I was searching for someplace to eat in Chinatown after touring a few museums in Brooklyn. It was cold that night and I was in the mood for soup and dumplings. The place I wanted to go to was closed and as I walked around Division Street, I came across a restaurant that was having their grand opening (I would find out later it had opened in the summer).
The owner waved me in on a very cold and welcomed me inside to a warm restaurant where homemade dumplings are made right in front of you. The best part is that there is a lot to order under $10.00. There were so many choices from the menu with dumplings, pancakes and soups and everything was so reasonable.
The Chive Pancake
I started my meal with the Chive Pancakes. These were being made by the women working the counter behind the register. These golden cakes were rather large and were panned fried. With a little soy sauce, what a way to start the meal.
The Chive Pancakes
The were filled with rice noodles, eggs and chives
Then I needed to warm myself up and had the Wonton Noodle Soup with bok choy. The long noodles and the dumplings are made fresh right in front of you. The dumplings go right from the counter where the women just folded them into the soup or into the pan for an order of ten.
The Wonton Noodle Soup with Dumplings
The food and the service were wonderful and the owner could not have been nicer and more welcoming. She pulled me off a cold street and welcomed me into the restaurant. In a time of rising prices and small portions, North Dumpling is that wonderful exception with reasonable prices and excellent food.
What I found out from the manager after dinner was this is the sister restaurant to China North Dumpling, a tiny restaurant on Essex Street which literally has no seating and this is her new, bigger version of that very successful restaurant.
My reviews on China North Dumpling at 23 Essex Street:
I have been visiting Beacon, NY since I read an article on it and the perils of its gentrification since 2018. So I made a special trip for a First Friday event that Christmas holiday season. With Merchant Open Houses and Caroling and refreshments at every stop, I found a delightful Christmas town that seemed to be rediscovering itself as well as outside visitors were marveling at the town’s turnaround.
I started to venture back to Beacon in 2022, when things fully opened and all the museums and cultural sites opened their doors to visitors again. Over the last three years since my holiday visit, stores and restaurants had opened and closed with time and there is a lot to explore in this small city.
Revisiting Beacon in the summer of 2025
Walking downtown in the Summer of 2025
What I thought was interesting on my last trip over the Summer of 2025, was how the homes on both sides of the downtown were getting renovated and how nice the neighborhoods were getting in the city. It was a slow process but a lot of these small Upstate towns have been seeing a rebirth since COVID.
The neighborhoods have gone from homes that were shabby and somewhat run down to fully renovated and refreshed, creating a vibrant look to the residents who are moving up to this ‘artsy’ city.
Street art in Downtown Beacon
The downtown has made a real transformation from a gritty boarded up downtown of the 1970’s to the late 90’s to what it is today when the DIA Beacon opened up in the old Nabisco Factory by the river. The museum opening really transformed this small Hudson River City. When I was at the Beacon Historical Society recently, they had an exhibition on the before and after pictures of Beacon and what the Downtown looked like in the 1970’s, 80’s and into the 1990’s until the DIA opened. The transformation in twenty years has been amazing! You would never know it was the same city.
The new luxury housing being built in the downtown catering to a hipster crowd from the City. More of this is being built in the downtown.
Downtown Beacon has been fun to explore over the years and watch the progression of restaurants and shops come and go with the times. Since the first holiday ‘First Friday’ event to walking around and exploring new shops in between visits to cultural sites all over town. There is a lot to see and do in Beacon.
Walking in Downtown Beacon means exploring interesting shops and restaurants
The way to start your tour of Beacon is at the coastline of the Hudson River. There are two cultural site you should not miss Bannerman Castle and the DIA. Both show off the distinction of Beacon with both offering unique visits. These are located on the western part of the downtown area closest to the Hudson River.
The Harbor at Hudson River where you start your journey
Bannerman Castle is a seasonal excursion and you should try to visit between May and the middle of October when the foliage is at its peak. The views are spectacular.
Bannerman Island is a tiny island in the Hudson River that used to be ammunition storage area where the storage facility on the island went on fire years ago
Arriving at Bannerman Island
Arriving on the island by boat
The dockside and park at the Beacon Park is where the journey always begins. The views of the river are just breathtaking anytime of the year but the area is especially beautiful at the peak of the Fall foliage and in the beginning of the Spring when the buds are coming out and it is just starting to get warm.
The view of the docks before the tour
The view of the bridge near the park and part of the boat tour
Arriving at the dock on Bannerman Island after your boat ride
The historic sign of General Lafayette’s landing at this site in 1824
Once you get to the island, you are greeted by the tour guide and then have to walk up 74 steps from the harbor to the ridge of the island so this is NOT ADA compliant. At the top of the stairs starts the path around the island. Our tour guide that lead the tour had been there since the tours started in 2004 and gave us many insights on the history of the island and its purpose to the Bannerman family.
The gardens at the hillside as you walk up the stairs at Bannerman Island in the Summer of 2024
The first stop on the tour is the view of the ruins of the old Munitions Storage building
Our first stop was the Bannerman Munitions Storage facilities that were in the form of a castle that can be seen from the rail system up to Poughkeepsie, NY. For years I thought (as most people do) that this was a home but it was the Bannerman Munitions Warehouse for all the Army surplus items that Mr. Bannerman had brought up here from New York City. All the Military items were stored up here and the orders were fulfilled from this island.
Walking by the ruins of the old castle
Walking by the castle on the pathway
The pathway by the river
Walking the pathway by the river
The company has not been in business since the early 60’s and when the children of the founder closed the company after the laws in the Federal Government changed to where private citizens could not sell explosive, it put a damper into operations. In 1967, the storage buildings were destroyed by fire and the compound was a shell of the former factory. The home was also abandoned at the top of the ridge when the family sold the island.
The Bannerman Island Munitions Storage Facility
Once you leave the former storage facility which is now being held up by stilts because the structure is so weak, you will proceed up the path past the formal gardens that are planted along the trail. The local garden clubs now come to the island to replant Mrs. Bannerman’s formal gardens and beautify the island.
The gardens on the pathway to the house
The gardens along the pathway
The gardens
The gardens along the pathway to the house
The gardens by the front of the house
The gardens by the front door of the Bannerman Mansion
At the top of the point, there is the former home of the Bannerman family that is currently under renovation. It houses a quick tour of the family and there is a small gift shop inside. The porch area has the most amazing views of the Hudson River and the surrounding mountains. Here the Friends of Bannerman Island show movies in the warmer months and hold plays just outside the home. The last movie had been “Abbott and Costello Meet the Frankenstein”, which had been sold out according to the tour guide.
The Bannerman House and Gardens
When you get to the island, you have a set amount of time to wonder up and down the paths of the island, admiring the gardens, touring the house and looking over the gardens. When I went to the island for a second time in the Summer of 2025, we had more time to explore the island and take pictures. This is when I got to see the island in full bloom and the gardens were at their peak. It is one of the best times of the year to go.
The main room in the house
I visited the Dia: Beacon also on the riverfront many times too and is the catalyst of why Beacon is what it is today. Almost a colony of artists and writers who have moved to the area from the City and keep changing the community. I have to say that is an interesting space.
The museum is sited on thirty-one acres on the banks of the Hudson River and is adjacent to ninety acres of riverfront parkland. The museum is located in a former printing plant built in 1929 by Nabisco (National Biscuit Company) (Wiki). This type of square footage gives the museum the flexibility to showcase many of the larger pieces of artist’s collections that we may not see in the bigger museums whose infrastructure may not be able to hold.
The DIA Museum has clean lines and big halls and a minimalist landscaping
The one thing about the Dia is that the works are quite large and pack a bold statement. The museum uses a combination of both American and Foreign artists and their works make a bold statement. The museums galleries are large and airy and can show larger works of art. The museum shows many of the artists largest pieces of work.
The inside of the Dia: Beacon’s large galleries
These larger pieces were interactive
Inside the museum, many contemporary artists are featured each season. Many of their larger works were featured in their galleries. Artist Louise Bourgeois has displayed some interesting sculptures that dominate the upper floors. One of the most fascinating pieces was that of a large spider that dominates the corner of the floor.
This Louise Bourgeois work is a rather creepy piece of art like something out of the movie “It”.
In Bourgeois’s works on view in these galleries, organic formations fuse with the inorganic materiality of the media in which they are rendered, be it marble, wood, or bronze. The artist’s repertoire of materials spans traditional media and new textures, such as latex and synthetic resin. In her work, representation often entails the creation of a surrogate for the body and its suffering organs (Dia: Beacon museum website).
Artist Andy Warhol has one of his largest works displayed in the main gallery on the first floor.
What I loved about the work by Warhol was the continuous colorful pattern of the work and the way it wrapped around the room. The pattern took form in many colors and showed consistency and balance.
A single painting in multiple parts, Shadows is one of Warhol’s most abstract works, yet one that cohesively synthesizes key elements of his practice, including film, painting, photography, and screen-printing. Originally commissioned by Dia and acquired in 1979 for a solo exhibition at 393 West Broadway in New York, Shadows includes a total of 102 canvases; the final number of canvases on view in each installation is determined by the dimensions of an existing exhibition space (The Dia: Beacon museum website).
What I liked about the DIA is that the works are all on a large scale and you can walk around with plenty of space to admire them. The former factory space offers a lot of room for display so every time I visit, there are three or four artist exhibitions to explore.
What I like about Beacon is that it has an amazing downtown filled with lots of interesting stores, galleries and sometimes pretty pricey restaurants. As the residents from the City are relocating here, the prices keep increasing not just for restaurants but for housing as well.
I have noticed more and more like the town of Hudson, the houses on the side streets are starting to get renovated and neighborhoods are getting a fresh look of suburban gentrification. This is happening all over the Hudson River Valley as small towns are gaining a new set of residents. So many old homes have gotten a facelift. With that, more businesses are catering to these incoming customers.
The first I love visiting is Colorant at 146 Main Street. The trendy and environmentally safe clothing store has a variety of in house made clothes and trendy gifts for the house. I have always admired their custom made clothing with natural dies.
I love walking into the store and seeing the beautiful merchandise and the creative way they display it. It is more than a store or a boutique, Colorant is an experience in retail. It is the way shopping should be, interesting merchandise in a creative setting with personal service from the salespeople.
This new tie die dress really wowed me along with their jean and sweatshirt collection in 2021
This dress by Po eM I thought was really nice
The store also has an assortment of gifts such as planters, soap dishes, mugs and some jewelry and cosmetics. All of the products are environmentally made and have their own artistic touch to them. Please check the above website as the prices do change.
Specialty lines at Colorant
The store’s line of gourmet snacks
The service could not be more personal. The young woman working there explained the way the clothes are made and constructed and a little story about the owner as a designer and how she merchandised the store. The store is designed with exposed walls and piping holding the clothes with creative display cases to showcase the gifts.
Colorant offers something for everyone
There still is an experience of shopping in person and actually touching the merchandise and trying it on. You are part of what the owner is trying to convey with this exclusive line of clothing made for the store. This is something that Amazon can’t replicate. I love looking at all the clothing that made for the store and wonder how it would look on customers in public.
Another great store I enjoy visiting especially when I am hungry is Noble Pies, across the street at 137 Main Street. I love it when I get the emails and what pies they are featuring for the week. There have been times I have organized trips up to the Hudson River Valley to visit historical sites just to try what the featured pie is of the week. They are that good.
The entrance to the new Noble Pie’s at 137 Main Street in Beacon, NY
I stopped in Beacon, NY recently to take a walking tour of a historical home and walked around the downtown after the tour. I had read about Noble Pie’s story on the window of the restaurant on my last visit to Beacon and decided to stop in to see what the store was all about. What a delightful, creative store with friendly service and excellent pie that you could either buy by the pie or by the slice. I decided to stay for lunch and try some out.
The interesting items they have on their menu
I had gotten several emails from the owner of new pies that were coming out and each one of them sounded really good. I had to be upstate for some museum visits and I stopped in Beacon for lunch. I tried a piece of the Cubano pie and. Slice of Blueberry and Peach pie. Both were delicious.
The Cubano is a savory pie with layers of Roasted Pork, Swiss Cheese and pickles. I thought it could have used a little more of the Roasted Pork as I only got about two slices in my piece.
The Cubano Pie with Roast Pork, Swiss Cheese and pickles
The Cubano Pie
This savory pie was delicious
For dessert, I wanted to try the Peach and Blueberry pie because all the fruits are in season now and it was available for a limited time.
The shop had a variety of ice creams to choose from to have an a la mode and I chose the Apricot Orange ice cream to put on the side. What a great choice as it complimented the sweetness of the fruit.
The Blueberry Peach pie with Apricot and Apricot Orange ice cream on the side
The pie was heated up and was cooled by the creamy ice cream
I loved the buttery crust either a hint of sugar on the top of the crust
The selection of pies rotates every week and there is always something interesting on the menu. I got on the email list just to get the blast on what is new on the menu and it makes my mouth water to think of all the delicious pies being created and I have to wait until my next trip.
During the holiday season pre-COVID, I used to come up to Beacon for special shopping nights they used to have on Third Thursdays and loved wondering around the shops and enjoying the entertainment and the special engagements that all the stores used to create on these nights.
Another great shop I came across on these shopping trips puts a spin on the traditional flower shop, Flora a Good Times at 197 Main Street just down the road from these two stores. Talk about a creative approach to selling flowers and the way they are displayed.
It looked more like a boutique than a traditional flower shop. There are handmade pots and gifts, a wonderful selection of exotic flowers and plants all nicely displayed.
