City.
Gertrude ‘Gertie’ Livingston
Mrs. Livingston telling her tales of the Hudson River Valley
In between our conversations with the spirits of the past, we walked through the graveyard as twilight gave way to darkness. The graveyard was illuminated with lanterns and lights to follow the paths. It is easy to trip over a tombstone while you are walking around the paths. They did give us lanterns to light the way but there were not enough to go around.
The vaults are illuminated at night to follow the ghostly trail
Our next with the spirits was the ghost of Reverend John McVickar, who was the Rector at St. James Church starting in 1811. He married Eliza Bard, the daughter of Dr. Samuel Bard of Bard College and raised their nine children together.
The spirit of Reverend John McVickar telling his tales of his life in the church
Walking past the church at night
The last apparition we met that night was the spirit of Mr. Augustus C. Colman, the son of a sailing captain who invested heavily in Manhattan real estate on the advice of his boss. John Jacob Astor.
The spirit of Mr. Colman telling his tales of the City
Both himself and the Reverend went at it in the graveyard
The stained glass windows at the church
The church at the end of the tour
After the tour was over, I drove to downtown Kingston , NY to talk pictures of the Dutch Reformed Church at night.
There was no cemetery walk this year here and I just wanted to visit this graveyard looked like at night with the full moon. It was more intriguing than scary.
The Kingston Old Dutch Reformed Church at 272 Wall Street
Even without a graveyard tour the ground can be a little spooky
After my tour of the Old Dutch Church and the graveyard, I walked around Downtown Kingston. I have never seen a town like this that rolls up its sleeves so early in the evening. It seems like a majority of the restaurants close at 8:00pm. I can understand the stores but the restaurants?
I stopped at my favorite go to restaurant in The ‘Stockade District’ Wing Shui at 53 North Front Street. The food is consistently wonderful and extremely reasonable and you can sit down inside the restaurant.
I was surprisingly hungry even after the big burger at lunch. It got cooler that evening so I ordered the Wonton Soup, the Steamed Dumplings and one of their wonderful eggrolls. It was such a great meal and really warmed me up. For such a small hole in the wall restaurant/take out place, the food is excellent.
My dinner that evening at Wing Shui
The Wonton Soup had for large wontons that you could barely fit in your mouth in the rich chicken broth. That warmed up after a graveyard walk in the dark.
The Wonton Soup with the oversized Wontons and rich chicken broth
The steamed dumplings were plump and moist and filled with spiced pork mixture.
The dumplings here are delicious
Their egg rolls are always a treat and are the first thing that I ever tried here years ago.
The egg rolls here are excellent
Yum!
I was nice to sit in the restaurant and just warm up. The temperature really dropped that evening and it was a rather cool October in comparison to other years.
After dinner, I walked around Downtown Kingston some more and admired some of the decorations and store windows decorated for the holidays. It seems like Halloween is now the lead into Christmas rather than Thanksgiving (some places have already decorated for Christmas).
The ‘Jack Pumpkin’ decoration that looked like it out of “The Nightmare before Christmas” in Downtown Kingston, NY
A lot of windows were decorated for the Halloween holidays. The merchants in Downtown Kingston are so creative and here are some of my favorites.
This was displayed in the window on a North Front Street store.
The faceless entities in the windows
They face this witches hat
The skulls and pumpkins in the window. The merchants get quite creative at the holidays in the downtown area.
I walked back to my car and contemplated the upcoming Halloween holiday and all the interesting events I planned to see. It is no longer just Trick or Treating anymore.
The front of the Old Dutch Church at night
While waiting for a friendly ghost to come and greet me.
Open: The Second and Forth Saturday of the month when in season. Please visit the website for the days open. The cabin is open from 12:00pm-4:00pm when in season.
My review on TripAdvisor:
The entrance to John Burroughs ‘Slabsides’
The entrance to Slabsides is located on a local country road off another local country road off Route 9. Use your Google Map carefully when visiting or you will miss the turn off. The parking lot is really small and holds only about eight cars so please make the turn around on the road above and park facing down from the parking lot (word of advice on parking).
The pathway from parking lot to the house is really beautiful and lush in the summer. It seemed more desolate in the cooler months and just empty. Still it is only about a five minute walk from the parking lot to the cabin.
The original cabin “Slabsides” from the pathway. This one room cabin was used by Naturalist John Burroughs as a home away from home to write and to think.
The lawn outside the cabin
The historic sign outside the cabin
The porch of Slabsides in the summer
John Burroughs work area inside the cabin and his kitchen
John Burroughs work station overlooked the woods and rock formations
The fireplace and resting area
The kitchen area in the back of the cabin
The bedroom and sleeping area of the cabin
The bedroom of the cabin
The pictures of Walt Whitman and John Burroughs in the bedroom
John Burroughs was one of the most popular authors of his day and is credited with creating the modern nature essay. Using easily understood prose, he described nature that was familiar and local, bringing the natural world to his readers. He encouraged them in the art of observation by sharing a sense of place and purpose in the land. Burroughs wrote more than three hundred articles published in leading magazines and in twenty-seven books over sixty years. Through his writings and friendships with influential leaders he had a profound impact on the emerging conservation movements.
Born in the Catskill Mountains in 1837 he settled on a nine-acre fruit farm on the west bank of the Hudson River north of Poughkeepsie that he named “Riverby.” Poet Walt Whitman and Burroughs tramped through its surrounding woods during Whitman’s several visits, moving Burroughs to call these woods “Whitman Land.” In 1895 he purchased a nearby tract of land and built a two-story cabin as a place to write and entertain, calling it “Slabsides.”
Though Burroughs was a writer particular to the Hudson Valley region, his travels were widely known and celebrated. In 1899 he joined the Harriman Expedition to Alaska and wrote the “Narrative” of the expedition. He accompanied Roosevelt into the wilderness of Yellowstone, telling the story in Camping & Tramping with Roosevelt, which provided the narrative for a segment of Ken Burns’s The National Parks. Burroughs also traveled to the Grand Canyon and Yosemite with John Muir and went on elaborate camping trips with his industrialist friends Henry Ford, Thomas Edison and Harvey Firestone. Accounts of these events are in Burroughs’ journal archived at Vassar College.
Burroughs received honorary doctorates from Yale, Colgate, and the University of Georgia, and the Gold Medal of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
The ceiling of the cabin
The stairs to the upstairs loft
The cabin was small and is pretty much one full room with one or two walls partitioning the rooms. This seems more like a summer cabin. Still it had its charm.
We then finished the tour outside along the trails outside the cabin.
I admired the outside woods from the patio
(From the John Burroughs Association website)
The land around Slabsides informed many of his essays in which he described nature close at hand. Through works written here, John Burroughs inspired national leaders to preserve land and its wildlife and generations of readers to head out-of-doors. For nearly three decades Slabsides drew devoted readers and prominent friends. There are nearly seven thousand signatures in his Slabsides guest books. Among the early signers were ornithologists Frank Chapman and William Brewster, conservationist John Muir, leader of the Arts and Crafts movement Gustav Stickley, and his friends Theodore Roosevelt and Henry Ford, who gave him a series of three Ford cars. The young journalist Theodore Dreiser interviewed Burroughs at Slabsides.
The trail outside the cabin which Aldo served as the lawn when it is not full of vegetation from all the recent rain.
The trail signs
Looking down the trails outside the cabin
The rock formations outside the cabin on the trails
One last look back at the cabin before I left that morning
Walking along the trails outside back to the car
Walking along the trails bank to the car
Walking along the trails
Walking along the trails
The parking lot before I left that day
It was a wonderful private tour with Joan, who is the President of the organization. She explained who John Burroughs was, his significance in writing and his life. It was a very interesting tour.
The pathways were so beautiful and there is a full series of trails to follow throughout the property to explore.
The Beacon Historical Society at 61 Leonard Street at Christmas time
The outside of the building in the Summer
The sign for the Beacon Historical Society at Christmas time
The outside sign in the Summer
The Mission of the Society:
(From the Society pamphlet
The Beacon Historical Society was founded in 1976 to preserve, collect and interpret the rich history of the City of Beacon and its predecessor Villages of Fishkill Landing and Matteawan.
History of the Society:
(From the Museum website)
Established in 1976, the Beacon Historical Society showcases Beacon’s history through exhibitions, collections, programs, books and an informative monthly newsletter. The Beacon Historical Society is proud to serve as Beacon’s repository of rare photographs, paintings and prints, Hudson River ship models, objects and ephemera from local factories and Main Street businesses, records of local cemeteries and Civil War veterans, maps of Beacon, Fishkill Landing and Matteawan.
I recently did a walking tour of Downtown Beacon, NY and was impressed by the numbers of restaurants, bars and stores in the downtown area. It is an impressive downtown with very few empty stores and impressive and lively street life. On my first trip to the Beacon Historical Society I learned this was not always the case.
I recently visited this small historical society packed with information on the history not just of the City of Beacon but the surrounding Hudson River area. The museum gives an in depth view of the industrial history of the area and the highs and lows of many of the river communities. These small communities have seen a renaissance over the last decade especially during COVID and many of the older towns have seen new life being breathed into them.
The first exhibition I looked at was the Photographer Patrick Prosser exhibition (being shared with the Howland Cultural Center) ‘Work in Decay: The City of Beacon NY’.
Photographer Patrick Prossner was born and raised in Beacon and a graduate of Beacon High School and SUNY New Paltz with BFA. His work on this project started in 1982 photographing the decay of his home town (Author’s Bio on BHS website).
The photographer moved to the area in the early 1980’s during a time when Beacon’s mills and factories were closing and the downtown was boarded up. It shows what the downtown business district looked like and the changes that were made to shape it today.
The sign for the exhibition
Pictures of the former industrial zone
The pictures showed a once vibrant industrial community and the changes once these factories closed.
The changes in the surrounding area
The exhibition really shows the transformation of these towns from the once industrial hubs to the artsy communities filled with galleries and bars that many of them have become.
Downtown Beacon today filled with art galleries, shops and small restaurants
The former mill is now a luxury hotel and restaurant overlooking the same waterfall that used to power the mill
These small communities factories have now become hotels, lofts and in some cases new cottage industries have moved in. Time transforms areas and what is old becomes new again.
