Category Archives: MywalkinManhattan on Groundhog’s Day

Turtle Back Zoo 500 Northfield Avenue West Orange, NJ 07052

February 3, 2022"A Local Journey: Exploring the outskirts of New York City, Exploring Historic Towns in New Jersey, Exploring the State of New Jersey, Exploring West Orange, New Jersey, Historic New Jersey Towns and Neighborhoods, Historical Towns of New Jersey, Interesting Parks and Zoos in New Jersey, My walk in Manhattan (MywalkinManhattan.com), MywalkinManhattan Experiences, MywalkinManhattan on Groundhog's Day, MywalkinMnahttan at Groundhog's Day, Uncategorized, Visiting a Museum in New JerseyAuthor Justin Watral, Author Justin Watrel, DiningonaShoeString@Wordpress.com, Exploring West Orange NJ, Groundhog's Day at the Turtle Back Zoo, Interesting Parks and Zoos in New Jersey, Justin Watral, Justin Watrel, LittleShoponMainStreet@Wordpress.com, MywalkinManhattan.com, Turtle Back Zoo, VisitingaMuseum.com, Warren George Watrel, Warren Watreljwatrel

Exploring zoos in the wintertime gives a perspective on climate changes on animals and how they have to adapt. It was a fun visit for Groundhogs Day.

Don’t miss visiting Miss “Edwina of Essex” next year at the Groundhog’s Day festivities. She will be the star of the show.

Visiting a Museum: The Unique, Unusual, Obscure and Historical

Turtle Back Zoo

500 Northfield Avenue

West Orange, NJ 07052

(973) 731-5800

https://www.facebook.com/TurtleBackZoo/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turtle_Back_Zoo

Open: Sunday-Saturday 10:00am-3:00pm

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60796-d1448643-Reviews-Turtle_Back_Zoo-West_Orange_New_Jersey.html

I have been coming to the Turtle Back Zoo since I was in elementary school when we used to come here on field trips. I remember as a child having lunch on the lawn with my class and feeding the animals. That was back in the 1970’s with the old zoo set up. I had read that the zoo was falling apart by 1995 and they were ready to close it down. Like anything else, these zoos and parks need an update every few years to keep them relevant.

In 2000, as master plan was started in what direction the zoo wanted to go and in the next twenty years, I have seen the results of that hard work. You have many nicer displays, some still being too…

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Day Two Hundred and Sixteen: Meeting ‘Edwina from Essex’ at the Turtleback Zoo-Happy Groundhog’s Day February 2nd, 2022 (returned on February 2nd, 2023)

February 2, 2022"A Local Journey: Exploring the outskirts of New York City, Dedication to Warren Watrel, Dining on a Shoe String Restaurants in New Jersey, Exploring Historic Essex County, Exploring Punxsutawney PA, Exploring Staten Island, Exploring the State of New Jersey, Exploring West Orange, New Jersey, Historic New Jersey Towns and Neighborhoods, Historical Towns of New Jersey, Interesting Parks and Zoos in New Jersey, My walk in Manhattan (MywalkinManhattan.com), MywalkinManhattan Experiences, MywalkinManhattan on Groundhog's Day, MywalkinMnahttan at Groundhog's Day, Uncategorized, Visiting a Museum in New JerseyAddthistoyourgrocerylist@Wordpress.com, Author Justin Watral, Author Justin Watrel, BergenCountyCaregiver.com, DiningonaShoeString@Wordpress.com, Edwina at the Turtle Back Zoo, Edwina of Essex, Essex County Parks and Zoos, Exploring West Orange NJ, Groundhog's Day at the Turtle Back Zoo, Happy Groundhog's Day, Justin Watral, Justin Watrel, Lady Edwina of Essex, LittleShoponMainStreet@Wordpress.com, Mcloone's Boathouse, MywalkinManhattan.com, Turtle Back Zoo, VisitingaMuseum.com, Warren George Watrel, Warren Watrel, Zoos in New Jerseyjwatrel

Happy Groundhog’s Day!

I know that this is not the traditional American holiday but somehow, I really enjoy Groundhog’s Day. It is a lot of fun to visit the zoos and if you ever can go out to Punxsutawney, PA to see the original festival try to do it. I went to Punxsutawney in 2016 and it really is an experience. It is one of those things you should do once in your life. I have been wanting to go back ever since but one thing after another has kept me from going. From the weather to my work schedule, it is tough to take the eight-and-a-half-hour hike down Route 80 but one day I will do it again.

COVID cancelled everything last year but since this is an outdoor event, it was nice to be celebrating the day being able to breathe again. I also wanted to do something different this year after going to the Staten Island Zoo for two years (2019 and 2020-see my write up on this blog). I had read about other Groundhog’s Day festivals and in 2019 I had heard about ‘Essex Ed’ at the Turtle Back Zoo in West Orange, NJ.

The entrance of Turtle Back Zoo at 560 Northfield Avenue

https://www.facebook.com/TurtleBackZoo/

The festival at the zoo had been cancelled last year because of the pandemic and when I looked at their website this year and nothing was mentioned. When I called, the woman on the phone said there would be a ceremony at the zoo at 10:00am so I prepared to go to the zoo the next day.

In 2022, I had planned for what I thought would be an hour trip with traffic going through Newark, NJ and then the turn to Route 280 West. I walked out the door at 8:15am and ended up at the zoo at 9:00am. There was just a bit of traffic when I got into Downtown Newark and it was smooth driving when I got to Exit 10 and then no traffic into West Orange, NJ. This is where Turtle Back Zoo is located.

The Turtle Back Zoo at 560 Northfield Avenue

https://www.facebook.com/TurtleBackZoo/

Read my review on VisitingaMuseum.com on the Turtle Back Zoo:

https://wordpress.com/post/visitingamuseum.com/6489

What surprised me when I got to the zoo was there was no one waiting to get in, no massive number of cars in the parking lot and when I got to the gate at 9:15am, there was no one there. One of the park employees said that they would be opening the gate at 9:45am and then they would start the program at 10:00am.

The entrance of the South Mountain Reservation Park

https://essexcountyparks.org/parks/south-mountain-reservation

Since I had almost 45 minutes before the gates would even open, I decided to take a walk around the reservoir that is part of the South Mountain Reservation Park. It was about a mile around the frozen watershed, and I walked about half before I headed back to buy my ticket. What a cool crisp morning. The sun started to peek out as I walked back to the zoo and the woods looked so beautiful with the snow on the ground and trees.

The park in the early afternoon at the bridge

The early morning at the park was rather gloomy

I got into the zoo at 9:45am and headed to the antitheater and there was a small handful of people. It ended up the only people at the ceremony were the volunteer docents, the staff of the zoo, the local politicians and the press. There were maybe six of us who had come for the event. I remembered that there was nothing on the zoo’s website two days before so how would the public know this would be taking place?

Unlike the pageantry of Punxsutawney with bands and comedians and even the children’s choir like at the Staten Island Zoo, the whole ceremony took ten minutes. The county parks commission said a few words, then the County Executive said a few words and then the zoo events commissioner spoke.

The ceremony was held inside in 2023 because it was so cold

Then they introduced “Edwina from Essex”, who had replaced “Essex Ed” this year upon his retirement. I was not sure if the other groundhog was just too old or something else, but the new groundhog came out and was so cute and innocent. She just walked around the small platform and then looked at all of us. The parks commission read a poem from the groundhog. Then it was announced that she predicted an early spring! Everyone applauded and then that was it. Everyone dispersed.

Edwina of Essex at the Turtle Back Zoo made her appearance today

I was a little surprised that there was not more to the ceremony but later I talked with one of the staff members of the zoo and she told me that there are never that many people who come to this ceremony. I told her that more people would come if they made a bigger deal out of it. There was nothing on the website or on the events calendar leading the to the event and that I had to call in. She just smiled.

In 2023, I called in advance as the website said it was now 8:00am. I confirmed that time with the zoo and arrived before 8:00am. I was able to enter the press area which was inside as the press conference was inside as well (it was really cold that morning). The ceremony again took about fifteen minutes and the handler, the Zoo Director and the Country Freeholder and Executive all said a few words as Edwina munched on a sweet potato, not really paying much attention to us as the sweet potato. Again it was a cute ceremony and when the zoo opened, I was able to tour it again and take better pictures.

Edwina with her trainer on the morning of the ceremony

I had not been to the zoo in about five years, and I just walked around for the next hour watching the animals. I started at the Reptile House and looked at all the lizards and snakes since they were in season right now. The staff was available to us if there were any questions. It was nicely set up and I have to say that those snakes and lizards really do look you over.

The Turtle Back Zoo is a nice walk in the winter

I made my way past the closed carousel and the restaurant, The Savanna Cafe and looked over the bison display. That was very interesting as it was feeding time for them, so they paid no attention to us. I then went to the flamingo pond and what elegant birds. They were talking to one another like we were not there watching them. They just walked around and talked amongst themselves.

The pink flamingos stood guard that afternoon

The wolves were not out, and the poor cougars looked so cold and bored. They just walked around in the snow. In the Petting Zoo, I watched the chickens and the goats.

The chickens were smart and stayed inside on this cold day

I have never had animals look me over the way the rams did. They just stared at me like I was an alien from Outer Space.

The animals just stared at me like I was a foreign being

The otters and seals were outside and were going through their feeding when I walked by, and they seemed very active. They just watched us as they were eating and then swam in the pools but again, I could see how cold they were outside, and they made their way into their burros.

The pelicans in the Penguin House swam around

I walked to the Penguin House and that was a lot of fun. They were also going through their feeding and when they were done, they just dove around the small group of us and looking us over with curiosity. They also looked bored and were so happy to have someone to interact with that afternoon. They just swam right up to me and stared at me through the water. I felt like they were trying to tell me something with the way they were splashing around.

The penguins were doing their own thing that day

My last stop in the zoo was the Sea Turtle Recovery building. It was so nice to see the outreach that the zoo makes to help these animals get better before they are released back into the wild. We have been affecting their habitat so much with over-fishing that they are getting tangled in nets and hit by boats.

The Sea Turtle recovery tanks

https://www.facebook.com/SeaTurtleRecovery/

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g60796-d19332690-r877254444-Sea_Turtle_Recovery-West_Orange_New_Jersey.html?m=19905

The whole tour of the zoo took about an hour and it was a nice walk. The sun had come out by this point and the skies started to clear. After I finished at the zoo, I decided to take a full walk around the reservoir and took a left and walked all around it. What a nice day for a stroll.