The inside of Flora Good Time with its beautiful displays.
What I discovered when I walked in was the original way they display their potted plants and arrangements. The color scheme is juxoposed and the plants were arranged in a way that gave it a colorful and distinctive look about the way a customer would buy them. The shelves were loaded with all sorts of potted and hanging plants that fit every décor.
Handmade gifts and plants
I came across a shelve of smiling face pots by artist Calfinn and thought it made a novel way to display the plants. Not just were the plants showcased well but the smiling face back gives a positive spin on the merchandise. They were so novel and whimsical and I had never seen anything like it before.
Pots by artist Calfinn-The Collection is called Lil’ Friends
The Handmade “Victory” Pots that have their own personality
What was nice about Flora Good Times is that they will create the most special bouquets and arrangements for the customers. Their approach to flowers gives them a personality all to its own and is the perfect housewarming and host present. I thought the arrangements I saw in both the store and online were colorful and very original in design.
The fresh flower are very beautiful
They also have a nice assortment of potted and hanging plants that line the walls and a selection of gift items that come from artists all over the country. I thought it was good business not just to support local artists but artisans all over the country.
There are a lot of wonderful places to go to lunch up and down the Main Street of Beacon and a few of them I have tried. I stopped in BJ’s Soul Food at 213 Main Street for lunch to regroup one afternoon after a day of walking and touring. Talk about the most delicious Cheeseburger that you will sink your teeth into. God, that hit the spot.
BJ’s Soul Food Restaurant at 213 Main Street (Closed January 2026)
The food and the service were always very nice and I enjoyed doing work in my booth while I was eating. I ate here the night I went to tour the historic Boscobel Mansion at Christmas time. I just read that the owner closed the restaurant in early 2026 after 47 years in business.
The Cheeseburgers at BJ’s were excellent.
I love the selection of menu item and their emphasis on Southern cooking. They also had some amazing desserts.
One of my favorite pizzerias in Beacon is Pizza & Stuff Two at 332 Main Street. I have been coming here since my first trip to explore Beacon’s downtown. The food and service here are really good.
Pizza and Stuff Two at 332 Main Street in Downtown Beacon
I have always loved the Cheese Pizza here and they have decent specials during lunch hour and on the weekends. Like many other places in Beacon the prices have gone up over the last six years but they still offer nice specials are reasonable and the service is really good.
Another restaurant I enjoy dining at is the Great Wall Chinese Restaurant at 393 Main Street. I have never had a bad meal here and their lunch specials are really good and very reasonable.
The Great Wall Chinese Restaurant at 393 Main Street
When I was visiting Mount Gulian, a historic house just outside of town, I stopped in for a late lunch/early dinner and a Shrimp Lo Mein combination platter with an Egg Roll and Wonton Soup. Both the food and the service were wonderful. I have enjoyed many wonderful meals there.
The Shrimp Lo Mein meal was delicious and just enough for both lunch and dinner
Another restaurant I have enjoyed many times since touring Beacon is the Yankee Clipper Diner at 397 Main Street.
The make the best Roast Turkey Club sandwiches and the best part is that you can watch TV while you are eating. I was watching this hysterical episode of “Will and Grace” when I was there the last time and when Jack walked in dressed as Cruella De Vil, I lost it in my booth laughing so hard. No one else got it.
Nothing beats a Turkey Club sandwich for lunch
When visiting Beacon, just off the downtown area, one of the historical sites that is interesting to visit but hard to see is the Madame Brett House at 50 Van Nydeck around the corner from the downtown district. The house is only open once a month so you have to time your visit accordingly.
The Madam Brett Homestead at 50 Van Nydeck Avenue in Beacon, NY
I visited the Madam Brett Homestead on a walking tour and discovered that the family had a lot to do with the growth of not just Dutchess County but New York State as well. The house was the homestead for five generations of family members each who added to the home.
The homestead’s historic plaque
Since the family practiced thrift in the home and decor, we get to see the house with period furniture that has been donated back to the house from the family. Also, period pieces have been donated by other members of the community to show the home at different periods of time. It gave us a look into the home life of a prosperous farming and milling family.
The entrance of the Brett Homestead
The tour starts with a short video on the family and how Madam Brett got her inheritance from her father and built on the wealth that he had created. She leased out land with water and mineral rights thus adding to her wealth and had a grist mill that was the only one on the patent, so everyone had to go through her for grain processing.
The china cabinet with family related items.
The homestead was built by Roger Brett and Catherine Rombout Brett on land inherited by her father, which was part of the Rombout Patent (which covered much of lower Dutchess County). The couple had been married in 1703 and had originally moved in with her mother in the family’s manor home in Manhattan. Upon the death of her mother, Catherine inherited the land and the manor house in Manhattan.
Land rich and cash poor, she and her husband mortgaged the manor house in Manhattan and built a small home and gristmill. They moved into their Dutch style home on Christmas Day 1709. The house was expanded in 1715. The home was later added on again in the 1800’s to the present house (Brett Homestead Pamphlet).
In the hallway on display is the original Rombout Patent, which everyone on our tour thought was very impressive. It had been found and was given back to the house. It shows the land deal that the settlers made with the Native Americans.
A copy of the Rombout Patent
We next headed to the Dining Room, where the family entertained guests. The room is full of period furniture and silver both family owned and donated to the homestead. The formality of entertaining is shown in the room set up.
The Dining Room at the Brett Homestead
Hannah Brett’s (Madam Brett’s granddaughter) bridesmaid dress was on display as well. This had been worn when she danced the Minuet with Marquis de Lafayette. I thought this was interesting in that she had this altered for the occasion and that it had lasted all these years. She had worn this for the wedding of Cornelia DePeyster, whose wedding dress in the New York Historical Society (Brett Homestead pamphlet). It was donated back to the house by the family descendants for display.
Hannah Brett-Schenck’s bridesmaid dress
Period furniture and decorations adorn the Brett Homestead
I went back to visit the house during the holidays as my tour guide raved about the decorations. It ended up being some garland around the banister and around the fireplace with some greens and fruit around the dining room table. Interesting tour of the Dutch Christmas holidays but the decorations were rather simple for the times. The you of the house is an example of how the town had grown up around the house.
The downtown walk towards the Roundout Hotel and the Falls is beautiful at anytime of the year.
Downtown Beacon in the middle of the summer in 2025
A downtown sculpture by a local artist
It was a pretty amazing night with people walking up and down the downtown at night admiring the lights, the musicians strolling and the warm drinks at some of the stores . Their Downtown Association did a really nice job with the event.
Downtown Beacon during Christmas time
The decorations downtown
A evil looking snowman in the window
The beautiful views of the mountains surrounding the town
The waterfall during winter time
I had wanted to come back but between work and the holidays, I never got back. Then time rolled by and then COVID closed everything down until 2021. So there was a lot of waiting to travel back until the end of 2021. That’s when things began to open up again and then close by the holidays due to the second wave. Then it opened back up in the Spring and then you saw the magic of Beacon come to life.
The snow backdropping the downtown
Downtown Beacon at Christmas time is quite picturesque
The beauty of Mount Beacon in the background of the city
The waterfall by the Hotel Beacon used to power the mills in the summer months
The waterfall by the hotel patio restaurant
In 2025, Beacon has really come into its own with most of the downtown fully occupied with all sorts of innovative and very interesting restaurants and shops. The sticker prices have also gone up as the restaurants have gotten very expensive here. Some of the more reasonable restaurants that I had eaten at in the past had either closed or have raised their prices since COVID. In some cases the prices of going out to eat here are the same as Manhattan.
One of the markers for a turn of the century steam heater on one of the buildings downtown
I recently explored the Beacon Historical Society at 61 Leonard Street just off the main part of downtown. The museum hosted two exhibitions, one on brick manufactures along the Hudson River and the other on pictures of the progression of change in Beacon by a local photographer. This led me to discover even more changes to that part of the town. The Beacon Historical Society, which like the Madame Brett House has limited hours during the month and year so again plan accordingly.
The Beacon Historical Society at 61 Leonard Street
The second exhibition that I walked through was the ‘From Haverstraw to Beacon: Inside the Brickyards the built New York City’, an extensive look at the brickyards and the clay deposits that once lined the Hudson River that build most buildings in the City in the end of the Eighteenth, Nineteenth and early Twentieth centuries.
The exhibition sign
The map of the location of the brickyards along the Hudson River. This depended on the location of the clay deposits.
Transportation of freight and people for both recreation and business was described in this display of different boats down the Hudson River.
The display of understanding the brick business
Display of the different companies and processes of making bricks
The display of people that make up the industry
The process of mining, making, drying and creating the bricks that would end up in New York City
Some of the bricks and the companies from the New York market that were created in the region
Once I had finished my tour of downtown, I headed out of town and visited the historical site, Mount Gulian, the historical home of the Verplanck family, who are still prominent in the area. The original house burned down in the 1930’s and this home is a recreation of the original built on the same foundation. I have visited both in the summer snd when decorated for Christmas.
In the Summer of 2024, I returned to Mount Gulian to take a full tour of the estate in the summer when everything was in bloom. The same house but a different feeling than the Christmas holiday season. On the Summer tour, you are able to walk the gardens, the barn and the grounds around the house. Plus the gardens were in bloom so it was a more complete tour.
The back lawn on the Mount Gulian Homestead estate
The lawn to the gardens from the house
I started the tour of the property while I waited for my tour at 2:00pm. I walked the lawns and walked around the gardens. The property looked so much nicer than in the winter months. You can see the vibrance of the gardens and the beauty of the lawn and woods against the house. The gardens were well maintained and the flowers were still in bloom in the late summer months.
The gardens with the house in the distance
When I started the tour of the house in the Summer of 2024, it was similar to the December tour in the description of the house but the tour guide discussed the house from the perspective of the family living here full time when they moved from their New York City home to the Hudson River Valley permanently.
The Living Room with original furniture from the Verplanck family
Our first stop was in the Living Room where original family furnishings decorate the room. The family would gather in this room for specials occasions and holidays. The tour guide explained that the room contained some items that used to be in the original house including the portrait of the last resident of the house, Virginia Verplanck before the house burned down in the 1930’s.
The Verplanck Family china
Portrait of Virginia Verplanck as a child. She was the last Verplanck to live in the house
The Library
Revolutionary War artifacts in the house
The house was used by General Washington and his troops during the Revolutionary War and Baron von Steuben used the house during the war as well. The proximity both Washington’s Headquarters and the City made it an ideal location.
The portrait of the Baron Van Steuben
We next toured the kitchen, which had been decorated for a Dutch Christmas the last time I had visited. The hearth was from the original house and you could see how things were cooked in the open fire and then in the beehive oven where breads and cakes were cooked.
The kitchen in the basement
The cooking hearth and heat of the house
Cooking and Kitchen equipment
The items a cook would need to prepare meals in a Dutch kitchen.
The Grounds part of the tour:
After the full house tour, we went out to the grounds to see the barn and the gardens. The barn was the American Dutch style barn which was specific to this area. It was large and airy, enough to hold the crops and the animals in case of bad weather.
The Dutch Barn sign
The outside of the Dutch Barn
The Maitland bird holes in the barn to eat bugs on the hay and vegetables
The house officially had closed for the season at the end of October and was decorated for the holidays for the weekend between December 14-16th to represent the Dutch celebrations. There had been a Children’s tea the Monday before the New Year, so the house was closing down for the season. I was able to revisit the house and see it decorated beautifully for the holiday season in December of 2024.
The beautiful garland and lights adorn the house at Christmas time
The front door is very welcoming for the holidays
The front door was beautifully decorated for the Christmas season
The house as you enter through the front door
The house is very unique. You would have never known it was a reconstruction. The house really looked its age. The funny part of the house is that is at the very back of an old estate that had been developed with townhouses from the main road to almost the border of the house’s property, so it was strange to drive through to find the house. Once in the semicircular driveway, you plunge back into time.
The Hallway decorated for Christmas
The Hallway decorations in more detail
The Staircase to the Second Floor (Closed) was beautifully decorated for the holidays
The large porch in the front of the house looks over what’s left of the lawn and the housing developments. Once inside you enter the foyer and long hallway with rooms on each side. Each room was or had been decorated for the holidays with garland, mistletoe, fruits and a Christmas tree in one room, a kind of mixture of old Dutch meets Victorian Christmas. Still the effects were nice and it was very festive.
The furniture in the hallway decorated for Christmas in 2024
The furniture in the Hallway was nicely decorated for the holidays
What I enjoyed is that in each room, there were stories of the Verplanck family and the role that they played in the formation of the community and in the nation as well. In real life though, this much decorating would not have been done. This is a more elaborate look on how the Victorians would have decorated the house. The Dining Room would have been one of the most elaborate for entertaining during the holiday season for dining and entertaining.
Until the Victorian Age, things had been kept very simple. You would have decorated the house before Christmas Eve and then on Christmas Day, there would have been an afternoon church service and a nice lunch. Gift giving did not come into play until after the Civil War.
What I enjoyed is that in each room, there were stories of the Verplanck family and the role that they played in the formation of the community and in the nation as well. In real life though, this much decorating would not have been done. This is a more elaborate look on how the Victorians would have decorated the house. The Dining Room would have been one of the most elaborate for entertaining during the holiday season for dining and entertaining.
Until the Victorian Age, things had been kept very simple. You would have decorated the house before Christmas Eve and then on Christmas Day, there would have been an afternoon church service and a nice lunch. Gift giving did not come into play until after the Civil War.