The first floor gallery
The second exhibition that I walked through was the ‘From Haverstraw to Beacon: Inside the Brickyards the built New York City’, an extensive look at the brickyards and the clay deposits that once lined the Hudson River that build most buildings in the City in the end of the Eighteenth, Nineteenth and early Twentieth centuries.
The exhibition sign
The map of the location of the brickyards along the Hudson River. This depended on the location of the clay deposits.
Transportation of freight and people for both recreation and business was described in this display of different boats down the Hudson River.
The display of understanding the brick business
Display of the different companies and processes of making bricks
The display of people that make up the industry
The process of mining, making, drying and creating the bricks that would end up in New York City
Some of the bricks and the companies from the New York market that were created in the region
Another display on the companies
More of the companies and processes to making bricks
The exhibition was a very interesting look at what was once a dominant industry in the area but like any industry as the clay ran out and building materials changed, the industry diminished in the area and that way of life changed. With it as well was the transformation of the area.
The former brick factories
The Brockway Brick Company that built Macy’s original building in Manhattan
There were smaller exhibitions as well all over the two floors of displays. First there was a handmade dollhouse on the first floor that is a favorite of the elementary school students.
The handmade dollhouse on the first floor
On the seconded floor is a display is the socially prominent Van Nydeck family. The family donated their family tree and many family heirlooms and portraits.
Part of the Schenck Van Nydeck family tree
The Van Nydeck family heirlooms
There was also artwork and artifacts from the surrounding community on display all over the museum.
The painting is by a local artist and the pottery is locally made
The window is a Tiffany window from a local church that the Historical Society saved for the museum
The first floor gallery
The docent told me after I toured the exhibition that there are more exhibitions being planned for the future.
Touring Downtown Beacon, NY:
After the trip through the Historical Society, I ventured and walked Downtown Beacon. The neighborhood has certainly changed since the early eighties.
Downtown Beacon today
Downtown Beacon today with Mount Beacon in the distance
The beautiful floral arrangements in the downtown today
The Halloween decorations were not even put away, the weather was 80 degrees on Halloween night and as I walked to the restaurant after the parade, display people were decorating windows with wreathes and trees. Here comes Christmas ! Between Halloween and Christmas I never sit still. There is so much ground to cover between New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania covering events for the holidays for my blog. It was a lot of picture taking this holiday season and revamping older blogs with new pictures and updates on the events. Join me for my crazy holiday season.
The beautiful sunrise on the day after Thanksgiving to start the Christmas holiday season
The Friday after Thanksgiving, we had the Christmas tree drop off with the Men’s Association and then I worked a triple shift that Friday from 7:00am to 9:00pm. It was a long busy day . We sold over 50 trees that day and they kept coming.
The tree racks were filled and refilled during the day
We had not even been open ten minutes and we had our first sale
It was a beautiful day for the start of the sale
Fully set up for the sale
The members of the Hasbrouck Heights Men’s Association at the beginning of the sale
The first day it was non- stop business all day. Thanksgiving fell a week late this year and we lucked out with sunny but cool weather putting everyone in the Christmas mood. We just ran around and worked all morning, afternoon and evening selling , wrapping and tying trees to people’s cars and trucks. It was really a team effort.
Because I had plans on almost all weekends and weekday nights for the next two weeks, I worked the “Triple Shift”, which is Christmas tree drop off, then the morning shift from 10:00am-2:00pm, the afternoon shift 2:00pm-6:00pm and the evening shift the 6:00pm-9:00pm plus marching in the Hasbrouck Heights Christmas Parade with the Hasbrouck Heights Men’s Association.
We were open for business on one of our busiest opening days that I can remember. We all forgot that Thanksgiving came a week late this year and people were waiting for us to open
One of our new Executive Board Members wanted to put a float in the parade for publicity for the Christmas tree sale so we marched along with that. It was a long day. Thank God, we had bought pizza for lunch for the members and another member brought White Castle Hamburgers and Chicken Rings for us. We did not have to stop for meals. That brought its own challenges later on.
Fully open for business
It may have been a long day, but it was a productive day for us. By the end of the evening, we sold 51 trees and four stands, refilled everything as we went along and then marched in the parade and then returned to sell one more tree before we called it quits at 8:45pm. The temperatures did drop, and the parade was not as crowded as I thought it might be on an evening where everyone was off.
We turned the Christmas lights at dusk
Later in the evening is when the true spirit of the site comes to life. The Christmas lights come on and it really brings the spirit of Christmas home. It lets our customers know that we are open for business.
The Christmas tree lot the first weekend night of the sale
I think this festive environment is perfect for selling trees
We closed the lot for an hour so that the guys working that night could march in the town holidays parade with our float. We really had a nice time handing out candy canes to the kids and wishing everyone a happy holiday season.
The start of the Hasbrouck Heights Holiday Parade
The costumed Christmas characters
The Moonachie Fire Department displaying their lights
The Hasbrouck Heights Men’s Association float in the parade
The parade concluded at the Circle for the Annual Tree Lighting ceremony. We did not stay for it as we had to head back to the lot for selling but I went back later to take pictures.
The Christmas trees lit on the Circle in Downtown Hasbrouck Heights
The museum has an extensive collection of firefighting memorabilia and equipment from different stages of the fire service. The museum is a must for firefighters and fire buffs.
The lighting display by the Circle
The historical Dollhouse on the Circle
The Hasbrouck Heights Firemen’s Park at the Circle decorated for the holidays
The bell at the Firemen’s Park
The Firemen’s Park display by the gazebo
The gazebo beautifully decorated by the town for the holidays
The sign welcome you to Hasbrouck Heights for the holiday season. When it comes to the holiday spirit of special events, house decorating and community involvement the residents of Hasbrouck Heights really bring the holiday spirit to life.
We headed back to the lot to finish out the evening selling for more trees and one stand. By the time we closed the lot for the evening, we had sold a record 51 trees and four stands in one day. It was a great way to start the sale. This was just the start of my holiday season in the never ending rush of activities.
The Christmas tree lot as we were closing for the evening
That Saturday, I decided to break a bad curse that I had experienced five years ago when visiting the historic Kearney House in Alpine. This is where I had the accident going down that cliff road at night. Though I said to myself that I would never enter that park again at night, I figured during the day would be okay.
The sad part was that I was the only guest for the first hour and a half of the opening. It was a chilly afternoon on Thanksgiving weekend but inside there was wonderful entertainment and hot cider to enjoy.
Enjoying the guitar playing and a cup of hot cider at the Kearney House
In between the entertainment and enjoying a few cups of the hot cider, I was able to tour the house again and take pictures. With the fireplaces going and glowing, it created a festive environment for relaxing during the holidays.
The Dining Room with the fireplace warming the room and hot cider to drink
Historic games to play
The fireplace glowing keeping the kitchen warm
Touring the upstairs bedroom gallery
The other bedroom and park system gallery
The old Attic bedrooms where Mrs. Kearney’s children used to sleep
After the tour was over, I stayed for an hour and enjoyed the music and the warm fire. It was a nice break from the holiday rush.
Enjoying the holiday music by the fireplace
I had to get back home but took the time to tour the park and houses grounds. It is an interesting historic site.
The herb garden
The house by the boat basin
The beautiful Fall foliage inside the park grounds. This was the last of the colors as the cold of winter was coming
In touring the Kearney House, I completing taking pictures of almost all the historical sites in Bergen County. The house is now closed for the season and will not open again until the end of April.
The next day I attended the Bergen County Firemen’s Home Holiday Party at the NJ State Firemen’s Home Association Christmas Party of the residents. This is one of the biggest events that we run for the residents for the home and the residents love this event. They have a good meal at the home, wonderful entertainment and present for every resident. No resident should be forgotten during the holiday season.
My blog on the Christmas event at the NJ State Firemen’s Home:
We started our meeting with a very nice buffet lunch that all members and the staff at the home could enjoy before the entertainment started. It was a nice way to start the afternoon. Chef Prince prepared a feast of Baked Ziti, Chicken Piccata, salads, breads, deli sandwiches and Chocolate Cake from Rockland Bakery for dessert. Everyone loved it!
The buffet lunch
The buffet lunch
Then we headed in for the afternoon entertainment. We were treated to the entertainment of and Member Jerry Naylis’s family, who we are watching grow up before our eyes. Funny how time marches on.
The members of the Bergen County Firemen’s Home Association with Santa and our pal, Wells
Jerry Naylis’s daughter and granddaughters in their group picture
Wells and I took our picture as well. He is such a great member
The members of the Bergen County Firemen’s Home Association elected me President for 2025 which I humbly accepted. I felt very honored.
After the party was over and everyone headed home, I took a detour to visit Downtown Boonton, which is a few blocks from the home and saw all the decorations. The town looked very festive.
I then visited the town’s Santaland that was closing for the afternoon and took pictures around the park.
Santaland
Letters to Santa in Santaland
Santaland set up for visitors
Santa’s Headquarters in the Park
The decorations in the park
The other entrance to Santaland
The Gazebo in the Park lit for the holidays
The gazebo in the park at dusk before I left for the evening
I have to say one thing is that for a small town, Boonton does a beautiful job decorating the Downtown. The Main Street and the parks were very festive and put you in the holiday spirit.
The rest of the week was concentrating on the last quiz of the semester and getting ready for major projects. I also had another night of selling Christmas trees and did the weather turn quickly. It went from the 60’s to the 30’s very quickly.
After this week was over, it was time for a break. My students were very antsy due to their major project being due the next week. I do not know why everyone felt so uptight on such a fun project.
I could not wait until Friday morning when I could have a day off and just relax. I planned a trip down to South Jersey to take two Christmas House Walking Tours, one in Woodstown and Pinesboro on Friday and the other in Salem,NJ the next day.
This is my blog on the Pilesgrove-Woodstown Walking Tour on the Historical Society site:
I was not too sure what to expect so I dropped my luggage at the hotel first and got to Woodstown early. I had enough time for some lunch so I ate at the Creekside Inn, where the busses were leaving from. The food and service were excellent.
The entrance to the Creekside Inn right on the golf course off Downtown Woodstown
I sat down in the bar area that was decorated for the holidays and ordered lunch while planning the evening. The food and the service are excellent.
The Christmas tree by the buffet being set up for that evening
The food and the service were wonderful (see review on TripAdvisor). Not wanting to be loaded up for the tour I had a Grilled Cheese with Bacon and Tomatoes. It was delicious. They made it with sour dough bread and cooked it in butter so that the outside was crisp. The perfect comfort food on a cool afternoon.