This poor cow just looked at me and begged me for help

I started getting hungry and did not know what was around the zoo. I had not noticed the pizzeria or the McDonalds across the street from the zoo when I entered. In 2023, I was starved after the ceremony and I headed over to McDonalds (which I had remembered from the year before) and had a second breakfast. I love that Sausage Mcmuffin with Egg!

I’m sorry but breakfast at McDonalds is wonderful!

My review of McDonalds at 573 Northfield Avenue in West Orange, NJ:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g60796-d10285693-r877254106-McDonald_s-West_Orange_New_Jersey.html?m=19905

My review on DiningonaShoeStringinNYC@Wordpress.com:

https://wordpress.com/post/diningonashoestringinnyc.wordpress.com/541

With the restaurant being closed in the zoo, in 2022 though, I stopped at McLoone’s Boathouse at 9 Cherry Lane on the other side of the reservoir from the zoo. It looked closed to me from the walk, but I heard music and decided to investigate. What a nice lunch in both 2022 and 2023!

McLoone’s Boathouse is right on the reservoir path located in the park and the bar area has the nicest views of the park. The inside of the restaurant was rustic with a main dining room with a roaring fire going in the fireplace. The large bar area had high-tops where you had views of the reservoir.

McLoone’s Boathouse at 9 Cherry Street

https://www.mcloonesboathouse.com/

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g60796-d2432829-r877253719-McLoone_s_Boathouse-West_Orange_New_Jersey.html?m=19905

McLoone’s Boathouse from the park side

My server, Nikki, could not have been nicer. We had such a wonderful conversation, and she was so on top of things. She made some good recommendations for lunch, and I had a Grilled Cheddar Cheese with Short Ribs and a Coke.

McLoone’s sandwich menu

McLoone’s makes a Coke look fancy

The sandwich really hit the spot on a cool afternoon. You could taste the red wine that the short ribs had marinated in. It accented the sharp cheese so well and the crisp buttery bread. The side salad was a nice substitute for French fries (I ordered the same lunch both years).

The Grilled Cheese with Short Ribs at McLoone’s Boathouse is excellent!

While I was eating it was a pleasure to watch the people walk by having a nice stroll in the park. I can tell between COVID and the snow, people needed to get out of the house. Smiling faces were the thing that I saw as people passed by.

The view of the park with McLoone’s in the background

After I finished lunch, it was home for me. Even though it was a smaller ceremony, it was nice to see the groundhog again. Maybe ‘Edwina from Essex’ will be right, and it will be an early spring. The next six weeks will tell.

Happy Groundhog’s Day!

The ceremony at the Turtle Back Zoo with the handlers

Edwina doing her thing at the Groundhog’s Day ceremony

Edwina getting a treat from her handler

Edwina eating away

My other Groundhog’s Day blogs from previous years and places:

Day Thirty-Seven: Happy Groundhog’s Day from Punxsutawney, PA

https://wordpress.com/post/mywalkinmanhattan.com/994

Day Forty: Lodi Larry comes to the Lodi Memorial Library for the First Day of Spring

https://wordpress.com/post/mywalkinmanhattan.com/1369

Day One Hundred and Thirty-Seven: Meeting Staten Island Chuck at the Staten Island Zoo

https://wordpress.com/post/mywalkinmanhattan.com/8121

Places to Visit:

The Turtle Back Zoo

560 Northfield Avenue

West Orange, NJ 07052

(973) 731-5800

https://www.facebook.com/TurtleBackZoo/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turtle_Back_Zoo

Open: Sunday-Saturday 10:00am-3:00pm (in season)

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60796-d1448643-Reviews-Turtle_Back_Zoo-West_Orange_New_Jersey.html

My TripAdvisor review on the Sea Turtle Recovery display:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g60796-d19332690-r877254444-Sea_Turtle_Recovery-West_Orange_New_Jersey.html?m=19905

My review on VisitingaMuseum.com:

https://wordpress.com/post/visitingamuseum.com/6489

South Mountain Reserve Park

Cherry Lane in West Orange

West Orange, NJ 07052

(973) 268-3500

https://essexcountyparks.org/parks/south-mountain-reservation

Open: Sunday-Saturday Hours are seasonal, please check the website for times

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g60796-d1008561-r877254651-South_Mountain_Reservation-West_Orange_New_Jersey.html?m=19905

Places to Eat:

McLoone’s Boathouse

9 Cherry Lane

West Orange, NJ 07052

(862) 252-7108

https://www.mcloonesboathouse.com/

Open: Sunday 10:30am-9:00pm/Monday-Thursday 11:00am-10:00pm/Friday and Saturday 11:00am-11:00pm

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60796-d2432829-Reviews-McLoone_s_Boathouse-West_Orange_New_Jersey.html?m=19905

McDonalds West Orange

573 Northfield Avenue

West Orange, NJ 07052

(862) 560-1721

Open: Sunday-Saturday 7:00am-11:00pm

https://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en-us.html

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60796-d10285693-Reviews-McDonald_s-West_Orange_New_Jersey.html?m=19905

My review on DiningonaShoeStringinNYC@Wordpress.com:

https://wordpress.com/post/diningonashoestringinnyc.wordpress.com/541

The Staten Island Zoo 614 Broadway Staten Island, NY 10310

February 2, 2020"A Local Journey: Exploring the outskirts of New York City, Exploring Staten Island, Historic New York City neighborhoods, My walk in Manhattan (MywalkinManhattan.com), MywalkinManhattan Experiences, MywalkinManhattan on Groundhog's Day, Uncategorized, Visiting a Museum in New York City, Visiting a Museum in New York StateAuthor Justin Watral, Author Justin Watrel, BergenCountyCaregiver.com, DiningonaShoeString@Wordpress.com, Exploring Staten Island, Groundhog Chuck, Groundhog Festival 2019, Groundhog's Day, Groundhog's Day on Staten Island, Justin Watral, Justin Watrel, LittleShoponMainStreet@Wordpress.com, MywalkinManhattan.com, Staten Island Chuck, Staten Island NYC, Staten Island Zoo, VisitingaMuseum.com, Warren George Watrel, Warren Watreljwatrel

Don’t miss my blog on visiting the Staten Island Zoo in 2020 to see Staten Island Chuck! Happy Groundhog’s Day!!

Staten Island Chuck predicts the weather at the Staten Island Zoo

Groundhog’s Day 2019 at the Staten Island Zoo

Visiting a Museum: The Unique, Unusual, Obscure and Historical

The Staten Island Zoo

614 Broadway

Staten Island, NY 10310

(718) 442-3100

http://www.statenislandzoo.org/

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g48682-d110278-Reviews-Staten_Island_Zoo-Staten_Island_New_York.html

Open: Sunday-Saturday 10:00am-4:45pm

Fee: Adults $10.00 (15 and older)/Seniors (60 and over) $7.00/Children (3-14) $6.00

I wanted to celebrate Groundhog’s Day this year and had fully planned to go to Punxsutaway, PA to see the Groundhog’s Day festival again (see Day Thirty-Seven of ‘MywalkinManhattan’) but a ‘Arctic Vortex’ swept all over the Midwest with its fringes reaching the middle of Pennsylvania. It would be 30 degrees on Groundhog’s Day with a temperature of 4 degrees that night. The thought of sitting in Gobbler’s Knob in almost 0 weather had no appeal to me and I changed my plans.

I had remembered that there was a festival on Staten Island at the Staten Island Zoo with ‘Staten Island Chuck’ on Groundhog’s Day so off I went early the next morning to see the…

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Day One Hundred and Thirty One: Meeting Staten Island Chuck at the Staten Island Zoo on Groundhog’s Day, February 2nd, 2019 (Revisited February 2nd, 2020)

February 3, 2019"A Local Journey: Exploring the outskirts of New York City, Bakeries for the budget minded, Exploring Lodi, New Jersey, Exploring Manhattan Block by Block, Exploring New York City by foot, Exploring NYC Parks, Exploring Punxsutawney PA, Exploring Staten Island, Historic New York City neighborhoods, Interesting Bakeries, My walk in Manhattan (MywalkinManhattan.com), MywalkinManhattan Experiences, MywalkinManhattan on Groundhog's Day, MywalkinManhattan.com: Friends of the Lodi Memorial Library Events, MywalkinMnahttan at Groundhog's Day, Uncategorized, Visiting a Museum in New York CityAuthor Justin Watral, Author Justin Watrel, BergenCountyCaregiver, diningonashoestringinnyc, Exploring Staten Island, Groundhog Chuck, Groundhog Festival 2019, Groundhog's Day, Groundhog's Day on Staten Island, Happy Groundhog's Day, Justin Watral, Justin Watrel, LittleShoponMainStreet, MywalkinManhattan.com, NYC, Punxsutawney pa, Staten Island Chuck, Staten Island Chuck on Groundhog's Day, Staten Island NYC, Staten Island Zoo, Visiting Staten Island, VisitingaMuseum.com, Walk Manhattan, Walking in Manhattan, Walking Manhattan, Warren George Watrel, Warren Watreljwatrel

I had planned to go out to Punxsutawney, PA again for Groundhog’s Day but the weather really turned this year. There was an Arctic Vortex (or whatever they are calling it this week) and the weather plunged in Pennsylvania. It was going to be 20 degrees on Groundhog’s Day (that meant 0 degrees that night) and raining when I would drive home on Sunday and I thought that would be over doing it for me.

I later saw that it did go up to 38 degrees that day in Punxsutawney, higher than expected but the overnight Friday night into Saturday was 4 degrees and sorry but the thought of standing in Gobbler’s Knob for five and a half hours in that weather was too much. I did that in 2016 in 30 degrees and that was bad enough. I will wait until next year.

My blog on visiting Punxsutawney, PA in 2016 for Groundhog’s Day:

https://wordpress.com/post/mywalkinmanhattan.com/994

I then remembered that we have our own Groundhog Festival here in the New York City area at the Staten Island Zoo with ‘Groundhog Chuck’, an event I had heard of in the past. So when I knew that driving to PA was out (I was assisting with the Hasbrouck Heights Fire Department at the Marcal Paper Factory fire on Wednesday night January 30th, 2019-See The Brothers of Engine One Blog site on WordPress.com that I write), I went online and looked at the festival that they had at the Staten Island Zoo.

My blog on the Marcal Paper Fire right before Groundhog’s Day:

https://wordpress.com/post/mywalkinmanhattan.com/14887

So on a cold morning, I got up at 3:30am in the morning to get ready to go to Staten Island. It was not too much better on an early Saturday morning here as well. It was 19 degrees (versus 4 in PA) in Staten Island but off I drove into the darkness. The trip to the Staten Island Zoo was not that bad. I got to the zoo in forty minutes and there was plenty of parking. I guess not as many people had the same idea that I had. There were only about six other cars in the lot when I arrived.