The Dining Room set for Christmas dinner in 2024
The full view of the Dining Room
The Dining Room Table and the fireplace mantle
The back part of the Dining Room
The Dining Room sideboard decorated for the holidays
The Historic Documents in the Dining Room with a funeral dress (why this was here I was not too sure)
The elaborate decorations between the windows in the Dining Room
The detailed decorations on the Dining Room table ready for a wonderful Christmas dinner
The beautiful fresh Christmas tree in the corner of the Dining Room in 2024
All of the rooms had artifacts that the family keeps donating the house as most of the original furnishings were destroyed in the 1931 fire. Still the furnishings are vintage to the time period. Here and there are stories of the house, the people that lived here and about the family in their daily lives. There were also stories of the Revolutionary War and its headquarters of Major General Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben. It is a really great tour at any time of the year.
There is a lot of more to do in Beacon from street fairs to film festivals or just a nice day of shopping on a warm weekend or during the holiday season. Things keep changing in the downtown as I have seen over the last six year of visiting and I look forward to new changes when I visit next.
I could not believe how fast the Christmas holiday season creeped up on us. One minute I am finishing classes for the summer and the next I am running around the State of New Jersey and Upstate New York attending the start of Christmas events. I have never seen a year pass by so quickly.
I started the Christmas touring early with a quick trip on the Thanksgiving break to Cooperstown. NY for some R & R at The Otesaga Hotel. The hotel was having some massive discounts on rooms and I had the time and money for a quick trip upstate. Plus I had wanted to update my birthday blog and needed new pictures, so I traveled Upstate, through the winding back roads and highways of the Catskills to Cooperstown, NY. It was a relaxing trip.
The town was preparing for the Christmas festivities the Friday after Thanksgiving. When I arrived, they were finishing decorating the downtown for their holiday parade.
Downtown Cooperstown, NY decorated for the Christmas holidays
The finishing touches on Santa’s Village
The holiday treats in the Schneider’s Bakery window
The downtown is really picturesque as urban renewal never hit this small town and it still has its Victorian charm. All the local businesses have been replaced by tourist spots but the architecture of the homes and businesses still amaze me. The buildings were decorated with bows, garland and lights and the windows of the shops that were open were preparing for a long holiday season.
Downtown Cooperstown, NY decorated for the holidays
The hotel was starting to decorate for the holidays as well holding off the major decorating until after Thanksgiving. Traditionally the hotel closed for business after the Thanksgiving weekend but since COVID, has been open year round with winter activities. The hotel will be decked out fully for the holidays.
The outside of the front of the hotel with Christmas trees
The inside lobby of The Otesaga Hotel ready for the holidays to start
My stay up in Cooperstown was relaxing and enjoyable. I toured the museums, walked the grounds and explored the downtown, which most was closed this early holiday week. For me it was a two day escape to relax after a kind semester and getting ready for finals. Santa could not have provided me a better gift.
After my trip up to Cooperstown, it was a whirlwind of running around over the Thanksgiving week. I got back on a Wednesday and then Thanksgiving was the next day. The weather cleared and I went into Manhattan for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, which I had not seen live in a decade. Again, I was updating pictures on an older blog.
It was a beautiful sunny day in Manhattan and the parade route was packed with people. It was a lot of locals but there was loads of tourists as well as I heard all sorts of languages being spoken as well. In the post-COVID era, tourism is back in New York.
Getting ready for the parade on West 46th Street an excellent spot to view the parade
It was really great to see the parade again and we had the perfect late Fall weather. It was clear, sunny and about 50 degrees outside by the start of the parade. Cool but perfect for this time of the year.
The Tom Turkey float opening the parade
The floats and balloons heading down Sixth Avenue to the Macy’s store on West 34th Street
The Gingerbread House float
Towards the end of the parade on the Christmas float, singer Darlene Love, who sang ‘Nobody aught to be alone on Christmas’, which was featured in the movie, ‘Home Alone II’, was in the parade and I thought that was really cool.
Singer Darlene Love on the Christmas float
My video on her performance in the parade as she passed by us. Everyone was excited that she was in the parade!
Then Santa arrived to much excitement of the crowd. I have to say from where I stood, this Santa really looked like Santa. He could not have been more engaging with the crowd as the float passed by.
The Santa float passing by us
Santa waving at us as we waved back
Santa passing by us on West 46th Street to head to Macy’s to open the holiday shopping season
The parade passed us by and was over before noon
After the parade was over, I was starved and made my way downtown. I could not believe how mobbed the City was all over the place Many stores and restaurants were open all over the place and the sidewalks packed with people.
The statue of Horace Greeley was decorated all around
By the time I passed Herald Square, the parade had ended and they were taking down the barriers. I could see tourists looking to see if the store was open! In 2015, they opened for a Midnight Sale (Union rules on opening on Thanksgiving), and after that I never saw it open that early again.
Macy’s during the day
Macy’s decked out for the holidays later that evening
The store was decorated for the upcoming holiday season starting at 6:00am the next morning. I was back in the City the next morning working in Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen for a post Thanksgiving meal and passed the store afterwards and the whole area was mobbed.
The ‘Wonderful Stories’ theme of the storied windows
The windows were decorated for the holidays and the store was so creative with the Santa theme.
The ‘Wonderful Stories’ theme
The Macy’s Parade window
The inside workings of the store
The outside of the store
I made my was down Broadway, taking the same route I had done three weeks earlier on my Broadway walk down the length of Broadway. How the foliage changes so fast when I arrived in Madison Square Park.
I made my way down busy lower Fifth Avenue to Washington Square Park, where the students from NYU hung out. The park was really busy that afternoon considering school was out for the Thanksgiving Weekend. It also was decked out for the holidays. I took my walk down Broadway the way I walked to school last year (God is NYU over already?!).
The entrance to the park from the NYU side of the park at the start of the Christmas holidays
The entrance to the park so beautifully decorated
I reached my Thanksgiving dinner destination and nothing says Thanksgiving than Chinatown. I thought maybe a few restaurants would be open and neighborhood quiet. Both Chinatown and Little Italy streets and restaurants were mobbed! Mott Street was packed with people. I was floored by that. I went to one of my favorite restaurants for Thanksgiving dinner, Wonton Noodle Garden, known now as Mei Lai Wah, at 23 Pell Street.
Wonton Noodle Garden (Mei Lai Wah) at 23 Pell Street
The food is always wonderful and the service is excellent. I always eat at the bar area in the back and you get the best service and see what is going on. Being at the bar you observe not only what is going on in the kitchen but in the dining room. I ordered the Cantonese Wonton Soup with roast pork, pork wontons and egg noodles and an order of Fried Wontons, which are so good.
My Thanksgiving dinner of Cantonese Wonton Soup and Fried Wontons
The Cantonese Wonton Soup with roast pork and wontons
Fried Pork Wontons
It was a really wonderful meal and the perfect Thanksgiving dinner with a nice twist. This is how to spend the holiday.
After dinner, I walked around Chinatown on a cool night and it was so picturesque. When the lights went down earlier in the day, you can see the true beauty of Manhattan.
Mott Street at night, the heart of Chinatown
The beauty of Chinatown and lower Manhattan
I decided to walk back to the Port Authority and admire the views on the way up Broadway. I never get tired of the lights on Broadway.
The Empire State Building on Thanksgiving at night
It really was a wonderful holiday and it was fun to spend it in Manhattan.
After working in Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen the next morning and walking the streets of Alphabet City for my blog. It was fun to explore the streets of this diverse neighborhood. I also knew the weekend was going to be lot of running around and I wanted to get as much done in Manhattan as possible. I knew that I would not get back to finishing the streets until after the holidays and then it would be cold.
The next morning it was an early morning drive to Long Beach Island and the holiday activities of the shore towns the line it of Beach Haven, Ships Bottom and Barnegat Light. Even in the colder months, there is a lot going on in these once sleepy summer towns. They are open for the holiday season and the towns have lots of activities going on.
The beauty of the inlet that separates Long Beach Island from Seaside Park
The boats were out in full force that cool morning
You have to be there to experience how relaxing it is
It was a cool and crisp day and there were a lot of activities going on all over the island. There were places I wanted to revisit. This holiday would be one long picture taking mission.
Watching people walk along the bunker by the lighthouse
Walking along the pathway back to the car
Learning about the areas role in the Revolutionary War
After the tour of the lighthouse and its grounds, I headed over to Viking Village for the Crafts Fair and Santa’s visit. That is always a lot of fun.
The Viking Village Craft Fair and some of the interesting work at the fair
The statue outside is always clever in its decorations
The entertainment was really good. Musician Jimmy Aziz played for everyone in the afternoon
His performance singing “Easy as Sunday Morning”
I really enjoyed the performance as did other people who stood by to listen to the mini concert. I got to walk around the craft fair, admiring all the artists works and many of the display pieces. There were a lot of talented artists showing there work that afternoon.
One of the craft displays outside a store
While I was walking around waiting for Santa to arrive on the fire truck, I was admiring the display the people at Viking Village had set up in his honor for the holidays.
The Santa display set up in Santa’s honor
Then 1:00pm arrived and we could hear the bells and whistles of the fire truck as Santa and Mrs. Claus arrive at Viking Village. There is always a lot of anticipation for their arrival and the crowds lined up so deep, that the truck dropped them off at the entrance and they walked in this time.
Santa and Mrs. Claus arrive by fire truck with help of the Barnegat Light Fire Department
Santa and Mrs. Claus arrive to a enthusiastic crowd
Then they sat down to join the crowd and hear requests from children and adults alike. They were busy for the rest of the afternoon.
Santa and Mrs. Claus await the first family to visit them
The proud couple with their first little visitor
As the long lines started for their visit, I decided to get some lunch while the crowds waited in line. In the same complex was the restaurant, ‘Off the Hook’, a wonderful seafood restaurant I had eaten at before. It was the perfect place for an outside lunch on the picnic tables.
Viking Fresh Off the Hook at 1905 Bayview Avenue in Barnegat Light, NJ
The food here is excellent and again I really enjoyed my meal. They had a limited menu and I started with the New England Clam Chowder, which I enjoyed so much the year before.
The start of my meal, the New England Clam Chowder
It was thick and rich and loaded with clams
For my lunch, I ordered the Fried Shrimp Tacos. They were served in a soft taco shell with fresh shredded lettuce and tomatoes. With a little hot sauce and sour cream, they made the best lunch.
The Fried Shrimp Tacos with fresh shredded lettuce and tomatoes and fried potato chips
Now this is dining at the shore!
Yum!
Maybe it was the salt air or the excitement of the holidays and Santa’s visit or just the beautiful day of just the delicious food and eating outside on the picnic bench but it was such a nice lunch and I really enjoyed myself. The meal was excellent. It was also nice to eat outside on a sunny day when the weather is cool but not cold.
On the way back to Beach Haven to visit the Beach Haven Library Open House, I stopped at Baked on the Beach at 2102 Long Beach Boulevard for dessert. I love their cookies and needed something sweet to finish the meal.
Baked on the Beach at 2102 Long Beach Boulevard in Surf City
I had to get one of their cookies and got the ‘Beach Bum’ with all sorts of chips inside an oatmeal cookie.
The Beach Bum cookie
The delicious desserts at Baked at the Beach
After I finished at the Craft Fair and lunch, I headed down to Beach Haven to go to the Beach Haven Library & Museum Open House. I never knew that there was a museum at their library so I looked forward to seeing it. What a beautiful library.
The Beach Haven Library & Museum at 219 North Beach Avenue
It is such a beautiful and historical library dating back from 1924. The downstairs was very interesting with wooden bookshelves and display cases and shelves showcasing the libraries collection. On the top floor was the museum with many artifacts from the island’s nautical and resort past.
The first floor of the museum with the library book collection
The second floor book collection
The second floor museum gallery
While the museum was small, it was packed with all sorts of interesting artifacts. There were hotel ledgers from long closed hotels, relics from ship wrecks and items from local families.
Hotel ledgers where guests once signed in
The artifacts save from ship wrecks and pictures of local spots
The upstairs conference room decorated for the holidays with book shelves lined with the collection
Downstairs there was a very nice Open House with snacks and a working fire with music and nice conversation with the staff.
The Open House Refreshment table
The Christmas decorations in the library with the working fire place
The Christmas tree in the Children’s Room
After I left the library, I explored the Downtown area and the Pharmacy had their Open House too with ice carvings and several contests. This was a how many reindeer can you count in the window contest.
The Counting Reindeer contest in the window
So many reindeer
The ice carving demonstration
Before I left for my last event on the island, the Ships Bottom Tree Lighting Ceremony, I stopped for some ice cream at The Woo Hoo. This is always a treat and I do not care how cold it gets there is nothing like homemade ice cream.
I decided on the Christmas specialty flavor, ‘Santa’s Favorite Cookie’, which was a Cinnamon ice cream filled with crushed biscotti cookie, cookie dough, chocolate chips and M& M’s. It was heavenly.
‘Santa’s Favorite Cookie’ ice cream
Yum!
I love the holiday decorations at the Woo Hoo
With the wonderful lunch and some time before the tree lighting, I walked over to the pier to see the sun set over the island. This is always a treat.
The sunset over the pier
The sunset was so beautiful that night
The decorations in the park in Beach Haven
It got darker for the tree lighting ceremony and I got so lost. Then I did not know where the tree lighting was taking place. I had to Google the location about three times and I finally found it down by the harbor by the bay. By that point, they had lit the tree and people were visiting Santa. It was a nice way to end the evening at the shore.
