Open: Sunday-Monday 9:30am-5:00pm (closes 4:00pm between November and January 5th) The house is only open between April and the beginning of January.
Fee: Adults $18.00/Seniors $15.00/Children (5-18) $9.00/Children (under 5 years old) Free (This is for house and Garden/Garden tours are different and depend on the season. Please check the website)
My review on TripAdvisor:
I recently visited the Boscobel House and Garden for their Christmas decorations and for a tour of the house at the holidays. Like most houses of its time period (the house was built in 1806), it was Post-Revolutionary War and the decorations would not have been that lavish as in the Victorian times.
The Grand Foyer at Boscobel
The house was tastefully decorated with garlands and mistletoe along the archways inside the foyer and with holly and mistletoe inside the house…
There has been a lot of visits to my other blog on my visit to Woodstock, NY for Christmas. I wanted to share this earlier one with everyone as well. The parade on Christmas Eve should be experienced once and you will see the magic of Woodstock, NY at the holidays. It is amazing!
The Woodstock Square at Christmas time after the parade and lights are over. A relaxing evening after everything is over. The parade ends by 6:45pm and church services at the Dutch Reformed Church end by 8:00pm. Then all is quiet outside.
The Woodstock NY right before the start of the Christmas Parade
There is always excitement in the air from the crowds that come to see the parade and how Santa will make his appearance. I look forward to this like everyone else in the crowd.
I put my walking project in Manhattan on hold to participate in other activities that I was organizing during the month of December. Trips in the city became day trips to the museums, walking tours and many holiday events that was I was invited to or helped organize for other people.
Some of the memorable events I had was organizing my holiday party at work. I work with the disabled who are a very active bunch of people. I make sure that there is always exercising, stimulating speakers and lively engaging conversation. These are not people who will ever sit on the back of the bus if I can help it. I always want them to know you can get better and make better of any situation.
We had a lively party with exercise, music and good food. As I do every year, I have the Bamboo House 28 South…
This annual Dutch Christmas festival has become part of my Christmas tradition since I visited Rhinebeck for the event in 2010. Rhinebeck, New York is the true Currier & Ives town at Christmas time and one of the most quintessential Hudson Valley town that retains it charm being so close to the City. I love coming up here not just for the event but as you have noticed by my most current blogs, I have spent a lot of time here in the Summer and Fall letting readers know of all the wonderful events and happenings in the area.
I have to say I was not used to Christmas creeping up on me like this. It had only been five weeks since we had the Halloween Parade in the City and puppet rehearsals had only been five and a half weeks earlier when I visited Rokeby. That and it had been 71 degrees on Halloween night and Sinterklass night it was more like 25 degrees. I could really feel the drop in temperature that evening.
Having just returned from Florida over the Thanksgiving break, I had been in class giving a quiz to my students that morning and reviewing over their group project and various chapters in the book for the upcoming exam. So I did not head Upstate until almost noon. I got up to Rhinebeck at 2:00pm and that is when it set in that the snow storm that had hit New Jersey was very different from the one Upstate. The storm had been worse Upstate than it had been in New Jersey and there was still a foot of snow in Rhinebeck. I didn’t get to the main street until 2:30pm.
The side streets were closed off on one side because the snow was still piled high. So it was an eight block walk on snowy paths to the Main Street of Rhinebeck which had fully cleaned up for the parade. What was nice this year was the first three blocks of the downtown area were closed off so you could enjoy the bands and acts walking around.
Rhinebeck when the sun goes down at Christmas
The Rhinebeck Christmas tree
It was a cold afternoon and I noticed that the crowds were not as large as they usually were for the event. Still Rhinebeck at Sinterklaas is festive and engaging environment. There were crowds weaving in and out of the restaurants and stores and the windows were decked out for the holidays with interesting holiday displays and lit stars from the parade. All around town there bands playing, people on stilts singing and grumpuses (Sinterklaas’s helpers) dancing around and chanting. You could see that people were freezing but still having a really good time.
The Grumpuses, Sinterklaas’s helpers dancing in Downtown Rhinebeck, NY
I was able to get to see some of the musical performances at the churches before the start of the parade and warm up. Even the audiences did not seem as busy as they had in the past but still people were enjoying the performances and stopped shivering.