A group of about ten of us were waiting outside the back gate when someone finally came to the gate and told us we were at the wrong gate. It would have been nice if some zoo personal was directing people to the parking lot (which was dark with not a lot of signage to see) and had a sign to go to the front gate.

When the ten of us got to the front gate we were lucky in that the TV crews had already set up and there were only about ten other people there at the time so we got great views of the stage.

Trust me this is WAY smaller than the festival in Punxsutawney, PA. There were about a hundred and fifty people there that I could see and that included the staff, the politicians, the choir from P.S. 29 and their parents and the crowd of us but that made it more intimate. You were not elbow to elbow with people and did not have to camp out for the night. The Staten Island Zoo did a nice job. I still think they should move it to a bigger area of the zoo so that the kids could see it. Also, it would have been nice to put the choir and the dancing Groundhog (a staff member dressed in a Groundhog costume) on the stage so that more people could have seen them.

The Zoo staff introduced some of the local politicians to the event. Some of them kept it short and sweet and a few others had to make it about themselves and bring up things in Washington DC, which I think at an event like this has no place for it. It is a family event.

Still one of the local politicians made a good MC for the event and then introduced a student from P.S. 29, who played the “Star-Spangled Banner” for us on her violin and that was followed by the P.S. 29 choir, who sang a song about Groundhog’s Day. It was really cute and the kids did a nice job entertaining the crowd (See the video below).

Groundhog’s Day 2019

The Groundhog Ceremony at the Staten Island Zoo 2019 (that’s me in the Spartan knit hat)

Then the band, “Rock a Silly” played their song for Staten Chuck and it was quite clever. (See the band’s video on YouTube below).

The Rock-A-Silly Band with their original song for “Staten Island Chuck” (I give the band full credit for this video-very clever guys!)

The band got the crowd really moving on this cold morning.

After all the entertainment, it was time to hear the report from Chuck and the handlers took him out. There was a little of a commotion and then the report came. In the middle of this ‘deep freeze vortex’ Chuck’s prediction was SPRING IS COMING! Everyone cheered loudly at that. With that, there was a little more entertainment, then I was off to tour the zoo.

The Staten Island Zoo is very nice even in the cold weather. I was able to go into the main building and see the monkey, the reptile and the aquarium exhibits, which were nicely displayed and labeled so that you knew what animals were what. The only problem with the zoo is the space is very limited and surrounded by houses so there is no room to expand, so the living space for the animals is small. Still they look happy and content.

I stopped at the Zoo Cafe for a doughnut ($1.00) and to look at the gift shop. They had an interesting ‘Staten Island Chuck’ stuffed groundhog ($12.00) that I had to keep myself from buying (I bought it in 2020). The zoo gift shop is stocked with all sorts of ‘Chuck’ coloring books, tee shirts and little do-dads as well as plush animals, pencils, shirts and hats. The zoo cafe has the usual hamburgers, chicken fingers and fries on the menu that will appeal to any child.

The stuffed toy Staten Island Chuck I bought in 2020. It is a real must have from that day!

I walked around the zoo as it started to warm up (now 25 degrees) and went to the outside pens to see the pigs, donkey’s, kangaroos, emus, geese and ducks. The poor emus looked so cold that they were chasing after me with a look in their eyes like either I had food or was going to take them inside. I really felt for the animals in this cold.

By the time I left the zoo, it was 9:45am and the zoo still had not opened. There was myself and two other families left in the early hours zoo and by the time I got back to the parking lot, there were only six cars left.

Even though it was not the crowds of the event in Punxsutawney, PA, it was still a cute event that you should not miss on future Groundhog’s Day when you are visiting New York City. The Staten Island Zoo puts on a good show!

Groundhog’s Day 2020:

In 2020, the ceremony was much toned down from the year before. First, the weather was much nicer than last year. I got up this year at 5:00am and was out the door by 6:15am. The zoo I found out last year is only thirty-five minutes from my house and I did not need to rush. The zoo does not have the crowds of Punxsutawney. Again there were about a hundred or so people at the zoo this morning and when the sun rose, it was warm and sunny about 43 degrees.

The ceremony was only twenty minutes this year. There was no band and no kids choir at the service. Being Super Bowl Sunday, it seemed to me that everyone wanted to get out of there and rushed the whole thing. There were the same politicians with the same lame jokes and it seemed that Speaker Corey Johnson is running for Mayor of New York City (Good Choice!). At least he admitted the jokes were lame and just wished everyone a Happy Groundhog’s Day.

Then they could not even get Chuck out of his Plexiglas pen to hold him up (the Groundhog kept running away. He probably didn’t like the jokes either), so they just announced the weather prediction of an early Spring and then they played a recording of the children’s choir singing and that was the program. We were done in about thirty minutes. It was so quick that a woman walked in with her son at 7:45am and asked if this was the ceremony. The guy standing next to me said that it was already over and they were packing up. She was a little pissed because she said to the guy that she just got dropped off with her son and her husband was parking the car. So much for pomp and circumstance!

After the ceremony, I walked around the zoo again and visited with the monkey’s, kangaroos and sheep. The ostriches and Emu’s were rather friendly this year and seemed more chipper than last year, but it was because it was not as cold. In fact, most of the animals were out this year. So, I just enjoyed my time walking around the zoo and stopped into the Zoo Snack Shop and had another doughnut (Still $1.00) and just relaxes. This year I did buy the stuffed Chuck from the gift shop (he now sits prominently near my Dayton’s Santa Bear, Hamley’s Bear, Macy’s Snoopy and Brooks Brother’s Brooks Bear (I love retail stuffed animals).

After the zoo, it was such a nice morning that I once again walked along the retail stretch of Forest Avenue near the zoo and zig-zagged through some of the stores that were open. People were getting ready for the Super Bowl, so a lot of the food stores were busy with take-out orders. Most of the restaurants were quiet.

I did stop into an old-line Italian bakery, Moretti’s Bakery at 640 Forest Avenue (see review on TripAdvisor) and have another doughnut. This time a creme filled powered doughnut ($1.25) and God was that good. They have a very nice selection of baked goods at very fair prices and good service.

Moretti’s Bakery at 640 Forest Avenue

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100057416771313

After that I just walked through the local park and drove home. The whole thing was done this year in about an hour and a half. Oh well, off to the firehouse for the Super Bowl game.

The doughnuts at Moretti’s Bakery are delicious!

Here’s the ceremony in 2020!

I thought this commercial with Bill Murray and reuniting the cast from the film for this commercial:

This is very clever!

This interview with Bill Murray:

This is very clever!

The Groundhog Day Trailer-Excellent film

Very clever cartoon when the Mayor dropped the Groundhog in Staten Island

Happy Groundhog’s Day!!

Read my other blogs on Groundhog’s Day:

Day Two Hundred and Sixteen: Meeting Edwina of Essex at the Turtle Back Zoo:

https://wordpress.com/post/mywalkinmanhattan.com/21731

Day Forty-Two: Lodi Larry comes to the library for the first day of Spring:

https://wordpress.com/post/mywalkinmanhattan.com/1369

Day Thirty-Seven: Visiting Punxsutawney, Pa for Groundhog’s Day:

https://wordpress.com/post/mywalkinmanhattan.com/994

Places to Visit:

The Staten Island Zoo

614 Broadway

Staten Island, NY 10310

(718) 442-3100

http://www.statenislandzoo.org/

Open: Sunday-Saturday 10:00am-4:45pm

Admission: Adults (15 and over) $10.00/Seniors (60 and over) $7.00/Children (3-16) $6.00/Wednesdays after 2:00pm is free to everyone. Free with membership. Closed Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day.

The Cafe and the Gift shop are open when the zoo is open.

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g48682-d110278-Reviews-Staten_Island_Zoo-Staten_Island_New_York.html?m=19905

My review on VisitingaMuseum.com:

https://wordpress.com/post/visitingamuseum.com/2732

Places to eat:

Zoo Cafe (Inside the Zoo-hours are when the zoo is open)

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g48682-d110278-Reviews-Staten_Island_Zoo-Staten_Island_New_York.html?m=19905

My review on VisitingaMuseum.com:

https://wordpress.com/post/visitingamuseum.com/2732

McDonald’s

803 Forest Avenue

Staten Island, NY 10310

(718) 876-6088

Open: 24 hours

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g48682-d13807873-Reviews-McDonald_s-Staten_Island_New_York.html?m=19905

Moretti’s Bakery

640 Forest Avenue

Staten Island, NY 10310

(718) 815-0252

https://www.facebook.com/Moretti-Bakery-203491506382798/

Open: Sunday 7:00am-3:00pm/Monday Closed/Tuesday-Saturday 7:00am-7:00pm

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g48682-d5046253-Reviews-Moretti_Bakery-Staten_Island_New_York.html?m=19905

Day One Hundred and Thirteen: Tour of Historic Pubs and Bars in Lower Manhattan with the Cornell Club May 9th, 2018

August 28, 2018Dining on a Shoe String Restaurants in New York City, Exploring Chinatown in Manhattan, Exploring Little Italy/NoLiTa in Manhattan, Exploring Lower Manhattan, Exploring Manhattan Block by Block, Exploring NYC Parks, Historic New York City neighborhoods, Little Shop on Main Street in New York City (LittleShoponMainStreet), My walk in Manhattan (MywalkinManhattan.com), MywalkinManhattan Experiences, MywalkinManhattan on Groundhog's Day, Uncategorized, Visiting a Museum in New York CityAuthor Justin Watral, Author Justin Watrel, BergenCountyCaregiver.com, Cornell Club Tours, Delmonico's, DiningonaShoeString@Wordpress.com, Exploring Lower Manhattan, Exploring Manhattan, Exploring New York City by foot, Exploring the Island of Manhattan, Frances Tavern, Fraunces Tavern, Historic Lower Manhattan, India House, Justin Watral, Justin Watrel, LittleShoponMainStreet, Lower Manhattan, Museum of the American Indian, MywalkinManhattan.com, New York City, Pubs & Bar Tours in NYC, stone street, VisitingaMuseum, VisitingaMuseum.com, Walk Around Manhattan, Walk Manhattan, Walking around Manhattan, Walking in Manhattan, Walking Manhattan, wall street dining and bars, Warren George Watrel, Warren Watreljwatrel

I took some time out of my regular touring and took a historic tour of the pubs and bars of lower Manhattan with the Cornell Club. The club had arranged this tour through one of the local historical tour companies in the City in which we would be touring sections of local historic watering holes. This included the Frances Tavern, Delmonico’s and India House.