The Christmas Tree lighting ceremony in Ships Bottom, NJ
People were taking pictures by the tree and visiting Santa. They also had refreshments for everyone as well.
The beautiful Christmas tree in Ships Bottom by the bay
The decorations with Santa leading the way
The festive pirate ship
People were visiting Santa in the gazebo that night
This was a nice way to end my evening at the shore. The lights and the sounds were really nice and there was still a nice crowd when I left the tree lighting. It was really a wonderful afternoon at the shore. Long Beach Island knows how to celebrate Christmas.
After another long week at work, it was going to be another long weekend of activities as I had the Snowflake Festival in Kingston, the Cape May Historical Walking Tour and their Christmas Parade and then the Bergen County Firemen’s Home Association Christmas Party for the residents followed by a Sinterklaas event at the historical Van Allen House, home to the Oakland Historical Society. I would be in the car all weekend.
I had gotten an email from the Dorsky Museum on the SUNY New Paltz campus that the BFA/MFA Student Opening Show was going to be that night. I decided to attend before I went to the Snowflake Festival in Downtown Kingston. Don’t ask me how but I attended both events with plenty of time to spare.
I got up to New Paltz in record time and had time before the art opening to visit Historic Huguenot Street, the complex of historic homes in the historic district in the downtown area.
Some of the homes were decorated with simple wreaths and not much else but the snow from the recent storm offered a picturesque view with a Christmas feel.
The decorations outside the Dubois House
The historic Dubois House
The Janet Hasbrouck House
The historic Presbyterian Church decorated for the holiday
As it got darker, I made my way to the SUNY campus and to the art museum. It really was a good show with a nice reception and interesting art. While the students were devouring the food at reception, I had the whole gallery to myself to look at the art.
I have to admit that some of the art was quite unusual. The students did have a streak of creativity to them.
The Dorsky Museum Gallery
Some of the unique pieces
Once the students devoured the Reception buffet, everyone came in to see the exhibition
This is the one piece that really stuck with me at the show
The gallery at the museum is rather small do I got through the whole show in less than an hour. I had a quick snack with what was left on the buffet table, which was not much. The food was really good and a snared the final meatball.
Just enough of a snack to get through the next two hours
I only stayed at the Gallery opening for about an hour and then it was back on the road again and up I 87 I went to downtown Kingston to the Annual Snowflake Festival. The weather was cold but at least it was not raining like the previous year. The crowds were beginning to grow that night.
The crowds that evening on East Front Street
The decorations in downtown Kingston, NY for the Annual Snowflake Festival
The first entertainer at the beginning of the event I saw was the Fire Thrower and she did an amazing job interesting us. She really got the crowd engaged.
The Fire Thrower engaged the crowds downtown
The next group of entertainers I saw was the band on stilts, whom I have seen at Sinterklaas for years. They got the crowd motivated.
The guys do a marvelous job every year
Even their Christmas songs are fun. Here are them performing ‘Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer’
I made my way around the downtown this year to try to enjoy everything in the festival, which meant running from one thing to another.
Main Street where the stage was and the core of the entertainment
My first stop was the bank with all its entertainment and things to do. They really kept the crowds entertained.
There was a group of singers performing Christmas carols. I thought they were the bank staff.
They had all sorts of desserts and hot beverages like Hot Cider and Chocolate for the crowds
Mrs. Claus was entertaining all of us with puppets and stories. There was also crafts for the kids
Mrs. Claus posing for me. It took me a half hour to finally email this picture to here.
Then I headed over to the Dutch Reformed Church to hear the fiddlers. The church is always so beautifully decorated for the holidays. It never disappoints anyone to just visit inside and keep warm and listen to wonderful music.
The inside of the Dutch Reformed Church that evening
The start of the concert with the Strawberry Fiddlers performing
Here you get to see the true beauty of the church
I then got a close up shot of the fiddlers
The Strawberry Fiddlers performing that night. They really got the crowds going. I heard two songs performed before I moved on to the next thing to do.
Walking through the well lit downtown where freshly fallen snow the night before made it look more picturesque.
The downtown was amazing at night
My next stop was the Kingston Volunteer Museum’s display of antique fire trucks.
I didn’t go inside because the crowds packed the place and I remembered from both years how God awful their hot chocolate was and bypassed it this year. Still the fire trucks were the big lure and festively decorated with Christmas lights.
The decorated trucks outside the museum
As the evening wore on, I had never seen an evening fly by. My last stop of the evening was the Senate House, which was closed that evening, but in the barn Santa and Mrs. Claus were receiving visitors and a guitarist was performing.
The line to see Santa was about sixty deep and I really did not have time to see them. I had seen Mrs. Claus already.
Santa and Mrs. Claus greeting guests that night
So I listened to the guitarist, who I seen perform before. He performed all sorts of classic Christmas songs with a good personality. He talked about this traditional Italian Christmas song that his Sicilian wife loved so much.
The singer performing on that cold night. I do not know how he did it.
Here he is performing ‘Dominick, the Italian Christmas Donkey’
The musical performance of ‘Dominic, the Italian Christmas Donkey’
The last thing I did that night after the performance was get in line for the horse drawn carriage around the downtown. The line had been fifty deep most of the night. It ended up I was the last person allowed in line as it was the last ride of the night.
The horse drawn carriage rides that night
Everyone was trying to get on the last ride of the night and begged because they had kids. I love it when parents use their kids as pawns. Even so just as we were to get on the carriage a group of people snuck out of a restaurant and took the spots of the family in front of me and myself and we could not get on.
They were so pissed. The police were just starting to reopen the downtown roads and the carriage guys said he had no control over it. So the carriage guy said he would take us on a ride back to the other side of downtown to load up these very cold horses.
The temperature had really dropped at this point. We got the best ride because we got to see more of downtown and see it lit up for the evening.
The very last ride on the horse drawn carriage through the downtown. It was the best trip of the night!
By this point the event was over. It was past 8:00pm and when this event ends, it ends! The roads opened up and the crowds disappeared. I turned around and everyone was gone.
Like last year, most of the restaurants close at 8:00pm on the dot. I am not sure why. One of the few restaurants open that night downtown was Vincenzo’s Pizza at 305 Wall Street. It was packed when I arrived being one of the few restaurants open at that time.
The inside was crowded as there was barely anything open after 8:00pm
I needed something to warm me up and carry me over before the two hour ride home and pizza would not do. So I ordered a Meatball sub. Was that ever good on a cold night.
The best comfort food that night. Yum!
After dinner was over, the crowds were gone and I had to head home. I stayed for just a little bit longer to admire the decorations one more time and visit their Christmas tree.
This downtown display replaced the Pumpkin man from a month ago
The Kingston Christmas tree downtown
I headed back to the car and managed to get home in an hour and forty-five minutes. There was no traffic on the road that night. I was happy as I had to turn around early that next morning for my trip to Cape May for the Christmas Walking tour.
I only got about six hours sleep before I had an early ride to Cape May for the Christmas walking tour of the decorated homes, churches and B & B’s. I had been wanting to do this for years and with Sinterklaas cancelled again in Rhinebeck, NY this was my opportunity to go on the tour.I got on the road early for the three hour ride down the Garden State Parkway.
Needless to say, the walking tour in Cape May was an excellent experience and one I have wanted to do for years but the B & B I stayed at in Wildwood was a complete horror show. They never turned the heat on in the house and I slept in a room that was 32 degrees. An igloo was warmer than this place. That was a whole other story.
The Christmas tree at this B & B was the only good thing I experienced that night
I got to Wildwood and dropped my things off. I felt something coming on and I seriously needed Chinese food especially Hot & Sour soup. There are no Chinese restaurants in Cape May proper so I had to eat in Wildwood. Most restaurants this time of year are closed because the town is so quiet. The only choice that took a credit card is the Dragon House at 3616 Pacific Avenue in Downtown Wildwood.
I had eaten here many, many years ago the first year of when I started attending the NJ State Firemen’s Convention. It was the only option in town and I swear it was like a step back into the early 1970’s both in decor and food. It still is a Cantonese holdout.
The restaurant still has paneling and red backed booths
The food is just good here and I will leave it at that. It is not bad but not great and it would not warrant another trip. It served its purpose as I ordered the lunch combination meal of Hot & Sour Soup and Beef and Broccoli. Everything was just average but the soup was spicy enough to open me up and I did feel better for the long night of activities.
My 1970’s lunch started with Hot & Sour soup
The Hot & Sour Soup did open me up
The Beef and Broccoli was just good
After lunch was over, I headed down to pick up my tickets for the walking tour and walk around Cape May. It was promising to be a very cold night but it was in the mid 40’s when I got there. I dressed as warm as I could.
Enjoying the decorated homes of Cape May
Cape May at Christmas is a fantasy land of Christmas decorations
I started the day with a walk around the Physick Estate in Cape May, where I picked up my tickets. I had toured the house at various times of the year so I knew the home quite well.
The Physick Estate was the start of the holiday walking tour
The home was once the home of Dr. Physick and his extended family. I picked up my tickets and started to walk around Downtown Cape May. The crowds were overflowing into the town because of the Cape May Holiday Parade. It would be starting about an half hour after I arrived.
The start of the parade with local organizations and the Coast Guard Band to start the parade
Then the floats and bands joined the line up
In the beginning of the parade, the Coast Guard, with its band and equipment entertained all of us. The boats were lit up with brightly colored lights and the band played on.
The Coast Guard boats were lit up at the beginning of the parade
The Cape May Fire Department then joined the parade
More decorated Coast Guard boats passed by
I only stayed for the first half hour as the parade winded through Downtown Cape May to the large crowds of on lookers.
I started the Cape May Holiday Walking tour with my green band on and map in hand. I walked two blocks to my first stop at the Cape May Stage, where I had seen many shows during the holidays.
The Cape May Stage decorated for the current production
The woman who helps run the theater told us the story of the building and of its time as a church. Then about its history as a theater and the famous actors who have graced the stage.
The Christmas tree in the lobby
My next stop up the street was the Macedonia Baptist Church at 630 Lafayette Street, which was decorated for the upcoming holiday Mass.
The tour guide who was a parishioner of the tour told us the history of the church and its place in the community.
The Macedonia Baptist Church decorated for the holidays
All the Inns and B & B’s that were around the square near Columbia Street were packed to the gills with people waiting in lines that were about 40 deep so doubled back to Hughes Street and visited the J. Stratton Ware House, one of the few private homes on the tour. The house was nicely decorated with festive green.
The J. Stratton Ware House at 655 Hughes Street
The J. Stratton Ware House during the day
The inside of the living room of the house
The main room
The festive Dining Room table
On the way to the next destination. I passed the Chalfonte Hotel, where I should have stayed that night rather that night instead of the place I decided on in Wildwood. We all learn from our mistakes.
The Chalfonte Hotel at 301 Howard Street decorated for the holidays
The Chalfonte Hotel during the day in the Summer of 2025
The hotel’s first floor had been winterized and had been open that weekend but the rooms were sold out and the only one that was open was $250.00, which I could not afford that weekend. So I stayed in my Airbnb ‘igloo’ that night. More on that later.
The next B & B I visited was the Beauclaire’s B & B at 23 Ocean Street (the inn during the day)
The Bedford Inn at 805 Stockton Avenue during the day
The inside fireplace decorated for the holidays
The banister fully decorated
The Christmas tree in their parlor
The White Christmas tree in the foyer
The Parlor at the Inn
The last house of the evening I toured was the Physick Family, where I started the tour during the day. I have visited the home many times at Christmas and I never get bored of looking at all the Christmas decorations. Dr. Physick was once prominent resident in town whose home is still a showcase of the community.
The Physick House when I arrived that afternoon of the tour
The estate was decorated both inside and out and there were lights and decorations all over the grounds. It really puts you in a festive mood and it is a house you should not miss at the holidays.
The 1879 Emlen Physick Estate at 1048 Washington Street
The home is always so beautifully decorated for the holidays and I try to take this tour every year. While the decorations do not change that much it is still spectacular to tour.
Being greeted by the docent in the Living Room
The Parlor was decorated for the holidays
The beautiful woodwork in the home
The Christmas tree was decked for the holidays
The sideboard during the holidays
The Dining Room table set for Christmas lunch
The elaborate table setting for the holiday dinner
The Table Tree in the Parlor
The beautiful decorations set around the room for the holidays
It is always nice to take your time to tour the house and admire all the beautiful objects to enjoy looking at. The house is a real treat to visit at the holidays. After my visit to the house, I took a tour of the gift shop and admired all the beautiful decorations there as well.
The Physick House Gift Shop at the holidays
After the tour was over, I was starved and you will be amazed how quickly places close around Cape May even after a major event. After walking around for awhile and passing packed bars that there would be no way to get a seat, I came across Mario’s Pizza and Italian Eatery at 315 Ocean Street Unit 7, that was still open for the evening.
Mario’s Pizza and Italian Eatery at 315 Ocean Street Unit 7
On a progressively cold night, the warm pizzeria was a God send. It was one of the few restaurants open after the tour and the pizza was really good. Their red sauce base for the pizza is so well spiced and dinner was just delicious.
The pizza was really good that night and warmed me up
After such a wonderful evening in Cape May, the real fun began when I got back to Wildwood. The weather had been dropping all night and it had to be about 38 degrees by 10:00pm when I returned to the B & B.
It had been warm inside the building when I left that afternoon but when I returned, the house seemed cool. I called the number and tried to talk to innkeeper but no one picked up. I went down to the Christmas tree in the Living Room to get some work down but it just kept getting cooler in the room. So I called again.