Don’t miss this performance of Uptown Lowdown in downtown Rhinebeck that afternoon. The ladies were wonderful!
Sitting in the church pews and listening to groups was enjoyable. There was only about two hours before meeting at the Starr Library for the parade so I chose my shows by groups I had not heard in the past.
I started at 3rd Evangelical Lutheran Church listening to the Bard College Georgian Choir, who sang traditional Georgian Christmas music, which was interesting. I did not understand the words but the music was enjoyable. The students did a nice job.
This is some of their work at another concert
After that, I took a short walk to the other side of the downtown and heard the Vassar Devils at the Reformed Church Sanctuary. They were lively, peppy bunch that sang traditional Christmas carols with a jazzy spin.
This is the Vassar Devils at the 2015 Sinterklaas event
After the concerts, it was a quick walk to the Starr Library to get ready for the Sinterklaas Parade. There is always a lot of excitement to the beginning of the parade and getting ready to march down the hill. For some reason, I don’t remember it getting so cold so early in the season.
The temperature dropped as the sun went down. Everyone was excited as we lined up for the parade and got ready for the walk through the downtown. All I could think about is how fast the year had gone and how I had this conversation with myself when I walked the parade last year. Were the years getting quicker between the parades?
There is an exhilaration when the parade progresses down the hill into Downtown Rhinebeck and the whole town is lit with white Christmas lights and illuminated stars that represent the parade. It may have seemed quiet in town that afternoon but the crowds were out for the parade. There must have been about a thousand people lining the street on both sides. It was a big crowd filming the parade.
There is always such excitement to this parade. Similar to the Barnacle Parade that I attended in October (Day One Hundred and Fifty One The Barnacle Parade see below), this is a home grown parade that just keeps getting bigger. When I first starting coming to the Sinterklaas Parade back in 2010, it was more local people. Now you have people coming from many states to join in the festivities. Even the cold kept people from the day’s activities, they came for the parade.
Marching toward the end of the parade with Mother Nature, this is the second year of carrying the ‘star forest; puppet (I am not pulling my back out for something heavier as in the past), we get to see the other puppets, floats and bands head down the hill. You can see the multiple lights from the other puppets and the raging sounds of the bands and the Chinese Dragons as they head down the hill to town.
You can see me in the corner holding the Star Forest puppet by Mother Nature with my Cornell Pom-Pom hat on marching to keep warm. It is an exciting night!
There is always a delay as you get to the Route 9 crossing near the Beekman Arms Hotel for the performance of the “Wild Women of Rhinebeck”, who perform their annual dance and for the ‘Dragon Dance’ that the Chinese dancers perform. It is really fun to see up close if you get the chance.
When we entered the downtown, all the kids were excited to see the Mother Nature float winding by. The parents were just as excited as they high-fived Mother Nature as they passed by groups of people. The drum line was going in full beat just behind us followed by a large group of parade goers marching in the parade with their lit stars. It was exhilarating and fun to watch from the marcher’s point in the parade. On such a cold night (by this point it was 25 degrees), I could not believe that many people were lining the parade route.
As we rounded the corner into the Rhinebeck Municipal lot to end the parade and drop the puppets off, we were greeted by a huge roar of people and the announcements from the stage for the final part of the parade. I just dropped my puppet off and enjoyed the stage show as the drum line passed by.
The stage performance was with all the main characters of the parade, Sinterklaas, Mother Holly, the Snow King and Queen, the Mermaid Queen, the Midnight Moon Princess and various members of the Sinterklaas Parade Committee who run the parade. it is a ceremony that honors the children, ‘The Kings and Queens of Sinterklaas’, for the evening.
The Closing ceremony
There were musical performances, dancing, prayer and then the fire jugglers entertaining us. The audience had thinned out by this point and about a hundred and fifty people were standing in the parking lot watching the ceremony. It was getting even colder by the time the fire jugglers started. After the last announcement for the parade events next year, the crowd started to disperse. It did not take long to watch crowd leave as it got so cold.
I walked around downtown Rhinebeck for about twenty minutes letting the crowds thin out and the traffic leave but by that point the town really quieted down and most of the cars were gone as I did not see that much traffic.