We met on the stairs of the National Museum of the American Indian which once upon a time was the U.S. Customs House. Here we met our tour guide and we started our discussion on historic bars and restaurants and their place in lower Manhattan.

The tour started with a talk on the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House building located at 1 Bowling Green. The building was designed by architect Cass Gilbert, who also designed the Woolworth Building with construction beginning in 1902 and was finished in 1907 and considered a masterpiece in Beaux-Arts style (Wiki).

The interesting part of the building is when you look up to the roof to see the statuary of ‘The Continents’, also called the ‘Four Continents’ of Asia, America, Europe and Africa. Located on the main cornice are standing sculptures representing the great seafaring nations, representing American seagoing commerce (Wiki and tour guide).

U.S. Custom House at 1 Bowling Green

The interesting part of the discussion was that the U.S. Custom House sits on the site of Fort Amsterdam, the fortification constructed by the Dutch West Indian Company to defend their operations in the Hudson Valley. It was the center of the settlement (Wiki and tour guide).

Our next stop on the tour was walking around Bowling Green Park across the street from the U.S. Custom House. The park is the oldest public park in New York City and is one of the two rumored places that Peter Minuit ‘bought’ the island of Manhattan from the Native Americans in 1626 (the other being in Inwood Park) and had once served as the Council grounds for the local Native American tribes (NYC Parks.org).

Bowling Green Park

The park was first designated a park in 1733 when it was offered for rent at the cost of one peppercorn per year. There had been a gilded statue of King George III erected there in 1770 and an iron fence (still there and a New York landmark) installed in 1771. On July 9, 1776 at the first public hearing of the Declaration of Independence, the statue was toppled by angry citizens and melted down for ammunition (NYC Parks & Tour Guide). The crowns that used to line the fence had been sawed off and you can still see traces of it on the fences.

The area surrounding the park became a fashionable residence in the late 18th century and mid-19th century, the area gave way to business and manufacturing. The park has since gone through many renovations, including the most recent 2004 which re-landscaped the park and added new bluestone sidewalks, plantings, gas lamps and hoof benches (NYC Parks & Tour guide).

Just north of the Bowling Green Park is the 7,100 pound statue of the ‘Charging Bull’ by artist Arturo DiModica. Mr. DiModica is a self taught Italian artist who had once worked in the foundries and then immigrated to New York City in the 1970’s. He became part of the 80’s art scene in lower Manhattan.

Arturo DiModica artist

http://www.artnet.com/artists/arturo-di-modica/

DiModica states that “Bronze figure of the bull represents the strength, power and hope of the American people for the future.” This was dealing after the Crash of the Market in 1987. Considered ‘guerrilla’ art when it was illegally installed in front of the New York Stock Exchange during the Christmas holiday season in 1989, the statue was moved to its current location in the Spring of 1989 and been there since.

Fearless Girl

Next to the statute, another statue has been cast and placed near the bull. “Fearless Girl” was installed in 2017 the night before International Women’s Day and was created by artist Kristen Visbal and was commissioner by State Street Global Advisers as a marketing campaign for their index fund. Ms. Visbal is a graduate from Salisbury State University with a BFA and currently runs the Visbal Fine Arts Sculpture in Lewes, DE (Wiki).

Kristen Visbal artist

http://www.visbalsculpture.com/

The artist says that the statue of the young girl shows her as being “brave, proud and strong.” There has been criticism between the two artists on the meaning of the statutes (Wiki).

Charging Bull

The first historic bar we visited was the Fraunces Tavern at 54 Pearl Street (See review on TripAdvisor). The restaurant has played a prominent role in history before, during and after the American Revolution, serving as a headquarters for George Washington, a venue for peace negotiations with the British and housing federal offices in the Early Republic. It is owned by the Sons of the Revolution in the State of New York Inc. and claim it is Manhattan’s oldest surviving buildings with the current being built by Stephen DeLancey, the son in law of New York Mayor Stephanus van Cortlandt in 1719 (Wiki).

Fraunces Tavern at 54 Pearl Street

We only stayed at the bar for a short time, looking at the period furniture and some of the museum quality artifacts before some of the members of our group ordered a drink. I have to tell you one thing, they get very testy if you sit a table and don’t order anything. Check out their website at http://www.francestavern.com for the menu’s and full history.

The Great Fire of 1835 in Lower Manhattan

https://www.history.com/news/great-fire-new-york-1835

Our next stop on the tour was historic Stone Street, a cluster of historic buildings along Stone, South William and Pearl Streets and Coenties Alley. The street’s stores and lofts were built for dry-goods merchants and importers shortly after the Great Fire of 1835, which destroyed many remnants of New Amsterdam (Wiki).

Stone Street

The street had been neglected for years but a partnership between the New York Landmarks Preservation Commission and other city agencies, the Alliance for Downtown New York and Stone Street business owners transformed the area into the lively entertainment area that contains several restaurants and bars (Wiki & the Tour Guide).

The middle of Stone Street now is lined with tables used by all the restaurants for seating and is a very active area during lunch and Happy Hour time. We walked among the busy tables and looked at the menus but didn’t stop here. I had stopped earlier at Justino’s Pizzeria at 77 Pearl Street for a snack (See review on TripAdvisor). Their pizza is quite good although I think that Pranzo at 34 Water Street is better. They give you a better slice and the sauce is much spicier.

Justino’s Pizza at 77 Pearl Street

After we left the Stone Street Historic area, we walked up Broad Street to see the New York Stock Exchange and the Federal Hall District. This is the seat of the financial center and the capital of the financial world.

The New York Stock Exchange at 8-18 Broad Street was built in 1903 replacing the original Victorian structure which had been built in 1865. The building was designed by architect George Browne Post, who was a native New Yorker who studied architecture and civil engineering at NYU. He designed it in Second Empire design (Wiki and the Tour Guide).

Standing on Wall Street, you can see the 1903 building rise ten stories above the sidewalk. Six Corinthian columns steadily rise from a seven-bay-wide podium set between two rectangular pilasters. He complimented the six columns with symmetry of seven with a center flat arched doorway with three more on either side. The podium symmetry continues to the second store, where directly above each street-level doorway is a contrasting round-arched opening. Balustraded balconies between floors provide the classic ornamentation as do lintels with carved fruit and flowers (Architecture of New York Stock Exchange Building & Tour Guide).

New York Stock Exchange at 8-18 Broad Street

We passed the now closed Stock Exchange building and continued on to Federal Hall at 26 Wall Street. We discovered that this is not the original building but its replacement that was built in 1842.

The original Federal Hall was a Greek Revival structure completed in 1703 and served as New York’s first City Hall. It was where the Stamp Act Congress met to draft a letter to King George on opposition to the Stamp Act and after the Revolution for the Congress of the Confederation held under the Articles of Confederation. It was renamed Federal Hall when it became the first Capital of the Newly created United States in 1789 and hosted the first United States Congress. On its steps, George Washington was sworn in as the first President. That building was demolished in 1812 (Wiki & the Tour Guide).

Federal Hall at 26 Wall Street

The current structure, completed in 1842 and one of the best surviving examples of neoclassical architecture in New York, was built as the U.S. Custom House for the Port of New York. Later it served as a sub-Treasury building. It is operated today by the National Park Service as a national memorial and designated the Federal Hall National Memorial (Wiki and the Tour Guide).

The statue of George Washington was designed by John Quincy Adams Ward in 1882. Mr. Quincy Adams is an American born artist from Ohio. He trained under known artist Henry Kirk Browne and is the brother of artist Edgar Melville Ward. He moved to New York City in 1861, was elected to the National Academy of Design and was a known sculpture of historical busts and monuments (Wiki).

John Quincy Adams Ward artist

http://generalthomas.com/JQA_Ward_biography.htm

It was erected on the front steps of the building, marking the approximate site where he was inaugurated as President of the United States. Part of the original railing and balcony floor where Washington was inaugurated are on display in the memorial (Wiki).

We also looked at the original J.P. Morgan Building at 23 Wall Street or known as ‘The Corner’. The building was designed by Trowbridge & Livingston and built in 1913. It was known as the ‘House of Morgan’ so there were no signs with the Morgan name. The building was designed in the classical architecture and Morgan made sure that it was designed only four feet high (Wiki). When I asked the tour guide why, he basically said everyone knew who J. P. Morgan was and he didn’t have to prove it.

JP Morgan Building Wall Street 23 Wall Street

The foundation of the building is constructed deep and strong enough in order to support a forty foot tower if it needed to be built. The company moved its operations to 60 Wall Street and the company sold the building and it has had several owners. Our tour guide said that the building was rumored to be turned into condos (Wiki and the Tour Guide).

We moved down Beaver Street towards Wall Street and our second stop of the tour at Delmonico’s restaurant at 56 Beaver Street. The restaurant has moved and changed since it was founded in 1827. The restaurant has always been since it’s founding a place of society and influence. The restaurant was first operated by the Delmonico family as a small cafe and pastry shop at 23 William Street. Later it would be considered one of the nation’s top fine dining restaurants and the birthplace of such dishes as Baked Alaska, Lobster Newberg and famous Delmonico steak. It was the first restaurant to allow patrons to order from a menu a la carte as opposed to table d’hote. It also claimed to be the first to employ a separate wine list (Wiki & the Tour Guide).

The current location of Delmonico’s was opened in 1926 by restaurateur Oscar Tucci as a speakeasy and this restaurant would continue on until 1986. It has operated in this location at different times as Delmonico’s since and has currently been open since 1998 (Wiki, Delmonico’s History and the Tour Guide).

Delmonico’s at 56 Beaver Street

I found the restaurant to be very formal and a little stuffy for a tour group to visit since we were not all dressed for the occasion. The restaurant patrons were all dressed up and I had to parade through the dining room in shorts, which are not allowed in the formal dining room. We had a drink at the bar and I found it to be excellent. The service at the busy bar was friendly and very inviting and I was ready to stay for some dinner. The bar atmosphere was very engaging and we had a nice time there. It is expensive but well worth it once (See review on TripAdvisor).

We walked down the street to The Queen Elizabeth II September 11th Garden located across the street from Hanover Square. The land around this part has been in public used since 1637 and in 1730 became known as Hanover Square in tribute to the House of Hanover. It had been the center for commerce and printing in the beginnings of New York and was destroyed by the Great Fire of 1835. The small triangled parcel was not developed into a park until 1952 and was rededicated with new landscaping until the 1970’s. It has since been redesigned again with new plantings, benches and decorations (Wiki and the Tour Guide).