This merry go round went on all night with me calling and texting through Airbnb and their phone number all night. By 3:00am, I gave up and slept in my clothes with every blanket in the room on top of me. I barely got two and a half hours sleep with an almost three hour car trip ahead of me. I was pissed off.
The only saving grace the next morning was the shower was hot and I was able to warm up. I slammed the keys down at the innkeeper and marched out of this place. I eventually got reimbursed for the stay (I know the owner screwed up) but this was after long talks Airbnb. My advice to my readers is stay away from the Sea Gypsy B & B in Wildwood, NJ.
On the way to Boonton, I had to stop at a rest stop to regroup and eat some breakfast before our meeting that morning. I stopped at the Burger King at the Wildwood Rest Stop on the Garden State Parkway and was pleasantly surprised by the wonderful breakfast and friendly service there. The woman working the counter was so nice to me, it put me back into a much better mood.
The Wildwood rest stop was very nice that morning (and warm!)
I had a simple Croissanwich meal with sausage and you do not know how this cheered me up after a bad night. It just warmed me up.
My breakfast that morning
Even the rest stop Christmas tree cheered me up that morning
Work was in full force with all the Presentations of the students final projects. I was totally drained by the end of the week. Plus the memory of that freezing cold room in Wildwood, I did not want to travel the next weekend. The weather was not going to be nice either and I did not want to drive as snow.
After a very long weekend last week and a storm coming through the next weekend, I cancelled all the plans I had and just stayed home. I had wanted to see the Christmas House Tour in Mauricetown, NJ but with a snow storm coming decided against it. Smart move as I had to dig out on Sunday morning. It was a spectacular view thought.
The house in the first snow fall of the year
Our street after the storm
After I dug myself out, I walked around the property and admired the view. I could not believe how quiet and beautiful the backyard was the morning.
The backyard was a winter wonderland
The backyard after I shoveled the walks. It would melt that afternoon but was so beautiful when the snow stopped.
That Wednesday I had a series of presentations with my three classes at the college. For the last six weeks, the students had labored on these projects and I looked forward to seeing them.
The Tuesday before this, I needed a haircut, so I headed into New York and off to York Barber shop where I have been getting I have been getting my haircut since my barber, Jerry, retired after almost forty years of being my barber.
I have been coming here for a year and they do a wonderful job with my hair and I loved the scented hot towel after I am finished with my cut. I looked for my presentation.
The inside of York Barber Shop
I love the old-fashioned feel of this shop that has been around since the 1920’s and some of the barbers have been around for over thirty years.
After I got my haircut, I had time to walk around Manhattan and see all the decorations. So many homeowners and businesses decorated for the holidays and you can see the creativity and originality in getting ready for the holidays.
As I walked up to the barber’s and back, these were some of the best pictures I took around Manhattan as the sun set and the lights came on.
The churches are especially decked out for the holidays
Walking around Greeley Square decked out for the holidays
Brownstones on the Upper East Side decorated awaiting Santa
The lone Christmas tree in the window
6 1/2 Street by the MoMA
6 1/2 Avenue by Sixth Avenue
The lights in the pathway next to the CBS building
The beauty of the Upper East Side
Around the corner from the barber, I saw this lone wreath on this building
I thought this was the spirit of Christmas
I then walked back down through the Upper East Side, I saw all sorts of beautiful displays for the holidays.
The Pierre Hotel at 2 East 61st Street decorated for the holidays
Then I took a tour of both Saks Fifth Avenue and Bergdorf Goodman. For two stores that are teetering on the edge of bankruptcy, they looked pretty good. We are seeing their ‘gilded’ sheen and we will see what happens to them after Christmas.
The floors were so elegantly decorated for the holidays. The company though is ‘dancing on the rim of a volcano’ right now. The store looked so beautiful on each of the floor and I figured this is where all the money was going. The in store designers did a magnificent job with the store for this holiday season.
The back floor of the first floor of Saks
The escalators between the first and second floors
A first floor clothing display
This was a display was on the first floor perfume department
Then I walked outside to admire their Christmas windows. They were not their best but I thought some of them were fun. These were my favorites.
The snowman through Central Park
A cab ride down Fifth Avenue
The baking of Gingerbread treats
Then across the street from Saks Fifth Avenue was Rockefeller Center as it turned to twilight.
The decorated lions outside the New York Public Library
Then I headed back to Port Authority to head home. I stopped by the New York Public Library to see the decorations and take a walk through the Christmas Village in Bryant Park. I love looking at the lions when they are decorated.
The Christmas tree at the Bryant Park ice skating rink
It was a nice but quick afternoon in the City before the Presentations the next day . The students had to Present their final projects which was a major part of the grade. They had been working on this for the previous six weeks and it was time to see the results. All of these projects are under my Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. banner for my business classes.
My 8:00am class presenting the ‘ Sounds and Subs’ Team Project
Some of my 8:00am students presenting their diagrams of their restaurant for their presentations
The day of the project, I have the students dress in professional dress to present their ideas to the clients. The student executives presented their ideas on location, design, menus and ideas for local musicians who could entertain on a nightly basis. The client was looking for a concept that would attract music lovers not just from the suburbs but from Manhattan, Brooklyn and Newark.
Then at 11:00am, I had my next class present their project “Farmer’s Market-A Farm to Table” dining concept with the same set up as the other classes. They had to pick a location, figure the rent, logistics and zoning, the menu, create items for the gift shop, create an opening party and do the social media on Tik Tok and YouTube.
My 11:00am class Team Pictured for the ‘Farmer’s Market-Farm to Table ‘ concept
This class created menus with Farm to Table concept with sandwiches, entrees, side salads and unique signature desserts. Some students kept the menus safe while others really put their heart and sole into it and showed how creative they were with their menus.
The Holiday project normally serves as Quiz Four for my class but I wanted the students to concentrate on their Academics this semester so I used this as an extra credit project.
Each Team has been requested by corporate to create a proposal for the Corporate Holiday Party that includes a invitation with a Christmas themed logo, a menu proposal with an appetizer, entree, and a dessert along with a signature holiday drink. Then the Team had to film a video greeting in English and Spanish wishing everyone a Happy Holiday season. They had forty-five minutes to pull it off and these were the result of that project.
One Wednesday morning, December 10th, the class presented their ideas to me and these are the results of the individual Teams.
Team Two’s diorama of their restaurant concept
Some of my students presenting their projects that morning to me
The Team
One of the Team’s presenting their logo
My last class at 6:25pm that made their presentation that evening was my Business 101 class with their restaurant concept ‘Pasta and Pies’, which was a restaurant that offered sweet and savory pies and pasta dishes.
This class created menus with creative pies and what can be tucked into them, selective pasta dishes with side salads and unique signature desserts. Some students kept the menus safe while others really put their heart and sole into it and showed how creative they were with their menus.
One Wednesday night, December 17th, the class presented their ideas to me and these are the results of the individual Teams.
Each Team made their presentation to me and the Team below really did a wonderful job with their presentation and won the competition.
Team Three so professionally dressed for the Presentation and the Team that won the competition
Team Four gave them a run for their money
All of the major Presentations were done on December 10th and then the next week on the 17th was the final exam. Each division had to create their PowerPoint, their video Presentation and a website for their division of the company. This way the entire Team have a reference point to put on their resume.
I joined other faculty members for the college’s Holiday Party that week and then went to the Bergen Room, our on campus student run restaurant for Christmas lunch, which is the final student project before the winter break. There was a lot of eating going on this week.
The Bergen Room Bistro had a very special Christmas Dinner in December of 2025 which was the last meal of the year by the students. The room was beautifully decorated and the food and service were wonderful.
The Bergen Room Bistro had a very special Christmas Dinner in December of 2025 which was the last meal of the year by the students. The room was beautifully decorated and the food and service were wonderful.
The menu for Christmas dinner in the Bergen Room in 2025
Christmas dinner in 2025 was a wonderful afternoon of good food and conversation. I loved the was the tables were set with a Christmas tree napkin. This was the last meal of the semester and the students and faculty advisors made the whole room as spirited to the holidays as possible.
The Christmas table set for a wonderful lunch
The table setting
The Christmas tree napkin fold
The candy decoration on the table
There was a fun centerpiece decorating the table
The students did a nice job decorating the tables for the Christmas holidays. The menu was so enjoyable. We started off either homemade soup.
The Minestrone Soup
The Garlic Bread
We then were treated to an Antipasti and a Caesar Salad. Both served family style and everyone at the table helped themselves while we were talking at the table.
The Antipasti
The Caesar Salad
The entree kept with the Italian theme and for the main entree, we had a platter of Chicken Parmesan with a side of Pasta Primavera and Penne à la Vodka.
The Chicken Parmesan
The Penne à la Vodka
The Pasta Primavera
My Christmas lunch that afternoon with delicious pastas and salad and the Chicken Parmesan
My holiday drink, the Berry Sparkler
For dessert, we had homemade Tiramisu
At the and of the meal, we applauded all the students for all their hard work on the meal and their dedication to the class and the Bergen Room.
The Culinary arts students who cooked this wonderful meal for us.
I loved how the centerpieces said “Merry Christmas everyone!”
It was a nice afternoon of talking to my counterparts on the faculty before the break and gave me a chance to finish my grading on campus and get ready to post grades to the students before the Winter break.
Because of the snowy weather and the bad experience in Wildwood, I decided to give the Christmas activities a rest the weekend between the Presentations and the final exam. I resumed my touring and picture taking the weekend after the finals. We finished finals on December 17th and I had graded all my students in my morning classes before I gave my evening final. Once finals were done, I spent the evening finishing grading my evening classes exam and went straight to bed. I had to be up early to meet students.
That Friday I met with any student who wanted their exams back and wanted to know their grades. This way there were no surprises and several students took me up on this. I had finished all the evening grades that morning and left for campus. Then in the afternoon I posted grades and changed clothes and headed to dinner and the theater in the City.
Singer Megan Hilty was returning to Carnegie Hall for a Christmas show performance and I decide to take this opportunity to revamp the blog I did on this eight years earlier. That meant dinner at Patsy’s Italian Restaurant and an evening in Carnegie Hall, both of which I was looking forward to the evening. It was the perfect way to end an extremely long semester.
Carnegie Hall was sold out both nights
The concert that evening ‘A Place Called Home’ was the return of Singer Megan Hilty since her concert I saw this time back in 2017. I could not believe that eight years had gone by so fast. Both performances were sold out and seeing her perform again was worth the wait. As I said before, this holiday was a picture taking mission so I recreated the whole evening I had at her show and started with dinner at Patsy’s Italian Restaurant.
Dinner at Patsy’s was wonderful but I could not understand why they put everyone on the second floor and kept the first floor empty. Patsy’s was founded in 1944 by Pasquale “Patsy” Scognamillo and has been in its current location since 1954 serving locals, celebrities and tourists alike. There has only been three chefs at Patsy’s, Patsy himself, his son, Joe and Joe’s son Sal (Patsy’s history).
The second floor dining room at Patsy’s right before the theater
When I had dinner there before my trip to Carnegie Hall, the food was amazing (see my review on TripAdvisor). I came with a big appetite and had a wonderful three course meal. I read about the menu online and then I saw Sal, the owner cooked the Lobster Linguini on Martha Stewart’s TV show.
I started with the Mozzarella in Carrozza for two which I finished on my own. It is basically a breaded mozzarella sandwich with their fresh Mariana sauce which were pan-fried perfectly and melted in the middle. It is served with their delicious homemade red sauce.
The Mozzarella in Carrozza at Patsy’s is excellent
The Mozzarella Carrozza
For the entree I had the Lobster with Linguine Oreganata, which I had seen prepared on the Travel Network and on Martha Stewart’s TV show and feeling generous to myself at the holidays, I treated myself. It was excellent. Perfectly cooked pasta with almost a half of sweet lobster topped on the dish. While the entree is not cheap, it is well worth the price so treat yourself!
The Lobster Linguini comes in two parts when served, with pasta and a split and broiled with bread crumbs. It is a delicious dish.
Don’t ask me how ate dessert but as the Dessert Cart kept passing me, I kept eyeing this cake and it ended up being a Napoleon Cake filled with white cream and layers of pastry dough. It was such a great end to a fantastic meal.
For dessert I had on my second trip to Patsy’s, the Vanilla Cream Napoleon Cake
Walking down the stairs at the holidays
Somehow I stuck upstairs with all the tourists but I it was fun as it was where all the action was that evening. The downstairs was extremely quiet that night. I do not know why they kept it so empty. The restaurant during the holidays is so nicely decorated and this is the view going down the steps.
Chef Sal Scognamillo of Patsy’s Restaurant
After dinner was over, I had to take a long walk around the block to digest. It was a wonderful three course meal but still I wanted to digest and relax before the show and what a show it was that evening. I love going to Carnegie Hall.
Carnegie Hall at 57th Avenue and 7th Avenue at Christmas time
The view from my seat in the ‘nose bleed’ section of the sold out concert. This was one of the last seats left when I bought the tickets at the last minute. I still could hear the concert fine and it was nice being back in Carnegie Hall again.
The singing group before the second act
Some of the songs she sang that night:
“The Christmas Song”
“Have yourself a Merry Christmas”
“The Most Wonderful time of the Year”
“A Place called Home”
The second part of the concert was all Christmas carols and some of the more religious songs. They ended the concert with a sing a long and everyone in my section of the theater really got into it. We ended the concert with the singer and Santa taking a bow. It was another great concert and if you have to the chance to catch her concert at Carnegie Hall at Christmas, get a ticket and go! It is well worth it. It really puts you in the holiday spirit.