It was fun to walk the town one more time and admire the beautiful Christmas windows of all the stores and the sparking white lights that lined the trees on both sides of the main street of Rhinebeck. It is really is picturesque.
Downtown Rhinebeck is so beautifully decorated for Christmas
I had full day of work the next day that including decorated houses to visit, historical society events to attend, an Afternoon Tea at the Newark Museum (see review on TripAdvisor and VisitingaMuseum.com) and then an evening selling Christmas trees for the Hasbrouck Heights Men’s Association (see blogs on Christmas on MywalkinManhattan.com) so staying overnight in Rhinebeck was not possible this year. It was going to be a long ride home.
It was worth it and a lot of fun!
Happy Sinterklass and Merry Christmas!
Check out the videos online on the Sinterklaas Parade on YouTube. It is an exciting night!
My Halloween Blog on the Halloween Parade in October:
On November 30th, 2019, small businesses all over Main Streets and Downtown’s all over the country celebrated the Ninth Anniversary of “Small Business Saturday”, a shopping day dedicated to individual and small business owners.
Harbs on the Upper East Side of Manhattan
My blog. LittleShoponMainStreet@Wordpress.com honors those business owners first in New York City and now all over the Eastern Seaboard whose business owners offering interesting one of kind merchandise, unique merchandising design and placement of their goods and interesting window displays that showcase their stores.
Amado on Third on the Upper East Side of Manhattan at Halloween
Each store featured in this blog showcases the store’s individuality of the owner and the excellent customer service you will receive when you walk in. The in-personality of the big department stores demoans their failure but I think it is just corporate America answering what they think customers want. I think interesting…
I can’t believe that Halloween is over again! It comes and goes so quickly and I can already see the traces of Christmas on its way. There are times that I can’t believe that July and August go by so fast and then there are the holidays.
Halloween, as you can see by the last few years of this blog, have become more than just handing out Halloween treats to kids at my house. In fact, even when I have been home I rarely see trick or treaters, the most being 14 kids about ten years ago. Kids today at least in my part of the neighborhood have little interest in doing this anymore.
Halloween started for me on the first weekend of October with the ‘Pumpkin Blaze’ at the Van Cortlandt Manor (See my reviews on TripAdvisor and VisitingaMuseum.com). Last year I saw the Blaze on the last weekend it was open on the first weekend of November and the temperature had dropped to 32 degrees and I said never again. I wanted to see it when it was warm out and I could take my time to really see the displays.
So I asked my Aunt Deloris to attend with me as a delayed birthday present to her and on October 7th we headed up to Croton-on-the-Hudson to see the Annual Pumpkin Blaze. It was unusually warm that night at 62 degrees but there was the threat of rain later that evening. Still for the entire time we were at the Van Cortlandt Manor, it was mild and pleasant. Since we attended on a Monday night long before Halloween, the crowds were not as large.
Entering the Blaze event
It was a spectacular display this year with many new displays to ohh and ahh at while walking the paths around the manor. To let you all know, the Pumpkin Blaze is a volunteer event and major fundraiser for the Hudson Valley Historical Society. Thousands of hand-carved pumpkins are illuminated all over the grounds of the estate and the light makes it quite intriguing.
The pumpkin carving starts in late August and early September
As you enter the path into the estate, they are lined completely with lit pumpkins. That lead to the Circus train display and the Tappan Scream Bridge, both made from a combination of real and plastic pumpkins, The train had gotten longer and more detailed over the years with detailed ghostly animals arriving at their destination.
The spooky Circus train
Another display that was amazing was the Museum of Modern Art display that had with copies of famous works in pumpkins. It was in honor of the renovation and extension of the museum.
The Andy Warhol Soup Can
The Headless Horseman Scream
As we exited the ghostly museum, you pass the musical carousel and the Albany Post Road that was lined pumpkins. There were pumpkin jack in the boxes, pumpkin dinosaurs and pumpkin mummies. The displays were bigger, more detailed and more elaborate then years past.