It was rededicated July 6, 2010 by Queen Elizabeth II as The Queen Elizabeth II September 11th Garden in memory of the 67 British citizens that lost their lives in the September 11th attacks. Originally named the ‘British Gardens’ it was again rededicated and renamed on May 2, 2012 and the ceremony led by the Dean of Westminster Abbey which included other members of the Commonwealth nations (Wiki). It is such a nice place to just relax and the plantings are beautiful. I told the tour guide that it is a very touching place to visit.

Queen Elizabeth II Park at Hanover Square

Our last part of the tour was a visit to India House now called 1 Hanover Square, which is located at the very end of the Stone Street Historic district. Located at the southern end of Hanover Square and facing the Queen Elizabeth II September 11th garden across the street, the building was built in 1851 and was the site of the nation’s first commodity futures exchange, the New York Cotton Exchange and was designated a National Landmark in 1977 and a New York City Landmark in 1965 (Wiki & the Tour Guide).

India House at 1 Hanover Square

The structure was built out of brownstone and designed in the Italian Renaissance style by builder, developer and merchant, Richard F. Carman. It had been the headquarters of Hanover Bank and then the Cotton Exchange. Since then it has operated as a private club since 1913 and now houses restaurants (Wiki).

The main facade of the building has eight bays wide, with the main entrance occupying two bays at the center. Windows on the ground floor are tall and set in openings flanked by paneled pilasters and topped by pediment segmental arches Second floor windows are smaller, set beneath gabled pediments and their floor windows are smaller still with simpler surrounds. The building is crowned by a modillioned cornice (Wiki).

We ended the tour at the restaurant on the bottom level where some of the group stayed for dinner. I headed off to the Wonton Noodle Garden at 56 Mott Street for dinner. After a long tour outdoors and the night getting cooler, a steaming bowl of Cantonese Wonton Soup ($8.95) with a side of pan-fried dumplings ($5.00).

Wonton Noodle Garden at 56 Mott Street

This restaurant in the middle of the heart of Chinatown is my main standby when eating in the neighborhood. Like the rest of the Manhattan, I see the traces of gentrification creeping into the area. All you have to do is look at the buildings above.

Wonton Noodle Garden’s Cantonese Wonton Soup’s (Cure All)

My message to readers, please, get off the cell phones and look around you. You are missing a lot! I have walked this neighborhood dozens of times over the years and my eyes were open by all the changes and by the beauty of the surroundings. I will print more of my travels with the Cornell Club in future blogs.

They are very interesting and a detailed perspective of New York City.

Places to Visit:

New York Stock Exchange Building

8-18 Broad Street

New York, NY 10004

https://www.nyse.com/

Federal Hall

26 Wall Street

New York, NY 10004

https://www.nps.gov/feha/index.htm

23 Wall Street

New York, NY 10004

India House/1 Hanover Square

New York, NY 10004

http://www.indiahouseclub.org/

Bowling Green Park/Charging Bull Statue/Fearless Girl Statue

Broadway & Whitehall Street

New York, NY 10004

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charging_Bull

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60763-d1605557-Reviews-Charging_Bull_Wall_Street_Bull-New_York_City_New_York.html

Stone Street

New York, NY 10004

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_Street_(Manhattan)

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60763-d105043-Reviews-Stone_Street_Historic_District-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

My review on VisitingaMuseum.com:

https://wordpress.com/post/mywalkinmanhattan.com/13138

The Queen Elizabeth II September 11th Garden

Hanover Square

New York, NY 10004

https://queenelizabethgarden.org/

Places to Eat:

Justino’s Pizza

77 Pearl Street

New York, NY 10004

(212) 797-9692

http://www.justinospizzeria.com

Open: Monday-Saturday-10:00am-11:59pm/Sunday-11:00am-9:00pm

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60763-d8743404-Reviews-Justino_s_Pizzeria-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

Pranzo Pizza & Italian Specialties

34 Water Street

New York, NY 10014

http://www.pranzopizzapasta.com

Phone: (212) 344-8068

Fax: (212) 344-0191

Open: Monday-Thursday-8:00am-8:00pm/Friday-8:00am-7:00pm/Saturday-10:00am-5:00pm

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60763-d426152-Reviews-Pranzo-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

My review on DiningonaShoeStringinNYC@Wordpress.com:

https://wordpress.com/post/diningonashoestringinnyc.wordpress.com/880

Delmonico’s

56 Beaver Street

New York, NY 10004

(212) 519-1144

http://www.delmonicos.com

https://delmonicos.com/

Open: Monday-Friday: 11:30am-10:00pm

Saturday: 5:00pm-10:00pm

Sunday: Closed

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60763-d459628-Reviews-Delmonico_s-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

Fraunces Tavern

54 Pearl Street

New York, NY 10004

(212) 425-1778

Open: Monday-Friday-12:00pm-5:00pm/Saturday & Sunday-11:00am-5:00pm

http://www.francestavern.com

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60763-d426153-Reviews-Fraunces_Tavern_Restaurant-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

India House/1 Hanover Square

1 Hanover Square

New York, NY 10004

(212) 269-2323

Open: Monday-Friday-9:00am-10:00pm/Saturday & Sunday-Closed

http://www.indiahouseclub.org

Wonton Noodle Garden

56 Mott Street

New York, NY 10013

(212) 966-4033

http://www.wontonnoodlegarden.com

Open: Sunday-Thursday-10:00am-2:00am/Friday-9:00am-4:00am/Saturday-9:00am-4:00am

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60763-d2370537-Reviews-Wonton_Noodle_Garden-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

Day Ninety One: New Blog Sites: VisitingaMuseum.com and DiningonaShoeStringinNYC@WordPress.com by Blogger Justin Watrel.

To all of my readers and fellow bloggers following my blog, ‘MywalkinManhattan.com’. I created two more blog sites to accompany the main site.

I created ‘VisitingaMuseum.com’ and ‘DiningonaShoeStringinNYC.Wordpress.com’ to take what I have discovered on the walk around the city and put it into more detail.

I created ‘VisitingaMuseum.com’ to feature all the small and medium museums, pocket parks, community gardens and historical sites that I have found along the way in my walking the streets of the island and in the outlining areas of Manhattan. There are loads of sites you can easily miss either by not visiting the neighborhoods by foot or not consulting a guidebook. Most of the these places are not visited by most residents of the City and should not be missed.

I never realized how many small museums exist in New York City, let alone the outer boroughs and in New Jersey. I have discovered so many wonderful and interesting artifacts in these museums that not only have so much historical value but they also deal with local history.

Gallery Bergen at Bergen Community College

There are so many pocket parks, community gardens and historical sites that you would miss if you did not walk the neighborhoods. What has also been fascinating about it is the people you meet along the way that volunteer in these facilities. There is so much pride to be had by these local residents dedicating their time to make these places successful.

‘DiningonaShoeStringinNYC.Wordpress.com’ is my latest site:

https://diningonashoestringinnyc.wordpress.com/

I am featuring and promoting wonderful local restaurants that I have found along the way when doing the walk as well as places I have recently visited outside the city for $10.00 and below. I am not just featuring them for their price but for the quality of the food, the selection and the portion size.

Delicious Dumplings at ‘Dumplings’ on Henry Street

These little ‘hole in the wall’ dining establishments offer a good meal at a fair price as well as supporting the local economy. I have a very limited budget for meals and thought this blog site would help all of you economize when touring New York City and the outlying regions. I cross reference my reviews on TripAdvisor.com.

For anyone thinking of doing a similar project like ‘MywalkinManhattan.com’, I want to let you know how expensive it is to do. I have to pay not just for bus tickets, subway passes, meals, donations to museums and historical sites but the general wear and tear on my clothes. I am on my third pair of sneakers due to this walk. This is why you need to set a budget for it:

https://mywalkinmanhattan.com/

Beekman Place

So I hope you enjoy ‘VisitingaMuseum.com’ and ‘DiningonaShoeStringinNYC.Wordpress.com when coming to Manhattan. Please check all of this places out online for a change of hours and exhibits and menus.

Check out the newest site, “LittleShoponMainStreet@Wordpress.com” for small boutiques and specialty shops that are unique and quirky.

Little Shop on Main Street:

https://littleshoponmainstreet.wordpress.com/

Please check out my fire fighting blog sites, ‘The Bergen County Firemen’s Home Association’, ‘tbcfma.Wordpress.com’, where I am blogging about the activities of the association that I am volunteering for at the home on a quarterly basis and the support that the organization gives to The New Jersey Firemen’s Home in Boonton, New Jersey. Firemen for all over Bergen County, where I live, volunteer their time up at the nursing home with activities to engage and cheer up our fellow fire fighters.

The New Jersey Firemen’s Home in Boonton, NJ

https://tbcfha.wordpress.com/

The second site about fire fighting I blog about is ‘The Brothers of Engine One Hasbrouck Heights Fire Department”, ‘EngineOneHasbrouckHeightsFireDepartmentNJ.Wordpress.com’, where I blog about the activities of Engine Company One, in which I am a member, as part of the Hasbrouck Heights Fire Department. We do a lot of volunteer work for the department and many of our members are very active and hold a lot of positions on the department.

The Brothers of Engine One HHFD (site now closed-Blogs moved to section of MywalkinManhattan.com called “My life as a Fireman”):

https://engineonehasbrouckheightsfiredepartmentnj.wordpress.com/tag/engine-one-hhfd/

The most frequented of my blogs is “BergenCountyCaregiver.com’, a caregivers blog site to help adult caregivers take care of their loved ones. This helps caregivers navigate a very broken system and put all sorts of programs that might help them all in one place to read and chose what might help them. This deals with county, state and federal programs that most social workers miss because there are so many of them that don’t get a lot of attention. It is by far the most popular site.

The Bergen County Firemen’s Home Association

I wanted to share these with my readers and thank you for following my main blog, ‘MywalkinManhattan.com’. Please also share this with your friends who are visiting New York City to really tour the city by foot and see it for its own beauty and uniqueness.

Happy Reading!