My lunch at the Creekside Inn, the Grilled Cheese with bacon and tomatoes with a side salad and a Coke
It was a nice sized lunch
Yum!
It was perfect timing because just as I finished it was time to take the bus out to the homes in Pinesgrove. What a nicely planned tour.
The outside patio area where we caught the bus and Santa would join us later
Our first stop on the four house tour was the Seven Stars Tavern House, what was once an old Tavern between Woodstown and Bridgeton. It was so beautifully restored and decorated for the holidays.
The historic marker for the tavern
Our group starting the tour of the house
Our group talking with the owner of the Seven Stars Tavern
The former tavern area of the home
The decorations in the Living Room of the Seven Stars Tavern
The decorations in the Seven Star Tavern
The Christmas tree in the Dining Room
The Dining Room in the Seven Stars Tavern
After the tour of this former tavern, it was time to move onto the next three houses on the tour.
We started the next part of the tour at the farm.
The Farm in Pilesgrove
The Living Room at the house
The Dining Room at the house
The barn on the property
When we exited the house, we had time to walk the grounds which were so beautifully landscaped and maintained. I was trying to imagine what the grounds must look like in the Spring and Summer.
The bus then picked us up and took us to the next location which was the Figo Farm. That was a real treat as that home was so beautifully decorated and the hosts so welcoming to us.
The Figo Farm in Pilesgrove, NJ
The Figo Farm was more of a ‘gentlemen’s’ farm with small fields and an orchard with a stable in the back. The family who hosted the event could not have been more gracious to us. They welcomed us with home baked cookies and holiday greetings.
Welcoming us in their beautifully decorated kitchen
The aroma of freshly baked cookies was in the air
The beautiful warm living room where we had a talk on the history of the farm
While I talked inside with the host’s parent’s most of my group took a hay ride around the farm. I met them in the stables which were beautifully decorated for the holidays.
The stables at the back of the farm
The beautiful decorations in front of the barn
The beautiful tree by the barn
Our then took us to the last stop on the Pilesgrove tour which was ‘Morgan’s Folly’, a Federalist style farmhouse home, very big and elaborate for the time. It just started to get dark when we arrived.
The beautiful sunset on the farm fields
The ‘Morgan’s Folly’ home at the holiday
The Dining Room at ‘Morgan’s Folly’
The beautiful family Christmas tree
The ‘Morgan’s Folly’ house we were left at for over forty-five minutes and no bus came to pick us up. We found out later from the bus driver that one of the bus drivers got let go early and they forgot to pick us up. So we got back to the Inn about an hour late. No big deal. I got back to the meeting spot and vendors had set up and Santa was there.
I ended up having a long conversation with Santa and I asked why people were so rude today. He had been by himself and stood up and looked at me and said, ‘Some of it they learned at home listening to their parents and some of it they learned on their own.’ He told me though that you should look for the best in people. I thanked him and told him, ‘I still believe in you.’ That seemed to please him. I think we need to carry that holiday spirit with us always.
Myself with Santa
When I got back, it only left me about two and a half hours to tour homes in Woodstown so I got back on the bus and they drove us to Downtown Woodstown, which was beautifully decorated for the holiday.
Downtown Woodstown, NJ decorated for Christmas
Downtown Woodstown
The display windows were so nicely decorated for the holidays
The whole downtown residential area was so nicely decorated for the holidays
I had never been in Woodstown for Christmas. I had just passed through to look at the decorations. What a beautiful town to walk around. Since it was late, I wanted to visit as many homes as I could before 8:30pm. The event closed up at 9:00pm but I am sure that many people would be exhausted by that point with people walking through their homes.
The homes were so nicely decorated
Some houses were not open but the exteriors were on display. This one had a wonderful light show on the side of the house.
This was a delightful show
The first house I visited was the Bobbitt House, which had been owned by a former doctor. The fire places were lit that evening which was nice on a cool night and the whole house sparkled with lights and garland.
The Bobbitt House lit for Christmas
The house was decorated to the hilt
The rooms were all decorated for the holidays
The house was just magnificent and all the details were so perfect. The family that owned the house did such amazing work on the decorations. I then moved on to the next house.
This house was only open on porch to admire the decorations
The next house I visited was only open for view of the outside but the owner’s daughter was entertaining us on the porch. It was a really festive concert.
A wonderful version of ‘Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas’
I moved on to the Pilesgrove- Woodstown Historical Society for a quick tour and to admire the decorations. The docents were stationed around to help and there were refreshments in the kitchen area.
The Christmas tree at the Historical Society
The Doll and Toy collection
The old house was decorated with bows and garland
The Colonial kitchen was still the centerpiece and the heart of the house
It was getting late and I visited my last house of the evening, which had once been the home of the minister and his wife to the church next door. It now was owned by a designer who decorated it to the hilt for the holidays.
Every detail was in place to the home in Downtown Woodstown
The beautiful Living Room decorated for the holidays
The Christmas tree in the Living Room
The banister decorated for the holidays
What was nice about our host was how gracious she was with refreshments of hot cider, hot tea, cookies and chocolate. Unfortunately spending the day eating all these sweets was enough and I just needed a snack later.
While most of the homes were closing up for the evening, before I took the bus back to the car, I walked around the downtown where they had set up a market with all sorts of vendors. By this point, they were just starting to close up but I got to sample some of the wares.
The Christmas Mart in Downtown Woodstown, NJ
I took the bus back to the Inn and drove back to Salem for the evening. I got into bed early. I was so worn out from the cold and the running around that I spelt soundly that night. Still I got up early to watch the sun rise.
The sun rising from the view of the Meadow Room at the Inn at Salem River
I had a nice breakfast the morning at the Inn overlooking the Delaware Bay. It was not like the Summer or Fall when you could eat outside on the deck. It was so cold that I ate by the windows looking out with the heat on. Breakfast at the Inn with that view on a sunny morning is breathtaking.
Starting breakfast with this view is a treat
I always enjoy my breakfasts at the Inn
There was a whirlwind of activities that I had not planned. I had another Christmas walking tour of homes but this time in Downtown Salem, NJ but it did not start until the afternoon. What I did do was attend the Annual Christmas parade on the Main Street.
The start of the Magic of Christmas Parade
The start of the parade with costumed characters
The entertaining band
The costumed people in the parade
The Salem Fire Department adds to the spirit of the parade
The Parade Queen and her court waving to the crowd
Even this playful Christmas got into the spirit of the parade
After the parade was finished, I made my way to the Salem Fire Museum, which after five years of trying to visit was finally open. I talked with the firemen on duty and walked the whole museum. It is a unique look at the history of the fire service in both Salem and New Jersey.
The second floor gallery of living quarters and offices
The firehouse Christmas tree and rescue equipment
The I stopped next door to the Salem County Courthouse, which is the second oldest continuous used courthouse in the country. The courthouse was beautifully decorated inside and out.
The Salem County Courthouse at South Broadway decorated for the holidays
The entrance to the courthouse was so spirited
These historical buildings line Downtown Salem, NJ
The side of the Salem Courthouse was decorated for the holidays
The inside of the Courthouse has the original wooden chairs
I loved the tree in the corner
The tour guide said since the doors have opened, this building has been in continuous use for the City of Salem. If these walls could talk.
I crossed the street and visited the old main bank in town that is now an art store and school. They were preparing for an onslaught of children coming in for arts and crafts.
Then I moved on the antique store to check in with the formal part of the house tour, exploring the historic buildings of Market Street. My first stop was to check in at Royal Port Antiques at 13 Market Street.
Royal Port Antiques at 13 Market Street is always so nicely decorated for the holidays and has such interesting merchandise.
From the antique store, I worked my way down Market Street to many of the homes and churches that were open for the house tour. The first part of the tour was a Colonial military display along the river.
The Dutch cabin during the military display
The military display near the river right before a Christmas battle
The Gazebo decorated for the holidays
The decorations are whimsical
I started the tour of the Federalist homes and they were so beautifully decorated.
Downtown Salem, NJ decorated for the holidays
The first stop on the Yuletide tour at 40 Market Street
The house was so beautifully decorated and the host could not have been nicer. She talked extensively about the renovation and her little grandson was dressed in period costume greeting people.
The Dining Room decorated for the holidays
The fireplaces were lit in the Living Room and Dining Room giving it a warm feeling
Our host had wonderful refreshments in the kitchen waiting for us at the end of the tour
After this wonderful tour, I moved to the next house.
This house at 43 Market Street was next on the list
The foyer at 43 Market Street
The upstairs at 43 Market Street
The couple that owned this house put a massive amount of work into the renovation of this home and you could tell the amount of TLC that went into every detail. The whole house was so beautifully decorated.
I went inside St. John’s Episcopal Church for a tour of the Christmas decorations and listen to the traveling carolers. They stopped at most of the places I visited that afternoon.
The church opened their rectory to sell items for lunch and had a desserts available. After two days of non-stop Christmas cookies I was all cookied out. So I had a bowl of New England Clam Chowder with sourdough bread and talk about hitting the spot on a cold day. I was totally energized.
The excellent Clam Chowder I had for lunch
The Carolers came to the rectory as well
After a good lunch and a nice rest from all the walking, I moved on to explore the rest of Downtown Salem. The next stop was the Presbyterian Church with its musical performance.
The 1st Presbyterian Church at 88 Market Street is very impressive that afternoon
The carolers followed us around the downtown and performed in this church as well
What was nice about this Christmas walking tour was being able to see the inside of all these historical buildings and being able to see all the nooks and crannies of these old buildings.Just like the Woodstown tour the day before, the Salem County Historical Society was open too for touring.
I had seen all these exhibitions in the Summer when I was in town for the Firemen’s Convention, so I was not there long. My favorite section of the museum at the holidays is the ‘Keeping Room’, which is the original section of the home where the museum is housed.
I toured the museum for about forty-five minutes before I moved on to the next site. Take time to really tour the museum as it has so many interesting exhibitions and artifacts to see.
I next walked down Broadway to the Friends Meeting House, the center of the Quaker religion. The building was really old and smelled like wood and dust and creaked when you walked around it. I did not stay long.
The one part of the Meeting House that was cheerful and decorated for the holidays
I moved on to the last two homes of the tour as the afternoon moved on. The first house was no longer a home but an insurance company. The front of the building is the older part of the house and the back was the addition which was part of the old Masonic Lodge. It was a unique building.