The end of the sing a long
“Jingle Bells” was part of the sing a long
Megan Hilty and Santa taking a bow
After the concert was over, I took a long walk around Midtown, up and down both Fifth and Sixth Avenues to look at the Christmas decorations. I love Manhattan at Christmas.
West 57th Street decorated for Christmas
The decorations are incredible at night
The candy cane decorations are fantastic
Then I walked down Fifth Avenue and passed the Star on Fifth Avenue, which changed colors either each rotation.
The Star on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 57th Street in aqua
The star in blue
The Star in red
Star in a green and red
The video on the Star changing colors
I then turned the corner down Fifth Avenue and admired all the lights and decorations. Businesses really decorated this year.
These beautiful Christmas present boxes lined upper Fifth Avenue
The Peninsula Hotel in all its glory
The beauty of the decorations that top the entrance of the hotel
Cartier on Fifth Avenue decked out for the holidays
Saks Fifth Avenue at 611 Fifth Avenue across from Rockefeller Center
All the buildings at Rockefeller Center were decorated to the hilt and surprisingly the crowds by the tree were not that heavy that night so I got some great pictures in around the complex.
The front of 630 Fifth Avenue across from Saks
The Ralph Lauren bus outside of 630 Fifth Avenue
Walking through Rockefeller Center was easy that night
The Tree at Rockefeller Center was beautifully lit that evening
After my walk around Fifth Avenue and then through Rockefeller Center, I walked down Sixth Avenue to see all the decorations there was well. Corporate America at its best.
The tree at 1221 Sixth Avenue
The tree at 1221 Sixth Avenue
The tree outside of Sixth Avenue
I then made my way down to Bryant Park to see what was happening there and even after 11:00pm the park was going strong.
What really dazzled me was the Bryant Park Christmas tree. It was lit for the evening and the array of lights and colors was so brilliant. It really put me in the Christmas spirit.
The Bryant Park Christmas tree ablaze with lights
Not only was the tree amazing but in the background of the park the Empire State Building was having a light show that made the building look like a giant ice cycle.
Now that grading was done and posted for my classes I finally started my holiday break and that meant a series of tours of historical building and sites in Upstate New York in the Tarrytown region. I had tickets for a special Victorian Christmas event at Sunnyside, Washington Irving’s home first and then of Philipsburg Manor and their holiday tour. It was a long day of touring.
The Washington Irving estate decked out for the holiday event
The sign for the holiday event
I started the tour with some of the holiday refreshments they had in the meeting room off the gift shop. They had a variety of cookies and snacks along with coffee, tea and hot chocolate . The perfect snack to start the tour of the house.
The refreshment table at the event
After a snack and a talk with the docents, it was off to tour the house which was all decorated for the holidays pre-Civil War around 1835.
Washington Irving’s home , Sunnyside in Irvington, NY
The house was beautifully decorated for the holidays and what was nice was that the rooms were not overdone. Each room was tastefully decorated for the holidays. These were some of my favorite rooms in the house.
Washington Irving’s office and study
The Dining Room set for Christmas lunch
The Dining Room table was so beautifully set for a Christmas luncheon. These side boards held all the desserts, sweets and beverages.
The Living Room held the Table tree which was popular before the Victorian era and the full tree came into vague.
The Children’s guest room for a visiting niece held all sorts of holiday toys and gifts
The French Bedroom has some of the best views in the house and wonderful exposure to sunlight and the river.
The kitchen was all set for the holidays as the servants prepared meals for the holidays. The table even had original recipes for dishes cooked in the house.
The last part of the tour once I left the kitchen was the grounds and this wonderful patio is just off the kitchen.
The last part of the events was a crafts room in the barn where we could make either pumice, which are oranges studded with cloves, Christmas crackers or ornaments . I chose the pumice as the smell is incredible over time as it ages. It was a really nice scent.
In between my tour of Sunnyside and the Philipsburg Manor, I stopped in Downtown Irvington to see if the Irvington Historical Society was open and it was on their last day of the exhibition on the ‘The history of the Irvington Gazette’. I got to tour the museum and then walk around their wonderful downtown, which was beautifully decorated for the holidays. Their latest exhibition that I visited was on The Irvington Gazette, their local paper.
The Irvington Historical Society at 131 Main Street is always so beautiful during the Christmas holidays
When I returned to the museum in December of 2025, the new exhibition that was on display was the history of The Irvington Gazette Gazette, the local paper. It is a testimony to the power of local news. This is the importance of local newspapers.
The Irving Gazette exhibition
The exhibition up close
The first issue of The Irvington Gazette in color
The museum is small so I was able to tour the whole exhibition in about an hour and still have time to walk Downtown Irvington, NY. It is such a beautiful and quaint downtown and one of those Upstate downtowns that are so beautiful at Christmas time.
Downtown Irvington, NY decorated for the holidays
The downtown was decked for the holidays
Toy soldiers smile and wink at passers by on the fences of downtown
The fences in the downtown
The downtown merchants really decorated too
Irvington City Hall decked for the holidays
Even the Downtown Merchants got it
Both inside and out
After touring Downtown Irvington and admiring all the decorations, I moved on to my next site, Philipsburg Manor, the site of the Philipse family gristmill and home when they were in Upstate New York.
Philipsburg Manor and Gristmill in Sleepy Hallow, NY at 381 North Broadway
The first part of the tour was the gristmill where the wheat from the estate was produced, bagged and shipped down to the storerooms in New York City.
The inside of the gristmill
The finished flour products that would have been used for shipping
The gristmill that was used to manufacture and process the wheat into flour
We then toured the grounds and got to see where life would take place during the working months on the property. We passed the vegetable gardens where the slaves would grow their crops and where animals would graze.
The grounds of the Philipsburg property during the winter time when things would have slowed down on the estate.
We next toured the Manor house which would have been used by the Philipse family when they were visiting the facility which was at least once a year. The house would have been prepared for them as if they could come out at any time.
The Philipse family Manor house on the property
We toured the preparatory kitchen used by the slaves to prepare and cook meals both for the owners and his guests and themselves.
The seasonal table in the main kitchen with its fresh fruits and vegetables all sourced locally
The formal kitchen where all the meals were finished and where the china and pewterware would be kept for serving
The formal bedroom where members of the Philipse family would stay when they were visiting the site
The Philipse family kept everything in house for the tenant farmers and even had a store within the house selling goods from the City saving them a boat trip that could take hours or days.
The store room
This way the money was kept on the estate when money was paid for crops and supplies.
Items that would have been found in the store room of the Philipse shop
The store room items
We then moved to the dining area where business would be conducted and inventory and accounts would be settled.
The Dining area
The Philipse bedroom
The Philipse bedroom and dining area
Our last part of the tour was the historic barn
The docents did a great job demonstrating the process to separate wheat
The sunset over the estate at the end of the tour was amazing
This was the last weekend that the estate would be open and I had wanted to see as much of the town as I could. This tree was fully decorated with lights and was illuminated at twilight.
The illuminated Christmas tree in Downtown Tarrytown
After classes were over after finals week, I was completely burnt out from work. It had been a rough semester of trying to motivate everyone. My best friend and I decided to take a night off and spend the night in Manhattan. She arranged a room at the Fairfield Inn at Penn Station and we met in the City.
The lobby of the Fairfield Inn & Suites at Penn Station at Christmas time
I was really surprised by the hotel. When I had walked in here about a decade ago it was not the nicest hotel with some shady characters in the lobby. When I walked in this time, it had all been renovated and decorated for the Christmas holidays. The room was comfortably corporate and we just relaxed before we left for lunch.
We stayed in the neighborhood and went to Pho 2 at 273 Eighth Avenue. We were both in the mood for Bahn Mi sandwich and this small City chain has wonderful food in every branch I have eaten at in Manhattan.
What surprised us was a new item on the menu that we enjoyed, the Pork and Chicken Tacos. These were even better than the sandwiches filled with fresh veggies and spicy meat tucked into a soft shell. A nice twist on fusion food.
For dessert, we stopped at the Krispie Kreme at Penn Station. We got a kick out of the ‘Peanuts’ themed doughnuts and we had to get a few of them to bring back to the room. I thought the design was very clever.
It was a very interesting and very delicious pre-Christmas lunch. We had a ball just eating and talking in the afternoon. I think the two of us just needed an afternoon to relax. We then spent the evening watching the new documentary “Drop Dead City”, on the 1975 financial crisis in New York City. Seeing the changes in the City especially in Brooklyn and Manhattan over the last thirty years, you would think this movie was made up. I remembered seeing it all as a kid as I lived it every time we went into the City to go to the museums and to Chinatown.
The Directors talking about the movie in 2025
The movie’s trailer
I am not sure how tired we both were but right after the movie, I was fell asleep and slept for eight hours. I was not sure if I was just tired from work, the weather, all the running around I was doing for the holidays and for the blogs or a combination of all of these. December had been a long month. I felt much better the next morning.
Before I left for home the next morning, I had a good breakfast at the hotel’s buffet. That I really enjoyed. This also put me into the holiday spirit.
The morning buffet at the Fairfield Inn & Suites just before Christmas
The buffet was really nice and had a very nice selection of items to choose from
They even had a pancake making machine to make fresh pancakes for guests
I thought the machine was really clever and made good pancakes
It was a wonderful breakfast and a very interesting and very international crowd as I heard languages from all over the world being spoken. It looked like everyone was loading up for a long day of touring.
The room was really decorated for the holidays
After breakfast, we both crashed back in the room and just talked for an hour while we were digesting. We talked about work and the upcoming holidays. We had the option to stay until 4:00pm if we wanted but I had packing to do. I was leaving for the Christmas holidays, first to Woodstock, then to Rehoboth Beach and finishing in Cape May. It would be a long holiday for me and a lot of running around and picture taking for my blog.
We took one last look at the view out our window of the Moynihan Train station and then went downstairs to check out. I had to go home and pack. It was going to be a very busy Christmas.
The view from our room of the Moynihan Train Station
The first part of the holiday was busy and a lot of running around. The second part of the holidays was just as busy. I did not sit still until after New Years. This is why there are two parts to this holiday blog. There so much more to see and do.
So look out for Part II of the blog: A trip back to Woodstock, NY
The Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. Executive Paramus, NJ Team December 10th, 2025
My Executive Team for ‘Sounds and Subs”
Every semester for my Business Marketing, Management and Communications classes, I create one big Team assignment for my students. In a Commuter College, it is a lot tougher for students to get to know one another between their studies and their jobs, so I create these projects to foster learning, creativity and especially Teamwork.
This semester I taught three sections of Business 101-Introduction to Business, which is the entry level course to the Business/Hotel Management School. This is a tough course to teach as you always have students of various age groups and various levels of industry experience. The Fall semester was no different. This makes the class more interesting yet more challenging to teach. I still challenge them and test them to see what type of future executives they will become.
This semester I created three restaurant concept projects for my students, “Sounds and Subs”, a music store and sub/sandwich shop concept based on Mike’s Sub Shop in Boonton, NJ, “Farmer’s Market”, a farm to table concept based on The Corner Counter in Red Hook, NY and then “Pasta and Pies”, a sweet and savory pie concept with pasta dishes based on Nobel Pies out of Beacon, NY.
My morning Business 101 class worked on the “Sounds and Subs” concept where they were challenged to create a music based restaurant concept with a menu of creative sub and sandwiches, interesting salads, a mocktail menu, an opening party, social media and a gift shop selling items from their menu plus records, CDs and musical products. They also had to pick the location and figure out all the budgets.
They also had to create a stage area for bands and local performers for ‘Open Mic nights’. The results were amazing to see and what students with a little creativity, a lot of time (six weeks) and a little push can accomplish. I also liked the bands they chose to perform at their restaurants,
In the past, I have created these projects under the Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. banner, the main consulting company, the Orion Malls banner, a Mall design company and the Buscomonzefi.com banner, my Tech Division. Each business does its best to be creative, forward thinking and have a thought producing presentations. I also challenge the students to top on another in their presentations and build on what they have seen others do in the past.
The Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. concept is an acronym for Bergen Community College Paramus campus where I work.
Professor Justin Watrel, CEO Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc.
Our Corporate site (created my one of my former President’s:
This class created menus with creative subs and sandwiches, salads, soups and unique signature desserts. They had to also create a mocktail menu. Some students kept the menus safe while others really put their heart and sole into it and showed how creative they were with their menus.
Each project had to include the location of where the restaurant would in what town in Bergen County, the social media, the menu, the opening party and what would be featured in their gift shop. They had a to figure out the budget for everything as well.
Before we did the formal presentation, I had the students create the ‘Holiday Presentation’ where corporate requested that our Teams represent the company in creating the invitation, menu and holiday greeting for the Corporate party in the New Brunswick headquarters. This is the presentations:
One Wednesday morning, December 10th, the class presented their ideas to me and these are the results of the individual Teams. Each Team came up with different and unique concepts.
The day of the project, I have the students dress in professional dress to present their ideas to the clients. The student executives presented their ideas on location, design, menus, social media and creating an opening party for the restaurant. They also came up with ideas for local musicians who could entertain on a nightly basis. The client was looking for a concept that would attract music lovers not just from the suburbs but from Manhattan, Brooklyn and Newark.