My Blogs:

MywalkinManhattan.com

https://mywalkinmanhattan.com/

BergenCountyCaregiver.com

https://wwwbergencountycaregiver.com/

VisitingaMuseum.com

https://visitingamuseum.com/

DiningonaShoeStringinNYC.Wordpress.com

https://diningonashoestringinnyc.wordpress.com/

TheBrothersofEngineOneHasbrouckHeightsFireDepartment@Wordpress.com

https://engineonehasbrouckheightsfiredepartmentnj.wordpress.com/

TBCFMA@Wordpress.com

https://tbcfha.wordpress.com/

Also visit my past blog on Patch.com: The Merchant Series

https://patch.com/users/justin-watrel

https://patch.com/new-jersey/hasbrouckheights/friends-merchant-series-young-fashions

I did this for the Friends of the Hasbrouck Heights Library from 2009-2014.

Day Forty: Meeting ‘Lodi Larry comes to the Library’: First Day of Spring Event with the Friends of the Lodi Memorial Library March 21st, 2016

March 30, 2016"A Local Journey: Exploring the outskirts of New York City, Exploring Lodi, New Jersey, Exploring Manhattan Block by Block, Exploring the State of New Jersey, Junior Friends of the Hasbrouck Heights Library, My walk in Manhattan (MywalkinManhattan.com), MywalkinManhattan Experiences, MywalkinManhattan on Groundhog's Day, MywalkinManhattan.com: Friends of the Hasbrouck Heights Library, MywalkinManhattan.com: Friends of the Lodi Memorial Library Events, UncategorizedAuthor Justin Watral, Author Justin Watrel, Bergen County Libraries, Bergen County Zoo, diningonashoestringinnyc, Exploring Manhattan Block by Block, Friends of the Library, Friends of the Lodi Memorial Library, Groundhog's Day in Lodi NJ, Groundhog's Day, Justin Watral, Justin Watrel, LittleShoponMainStreet, littleshoponmainstreet.com, Lodi, Lodi Larry, Lodi Larry comes to the Library, Lodi Larry the Rabbit, Lodi Memorial Library, Lodi Memorial Library Open House, MywalkinManhattan.com, VisitingaMuseum.com, Warren George Watrel, Warren Watreljwatrel

I took some time out from my walk to run an event for the Friends of the Lodi Memorial Library which is located in Lodi, NJ. I started to get involved in the Friends group last September and that has lead to many interesting visits from celebrities and athletes. Our latest guest helped us welcome in the first day of Spring (which ironically came after a snow storm the day before in which the heat melted all the snow before the event). His name was ‘Lodi Larry, the Rabbit’ and his home is the Bergen County Zoo.

The event was in response to our version of ‘Groundhog’s Day’, when we could not find a groundhog anywhere in Bergen County, NJ. Not one zoo or natural center had one. So when I approached a friend of mine who works at the zoo about one and she could not find one, she suggested the rabbit that they use for children’s events. With that in mind and not wanting to get caught in a snow storm for the event, we moved the event to the first day of Spring with the theme “Lodi Larry comes to the Library”.

Members of the Lodi community on the “First Day of Spring Event”

I was supposed to have only 25 children and their parents but word got out and we ended up with almost 40 children and almost 50 parents and grandparents. This was the first of the three events that I ran for the library since I joined that was a complete sell-out and then some. It was nice to see kids of all ages out to hear the program and participate in the question and answer session.

The only big problem we had was one of the volunteers from the zoo. The program was called “Lodi Larry comes to the Library on the First Day of Spring”. She got up and said, “I don’t know about the rabbit being from Lodi, but this rabbit’s name is Roger, not Larry.” Then she proceeded on with the event. If ever there was a time that someone screwed up, it was then. I was lucky that no one really noticed and the kids and parents had such a good time for the two programs that it was forgotten. I pulled her aside later and explained everything in detail about the program.

The Bergen County Zoo staff with the Friends of the Lodi Memorial Library 2016

Outside that little mishap, the programs went off without a hitch. Our first event was a program called ‘Wild & Crafty Animal Tales’, where the kids listened to the story “Make room for the Bunny” and then did a bunny craft. After that the kids got in line to meet the rabbit. That was a big deal for all the small kids. The rabbit seemed very happy with the kids and did not make a fuss. All the kids seemed to enjoy petting the rabbit.

Then our second program “In My Backyard”, took place right after the first program. The theme was that the zoo is a great place to see exotic animals but children can see wild animals every day right in their own backyards. The program induced children to identifying and safely observing New Jersey’s wildlife. Here the kids got to see a real turtle, something that has become very rare in the wilds of New Jersey. I was amazed on how children were so excited on seeing a turtle.

After both programs were over, we had a question and answer time with the staff from the zoo. Some of the questions these kids had were so observant and interesting. So much for the theory that kids today are obsessed with their cellphones. Put a turtle or a rabbit in front of them and they are no different then we were in the 70’s and 80’s.

When the question and answers were over, we had a really nice reception that was catered by our local ShopRite supermarket. Everyone was really impressed with the food. We had a six foot Italian sub that was cut into pieces for us, five pounds of Italian cookies, five pounds of cut fruit, bags of salty snacks and assorted water and juices. I have never seen such a reaction to food before. The site of a colorful buffet of refreshments really brought out the excitement of people. They formed two lines and when I am saying there was not a crumb left of food, there was nothing left. The platters were stripped clean. I was happy that there were no leftovers.

Special Events Chair Justin Watrel of “The Friends of the Lodi Memorial Library”

People left and they were all saying that they had a good time. The kids loved their little crafts and clean up was so easy because they brought everything home. Its nice to see a crowd of happy faces leaving the library and hopefully this starts a trend of very successful programming.

I wanted to send a big ‘thank you’ to Mayor Emil Carafa and the entire Lodi Borough Council for their support, Superintendent of School’s Frank Quatrone for all his help getting the word out to the schools, the Lodi Boys & Girls Club, the Lodi Senior Club, Library Director Siobhan Koch and her staff for the filming of the program, picture taking and for helping with the reservations. A big ‘thank you’ to the Lodi Memorial Library’s Library Board and a another big ‘thank you’ to Friends President Judy Schroeder, Treasurer Edith Witte and Board Member Marilyn De Molli for all of their assistance on the event plus all the support from the Friends of the Lodi Memorial Library.

Now back to the ‘Walk in Manhattan’.

Enjoy this three part video of the event at the Lodi Memorial Library. It would have been one solid video but one the volunteers made a serious boo-boo during the event:

Articles on The Friends of the Lodi Memorial Library:

https://www.northjersey.com/story/opinion/2017/01/10/letter-lodi-library-has-successful-year/96403338/

Day Thirty-Seven: Happy Groundhog’s Day in Punxsutawney, PA February 2nd, 2016

February 6, 2016"A Local Journey: Exploring the outskirts of New York City, Bakeries for the budget minded, Exploring Historic Towns of Pennsylvania, Exploring Manhattan Block by Block, Exploring Punxsutawney PA, Junior Friends of the Hasbrouck Heights Library, My walk in Manhattan (MywalkinManhattan.com), MywalkinManhattan Experiences, MywalkinManhattan on Groundhog's Day, MywalkinManhattan.com: Friends of the Lodi Memorial Library Events, UncategorizedAddthistoyourgrocerylist@Wordpress.com, Author Justin Watral, Author Justin Watrel, BergenCountyCaregiver.com, diningonashoestringinnyc, Exploring Manhattan, Exploring Manhattan Block by Block, Exploring New York City by foot, Exploring Punxsutawney PA, Exploring Staten Island, Exploring the Island of Manhattan, Gobbler's Knob, Groundhog's Day in Punxsutawney PA, Groundhog's Day, Groundhog's Day on Staten Island, Historic Holidays, Justin Watral, Justin Watrel, LittleShoponMainStreet, MywalkinManhattan.com, Pennsylvania, Punxsutawney Historical Society, Punxsutawney pa, Punxsutawney Phil, Punxsy Family Restaurant, Punxsy Pizza, Staten Island Chuck, Staten Island Zoo, Visiting Punxsutawney PA, VisitingaMuseum.com, Warren George Watrel, Warren Watreljwatrel

I was working on a new project for the Lodi Memorial Library to have a Groundhog’s Day celebration but try to find a groundhog in New Jersey. No zoo or natural group had one so we revamped the event for the first day of Spring and will have a rabbit (See Lodi Larry comes to the Library Day: Day Forty MywalkinManhattan). When the event fell through and all this talk of Groundhog’s Day I decided to go to the source and off I went to celebrate Groundhog’s Day in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania.

My blog on “Lodi Larry Comes to the Library” at the Lodi Memorial Library:

https://wordpress.com/post/mywalkinmanhattan.com/1369

Punxsutawney is about five hours from my house so it was not the quickest trip but it is all straight highway down Route 80 until you get to Route 219 and then a turn off onto Route 119 South where you twist and turn until you get to Punxsutawney, a sleepy little former coal mining and coke town.

Downtown Punxsutawney, PA

http://visitpunxsutawney.org/

Home

I will let all readers know that Punxsutawney is not the town in the movie, ‘Groundhog’s Day’. That movie was shot on location in Woodstock, IL. Punxsutawney in real life is somewhat rundown and in need of a much refurbishing in the downtown area. Several buildings in the downtown area have burned down over the years and have not been replaced by the nicest buildings. A lot of storefronts are empty and many of the buildings could use a paint job.

On the positive note, there are a lot of good restaurants, try Punxsy Pizza at 115 N. Findley Street and Frank’s 115 West Mahoney Street at downtown, and a nice green square park in the middle of town and a wonderful historical society.

The history of Groundhog’s Day Punxsutawney was founded in the traditions of the Romans, who carried the myth to the Germans during the Roman invasions many centuries ago. The story was also based on a Scottish couplet:

‘If Candlemas Day is bright and clear, there’ll be two winters in the year.’

Candlemas Day is celebrated on February 2nd. It was determined that if any animal came forth from its underground hibernation on that day and the sun were out, there would be six more weeks of winter. Thus, was born the tradition of the ‘two winters’ or the ‘second winter’.

What began as a tale from ancient times was translated into action in the early 1880’s when a few Pennsylvania residents living in Punxsutawney decided to celebrate Candlemas Day each year by taking themselves into the woods in search of a groundhog.

By 1886, the group had the volunteer efforts of a local newspaper making their forest foray more official and the “Punxsutawney Groundhog Club” was formed with the express purpose of making sure that their groundhog was the official weather forecaster.

For many years, the actual location where the groundhog was observed always known as “Gobblers Knob” was kept a secret. About 20 years ago it was agreed that keeping it a secret had no further purpose and reports of the Punxsutawney Groundhog known as Phil, were spread far and wide.