The old house at 90 West Broadway is now an insurance company
The beauty of the main entrance room of the former home
This little doll in a sled was one of the members Grandmother’s toy
The home had been sold years ago and then became the Masonic Lodge which itself had closed years ago and the insurance company bought it for offices.
The last house I visited on the tour was a gorgeous Victorian in a rather sketchy neighborhood. The couple had lived there for years and said they never had a problem. I could see the huge potential if many of these houses were renovated.
The home at 24 Oak Street was the last house on my list that day
The owners had lived here for years and had renovated it to loving care. The landscaping was impressive even at the end of Fall. I would love to see what it is like in the Spring and Summer.
The woman who owned the home with her husband explained that she had hung all the wallpaper herself when she was younger. She did a beautiful job and the couple could not been more gracious in welcoming us into their home.
Their beautiful Living Room with elaborate wallpaper
Even the Kitchen was nicely decorated
We toured the house and got to see the gardens in the back which be impressive in warmer weather. The couple also had hot cider and cookies waiting for us at the end of the tour.
The last stop on the tour was where I would spending the night, the Barrett Plantation House B & B. I got to the B & B which was packed with cars out front. I was graciously welcomed by my hosts.
There was a fire going in the fireplace and music in the Parlor Room, which is where we would be served Breakfast the next morning. They even had a violinist who was in Revolutionary War garb playing songs from that period.
The Barrett Plantation House B & B at 203 Old Kings Highway
He beautiful decorations for the holidays at the entrance of the foyer
The Parlor where we relaxed when we finished the tour
The violinist who entertained us that evening not played the songs but explained the holiday entertainment of that period.
It was a very nice end of the tour. We just sat in front of the fire and talked with the violinist. He explained the songs he was playing and how people would entertain during that time. It was nice to just relax in a chair and be warm by the fire.
Since the couple at the B & B had to clean up after all the people touring through the rooms, I drove back downtown to attend the Christmas tree lighting ceremony
The County Courthouse decorated at night for the ceremony
The local elementary school provided the choir for the ceremony
Santa and Mrs. Claus arrive at the ceremony by fire truck
The Parade Queen and Santa led the tree lighting ceremony that evening
The front of the Courthouse after the tree lighting ceremony
The ceremony was for only about forty five minutes with the kids singing two Christmas carols and the elected officials wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas. It got really cold out at the end of the evening.
I made it back to the B & B and joined the owners and the other guests drinks and a hot Roast Beef sandwich with fresh Potato Salad by the fire. Now that was fun. We all talked about the tour and what a perfect day it was seeing all the decorations. After a nice evening by the fire, I just relaxed up in my room. I had to be on an early walking tour of the Alloways History Museum, which had been arranged for me.
I had an early morning tour of the Alloway History Museum at 49 Greenwich Street on the second floor of the Municipal Building. This tiny museum had been elusive to me and the owners of the B & B were able to arrange to get me in. The appointment was at 8:30am so everyone else slept in while I drove to Alloway, a tiny farming community just west of Salem.
For such a small museum, it packed with interesting artifacts and displays. I was impressed by their Native American collection and their community displays. Here is a small sampling of the collection you can see on my VisitingaMuseum.com blog:
The Native American artifact collection
The local community displays
The Schoolhouse and Education display
While everyone else slept in, I toured the museum and got a feel for the collection. It really is a ‘hidden gem’ and like the Salem Fire Museum should be open to the public more.
After the tour, I went back to the Barrett’s Plantation for breakfast with the other guests and we had a wonderful meal with lively conversation by a warm fire in the dining.
The beautiful breakfast room at the Barrett’s Plantation
Our gourmet breakfast started with fresh fruit with local honey, freshly squeezed orange juice and hot tea
The delicious fruit salad
The honey Amish Bread
The breakfast entree was the Sunday soufflé with a side of hash browns
We just relaxed and talked to our hosts and enjoyed the crackling fire. It was a nice way to end the two days of touring.
After breakfast was over, I relaxed in my room for a bit before I left for a day of touring around the community. I really loved my room and the way it had decorated for the holidays.
The Dickerson Suite I highly recommend
The decorations in the Dickerson Suite at the holidays
Before I packed up and left for the day, I took a tour around the B & B and the grounds. The couple who owns it did a wonderful job decorating for the holidays. Here are some of my favorite pictures.
The staircase and foyer
The outside of the Barrett’s Plantation decorated for the holidays
The sleigh on the porch
The holiday decorations
The grounds are so nicely landscaped and are a pleasure to walk around in all seasons
Before I left for the day, I went to visit the Pennsville Historical Society to see if the house was open to see their Christmas decorations. I lucked out and they were having their Annual Open House with a visit from Santa and Mrs. Claus.
The Church Landing Farm, the home of the Pennsville Historical Society
The Christmas Open House was an amazing event and it was a beautiful sunny day to be outside. I started my visit with meeting with Santa and Mrs. Claus. In this crazy political world we live in, it was nice to see that the Claus’s were so welcoming to everyone. It is nice to believe.
Santa and Mrs. Claus greeted me warmly that afternoon
Me with Santa getting some good advice at the holidays
I toured all the display sheds and the farmhouse which were all beautifully decorated for this holiday event. There were so many beautiful decorations that I can’t show them all here but look at my blog on the Pennsville Historical Society on my site, VisitingaMuseum.com. Here are some of my favorites from the tour around the house and ground:
The farmhouse on the day of the Open House
I took a full tour of the house and grounds and took so many pictures (see the blog above) of all the beautiful decorations throughout the property. Here are some of my favorite pictures.
This is from the amusement park shed
The decorations in the military shed
The front of the farmhouse decorated for the holidays
What I love when you come to the Pennsville Historical Society’s Church Landing Farmhouse is that it is so beautifully decorated for the holidays. The volunteers go above and beyond and the house is amazing.
The foyer to the home
The front Parlor
The Christmas tree in the Living Room
The upstairs bedroom
The decorations in the second bedroom
Even the upstairs bathroom was decorated
The little elf in the upstairs bathroom
The refreshments in the kitchen
I finished the tour of the house and headed down to the kitchen where the volunteers set the main table with every type of Christmas cookie you can imagine. One of the volunteers told me that every volunteer had baked a pound of cookies and they had an excess. After two full days of sweets, two were fine with me.
After some hot chocolate, I finished my tour of the grounds.
The little schoolhouse on the grounds was decorated for the holidays
The Gazebo decorated for the holidays overlooking the Delaware Bay
The Church Landing Farmhouse decorated for the holidays
After spending the early morning at the Open House, I had enough time before I went home to take a trip to Millville to see the decorations at their historical house. Unfortunately, the ladies who decorate the home that the Society owns next door had not decorated it yet so one of the volunteers took me to the Ward Mansion which they also run.
This was the home of the family that started the WaWa chain amongst other companies. The home had been decorated for their holiday party and they let me tour the home.
The Wood Mansion is part of the Millville Historical Society
The Living Room at the Wood Mansion decorated for the holidays
The Victorian Christmas tree in the Living Room
The Dining Room
The artifacts in the upstairs gallery
The Wood family tree to the branch that now runs WaWa
It was nice to take a personal tour of the home and see how the family lived in Victorian times. It seemed that the modern generation no longer wanted the home and left it to the historical society. After the tour was over, I took another tour of the historical society and then headed home. It had been a long and productive weekend.
The second week of December was presentation week for my students. I had for major presentations with all four of my classes plus a presentation to Ramsey Borough Hall. I had been teaching four classes at Bergen Community College and each of my classes had real clients this semester which I had never had before. So there were the demands of real clients and visits for the students to Closter, Bergenfield, Lyndhurst and Ramsey, NJ whose job it was to promote these great towns. I found out months later they were still asking me for things. That’s how real these projects are to people outside the classroom.
The first class to present their project was the Farm team presenting how they were going to promote the farm with all their specialty products and create a series of Special Events.
Me with my President and Senior Vice-President of Operations for the Farm Project
The Manager of the farm came to the presentation and gave his thoughts on our ideas and loved almost all of them. So I had my first happy client.
The next presentation I had was with my Marketing class and we were creating a Destination Tourism plan for the Borough of Bergenfield. We were showcasing the Bergenfield Museum, Cooper’s Pond Park and the South Church of Bergenfield’s historic cemetery.
We presented the project to the Board of the Bergenfield Museum and the publicity member of the Borough of Bergenfield. It was a brilliant presentation and everyone really liked it.
The Bergenfield Team after the Presentation
The next presentation was “It’s Razzling in Ramsey-Be a Tourist in your Own Town”, an extensive Destination Tourism plan for how to promote Ramsey, NJ for tourism. The students presented to me in the classroom first and then we presented to the Ramsey Borough Council. That was pretty amazing.
Me with my President and my Senior Vice-President of Operations
My last presentation for Thursday night was the presentation for the Lyndhurst Team for the Red Schoolhouse Museum. We presented the project that Thursday night to the Board of the museum. This presentation was put together in four weeks and it was a great presentation.
All the Presentations went and was impressed with all the students work. It took many weeks and a lot of touring of the locations but we presented to all the clients our best work. I was so drained by the end of the week that I went to bed early that evening.
I had another busy schedule the third weekend of December and that included more holiday tours and decorated homes. I had to run from Hope, NJ to Upstate New York, to attend one day events. All this while I was preparing the final exams for the next week. We had sold out of Christmas trees in two and a half weeks, so the was now behind us. We got ready for our annual Christmas stand party.
The party fell on Friday the 13th and I got in the car and left for Blairstown , NJ, where the opening scenes of the original film were shot. Going to Blairstown, NJ where the opening scenes were shot of the 1980 film has become a big thing. It was in October 13th, 2023 but in December 2025, it was Christmas all the way.
It was so cold out and so close to Christmas that there was not a sole in town. I was there for about an hour taking pictures on the holiday decorations rather than talking about Friday the 13th. I toured there and Hope, NJ and took pictures of all the decorations..
The decorations in Blairstown
The building that was the original diner that was in the opening scene. It is now a gift shop.
The cemetery gate where Annie gets dropped off in the middle of the scene
After I had toured both Hope and Blairstown, I double back to Blairstown for lunch. The Blairstown Diner for lunch and had a very good but expensive chicken sandwich off their ‘Friday the 13th menu.