Pumpkin Dinosaurs
The pumpkin carousel
The paths leading to the Van Cortlandt Manor were lined with a pumpkin cemetery and then the dinosaur displays. This lead to the light show at the Van Cortlandt Manor that was lined with pumpkins and a light show that illuminated the house. The house was surrounded by pumpkins of all faces and expressions along the path around the house. This lead to another cemetery that had the Van Cortlandt family names as you exited the property.
Van Cortland Manor at Croton-on-the-Hudson
As we exited the property it lead to a series of tents that carried all sorts of gifts and Halloween items, two different food concessions with hot dogs, cider, homemade doughnuts and popcorn. It was very active after everyone had walked the show.
Then my aunt and I came across this giant pumpkin that was craved out of wood that everyone was taking pictures at and we pose for our own Halloween portrait. That was a lot of fun dodging the other families to take the shot.
My Aunt Deloris and I at the end of the Annual Pumpkin Blaze
Just as we were leaving the site and heading to the car, the heavens opened up and it started to rain. We just made it to the car as it started to pour. As we headed back to New Jersey and crossed over the Tappan Zee Bridge, the rain started to let up to a light drizzle. When we reached Paramus, it was just a light mist.
We stopped for dinner at the Suburban Diner at 172 Route 17 North in Paramus, NJ ( see review on TripAdvisor) for a snack. The snack ended up being a large Turkey Club Sandwich with a side of fries, Cole slaw and a pickle. This thing was huge! My aunt ordered a BLT that was just as large and for two people who just wanted a ‘snack’ we devoured everything. I guess it was all that walking.
I love Turkey Club sandwiches
What a sandwich!
I continued my Halloween activities to where it all took place, Sleepy Hollow and Tarrytown, NY, where the months of September, October and early November are very busy. Historic Hudson Valley has lots of events this time of the year, one of them being the Pumpkin Blaze.
Another event I attended was the “Home of the ‘Legend'”, a tour of Washington Irving’s home, ‘Sunnyside’, which is located at 3 West Sunnyside Lane in Irvington, NY (See review on TripAdvisor and VisitingaMuseum.com). I had visited the house years ago but they now had a Halloween tour of the house.
‘Sunnyside’ was the home of Washington Irving from 1835 until his death in the house in 1859. The house was originally a small two room stone house had been built around 1690 for a tenant farmer and had once been part of the Philipse Manor estate grounds. When Washington Irving bought the house in 1835, eyeing the home when visiting his son Oscar who lived in the area.
Washington Irving’s Sunnyside at 3 West Sunnyside Lane
With his friend, George Harvey, a painter, they created the home in the Romantic style with almost a fairy tale appearance. The ‘storybook’ home is covered in wisteria and has the most beautiful views of the widest area of the Hudson River. The author wrote some of his most famous stories from this house. He lived here with his brother, Ebenezer and his five daughters after his business failed so the house was a busy one.
Washington Irving’s study
The house was sold to John D. Rockefeller for the State by Washington Irving’s great grandson, Louis Irving in 1945 preservation. The house tour is really interesting as the old Victorian wing was torn down to preserve it to the time of Washington Irving so it has the original kitchen, ice house and barn. These ten acres were a working estate.
I got to see Washington Irving’s study and bedroom with the original furnishings which I thought was interesting. It does have a small kitchen for all those people and the bedrooms the rest of the family had were almost the size of today’s contemporary homes. So it must have been tight for the family.
When you exit the kitchen from the back to end the house tour, you head to the back lawn where the ice house is located, the gardens and the barn. There are ten acres to roam around with ponds and streams and again that amazing view of the Hudson River. This tour should not be missed when it opens back up in the Spring.
The last event I went to in Tarrytown was ‘The Unsilent Picture, which took place at the Tarrytown auditorium. The program was a movie based on a story line mystery that takes place one evening and the local actors play out the characters to scare a family member. I was so tired from the cold and it was so boring that I think I fell asleep for five minutes and missed a section of it. I just didn’t get the interest in the whole thing. I would bypass this in the future.
The Unsilent Movie
Here is the trailer for the movie:
One Halloween event you should look into is the Victorian Halloween Tea lecture at the Staatsburg Historical Site/Mills Mansion in Staatsburg, NY. These lecture teas are very interesting and the food is wonderful.