Here are examples of ideas of what the Student Consultants would work in the town that they chose:
Team Three making their initial pitch to the client
Team Three explaining their proposal for the floor plan of their restaurant
Team Five starting their presentation
What I found interesting what the musicians who the Student Consultants chose for both their Opening Parties to promote the restaurant and to play at the restaurant on a circulating schedule. They were some pretty sophisticated musical groups which showed me the tastes of these students in their music selections.
After the presentations were over, we had a Q & A and then we had a light reception. For each of my classes, I baked cookies, brownies and rice crispy treats along with a variety of chips, sodas and waters for all of my students to show my appreciation for their hard work.
It really was an interesting presentation and I was very proud of my students.
My Executive Team from the ‘Farm to Table’ Restaurant concept in our Corporate picture
Every semester for my Business Marketing, Management and Communications classes, I create one big Team assignment for my students. In a Commuter College, it is a lot tougher for students to get to know one another between their studies and their jobs, so I create these projects to foster learning, creativity and especially Teamwork.
This semester I taught three sections of Business 101-Introduction to Business, which is the entry level course to the Business/Hotel Management School. This is a tough course to teach as you always have students of various age groups and various levels of industry experience. The Fall semester was no different.
This makes the class more interesting yet more challenging to teach. I still challenge them and test them to see what type of future executives they will become.
This semester I created three restaurant concept projects for my students, “Sounds and Subs”, a music store and sub/sandwich shop concept based on Mike’s Sub Shop in Boonton, NJ, “Farmer’s Market”, a farm to table concept based on The Corner Counter in Red Hook, NY and then “Pasta and Pies”, a sweet and savory pie concept with pasta dishes based on Nobel Pies out of Beacon, NY.
My morning Business 101 class worked on the “Farmer’s Market” concept where they were challenged to create a restaurant with a menu of creative sandwiches, soups, interesting salads, a mocktail menu and a gift shop selling items from their menu plus homemade jams, jellies.
They also were tasked in finding local farms to supply the restaurant concept with fresh produce and meats. The results were amazing to see and what students with a little creativity, a lot of time (six weeks) and a little push can accomplish.
In the past, I have created these projects under the Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. banner, the main consulting company, the Orion Malls banner, a Mall design company and the Buscomonzefi.com banner, my Tech Division. Each business does its best to be creative, forward thinking and have a thought producing presentations. I also challenge the students to top on another in their presentations and build on what they have seen others do in the past.
The Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. concept is an acronym for Bergen Community College Paramus Campus where I work.
Professor Justin Watrel, CEO Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc.
Our Corporate site (created my one of my former President’s:
This class created menus which reflected the seasons and had to choose one season to feature. The menu had to reflex fresh ingredients from that period with a selection of soups, salads, sandwiches and desserts. Some students kept the menus safe while others really put their heart and sole into it and showed how creative they were with their menus.
The students also had to create a gift shop concept with items from the menu, items like fresh jellies and jams, a variety of baked goods and then novelty items such as shirts, bags and aprons. For extra credit, I asked them to source the items for menus. I saw the most interesting results that afternoon.
The Holiday project normally serves as Quiz Four for my class but I wanted the students to concentrate on their Academics this semester so I used this as an extra credit project.
Each Team has been requested by corporate in New Brunswick, to create a proposal for the Corporate Holiday Party that includes a invitation with a Christmas themed logo, a menu proposal with an appetizer, entree, and a dessert along with a signature holiday drink.
Then the Team had to film a video greeting in English and Spanish wishing everyone a Happy Holiday season. They had forty-five minutes to pull it off and these were the result of that project.
One Wednesday morning, December 10th, the class presented their ideas to me and these are the results of the individual Teams. Each project was so different for the same concept.
Team Two’s diorama of their restaurant concept
Team Four presenting their project presentation
Team Three starting their presentation
Each Team had to present their ideas on their location for the restaurant, budget, layout, menu, gift shop ideas and advertising. Each Team had their own unique way of interpreting the restaurant concept and bring their fresh ideas to their Presentation.
Of my three classes in the Fall 2025 semester, this class came up with some of the most clever ideas and all five Teams seemed the most competitive of all the classes.
After the presentations were over, we had a Q & A and then we had a light reception. For each of my classes, I baked cookies, brownies and rice crispy treats along with a variety of chips, sodas and waters for all of my students to show my appreciation for their hard work.
It really was an interesting presentation and I was very proud of my students.
The Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. Executive Paramus, NJ Team December 10th, 2025
My Executive Team Team picture
Every semester for my Business Marketing, Management and Communications classes, I create one big Team assignment for my students. In a Commuter College, it is a lot tougher for students to get to know one another between their studies and their jobs, so I create these projects to foster learning, creativity and especially Teamwork.
This semester I taught three sections of Business 101-Introduction to Business, which is the entry level course to the Business/Hotel Management School. This is a tough course to teach as you always have students of various age groups and various levels of industry experience.
The Fall semester was no different. This makes the class more interesting yet more challenging to teach. I still challenge them and test them to see what type of future executives they will become.
This semester I created three restaurant concept projects for my students, “Sounds and Subs”, a music store and sub/sandwich shop concept based on Mike’s Sub Shop in Boonton, NJ, “Farmer’s Market”, a farm to table concept based on The Corner Counter in Red Hook, NY and then “Pasta and Pies”, a sweet and savory pie concept with pasta dishes based on Nobel Pies out of Beacon, NY.
My evening Business 101 class worked on the “Pasta and Pies” concept where they were challenged to create a restaurant with a menu of sweet and savory pies, creative pasta dishes, a mocktail menu and a gift shop selling items from their menu plus clothing and gifts. The results were amazing to see and what students with a little creativity, a lot of time (six weeks) and a little push can accomplish.
In the past, I have created these projects under the Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. banner, the main consulting company, the Orion Malls banner, a Mall design company and the Buscomonzefi.com banner, my Tech Division. Each business does its best to be creative, forward thinking and have a thought producing presentations. I also challenge the students to top on another in their presentations and build on what they have seen others do in the past.
The Bergecco-Parc Banner is an acronym for Bergen Community College Paramus Campus where I work. I use this concept to teach the lessons in the book.
Professor Justin Watrel, CEO Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc.
Our Corporate site (created my one of my former President’s:
This class created menus with creative pies and what delicious ingredients that can be tucked into them, selective pasta dishes with side salads and unique signature desserts. Some students kept the menus safe while others really put their heart and sole into it and showed how creative they were with their menus.
One Wednesday night, December 10th, 2025, the class presented their ideas to me and these are the results of the individual Teams.
Each of the Team members are required to be in Professional dress when presenting their project to the fictional client as they would in task life.
Team Four starting their presentation
Team One presenting their presentation
Team Two’s winning presentation and I wanted to add the best dressed Team
Some of the creative Gift Shop ideas from Team Two
Team Four presenting their project featuring their logo
Team Five making their presentation of their Team
Some very creative advertising from Team Five
At the end of the presentation and after the Q& A, we take the Corporate picture, which I do to show feature recruiters what these students are made of and what seasoned executives they will make in the future. I really am proud of the students that accomplish this project.
Our Corporate picture at the end of the evening
At the end of the evening, I always have a small reception after the presentation. Many of the groups brought samples of their pies for extra credit and our President was the manager of a bakery and brought this beautiful sheet cake with the company logo on it. I thought this was very clever.
The President’s Cake at our reception after the presentation
I bake a variety of cookies, brownies and rice crispy treats along with providing a variety of chips, sodas and waters for the reception. It is my way of recognizing a job well done.
The students did a nice job interpreting what the ideas and theme of the project was and what the client might be expecting.
It was a very interesting evening of which I hope the students carry with them in the future not just to other classes but into the workplace as well.
I came across the branch of Aux Merveilleux de Fred (I discovered there are three other branches in New York City) when I was exploring the Garment District for my blog MywalkinManhattan.com. I spied the delicious pastries in the window and this the last part of my trip that day. I saw items being made in front of me and a new batch of brioche just coming into the window.
The wonderful selection of sandwiches and brioche
The delicious pastries and meringues
I fell in love with the sugary brioche and the delicious meringues. The pastries here are such high quality and the selection of delicious treats is so different from other pastry shops in the City.
The store was beautifully decorated for the Christmas holidays. A little bit of Paris transported to New York City.
The delicious Sugar Brioche and the Cherry Merveilleux
The Cherry Merveilleux is a light meringue with a sugary Cherry topping. These delightful treats are sweet and whimsical to look at and more fun to eat. The sugary brioche have a chewy and crunchy consistency to them and are the perfect afternoon treat.
The Sugar Brioche
Inside the layers of brioche dough are the sugar crystals that give the pastry its extra sweetness.
The brioche pulls apart so nicely
The are so buttery and rich. These were warm just out of the oven.
The Cherry Mini Merveilleux are wonderful
This simple Meringue is delicious
The baked goods here are high quality and delicious. The service was excellent as well, very friendly and personal. It like visiting Paris in Manhattan. You can not pass by this bakery without stopping in to try something.
The history of Aux Merveilleux de Fred:
(from the Aux Merveilleux de Fred website)
About Chef Frederic Vaucamps:
Frédéric Vaucamps is a pastry chef from the North of France. During the 1980s, his career in pastry took him back to a cake dear to his heart: The Merveilleux. He adapted the recipe to make it extremely lightweight. In 1997, he decided to name his Lille store after his flagship cake, and so “Aux Merveilleux de Fred” was born. His version of The Merveilleux has quickly become a must-have, just like the cramiques and his Belgian waffles. Frédéric combines know-how and tradition to offer high-quality products in stores that are the epitome of French elegance.
Artisan pastry chef Frédéric Vaucamps utilizes his unique know-how to create his recipes whilst remaining true to his signature style: lightness and deliciousness. Each cake and pastry requires artisan know-how, a mastery of the craft that imbues them with a flavor that is instantly recognizable amongst thousands of others.
About the Company:
We love to share and showcase our artisan know-how. Our specialties are created in front of our customers, in each of our store’s ateliers. Every day we pledge our commitment to offering high-quality products, created before your eyes and baked all day long. We make our specialties using ingredients that have been selected for their quality.
These tiny and delicate meringue treats evoke a specific period in French history: high society life during the Directory regime. The aristocratic Incroyables and Merveilleuses, as they were known at the time, would gather in salons to discuss politics and economics. But their main objective there was to see and be seen, to drink tea and eat cakes. The “Aux Merveilleux de Fred” stores with their refined, baroque decor, are generously adorned with mirrors and gilding and take inspiration from this historical period.
Frédéric Vaucamps transmits his passion for the French art of living through his cakes and pastries: the art of taking your time and appreciating good and beautiful things.
It has been almost a decade since I attended the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade. The last time I attended the parade, it was when my best friend came in from the Midwest as part of a four day band trip that the local high school sponsored as they were performing in the parade. We had a really nice time.
For the next several years it was either spending time with a friend out on the island or family commitments or the weather that kept me away. Last year it down poured on the parade. This year it would be hit or miss with the weather but the rainstorm the day before went out to sea and it ended up being a sunny cool day.
My spot on the corner West 46th street and Sixth Avenue for the start of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
I got there early leaving the house at 7:00am to a packed bus. I was lucky to get a seat and I am at the beginning of the route into the City. We just passed all the stops on the way into the City as we zoomed through the Lincoln Tunnel, a first in a long time.
The crowds at 8:00am on Sixth Avenue
I had read that the route had moved from Broadway to Sixth Avenue, so I walked a couple of blocks uptown to get away from the Times Square crowds. I figured that was where all the tourists were headed. I settled on West 46th Street, which has an incline near one of the office buildings and offered a better view.
The crowd just kept growing around me at the start of the parade.
The parade started uptown at 8:30am and made its way down Broadway until 59th Street and turn on Sixth Avenue and made its way down Sixth Avenue to Macy’s on West 34th Street. I was around the halfway point. Around 9:15am, we heard the first band coming down the Avenue and Tom Turkey, one of the oldest floats in the parade that I could remember from my years in the parade.
The Tom Turkey float used to house the grand marshal of the parade. My first year with the parade in 1988 it was a freezing cold Clint Black, the country singer.
Tom Turkey passing West 46th Street
As the float passed by there was no one on top. Maybe it was too cold or maybe they were on a different part of the float. That height can freak people out.
The start of the parade passing all of us on West 46th Street. The crowds and the excitement started to build. We could see Tom Turkey coming down Sixth Avenue to start the parade. People started to cheer as the parade passed us by.
The start of the parade with the Macy’s logoed gold balloons, which have been part of the parade since I volunteered in the early 1990’s.
The Macy’s balloons at the start of the parade
After this, it was a series of balloons and floats that passed by. The funny part was I thought there were more marching bands in the past.
The Super Mario balloon passing by
The Super Mario passing by
Doria the Explorer balloon
Doria the Explorer passing by our spot
The SpongeBob SquarePants balloon
The Sesame Street float passing by
The Diary of a Wimpy Kid balloon
The Green Giant float passing by
The Disney Float passing by with Micky Mouse
The Spiderman float makes an impact on the parade
The Spider-Man float passes by
The Minon passing us and looking everyone over
The Stuart the Minon balloon passes by
The Golden Turkey float passes by with rapper Busta Rhyms
The balloons Gabby and Panda Paw balloon pass by
Cool & the Gang on the Bronx Zoo float
The Smokey the Bear balloon
The Snoopy float, one of the many that have graced the parade for years
Snoopy passing by
Snoopy has been part of the parade in different forms since the early 1990’s. This is the latest version of the balloon.