I was coming back that Saturday night for the Moravian Christmas walking tour and would have loved to spend the night in the area but I had so much work to do at home that it was just easier to drive home than stay.
I was resting at home after the long ride home when the guys from the Men’s Association texted me telling me to get my butt to the party and to bring some dessert. So I changed clothes and played a platter of homemade cookies and went to the party for an hour. It ended up that after the long week of student presentations and running around, I needed the drink.
The guys on the Men’s Association enjoying a job well done at the end of the season
The tree stand the night of the party with one tree left
The next morning I was in a rush to finish my grading and the laundry as I had to be back in Hope, NJ for the walking tour and then the church services afterwards. It was going to be an hour trip back out there. Then the day after that, I would be up in Beacon, NY visiting more decorated houses.
I had been to the Moravian Christmas Lantern tour three years prior in 2021 but it had been so windy they could not put up the luminaries. This year they could.
Downtown Hope, NJ before the nightfall
The Presbyterian Church that used to be the old Moravian church where the candlelight service would take place that evening.
I liked the way everyone decorated their homes
Many of these old homes were decorated with wreathes and garland
As it grew darker, it grew colder and I was smart enough this year to take the earlier tour and leave time for dinner before church services.
The Hope Community Center where we started the tour
Inside the Hope Community Center, they set up a buffet where you could buy dinner and you could see their ‘Festival of Trees’ display the they used to display at the local hotel. They moved it back to the Community Center this year which was nicer to observe all these beautiful Christmas trees decorated by local groups.
The Community Center set for dinner and the tours
The beautifully decorated Christmas trees
The beautifully decorated tree
One tree was more impressive than another
Since I wisely chose a tour that would start at twilight and end when it got dark, I got to see the town in both perspectives. Either way, the town was fully decorated for the holidays and when the sun went down it was really beautiful.
The bridge coming into town
I got to walk around before my tour started while it was still light out and in the winter time the town is so picturesque.
All the homes in the downtown area were decorated for the holidays
The tour started at 5:00pm and we started to walk through this former Moravian community. During COVID, the town had been ‘discovered’ by New Yorkers and since my last tour in 2021, almost all the homes in town had been renovated and landscaped. The town was very impressive.
Our guide on the lantern tour
The tour took us to all the historical sites in Hope which included the church’s, manufacturing and old farms and mills. The temperature was dropping as it got darker and I felt bad for all the actors outside who had to stand there waiting for us.
Starting the tour at dusk
The historical buildings of Hope, NJ
The local elementary school entertained us on the tour
Then we toured the downtown, visiting historical buildings that are now banks and offices and visiting a live Nativity scene.
The bank was an old Meeting House at one time
The luminaries in the downtown
The luminaries downtown looking toward the church
The live Nativity performance
We rounded the downtown one more time to see all the historical homes and the beautiful light
After I returned to the Community Center, I stopped and had some dinner. The buffet had some heavy dishes and I decided on the Mac & Cheese which really warmed me up on this cool night. For dessert, I had a locally made Cider doughnut. What a nice way to end the tour.
The Community Center is a nice place to eat dinner after the tour
After dinner was over and I warmed I walked over to the Presbyterian Church for the traditional Moravian Candlelight Service. I had been here four years prior and had enjoyed the service with its engaging sermon and the beauty of the candles in the final part of the service.
The church was decorated in a secular fashion for the holidays
The service was very inspiring with a talk about family and what the purpose of the holiday really means. With all the pressure of the holidays in hand and finals week being the next week plus the posting of grades before I left for my mother’s for the holidays it was nice to just relax.
The end of the Candlelight service
Downtown Hope, NJ at the end of the church service
Having prepared all my exams and wrapped up the grades for the Team project, I was able to head to the Hudson River Valley to visit some decorated homes that I needed to revisit for my museum blog, VisitingaMuseum.com.
The first one was Mount Gulian in Beacon, which I had visited over the Summer and now needed pictures of the Christmas decorations. The other was Knox Headquarters Homestead, which I had visited several times between the Summer and the Halloween holidays. The decorations at both homes did not disappoint me.
Mount Gulian Historical site for the holidays
Since I had taken the formal tour of the house over the summer, the docent who led my tour then just gave me an overview of the Dutch holidays and explained the decorations.
The beautifully decorated front doors
The main staircase decorated for the holidays
While my tour guide finished with his first tour, I toured the house on my own.
I started in the basement looking at the Colonial kitchen, which is the only thing that survived the fire that burned this historical house to the ground in the 1930’s (the current house is a recreation of the original home).
The colonial kitchen decorated for the holidays
The decorations around the kitchen area
I made my way upstairs and continued the tour on my own.
The elegant Dining Room
The table was set for Christmas lunch
Then I toured the other rooms and made my way to the Library.
The Library was decorated with all sorts of garland and Christmas ornaments
The Library was decorated with all sorts of garland and wreaths
The old Parlor was set up for the upcoming Children’s tea
The old Parlor Room was set up and decorated for a Children’s Tea which was the week after Christmas but I still got to walk around and enjoy the decorations. The Christmas tree was elaborately decorated for the event.
The Christmas tree surrounded by pictures of the Order of Cinncinatti
I ended my tour when the next group of visitors arrived. While the tour guide greeted them, I took one last tour of the dining Room. It just a beautiful room.
The fireplace in the Dining Room with a picture of the last descendant who lived in the house as a baby over the fireplace
After the tour of Mount Gulian, I had time before my tour of the Knox Homestead to tour Downtown Beacon and have some lunch. The downtown really nicely decorated for the holidays.
Downtown Beacon decorated for the holidays
The snow had fallen the day before giving it the early Christmas look
The beauty of the mountain tops after the sun
The snow bound downtown
The beautiful falls downtown
Downtown Beacon is really a picturesque place with wonderful restaurants and shopping and interesting street art. It is a wonderful town to explore and window shop.
The beautiful decorations downtown
For lunch that afternoon, I ate at Noble Pie at 137 Main Street, a small restaurant specializing in homemade sweet and savory pies. What a treat. I had not had a piece of homemade pie in a long time and you can tell the care they have in their product in each bite.
It was a tough choice but I decided on the Homemade Chicken Pot Pie and the Apple Pie a la Mode with a big scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream with the ice cream from Del’s Ice Cream in Rhinebeck, NY.
The wonderful Chicken Pot Pie with a flaky buttery crust
The delicious Apple Pie a la Mode with Vanilla Ice Cream
The restaurant was nicely decorated was nicely decorated for the holidays
After a wonderful lunch and a full tour of the picturesque downtown on both sides, I headed down to the Christmas Open House at the Know Headquarters . I had wanted to go early because it was so cold and it got dark early.
The lights turned on before I left Beacon giving it more of a Christmas feel
I got to the Knox headquarters for their Christmas Open House just before nightfall so they were still setting up the outdoor lights. The house looked so picturesque with the snow on the trees and grounds.
All the rooms were decorated for the holidays with costumed actors talking about life in the house during the Revolutionary War Christmas era.
The Parlor decorated at Christmas
The spirit of the lady of the house
The decorations in the Parlor
The ghostly figure in the mirror in the decorated Dining Room
The Knox office in the house with a costumed soldier to explain the plan
The decorated stairs and bannisters for the holidays
The upstairs bedrooms were well appointed and decorated for the holidays
A soldier met us at the top of the stair and explored the war years to us
The Dining Room
The last room of the afternoon I visited was the Dining Room where the Dining Room table was decorated for the holidays. This had been a trend during that period where the top of the table was decorated to impress guests.
The whole Dining Room was beautifully decorated
The Army Captain explained what entertain was like during the war years for officers and soldiers
The outside of the home was lit with a bonfire and torches
The temperature really dropped that evening and it got cold! The poor actor who portrayed a soldier standing guard was really cold. He really knew what these men must have felt.
The soldier standing guard outside the homestead
The Knox Homestead when I left that evening
The torches that lit the property on a cold winters night
After the Open House was over, I had not realized how early it still was so I decided to take a detour and visit Kingston and Woodstock to see how those town’s were decorated for the holidays.
My first stop was Woodstock, where I had spent many relaxing Christmas’s after my father passed. I needed to clear my head and spending time in the mountains with some peace and quiet helped me tremendously. I found the town quaint and had an almost Currier & Ives feel about it. It still means a lot to me at the holidays.
I always love the Woodstock Christmas tree. It always looks so unusual
The Dutch Reformed Church where I spent many Christmas Eve’s
The manager scene outside the church
The retail district around the Green at the holidays
It was so cold out that no one was outside. The restaurants were pretty quiet that evening as I could see no one wanted to venture out. It was a big difference from four months prior when it was 60 degrees and sunny in the evening. I had the whole downtown to myself that evening.
The restaurant’s were decorated to the hilt. This used to be Joshua’s where I ate Christmas Eve the years I came here
I walked around the quiet Green admiring the Christmas tree and peeking in the business windows. I could not believe that Christmas was going to be next week.
The Village Green the week before Christmas
I finished my tour of Downtown Woodstock and it was still early so I headed to Kingston. I had missed the Snowflake Festival this year because I was in Salem and Woodstown for the Christmas Hour tours so I wanted to see how the town was decorated.
Kingston is always so nice at the holidays and I wanted to see how the town was decorated. It is another picturesque town.
Downtown Kingston ‘Stockage District’ with the snowflakes
I got to Kingston late in the evening around eight in the evening and for some reason Kingston likes to roll up its sleeves at 8:00pm. I walked around the downtown and had the streets to myself.
The Kingston Christmas tree in the ‘Stockage District‘
The Dutch Reformed Church at the holidays
I would have thought there would have been bells during the holidays and it was just very quiet in the evening around the church.
The Senate House barns
One last tour around the Downtown before things closed for the evening
The merchants compete for the best windows
The windows in Kingston could compete with any other town
It was a nice way to end the day walking around this beautifully decorated town enjoying all the wonderful lights and displays all to myself. I knew I needed the relaxing as Finals week was here and the last day of class was on Thursday night. I could not wait to be done with classes.
Finals week was a rough week for everyone being so close to the holidays. I could see that a large portion of my students had no desire to study for their finals and their grades reflected that .
The students that had taken the class work seriously did really well and an about a third of each of my classes struggled on a final that really was not hard. You just had to do that new fangled thing called ‘study’ I had to spend most of December 20th and 21st grading and posting grades That took time and I was glad that the semester ended. I could now relax for the next month. The semester would not begin again until the first third week of January.