In 1907, the hill for the weather works was referred to as “Groundhog Knob” in printed news accounts in Punxsutawney of Groundhog Day. A few years later a news story began referring to it as ‘Gobbler’s Knob’ “the woodchuck saw his shadow…with the sun striking a tangent with the lighting rod on Miller Stoops’ barn…the shadow shone with remarkable distinctness against the snow-clad side of Gobbler’s Knob.”

In the summer of 1966, with the inauguration of the first Punxsutawney Groundhog Festival, the town’s famous groundhog settled into a permanent home at a site near what was then the Sportsmen’s Club Park.

Gobbler’s Knob has been transformed from a place of imagination, from a pile of stones to a stage area raised high to provide better viewing for the crowds who arrive for the ceremony. Following the release of the film “Groundhog’s Day” with Bill Murray in 1993, there was a record crowd of 30,000 people who attended the Groundhog Day ceremony on the weekend of 1997.

Today, Phil lives in more sedate quarters. He is no longer forced to hibernate in the wilds of his hometown. Today in a normal habitat for his lifestyle, he lives in a specially created environment in the Punxsutawney Library.

While Phil is living the ‘good life’, his presence has made life good for other including humans-those other animals. Human interest in Phil has resulted in a continuous supply of groundhog souvenirs such as cookbooks and t-shirts. While groundhogs abound in other parts of the world and are known also as woodchucks and marmots, it is felt at least in Punxsutawney, PA that their ‘Phil’ is the only true prophet of the weather.

(By the Punxsutawney Are Historical and Genealogical Society)

It took me about five hours to get to Punxsutawney from home and I was exhausted by the time I got there at 4:00pm. I had stopped by Punxsy Phil’s Famous Restaurant at 116 Indiana Street on the way to the hotel at the recommendation of reviews on TripAdvisor (see restaurant reviews on TripAdvisor). I thought the food was okay, lots of breakfast items and entrees with thick gravies. I had a chicken fried steak with a sausage gravy and mashed potatoes. Very homey and filling and the service is very good. The food was good but not great.

I stayed at the Cobblestone Hotel at 188 Alliance Drive, just outside of town which was nice because I was away from all the hubbub of the event, and it was very quiet. The hotel is really nice, brand new only about a year old and the rooms are roomy and clean. (Note that the hotel closes down breakfast at 9:00am).

The Cobblestone Inn at 188 Alliance Drive

https://www.staycobblestone.com/pa/punxsutawney/

My first night there I did not get much sleep. I got into the room around 5:00pm and took an hour nap. Then it was off to activities in town. By the time I arrived in town most everything was over for the day with the exception of the open house at the Punxsutawney Area Historical and Genealogical Society at 400-401 West Mahoney Street.

That was interesting as I toured the Bennis and Lattimer Houses, which are right across the street from one another. The museum gave an interesting history of both the families and the town. The Bennis Mansion was part of Millionaires Row back when Punxsutawney was a Coke manufacturer (not the drug) of the area. You could tell by the homes on the street that there was serious money in town from about the Civil War until the Depression. The docents were really interesting and explained the history of the families that lived here.

punxsutawney-historical-society-lattimer-house

Punxsutawney Historical Society at 400-401 West Mahoning Street

http://explorepahistory.com/attraction.php?id=1-B-FDB

After the house tours were over, I went back downtown to Punxsy Pizza at 115 North Findley Avenue, which I highly recommend when visiting Punxsutawney. Their sauce is really good and very flavorful, and I had one of their 13″ Calzones (see the review on TripAdvisor). It was more than a meal and the service were really good plus they were open late but even with the ceremony that morning, it was not that full.

Punxsy Pizza at 115 North Findley Avenue

http://www.punxsypizza.com/

Then off to the Civic Center two blocks away for the 11:00pm showing of “Groundhog’s Day” with Bill Murray. I have seen this movie about 100 times and saw it when it first came out in 1993 but I still enjoy watching it. It was when I was watching the film that I realized that the film was not shot in Punxsutawney. It was shot in Woodstock, Illinois. I never knew that because I just assumed from the film that it was shot there but when I looked at the downtown where the scenes were shot, that was a much more vibrant and nicer downtown.

The movie “Groundhog’s Day”:

I did not recognize any of the buildings and I walked the downtown five times. Also, you will notice in the film that Gobbler’s Knob is located in the downtown square and in real life Gobbler’s Knob is about a mile and a half outside the city.

Groundhog’s Day Trailer

I went back to the room at the hotel for about two hours to relax and take a nap. I began to think the people who were spending the night at the Civic Center had a better idea. For $8.00, you can bring your sleeping bag and a pillow and spend the night there sleeping on the floor. Frankly, with the amount of time that I spend in the room the first night and that it cost $375.00 for the room the first night versus $65.00 the second night, I would have preferred to spend the night at the Civic Center. They looked like they were having fun.

I left for the ‘Knob’ at 3:30am and you would be surprised how many people were already there. The VIP area was already filled. There was entertainment the whole night. Our two hosts were two of Phil’s handlers and they did their best to keep us entertained all morning. There were bands, disco music and singing to keep us pepped up. The time flew by.

Gobbler’s Knob at 1548 Woodland Avenue

Gobbler’s Knob

By 6:00am, the place started to fill up more and there was more excitement in the air. My advice to people who want to come is if you want the full experience, then come at 3:00am when the event starts. If you want to just see the fireworks and see Phil, come at 6:00am. Don’t miss the fireworks display, that was a nice display.

By 7:30am, the handlers arrived in their formal wear and top hats and started the ceremony. Trust me, those of us who had been there all morning just wanted to know the report and get out of there. The handlers kept dragging it on and most of us feet were frozen by this point. Even though it was about 20 degrees, it was not windy and did not seem cold. Still, we were all tired and wanted the ceremony to be over.

Seeing Phil is the highlight of the day

Well, Phil did not see his shadow and they said it will be an early Spring (it did not make much sense as it snowed as soon as I came home). By the time the event was over it started to head up to the 30’s. By the afternoon it went to 52 degrees and was sunny and bright.

Groundhog’s Day 2016

They really had the place organized as there were about 15 buses waiting to pick everyone up. We got back to downtown Punxsutawney in about a half hour. This is when the event got strange. There were over 7000 people in the Knob that morning and while about 4000 went back home or back to work, there were a lot of people milling around downtown looking for something to eat and something to do after the ceremony.

I went to the Elks Club for a buffet breakfast fundraiser, and it was mobbed! There must have been about 100 people ahead of me and about another 75 people behind me. The kitchen looked overwhelmed and could not keep up with the food. For $9.50 it was really nice. You had scrambled eggs, pancakes, bacon, potatoes, biscuits and gravy and coffee/tea and orange juice. Everyone was moving as fast as they could especially the woman collecting money who looked very happy.

After breakfast, there was a bunch of vendors on the Green who also got over-whelmed with customers and there was a historical hayride that the Historical Society sponsored that I swear people where fighting to get tickets for the ride. It was really nice as they took you around town and told you the history of the area. There was another showing of the movie and then that was it by noon. Everything shut down.

All the souvenir shops were hopping, and I asked one of the ladies how they were doing, and she said they had a great day, better than expected. I don’t think the town expected so many people on a Tuesday morning and for the weather to be 52 degrees and sunny this late into winter. People were looking for things to do and places to eat. Even the McDonald’s was over-whelmed for breakfast and lunch. I heard the next day that many places ran out of food.

This is where the town failed the tourists. There was not enough to keep everyone occupied and by noon everything was closing on the Green and even the Historical Society had to run an extra hayride for the people that wanted to go on it. People just left town after lunch. Maybe the town wanted it that way, but I think they really lost an opportunity to make more money for the town had they kept the activities until into the early evening. Bad marketing!

I went back to my room for the rest of the day and relaxed. By the time I went out for gas and something to eat by 8:15pm, the place was dead and back to being the sleepy little town it had been before. I went to McDonald’s for a snack because that was all that was open by 9:00pm. Even the next morning when I left, it was a really sleepy town.

Overall, it was an interesting event, and you should experience it once. It is more exciting than the movie even though Punxsutawney could use some sprucing up. Still, it is a classic American event where TV does not capture the fun of it.

One of my favorite scenes of the film:

I have not had much of a chance to return to Punxsutawney, PA since 2016 but in 2019 and 2020 I went to the Staten Island Zoo to see Staten Island Chuck, the other famous Groundhog and their festival. It was closed in 2021 due to COVID but here is the blog on it:

Day One Hundred and Thirty-One: Visiting Staten Island Chuck at the Staten Island Zoo:

https://wordpress.com/post/mywalkinmanhattan.com/8121

It also inspired our event at the Lodi Memorial Library for the Friends with Lodi Larry:

Day Forty: Lodi Larry comes to the Library at the Lodi Memorial Library:

https://wordpress.com/post/mywalkinmanhattan.com/1369

My most recent Groundhog’s Day event at the Turtle Back Zoo:

Day Two-Hundred and Sixteen: Meeting Edwina from Essex at the Turtle Back Zoo:

https://wordpress.com/post/mywalkinmanhattan.com/21731

Happy Groundhogs Day!

Places to Stay:

Cobblestone Hotel & Suites

188 Alliance Drive

Punxsutawney, PA 15767

(814) 938-5144

https://www.facebook.com/CobblestonePunxsutawney/

https://www.staycobblestone.com/pa/punxsutawney/

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g53500-d7148979-Reviews-Cobblestone_Hotel_and_Suites_Punxsutawney-Punxsutawney_Pennsylvania.html?=19905

Places to Eat:

Punxy Phil’s Family Restaurant

116 Indiana Street

Punxsutawney, PA 15767

(814) 938-1221

https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/American-Restaurant/Punxy-Phils-Family-Restaurant-108126792562048/

Open: Varies, please see website

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g53500-d3242250-Reviews-Punxy_Phil_s_Family_Restaurant-Punxsutawney_Pennsylvania.html?m=19905

Punxsy Pizza

115 North Findley Street

Punxsutawney, PA 15767

(814) 938-8132

http://www.punxsypizza.com/

Open: Sunday 11:00am-10:00pm/Monday-Thursday 10:00am-10:00pm/Friday-Saturday 10:00am-11:00pm

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g53500-d6418364-Reviews-Punxsy_Pizza-Punxsutawney_Pennsylvania.html?m=19905

Lilly’s Bakery

535 West Mahoning Street

Punxsutawney, PA 15767

(814) 938-9419

https://www.facebook.com/Lilys-Bakery-Deli-Restaurant-209587555723756/

Open: Sunday 6:30am-7:00pm/Monday-Saturday 5:00am-8:00pm

My Review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g53500-d2552178-Reviews-Lily_s-Punxsutawney_Pennsylvania.html?m=19905

McDonald’s

102 Findley Street

Punxsutawney, PA 15767

(814) 938-5277

Open: 5:00am-12:00am

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g53500-d4887467-Reviews-McDonald_s-Punxsutawney_Pennsylvania.html?m=19905

Places to Visit:

Gobbler’s Knob

1548 Woodland Avenue

Punxsutawney, PA 15767

http://www.groundhog.org/

Admission: Free

Review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g53500-d106564-Reviews-Gobbler_s_Knob-Punxsutawney_Pennsylvania.html?m=19905

Phil’s Burrow

Mahoney Towers

Punxsutawney, PA 15767

http://www.groundhog.org/visit-us/phils-burrow/

Admission: Free

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g53500-d8494902-Reviews-Phil_s_Burrow-Punxsutawney_Pennsylvania.html?m=19905

Punxsutawney Area Historical & Genealogical Society

(Bennis & Lattimer Houses)

400-401 W. Mahoney Street

Punxsutawney, PA 15767

(814) 938-2555

https://www.punxsyhistory.org/

Open: Closed Monday-Wednesday/Thursday and Saturday 10:00am-4:00pm/Friday and Sunday 1:00pm-4:00pm

Admission: Donation

My Walk in Manhattan: my walking experience around the whole island. I started this project on Father’s Day, June 2015

Happy Father’s Day!