The Pac Man Balloon passing by
The Marshall from Paw Control balloon passes
The Buzz Lightyear balloon passes by
The Silver Macy’s Balloon
The parade passed by in intervals as the parade had to stop for performances further down the route.
The Jolly Polly Pirate Ship passes by with Mr. Fantasy. I did not know who he was.
The balloons moved down Sixth Avenue
Here comes the Shrek Onion Carriage balloon in the distance
The Shrek Onion Carriage balloon
The Goldbear balloon
The Bluey the Dog balloon
The Counting Sheep Dream float passing by with performer Debbie Gibson, a singer from the 1980’s.
The Noorah balloon
The Palace of Sweets float
The Pillsbury Doughboy then passed us
The Pillsbury Doughboy passing us in the parade
The Deck the Halls float passed us with Ms. Christmas herself, Darlene Love, whose Christmas song, ‘Nobody aught to be alone on Christmas’ is played every year in the movie, ‘Home Alone II’.
Darlene Love on the Christmas float as it passed by
Then Minnie Mouse made her appearance towards the end of the parade
Then the ‘Believe’ balloons came down Sixth Avenue to announce the arrival of Santa
Here comes Santa, which basically opens the shopping season snd Christmas
Santa waving at the crowds
Santa waving to us as he passed by
Santa saved my way as we all waved to him
Santa on his sleigh marking the end of the parade as it passed West 46th Street
Then the parade ended by us as it made its way to West 34th Street to join the crowds at Macy’s. There all the performers would perform clips from their shows.
Sixth Avenue at the end of the parade
After the parade was over, I spent some time in Midtown getting some work on previous blogs and creating new ones.
After work was over at the club, I headed down to Chinatown for my Thanksgiving dinner. I had been feeling the sniffles trying to come in, so I had my dinner at Wonton Noodle Garden for an early dinner.
I felt I needed the excise and the fresh air to fight this thing so I walked from East 44th Street to Chinatown. I figured a several mile walk would get rid of this thing. I got some great pictures in along the way. All the parks on the way to Chinatown still had foliage left on the trees and the parks were also decorated for the upcoming Christmas holiday season. This is when you get to see the City at its best.
When I was attending NYU, I never realized how close Chinatown was to campus and I made my dumpling runs as many times as I could. I wanted to be supportive to Chinatown businesses. I decided earlier I would go to Wonton Noodle Garden (Mei Lai Wah) on Bayard Street for Thanksgiving.
I thought Chinatown and Little Italy would be closed down for Thanksgiving and I would not have much of a choice of places to eat. Wrong! Chinatown was mobbed with both locals and tourists and all the restaurants would be packed until 6:00pm.
When I got to the restaurant, it was packed with diners. I sat in the counter area by the kitchen, which I enjoy. You get quicker service and I like talking to the staff.
My Thanksgiving dinner, Cantonese Wonton Soup with Roast Pork, Egg Noodles and Pork Wontons and a order of Fried Wontons
This is the best dinner and the cure all when you have a cold. It cleans out all the cold in your system. The food and the service here are excellent. I have coming here since the original restaurant opened on Mott Street back when I was in Junior high.
The Cantonese Wonton Soup chicken broth is so rich in flavor
The Fried Wontons are the perfect accompaniment to the soup, crisp and served with a sweet sauce
The Wontons are so good
The staff is so funny here. They can never believe my appetite. I had had only a quick breakfast and no lunch so this served as both lunch and dinner. I was still hungry after lunch. I knew where to walk for dessert.
I stopped down at Great Taste Bakery on 53 Catherine Street for dessert.
Not only were they open but still baking. I got two egg custards that were still hot out of the oven. The tables were filled with local residents talking with their neighbors in Chinese.
The egg custards at Great Taste Bakery
This is one of the last reasonable holdouts in Chinatown for excellent desserts and cheap prices. It caters to the older locals and the hipsters who are flooding the neighborhood.
After dinner, I decided to walk back to Port Authority since it was such a nice night. Most people think I am crazy when I do this but it really is a nice walk.
Walking through Chinatown around 5:30pm Thanksgiving night
Midtown with the Empire State Building lit for Thanksgiving
The Empire State Building in all its glory
It really was a great afternoon and a wonderful Thanksgiving. This was fun just seeing the parade on a sunny afternoon and the perfect dinner in Chinatown.
The front of the library and museum in the Fall of 2025
The historic sign
I recently visited the Beach Haven Library and Museum in Beach Haven during the holiday season and discovered a historical library with a rich history in both the community and on Long Beach Island.
The museum on the second floor
On the second floor of the library is the history room of the Beach Haven Library that contains a collection of historic artifacts and ledgers from hotels and businesses on the island. Each of the case lines tells a different story of the community from the grand hotels that once lined the shore and have since disappeared to the lives of the families that once called the island home. When I talked with one of the librarians, she told me that estates from the area donate these items to the library and this has established their collection.
The second floor fireplace
The antique kitchen equipment
The second floor of the library has another fireplace where vintage pottery and kitchen items are on display. There are also decorative pieces of pottery lining the shelves.
Historic China inside the Emily Lloyd Wilson Secretarial desk. Her father designed the Baldwin Hotel in Beach Haven.
The historic ledger from the Parry Hotel
The library has another fireplace where extensive collection of hotel ledgers and artifacts.
Letters from Elizabeth Pharo proposing the Library in 1923
Short History of the Library:
(From the library pamphlet)
Mrs. Pharo presented to the library board a proposal to build the library entirely at her own expense. She contacted Philadelphia architect, R. Brognard Okie to design the library. He chose the model of a Pennsylvania Farmhouse. The library was completed in the Fall of 1924. The museum is now over a hundred years old.
The dedication to Elizabeth Pharo, who dedicated the museum.
The Long Beach Island House Guest Ledger and historic items from the historic Bond Hotel
The records of the past resort town Long Beach Island used to be with guests coming from New York City, Philadelphia and beyond.
Historic items from the Tuckerton & Long Beach Building Land and Improvement Association
The Engleside Hotel ledger and items from the hotel
The New Jersey Declaration towards the Declaration of Independence
Historic books and periodicals
The library has an interesting collection of vintage and antique books that have been donated to the collection.
Photo display on historic sites in Beach Haven and pictures of the original library
Some of the pictures are from the old library and the artifacts come from ships ground ashore. The library has a diverse collection of items to view.
The Compass from the historic shipwreck ‘Fortuna’ that wrecked off Ship Bottom in 1910 and historic boat
The second floor museum gallery holds the diverse collection of artifacts
The second floor of the 1928 building
The first floor of the library has all sorts of historical artifacts along the walls
The Holiday Kickoff in 2025:
I visited during the library’s Holiday Open House with games, trivia and activities. There was also live music in the afternoon. It was a way that the library gives back to the community. It was a nice family event with good food and nice conversation with people from the community.
The Holiday Open House
The fireplace was going when I was talking to the librarians
It was a very nice family event where patrons families could relax, have something to eat and play games with their children. The Liberians could not have been more friendly and engaging with the public.
The Children’s Room had a holiday challenge
The museum is a rare gem tucked not just on the second floor but along the shelves and tables of the entire historic library giving visitors a chance to see all these historic artifacts mixed in with the library book collection.
The History of the Beach Haven Library:
(from the library website)
Attempts to establish a library in Beach Haven had begun as early as the 1880’s with a gift of books for the town’s children by Dr. Edward Williams. Williams, along with Charles Parry of the Parry House and the Baldwin Hotel, was a partner in the Baldwin Locomotive Works. The library collection was first housed in the home of Samuel Copperthwaite on Engleside Avenue. It was later moved into one of the Sunday School rooms of the Kynett Methodist Church, which had been built in 1890.
After the old Quaker Meeting House was donated to the town by Walter Pharo, the Reverend Alexander Corson of the Methodist Church began work, with the help of his wife, to turn the former Meeting House into a viable library. By the time they left in 1908, it was well on its way.
In 1923, Walter’s widow, Elizabeth Pharo, presented the library’s board of trustees with a proposal to build, entirely at her own expense, a new library for the town. It would be sited two blocks away from the Methodist church on a corner lot which she owned at Third Street and Beach Avenue. The library would be dedicated to the memory of her husband’s parents, Archelaus Ridgway Pharo and Louisa Willits Pharo–the founders of Beach Haven–as well as to her late husband Walter.
Mrs. Pharo contracted R. Brognard Okie, one of Philadelphia’s finest architects, to design the new library. He chose as his model a Pennsylvania farmhouse–not an early lifesaving station, as some believed. Unlike a traditional farmhouse, however, it would be constructed entirely of brick and steel and include several stunning features: three working fireplaces, a vaulted ceiling, and an interior balcony encircling the first floor.
Tons of concrete were poured and steel girders for the new, two-story structure were already up by the spring of 1924 on the southeast corner of Beach Avenue at Third Street. Okie moved to Beach Haven to supervise every step of the construction, which was all done by local builder Floyd Cranmer. Ten railcar loads of bricks were used to build the solid outer walls and it was soon evident that the town was to have the finest library on the New Jersey coast.
As the library neared completion in the late fall of 1924, its beauty was already drawing praise. Every window in the structure was framed with long shutters of pale green, which gleamed against the white brick exterior. A sweeping, multi-dormered black roof added a grace seldom seen in a public building. Surrounded by a low, white picket fence and later, a well-kept green lawn, it added an incomparable dignity to what, in that time period, was the town’s main street, Beach Avenue.
There are two large colonial-style working fireplaces on the first floor. One is in the main room and the other is behind it in the long back room on the ocean side of the library. Today this room houses the Mystery collection and its solid, ten-foot table makes it useful as a meeting room. In the early years, however, it served a different function–it was designated as the men’s reading room, and there male patrons could sit in large comfortable chairs to read magazines and newspapers. It was well lit by two tall French windows and it opened out onto the screened porch on the north side.
The main reading room with its vaulted ceiling is encircled with a balcony reached by a spiral stone staircase, its steps topped with thick slabs of slate. The balcony flooring is of oak, as are all of the spindles in the railings. The upstairs walls are lined with books. One great window on the west side rises ten feet to the ceiling. The rest are all set into dormers. On the east wall behind the upstairs balcony there is a door where one may step down into a well-furnished little museum with high, beamed ceilings and a huge stone fireplace. It is filled with old hotel registers, deeds, diaries, photographs and other mementos of Beach Haven’s vibrant history.
The Beach Haven Public Library is a prime architectural treasure on Long Beach Island and a direct link to a colorful past that is the town’s most precious heritage. Mrs. Elizabeth Pharo’s gift to the town, itself now almost 100 years old, is as stunning as the day it was built. The taxpayers who support it are proud of its status as the only independent library in Ocean County and have chosen to keep it that way.
Schneider’s Bakery at 157 Main Street in Cooperstown, NY
The front window of Schneider’s Bakery
I have only visited Cooperstown, NY twice but I have made my annual visit to Schneider’s Bakery part of my annual visit. The doughnuts, danishes, twist and croissants here are excellent. I stop in for breakfast, desserts and snacks there when I am in town. It is not just the taste of the pastries, it is the way the store is displayed too.
The inside counter for coffee and drinks
The only problem with the store is that there is no place to sit down to enjoy all these delicious treats. You have to take your pastry to go. The other problem is the choices. There are so many yummy things to choose from it is hard not to walk out with a bag full of goodies.
The cases of cookies
I loved the creativity of the designs of the cakes and cookies in the store. I thought the Fall, Thanksgiving and Christmas themed cookies looked like little pieces of art. They really put you on the holiday spirit.
The delicious selection of doughnuts
The history of Schneider’s Bakery:
(From the Cooperstown’s Downtown website)
Since 1887, Schneider’s Bakery has been serving Cooperstown residents and visitors alike some of the tastiest baked goods around! Everything from moon pies and cupcakes, to chocolate chip cookies and homemade donuts, can be found at Schneider’s.
The doughnuts and croissant’s were really good and very fairly priced. That was the one thing about Schneider’s Bakery, their prices are very reasonable.
The fantastic Apple filled jelly doughnut
On my first day in town, I stopped for a quick snack of one of their Apple filled doughnuts and these are just mindblowingly good. I was impressed by the fresh apple filling and it almost tasted like a cross between an apple pie and apple turnover.
The lemon zested Glazed Doughnut
It was so good, I had to go back and get another treat to take back to my room at the hotel. I took one of their Glazed Doughnuts back with me and it had a unique taste. It tasted like there was lemon zest in the dough. It had a very unique and sweet flavor to it.
On my last day at the resort, I stopped in for some breakfast items to take back to the room with me. I did not want a big breakfast for the three hour trip home and just something light to tide me over until I got on the road.
The Ham and Cheese Croissant
I started with one of their Ham and Cheese Croissants for breakfast and it was delicious. Filled with sharp Cheddar Cheese and sweet ham, it was the perfect savory item. They should think about putting eggs in it.
Yum!
The Raspberry Long John
This was excellent and tastes even better than it looks
I finished breakfast with one of their glazed Raspberry Long John’s, which is an elongated doughnut with a thick, sugary glaze. I swear I saw stars when I bit into it. The Raspberry jam tasted like it was freshly made and the dough was so soft and sweet. It was excellent.
Afterwards, you can walk these off with a tour of picturesque downtown Cooperstown. It was all decorated for the upcoming Christmas Parade. I am sure that Santa would link to get his treats from here as well.
Walking in Downtown Cooperstown, NY Thanksgiving week in 2025
Downtown Cooperstown, NY decorated for the holidays
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