The students that had taken the class work seriously did really well and an about a third of each of my classes struggled on a final that really was not hard. You just had to do that new fangled thing called ‘study’ I had to spend most of December 20th and 21st grading and posting grades That took time and I was glad that the semester ended. I could now relax for the next month. The semester would not begin again until thethird week of January.
December 20th and 21st grading and posting grades That took time and I was glad that the semester ended. I could now relax for the next month. The semester would not begin again until the third week of January.
I had to clean the house, finish my cookie baking for gifts and do all the laundry and pack. I was leaving for my mother’s for the holiday and then two days of work and rest in Cape May. There was a lot of picture taking and cultural sites to visit.
Decorations for the holidays in Murray Hill at the Union League Club at 38 East 37th Street
I was able to get into New York City just before Christmas and I will tell you there is nothing like Manhattan during the holidays.
Nothing says ‘Christmas’ more than Macy’s on West 34th Street, my home away from home for seven years of my life working as a Manager and then a Assistant Buyer. It still is an amazing Christmas store.
I explored the City and ran around Manhattan visiting as much as I could in a day. I would be leaving for my Mother’s on the morning of the 24th, so I wanted to get things done.
Macy’s Herald Square on the Broadway side of the first floor
My first stop was Macy’s to see their windows and to see how the stores were decorated. They really did a nice job on the inside of the store and their windows I thought were the most unique of all the department stores.
Macy’s Broadway Christmas windows
Macy’s Broadway windows
Macy’s Broadway windows
Macy’s Broadway windows
Passing Penn Station at Christmas
I walked around the Murray Hill neighborhood in Midtown enjoying all the holiday decorations on all the buildings.
I passed this tree outside one of the office buildings in Midtown
Gem Saloon in Murray Hill decorated for the holidays
Touring through Bryant Park during the holiday season is always a lot of fun. You always see such interesting vendors during the holiday season. The skating rink was packed with skaters and tourists filled both.
I continued to tour around Midtown, walking into stores and parks and admiring the decorations. After a long semester of classes and projects, it was nice to get my mind off work and school.
I continued the walk around Midtown up Park Avenue and passed the decorations at Grand Central Terminal. This is when you see the City at its best during the holidays.
My last stop before I left the City was an extremely crowded Rockefeller Center where every tourist from every walk of life was taking pictures from every direction. I had to elbow my way around the complex and I still got some wonderful pictures.
The Angels at Rockefeller Center at Christmas
The complex at Christmas time
The Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center just known as the ‘Tree’ to us
After I left the skating rink, I walked around Saks Fifth Avenue. Their windows were not that exciting this year as they just featured clothing from the Couture floor. I could see under all the glitter that the store was having problems. I saw the cracks that I had seen at Macy’s years ago. We will see how this plays out.
The front of Saks Fifth Avenue at 611 Fifth Avenue minus their Lightshow and exciting windows
It was nice to just walk around the City and enjoy the decorations and get my mind off work. It was going to be a long day of getting ready for the holidays and then a trip to Cape May to just decompress.
Christmas Eve Day was a whirlwind of activity. I had to head to Downtown Hasbrouck Heights and pick up flowers for my cemetery visits, then head to Downtown Wood Ridge to Mills Bakery for doughnuts for my mother for breakfast Christmas Day. Then I visited my family before I left for my mother’s. It was a busy morning.
The store was so beautifully decorated inside and out
How magical the store looks inside for Christmas
The back of the store sells all sorts of Christmas treasures
This is where I buy all my flowers to pay my respects at the cemeteries and they always put a nice arrangement for me at a fair price. Plus I love looking at the decorations at the holidays.
Then it was off to Mills Bakery for pastries. The baked items at Mill’s are always fresh and the selection is wonderful.
Mills is always so nicely decorated at the holidays
The beautiful Christmas cakes at Mill’s
The holiday cookies at Mills always smile at you
The elegantly wrapped Gingerbread houses make the perfect gift
After I finished my shopping and made my visits the my family, I had a quick lunch at Bella Pizza on the Boulevard for a slice of pizza before I left for my mother’s. The Sicilian slice was really good and hit the spot for the long trip.
Bella Pizza at 197 Boulevard decorated for the holidays
The Sicilian Pizza is fantastic and did not affect my appetite for dinner
After lunch, it was the four hour trip to my Mother’s . Thank God the traffic was not bad. Once I left the Newark area, it was smooth sailing. Even when I had to make a stop at one of the rest stops, the new rest stops were nicely decorated.
On the way into Rehoboth Beach, there is a farm where I always admire the decorations. It may not be that elaborate, but there is just something about the way they decorate that I always admire.
The farm outside Rehoboth Beach
The pictures don’t reflect how truly beautiful the farm is decorated. I could not get the correct lighting
Since there was no room at the house, I stayed at the Hampton Inn Rehoboth Beach at 18826 Coastal Highway and I highly recommend the hotel at the holidays
The Hampton Inn Rehoboth Beach at 18826 Costal Highway at Christmas time
The hotel is really nice with a large lobby and Breakfast Room and an indoor pool. The hotel was nicely decorated for the holidays.
The lobby at Christmas time
The Christmas tree in the lobby
The Breakfast Room where meals are served in the morning
I met the rest of the family at my mother’s after I had settled in and then we left for Christmas Eve dinner, which she calls our ‘Jewish Christmas’ meal at Confucius Chinese Restaurant.
Confucius Chinese Restaurant at 57 Wilmington Avenue in downtown Rehoboth Beach
Dinner is always an experience at the restaurant offering some of the best Chinese food in Delaware.
We started the Christmas Eve meal with Salt & Pepper soft Shell crab
They serve the most amazing Duck Springrolls
The Pork & Chive Dumplings steamed or Fried are mouthwatering
The entrees here are top notch and the dishes that came out of the kitchen were excellent that evening. Even for a busy evening, one dish after another was amazing.
The Moo Shu Pork here is one of their specialities and one of our favorites to order. We had to get two orders just so everyone could have one.
The Kung Pao Chicken without peanuts is one my mother’s favorites
The Tang Lake Chicken is one of my favorites and I highly recommend it
The House Special Lo Mein is another favorite of mine
The House Fried Rice is one of the best I have tasted
We had to add some greens to the Christmas Eve dinner
It was a wonderful dinner and it was nice to catch up with my family. It is tough when all of us are scattered throughout the country. It is one of the few family meals we have during the year.
After dinner was over, we all met back at my mother’s house. Before I left Downtown Rehoboth Beach, I took a quick tour of the boardwalk and the town’s Christmas tree. It is always a nice site and very festive.
The Gazebo by the shore all lit up for the holidays
Christmas Eve in downtown is quiet and beautiful
I got back to the hotel that evening and slept soundly. All those weeks of final projects and running around caught up with me. There is something about the Hilton mattresses that give you the perfect night’s rest.
My perfect Hilton bedroom
Christmas morning was a whirlwind of activity. I had to meet my family for breakfast later in the morning and help with dinner at my mother’s before her guests arrive. Since I love breakfast, I started with an early morning meal at the hotel.
It was a very nice breakfast with a good assortment of hot and cold items. Since the howl was not that busy, I got to talk with other families, who like myself there was no room at the inn at their relatives home.
The Breakfast Room at the Hampton Inn
The Breakfast Room and Lobby at the hotel
The selection of hot and cold items makes a nice breakfast
Creating the perfect breakfast sandwich
The morning would be a whirlwind of activity as we had to finish last minute preparations at the house, getting appetizers in order and do some last minute preparations work and clean the kitchen. It would be a very nice morning and afternoon.the kitchen.
Helping my mom in the kitchen at Christmas has become a new tradition for my brothers and I . For years we were told to stay out but as my mom is getting older it is a lot of work so we all enjoy helping out. It has become a family affair.
The Dining Room set for Christmas dinner
The Dining Room table always looks so elegant
The decorations in the house
Simple but elegant
My mother kept it simple at Christmas and did not go overboard but the house always looks so nice at the holidays. The table was set so beautifully and my mother likes to keep the tradition of name cards, which is really nice.
My mother kept dinner simple this year and we had a lasagna with a salad and garlic bread . We were all working and was tough doing all fancier dishes we had cooked in the past . Still it was a nice meal.
We started with a simple meat and cheese anti pasta
The most amazing Christmas dinner Lasagna, Garlic Bread, Dressed Salad and roast pork
My mother hosting dinner with much pride. She is an excellent cook and host
It really was a nice Christmas Day. It gave us all a chance to be together with our mother and her friends and catch up with one another’s lives. My brothers and I did the clean up and helped with dessert.
Christmas dessert, my brother baked the cookies, my mother baked her wonderful apple pie and my sister in law brought a very rich Russian chocolate cake
My brothers and I with our mother at the end of the evening on Christmas Day
We really had a wonderful Christmas but like most holidays it zipped right by and the night was over. The next morning we met at our mothers for breakfast and each of went our own separate ways afterwards. I was heading to Cape May, NJ by ferry while my brothers both headed to New York City. I would meet up with them later in the week for lunch in Manhattan. My mother got some time to relax after we departed.
I love the trip over to Cape May from Lewis, DE. The ferry is always so nicely decorated for the holidays and even on Christmas Day a few years ago is always busy at the holidays.
The terminal and their restaurant inside are always so nicely decorated for the holidays
The ferry takes only an hour and a half compared to the five hour drive around southern New Jersey. On a beautiful sunny morning, the views are amazing.
The Lewes Terminal in the summer months
Getting ready to arrive
Cape May at Christmas time is one of the most magical places especially at night. The lights and sounds and music, plus the tours and the restaurants is the reason you will never be bored here. I took a ride through the back roads and made to the heart of downtown and to my hotel in no time Cape May in no time.
The Chalfonte Hotel where I normally stay when I am in Cape May was closed season (the hotel is not insulated) and I stayed at the Southern Quarters, the sister hotel next door. Somehow I keep getting the room on the top floor of the hotel and it holds a lot of memories for me because it’s where I first stayed when visiting Cape May.
The room at the top of the Southern Quarters has a great view of the neighborhood
I was finally able to relax and decompress for a few hours. I ended up sleeping for three hours. This trip to Cape May was about relaxing and picture taking for the blog so it would be another working vacation for the next two days. I would be spending a lot of time time visiting the Congress Hotel to revisit restaurants and take pictures of the decorations.