(This project is dedicated with much love to my father, Warren George Watrel, who still inspires me!)

Hello and Welcome to ‘MywalkinManhattan.com’, an extensive project to walk the entire island of Manhattan. My name is Justin Watrel and I will be your guide in exploring the island of Manhattan, searching every nook and cranny of the island for the unusual, the usual and the in between.

‘Walking the Island of Manhattan’ may not be terribly original as there are about four other people doing the project at the same time, but this project is different in the way I see the island. Not rushing through to prove I have walked it but to see what these neighborhoods are all about and what is there to discover and enjoy.

For all you ‘Manhattanites’ who think you know your island, I will show you things that you have never seen and places you have never gone, restaurants you have never tried and historical sites and museums you never knew existed. Maybe just a few blocks from where you live. As the son of two “Brooklynites’, I have traveled around the city a lot since 1969, my first time in the City when my parents took me to Chinatown to Hunan Gardens, a Chinese restaurant on Mott Street. I ended up there for eight birthdays until it closed in the early 2000’s.

Lunar New Year Parade in Chinatown

“My Walk in Manhattan” is a project to walk the entire island of Manhattan in New York City from top to bottom from the beginning of the Summer of 2015 until I finish the walk. Manhattan is 13.4 miles long and 2.3 miles wide and covers a total area 23.7 square miles. Along the way of walking the streets of Manhattan, I will be walking into parks, museums, restaurants and looking at the architecture of the neighborhoods and the buildings in them.

My soon to be path around the Island of Manhattan

I have found that people miss a lot when they walk with their cellphones and only look down at it. When you look up, you see the true beauty of the City. You see the stone work of old brownstones, you see small boutiques off the beaten track and can indulge in those hole in the wall restaurants that are usually found by foreign tourists. Nothing is more interesting then seeing a stone face on a building staring back at you, a tiny pocket park that residents created out of a garbage dump and that small entrepreneur trying to create a vision.

The Cable Building at 631 Broadway

This project was inspired by many things. My major inspiration for this project follows the recent passing of my father, Warren George Watrel. My dad and I loved to walk around the city and spend the day at various museums, walking around Central Park and the Conservatory, taking the subway to try new restaurants in Chinatown or Little Italy or any new place I had read about in the Village Voice (my Bible when looking for things to do on weekends).

Columbus Circle on the West Side

My father was a ‘Brooklynite’ from Williamsburg (long before it was ‘Hipster Central’, he would have been amused) and loved the city, so this voyage is dedicated to him. Having watched the movie “The Way” with Martin Sheen, we look for inspiration in our travels and try to find the answers to why something happens the way it does. Walking to explore does that.

I was my father’s caregiver after his illness hit him and I continued my trips into Manhattan as my father got better. It was the inspiration to this site’s sister site, ‘BergenCountyCaregiver.com’. After he passed in 2014, I wanted to spend Father’s Day doing something different yet do something that we would have done together. Thus started the first walk in Marble Hill.

My first Day in Marble Hill, Manhattan

Another inspiration was a recent article in New York Magazine entitled “Which New York is Yours? A Fierce Preservationist and a Pro-Development Blogger Debate” in which the author Justin Davidson asks about the disappearance of New York’s Character. “What does that character actually consist of? If we did make an all-out effort to preserve it, how would we know what to protect?” How much is the city changing? I have worked off and on in New York City since 1988 and the answer is in some parts of Manhattan it is night and day. Could you imagine walking in Bryant or Tompkins Square Parks in 1990?

I did and they were very different places back then. With the changing Zoning Laws and gentrification of many neighborhoods, its not the city of 1970’s movies. What I am looking for are those unique little pocket parks that we pass, those statues of people we have no clue who they are and those historic plaques of places gone by and people we don’t know.

Astor Row Houses in Harlem

Another are the books, ‘Vanishing New York: How a Great City Lost its Soul’ by Jeremiah Moss and ‘The Death and Life of the Great American City’ by Jane Jacobs. How do cities keep progressing and changing? How does change effect a city and what direction are we going in? Does the Island of Manhattan have to be all luxury or can it be mixed to help keep the creativity alive and keep innovation going? Do we want the big bad 70’s again or the luxury brand of the 2010’s and 20’s? How is it impacting and changing the city? How much has Manhattan and the rest of the boroughs changed with the rezoning of the city under the Bloomberg Administration. This can also be looked at in the documentaries “Gut Renovation” and “My Brooklyn”.

The last inspiration was my doctor. He said I have to lose ten pounds. I am hardly over-weight but like many people he feels that I will be healthier if I lose the weight and keep it off. I want to see how a walk like this tones the body.

Bowling Green Park in Lower Manhattan

I know many people before have walked the entire length of Manhattan while others have or are attempting to walk the every block in the city, mine has a more personal reason. To really see the city I love from the ground up and explore parts of the island that I have never ventured to and see what I find there. Along the way, I want to see how the city changes while I am taking the walk. This is not the “Christopher Columbus” attitude most people are taking when exploring the neighborhoods but more honoring those residents who are trying to make the City better.

My project also includes stops at various points of interest and to get a better feel for all the neighborhoods, I am walking both sides of the street to get a better look at the buildings in each neighborhood and what defines the character of a neighborhood. I get the impression from some of the readers of Mr. Davidson’s article and from comments on the Internet that Manhattan is some “playground of the wealthy that is being gentrified to the hilt and soon no one will be able to afford any part of Manhattan”. Like in any place, there are people struggling everyday to survive in New York and like every city in the country, people are moving back in droves and want a quality of life for them and their families.

Delacorte Clock in Central Park

In the Age of COVID, it has been interesting starting the project again. I had been on hold from March 13th, 2020 through June 10th, 2020 when the City was closed for anyone other than First Responder and people who had to work there. I was so happy when I could return and continue walking Manhattan. My walk down Broadway for the forth time was a surprise with all the businesses closed on the Upper West Side and I met the challenge of “The Great Saunter Walk” , the 32 mile walk around the perimeter of the island in 14 hours. There is now more to see and explore and write.

The COVID world though has me facing closed businesses that I have covered over the years. Restaurants and stores that I have mentioned in this blog since 2015 have since closed permanently or closed for the time being, I am not too sure. We also have a walking world of masks that keep us safe. The times in Manhattan are changing from the way we eat in restaurants to the way we shop and visit museums.

SoHo boarded up after the June Riots 2020

Fifth Avenue boarded up after the June Riots 2020

Things are constantly changing in Manhattan since the riots in June and COVID keeps raging in the City with people not wanting to wear masks. I hope that things will get back to normal soon. I still see people out and about doing their thing and enjoying the warm weather so I am optimistic about life. Still though, Manhattan keeps changing with the Theater District boarded up and Chinatown looking like a ghost town. We will see how New York City recovers from COVID like the rest of the country.

I have now expanded this site to three other blogs, ‘VisitingaMuseum’ (VisitingaMuseum.com), which features all the historical sites, community gardens and small museums and galleries I find in not just Manhattan but throughout the rest of the NYC and beyond in the suburbs.

‘DiningonaShoeStringinNYC’ (DiningonaShoeStringinNYC@Wordpress.com), where I feature wonderful little restaurants, bodegas and bakeries that I find along the way. The one requirement is that the meal is around $10.00 and under (for us budget minded people).

“LittleShoponMainStreet” (LittleShoponMainStreet@Wordpress.com) where I find unique and creative stores in Manhattan and locally whose merchandising, displays, merchandise and service stand out in an age of Amazon. This harks back to a time when shopping was enjoyable and not a chore.

I have also added two new sections to the blog, “My life as a Fireman”, which I have moved from an old site that I had created for my old engine company to describe my experiences on the Hasbrouck Heights Fire Department over the last 16 years. Also, this is what takes up my time when I am not exploring New York City.

Justin Watrel, Fireman

Another is “A Local Journey” are tours of downtown’s and communities outside the New York City area to travel to when you need to escape the City’s clutches. I have specific guidelines in finding stores, restaurants and museums/cultural sites in the area. This has lead me to really explore my own town of Hasbrouck Heights, NJ and exploring out of town destinations like Red Hook, NY and Beach Haven/Long Beach Island, NJ. You would be amazed on what these small towns offer.

Downtown Red Hook, NY in the Summer months

With COVID still rearing its head when I am in New York City, I do everything to stay safe from being fully vaccinated (I have take both shots and no I have not turned into a ‘Pod Person’) to wearing a mask and keeping hand sanitizer on me. I abide by all NYC Parks rules and try to stay away from people when in museums and restaurants.

Even with all its problems, New York City is still the most exciting City on earth and follow the blog, neighborhood by neighborhood and join me in discovering what makes Manhattan one of the greatest places on Earth!

So to readers who will be following me on the journey walking through Manhattan and beyond, I hope you enjoy trip walking by my side!

Me in Red Hook, Brooklyn discovering my new love in “Street Art”

This project is dedicated to my father, Warren George Watrel, with lots of love and many wonderful adventures and memories to keep me company as I take “My Walk in Manhattan”.

My dad, Warren and I at a Grandparent’s Day Brunch in 2013

‘Break My Stride’ still plays in my mind when I do this walk.

This walking song plays in my mind when I start ‘Walking’. Thank you Mary Mary!

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