The front of the Congress Hotel was decorated to the hilt
The Congress Hotel at is decorated for their “Winter Wonderland” promotion at Christmas time. The hotel is a spectacular time to visit the hotel with the public rooms fully decorated and the lawn area in the back set up like a Christmas Village with a decorated tree, amusements, shops and refreshment stands. It was packed both nights I visited.
The beauty of the lobby at The Congress Hotel
The hotel sometimes reminds me of ‘The Overlook Hotel’ in the movie in the movie in ‘The Shining’
The Courtyard of the hotel
The Christmas tree on the lawn of The Congress Hotel
The Christmas tree by the shops
The Congress Hotel is one of the most beautiful hotels at Christmas time. Every inch of that hotel is decorated. Before I went to dinner, I walked the halls and the grounds. Most of the amusements were closed for the evening but I figured I would come back during the day to see the shops and what else was going on.
I revisited the Boiler Room Pizzeria in the basement of the Congress hotel for dinner as I had back in 2018 and in 2021. The food and service here is wonderful and the place was packed.
The pizzeria at the Boiler Room
Like I said, I was on a picture taking mission and had to eat the same things I ate six years earlier(which I did not mind) and I had a Arugula and Prosciutto Pizza, which was the meal I had at the hotel in Christmas Eve when I stayed at the hotel.
The lighting might have been a bit strange but the food was excellent The Caesar Salad was delicious and could have fed two people.
The Arugula and Prosciutto Pizza is a treat
The Boiler Room bar area was really busy at night
Even in the post Christmas, the whole hotel seemed mobbed. I would read later on that one guest of the hotel complained that there were so many outside visitors to the hotel that the registered guests couldn’t enjoy all the special things at the hotel. My feeling was tough! That is how the hotel makes money and I did not hear the hotel complaining about how many guests there. There were a lot spending money.
After dinner was over, I decided to walk around the downtown area and admire Washington Mall, which was nicely decorated for the holidays.
The Washington Mall is so festive
The Washington Mall at night
Even by the hotel, the light show continued as many of the B & B’s and businesses had heavily decorated for the holidays.
The Bed & Breakfasts were nicely decorated for the holidays
Cape May’s Downtown Square Park
The trees in the park were fully lit
The Gazebo in the park was an array of lights
The colorful Christmas tree in the gazebo
Downtown Cape May at night during the holiday
The unique Victorian Mansion on the walk back to the hotel
Even closed for the season The Chalfonte Hotel was decorated for the holidays
The next morning was a clear and sunny day. The temperature was nippy but not cold. I could not wait to start the day.
The view from my room at the top of the Southern Quarters
Since food service was closed for the season at the hotel, I walked down to Uncle Bill’s Pancake House, my go to spot every Summer and holiday season. Right after the New Year, they normally close until it gets warmer.
Uncle Bill’s is one of the best places at the shore to have breakfast
Decorated for the holidays
The Christmas Village at Uncle Bill’s
I love coming here for breakfast when I am in Cape May and they make the best French Toast, Scrambled eggs and Pancakes. I saw someone having the Pancake platter with scrambled eggs at the next table over and that is what I ordered.
The Pancakes and Sausage at Uncle Bill’s are cooked in Claire’s butter giving it a sumptuous taste and the pancakes an extra crispness
The pancakes and eggs here are excellent
After a great breakfast, I paid the bill and walked around Cape May. It was a warming day in the 40’s and downtown is a nice place to work off breakfast. I headed back over to The Congress Hotel to see what was happening in Santa’s Village. The hotel was in full swing with people taking rides on the trains and Merry go Round. They were ordering pretzels, hot chocolate and other holiday snacks at the snack bar. I just thought it was fun.
The Merry go Round at the Congress Hotel
The lines were long for families to rise the trains
The lobby was just as spectacular during the day as at night
After walking around the hotel grounds and tiring of the crowds, I went out to explore the community and investigate historical sites in the area. It took me to corners of Salem County that I had never seen before. There were some historical locations in Upper Cape May County that were still on my bucket list. I knew they were closed for the season but I wanted to know where they were located.
My first stop was the the JW Grady House which is in the middle of nowhere where.
The JW Gandy Farmstead at 26 Tyler Road in Oceanview, NJ
The JW Gandy Farmhouse was closed for the season and would not open again until the Spring
The next site I wanted to visit was the historic Tuckahoe Train Station. This Victorian Train Station was the hub of activity at the turn of the last century.
The Tuckahoe Train Station on Route 659 Railroad Avenue
Both historical sites were closed for the season and would not open again until the Spring do they would another trip to Cape May.
It was a lot of twists and turns to come to these remote sites and then I headed back to Cape May to walk around before dinner. I walked through the downtown again and walked through the park to see the Christmas tree again but during the day.
The Gazebo during the day
The Christmas tree was just as spectacular during the day
I relaxed at the hotel for the rest of the afternoon and then went to dinner in North Cape May to Viggiano’s on Sunset at 109 Sunset Boulevard in West Cape May. I had seen the recommendation on my Dining Club and had passed it many times and wanted to try it on this trip.
I really enjoyed my meal that evening. I keep it simple on the rather cool night. I started the meal with a bowl of the Wedding soup that contained tiny meatballs and kale that seriously warmed me up. The temperature had dropped that evening so it was the perfect appetizer for dinner.
The wedding soup at Viggiano’s
The delicious Wedding Soup
For the entree, I wanted something that was filling and could warm me up on this cool night and I picked the Spaghetti Carbonara, which was loaded. With butter, cream and cheese, which I had not had in a long time.
The Spaghetti Carbonara
The perfect comfort food on a cold night
After a wonderful dinner and a relaxing evening, I walked back to the hotel through town admiring the lights and decorations on all the homes and businesses around West Cape May and Downtown Cape May.
The decorations as you enter West Cape May
The decorations in West Cape May
The decorated homes and B & B’s by the hotel
I walked along the beach on the way back to the hotel and work off dinner. It was so quiet that evening. In the post-Christmas season, the nights were much quieter this time of year. By the time I got back to the hotel, I got ready for bed and fell asleep.
The next morning I packed up the car and then headed over to The Congress Hotel again but this time for breakfast at the Blue Pig. Like I said before, it was all about the pictures and I ordered the same thing I ordered back in 2018, the Eggs Blackstone with Orange Juice, Hot Tea and a side of Potatoes. It was just as good as it was six years prior.
I had not been back to the restaurant in seven years (there are always so many places I wanted to try between here and Wildwood) and it was a treat to come back. The prices were still pretty reasonable for the meal that you got and the food is excellent.
My breakfast at the Blue Pig Tavern
The Eggs Blackstone Poached eggs on top of Cheddar Cheese biscuits with spinach and bacon and tomatoes with Hollandaise Sauce and Hash-browns. Decadent and delicious. Breakfast and lunch.
The weather was really gloomy that morning so I checked out and headed home. My original plan was to stop in various shore towns to see what they were doing for the holidays but it started to downpour when I left Cape May and I figured I would stop in Point Pleasant and see what activities were happening on the Boardwalk.
I knew Santa was making a plunge at the aquarium so I stopped there . It really was a miserable day. Stopping at the Boardwalk though made it better.
The Sea of Lights event at Point Pleasant Beach Boardwalk
As festive as the Boardwalk was it never stopped raining. Not the most pleasant place to be in the rain
The Boardwalk was surprisingly busy for such a gloomy day because the show of shows was inside the aquarium itself with the beautiful “Sea of Lights”. I must have missed Santa (I met him along the way during my holiday adventures) but I was exhilarated by the display of twinkling lights inside the aquarium showcasing the exhibitions. Santa could not have done any better. What a show!
The ‘Sea of Lights’ at the Jenkinson Aquarium
The aquarium was spectacular that day with all the twinkling lights
I cut my trip short because of the weather. It was a misty day and I did not want to linger down the shore. I took a quick tour in downtown Point Pleasant where there were nice decorations dotting the street lamps and many of the merchants had interesting display windows. I still thought they did a better job decorating the downtown during Halloween.
Downtown Point Pleasant decorated for the holidays
Before I headed home, I took a quick trip to Bayhead, NJ and toured their decorated downtown. They had interesting and very clever decorations. Whether it was the Santa in front of the Bayhead Firehouse or the twinkling lights and garland along the bridges, Bayhead is a very picturesque town at the holidays.
Downtown Bayhead, NJ at the holidays
The downtown is filled with quirky little shops, interesting restaurants and a great bakery. In the summer months, the town is especially beautiful. The sounds of the waves and seagulls is nice on a late Summer afternoon. Unfortunately, it was a gloomy rainy day and not much fun to walk around. I headed home from here. Until the warmer months.
The Bayhead Chapel at 442 Main Avenue at Christmas time
Before I left Bayhead, I took a chance and stopped by the Bayhead Historical Society, which was open that afternoon and was still open when I got there. I got to see their display of a ‘Victorian Christmas’.
The Bayhead Historical Society in Bayhead, NJ at Christmas time
The “Victorian Christmas” at the Bayhead Historical Society
The “Victorian Christmas Tree” at the Bayhead Historical Society
The Historical Society is a ‘hidden gem’ in the area with an interesting “Historical Map” exhibition and outer buildings with nautical displays. The museum has limited hours so try to visit it on the weekends when it is open. Their “Victorian Christmas” display was really nice with the vintage decorations and antique ornaments that were displayed on the Christmas tree. Many of these ornaments once decorated the members mother’s and grandmother’s Christmas tress in the past and I thought fascinating to see generations of decorations on one tree. After my visit to the museum, I headed home into the gloomy rainy evening.
The week between Christmas and New Year’s when I returned home was filled with running around doing errands and laundry. I had been running the whole month and it gave me a chance to catch up. On the day before New Year’s Eve, I met my siblings for lunch at Jing Fong, a Dim Sum restaurant in Chinatown. This had been a former Dim Sum palace on Elizabeth Street but moved to its new location at 202 Centre Street after they lost their lease. The food is still spectacular.
The food was excellent and we had a variety of Dim Sum for our lunch that afternoon. The only bad part of this restaurant is that it has limited space and they need to turn the tables over quickly which is annoying when you want to sit and relax and talk after your meal is over. They are a bit rude of asking you to leave (this happens to everyone who dines there. Check the TripAdvisor reviews).
The Steamed Pork Buns
The Shrimp Spring Rolls were perfectly cooked
The Fried Pork Dumplings
The homemade Soup Dumplings will melt in your mouth
The Pork and Chive Dumplings
For dessert, we had the Egg Custards, a Portuguese tradition comes through Hong Kong
The menu is really interesting and the carts have all sorts of delicious goodies to choose from. The only problem with the restaurant is when they rush you out the door when you are finished. After lunch, we went up to Rockefeller Center to see the Christmas tree. It was crowded but it still fun to see again.
I never get tired of seeing the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center and it was spectacular this year. It was really impressive.
That evening we went to the Marriott Marquis for dinner at the second floor Broadway Lounge, where I had my graduation dinner many months before. My brother had really enjoyed it the year before and invited us to join him and his wife for dinner. The food and the views are amazing!
I had the most amazing Chicken sandwich for dinner that night. I tried to keep it simple since we had a big lunch. I ate the whole thing.
I highly recommend the Chicken Sandwich
Yum!
Before we left, my brothers and I took a family shot at the restaurant. It amazes me sometimes that we are still kids at heart even in our fifties.
My brothers and I at the Marriott Marquis after dinner
After dinner was over, we went our separate ways. One of my brothers headed home and my other had plans for the New Year’s celebrations. I had wanted to visit Philadelphia for the afternoon and checked on the Macy’s Philadelphia’s website and discovered that the Annual “Lightshow” and “Dickens Village” were still open and that December 31st was the last day the display would be open. I made the reservation for 2:00pm and off I went on a early train from Penn Station in Manhattan. Everything in and around Penn Station was still heavily decorated for the holidays. The whole station was quite the Christmas site.
I was only here for the morning before my trip to Philadelphia but it really is a beautiful building and what a food court! The place was so nicely decorated for the holidays with wreathes and garland all over and interesting decorations tucked here and there. This was another picture taking trip to update a blog I did on visiting Philadelphia during the holidays.
The trip on the Acela took about an hour and I got into Philly with plenty of time before the lightshow, so I went to have lunch at the Dutch Eating Place in Reading Market. I had wanted to go to Carmine’s Cheesesteaks, but Carmine had retired and closed his restaurant a couple of months before, so I went to my second favorite place and already knew what I wanted to order. The hot Turkey platter with extra gravy.
I can’t tell you how much I love Reading Terminal Market with its food stalls, colorful displays and especially the isles and isles of delicious food. I swear there is one good restaurant after another in the place and it is not a place for someone on a diet. The rule here is to indulge.
Rows of delicious baked goods just outside of Beiler’s bakery
The lines of people there on New Year’s Eve. This is the best place to ring in the New Year
The ultimate place to eat from them all and one of my personal favorites is the Dutch Eating House where really will enjoy some of the most Pennsylvania roof
After lunch was over (and trust me I was stuffed), I needed something sweet and I needed a doughnut so I walked across the aisle to Beiler’s Bakery.
Beilers Bakery has the most amazing treats
Beilers Bakery on one side and Beilers Doughnuts
The selection of great baked goods at Beilers Bakery
I can’t tell you how mouthwatering the bakery items are at Beilers. All the items are baked on premise at the Reading Market and the turnover is quick so everything is always so fresh. From buttery cookies and cakes to heavily iced doughnuts, the selection is extensive and all the toppings and fillings are freshly made and the doughnuts are made right in front of you.
The doughnuts are freshly made, iced and filled right on the spot and sold just as quick
The selection of doughnuts are so mouthwatering and delicious
The Glazed Doughnuts and Lemon Filled were the best on this trip
The Lemon Iced and filled is just the best
There’s nothing like a Beilers Glazed Doughnut
After a wonderful lunch and an even more wonderful dessert it was off to Macy’s for the light show. My appointment to see the Dickens Village was not until two o’clock so I got to see the show both before and after the show. I took one more walk around The Reading Market before I left.
I always love the excitement of the Market
I thought I would have time to stop at Bassett’s for ice cream but maybe the next trip
Macy’s was just around the corner from the Market and I have to say I love the Macy’s here is just so beautiful and classic. I still have a hard time calling it Macy’s considering it was the old Wanamaker’s store since its inception. This beautiful grand dame of the department store industry was so much nicer when it was Wanamaker’s.
Macy’s Center City Philadelphia-The old Wanamaker’s Department Store
The Windows at Macy’s Philadelphia were nicely decorated similar to the windows in Manhattan
The Macy’s Windows based on the New York windows
Window Two at Macy’s Philadelphia
Window Three at Macy’s Philadelphia
Window Four at Macy’s Philadelphia
There were beautiful restaurants, luxury departments and it was always nicely decorated for the holidays. Macy’s does a nice job, but it was a different store in the 80’s and early 90’s. I still see traces of the old store in the movie “Mannequin” when it was still Wanamaker’s.
The movie trailer for “Mannequin” was shot at the store in 1986
The famous opening scene that was shot in front of the old Wanamaker Department Store
My favorite song from the movie “Mannequin”
The movie “Mannequin”
I can still see traces of the old store here and there. It was beautifully decorated for the holidays and it was really pretty in the store. The displays were very colorful and the main rotunda was so festive. It was not the same as the old Wanamaker’s but more like a Macy’s store in New York.
The Rotunda of Macy’s Philadelphia (former Wanamaker’s)
The beauty of the Rotunda decorated during the holidays
The decorations in the Fine Jewelry Department
The Eagle in the Rotunda
The Women’s Accessories Department during Christmas
The Men’s Department during Christmas
The decorations of the main floor
I have seen the light show about five times now and I know I can see the whole thing on YouTube, but it is still fun to see it live in the store and hear the organist play the famous pipe organ. It really is an exciting show. I love the music and I love the way they display the story line. Julie Andrews does a nice job narrating the story.
The start of the show that takes place every two hours
The start of the show with the Introduction
The start of Part One of the show
The video of Part One:
The video of the start of the show with a scene from ‘The Nutcracker’
The second part of the show with the clocks
The Video of Part Two:
The video of the Clock Show and Snow falling
The Sleigh Ride and the Snow Falling
The visit from Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer
Video of Part Three:
Taking a Train trip to a Winter Wonderland
Welcoming Frosty the Snowman
Welcoming the Snowfall
Video of Part Four:
The Finale with the sounds of the organ is always a treat
One of the reasons I came down to Macy’s Philadelphia not just to see the windows, see the Lightshow but I made a reservation to see the Dickens Village, which was a relic of Strawbridge & Clothier created in 1984 by the former rival of Wanamaker’s.
The Macy’s Dickens Village is now located on the Third Floor of the store which was the old Executive Offices
The start of the tour of the “Dickens Tour”
The start of the “Dickens Tour”
The Dickens display with Charles Dickens narrating
The Dickens display with Scrooge confronted by members of the Charities
The Dickens display The Ghost of Christmas Past
The Dickens display of Fuzzywink’s Party scene
The Dickens display Meeting Ghost of Christmas Present
The Dickens display Nephew Fred’s Party
The Dickens display Scrooge meeting the Ghost of Christmas Future
The Dickens display The end of the story with a Revelation by Scrooge
The Dickens Village is a lot of fun to walk through and it is a fun way to learn the story and understand the lessons about the story. It is nice to see that Macy’s is keeping these traditions going (for now). After seeing the Lightshow and walking through Dickens Village and walking around the store to see the decorations and what the store looks like, I walked around the downtown. I swear, it has not changed much since my last visit. Most of Market Street is still as dumpy as it ever was in the past. They really need to build more housing downtown to bring more people to the downtown. I found out when I got home a few days later in the New Year that Macy’s will be closing this store in March 2025.
The closing of Macy’s Downtown Philadelphia-For the second time since Wanamaker’s closed
On my way back to the train station, I stopped in the Christmas Village by City Hall and stopped to see the Christmas tree. This was the last day of the Christmas Village as well. Most of the stores were closed by this point but a lot of food vendors were open and the skating rink was really busy in the late afternoon.
During the holiday season, I also like to see the light show at Macy’s (which I still call Wanamaker’s) and visit the tree at City Hall. Philadelphia has its own magic at holidays. There is such a beautiful holiday market that surrounds City Hall with all sorts of artisan crafted foods and handmade products. There was a slew of singers, actors and musicians that were entertaining the public.
Downtown Philadelphia’s Christmas Market in 2024
The City Hall Christmas Tree may not be as big as the one in New York but no less nice. It was beautifully decorated and at twilight, covered with colorful lights. A lot of people were taking pictures around it or were getting ready to skate around the makeshift skating rink. It is not Rockefeller Center, but the affect was just as nice, and it really did put me in the Christmas spirit.
The Christmas tree by City Hall in Center City Philadelphia
The beautiful downtown Christmas tree with Downtown Philadelphia in the distance
After touring the Christmas Market, I left to take the train home. I did not want to get caught in the Manhattan traffic of New Year’s Eve. The train station was beautifully decorated with lights, wreaths and a huge tree and it was nice to just sit back and relax until the train came. On the way back, the city was all lite in front of me. The boat houses on the river were lit with Christmas lights and boats passed by lit up as well.
The Christmas tree in Penn Station in Penn Station in Philadelphia
The tree was truly beautiful at the end of the Christmas season
When I got back to Manhattan, I made my way out the back door of the station and headed up Eighth Avenue to get home. I did not want to deal with all the nonsense of Times Square on this cold night. The Hudson Yards were so beautifully decorate for the holidays with the white lights with the backdrop of the buildings.
The Hudson Yards on New Year’s Eve
It was surprisingly quiet at the Hudson Yards at 6:00pm.
I just wanted to get out of Manhattan before it too crazy in Times Square. I celebrated New Year’s Eve in a quiet way. The privacy of my Living Room watching the ball drop at Midnight. I had fallen asleep on the bed and woke up around 11:50pm and almost missed it.
It had been a productive December for me with travels all over the Tri-State area, classes concluding and now three weeks off to relax before the Spring semester began. The weekend after New Year’s Day I spent travelling to light shows at the Bronx Zoo and The Brooklyn Botanical Garden on the last weekend before the Epiphany. There was a lot going on this last weekend and I rushed to everything. It was a great weekend.
My blog on the Lightshows during the holiday season of 2024:
mywalkinmanhattan 