The Staatsburg Historical Site/Mills Mansion at 75 Mills Mansion Drive
The Mills Mansion estate during the Fall
The back of the estate during the Fall event
I have been a Friend of the Mills Mansion now for about four years finding that I was going to a lot of their events it just made it easier to join and get priority on their special events which are enjoyable. The Halloween Tea was one of them the opened the holiday season.
The slide show as we were about to begin the lecture
The table set for the Halloween Tea
The guests arriving for the Halloween Afternoon Tea
The friendly witches getting ready to greet guests
This event was a tea and lecture of how the Victorians recreated Halloween from a dark more countryside evening wrapped in mystery to an engaging urban event with costumes, specialty foods and traditional events like apple bobbing that guests then made their own. Local Historian Carol Kohan discussed how the event went from a dark rural event to fun and engaging holiday.
The celebration was spooky and fun
From the old traditions to new ones
The Victorian’s made everything elaborate and overdone and the Halloween celebrations were ‘taken up a notch’ with elaborate costumes, parties, bonfires and desserts and candies that were to be served. There were special invitations and cards that were to sent and rules of etiquette.
The Ghosts and Ghouls of the holidays
Following the Civil War and at a time when disease was not understood the way it is now, there was an interest in spiritualism and seances were in vague as people want to reach out to their loved ones. So having a medium at a party was part of the activity. The Victorians knew how to transform a holiday.
The Menu for the afternoon
Our tables numbers on the table
During the discussion, we enjoyed an afternoon tea of the specialty Staatsburg Tea blend, a variety of finger sandwiches, pumpkin and cranberry scones and many types of pastries including mini pumpkin cheesecakes, tiny devil’s food cupcakes and assorted sweet cookies. The caterer always does a nice job with the food and service here.
The food at these function are excellent and plentiful. These were the current and raison scones
The Assorted delicious Tea Sandwiches
Sweets and cakes
Pumpkin Cheesecake bites and Apple Tarts with Marshmallow Cupcakes represent the holiday
The start of the lecture after tea was finished
After the tea and lecture, we took a detailed tour of the Mill’s Mansion which I had taken many times but this was with another tour guide and he gave us another perspective to the house. He mentioned stories of the Mills family that I had not heard before and we also got to see how the renovations of the house were going. It looks like the dining room and entrance hall will be finished in time for the holiday party.
The foyer of the Mills Mansion as they prepare for the holidays
All of these activities lead to the big event in my Halloween every year, the NY Greenwich Village Halloween Parade which I have been marshaling now for five years. Participating in the event this year, I got an invitation to go to Rokeby, the estate of the Aldrich/Livingston family to see the puppet rehearsals. This year’s theme to the parade was “Wild Things” and the puppets and costumes were to reflect this.
Because I had the above Afternoon tea at the Mill’s Mansion the next day, I stayed at an Airbnb for the night and that was interesting. I had a feeling that the host really did not want to meet me as she scrambled out the door that night. The room was in a small private home near downtown Kingston and the nice part was that I could enjoy all the restaurants, museums and historical sites (See VisitingaMuseum.com for the sites I visited) and go back to the room to sleep.
After I checked into the Airbnb, it was off to The Rokeby Estate which is a 400 acre property in Red Hook, NY. Most of the artists for the Halloween Parade and the Sinterklass Parade in December (see my blogs on this as well) live on the Rokeby Estate in the homes that surround the old mansion.
The Rokeby Estate in Red Hook, NY
By the time I got up there, it was just starting to get dark and trust me, the roads are not paved going up to the house and it gets dark up there. I parked by the barn where all the magic happens and they create and assemble all the puppets. This was interesting because I got to see all the designs and all the construction areas of the barn.
The rehearsal went by well and they even created music for the puppets to dance to when performing. Then the participants holding the puppets lead everyone to the Rokeby Mansion and we all assembled on the porch which was lit with Christmas lights and watched the performance from there.
The Wild Things at the Puppet Rehearsals at Rokeby
The Max’s of the Wild Things
Watching from the porch of Rokeby was a lot of fun and what a place to view everything. Before it got dark, I got to talk to Tracey and Wilt Aldrich and introduce myself (we are like 12th cousins by marriage) and we got to chat before the performance. I got to see the sun set over the Hudson River from there and it was spectacular. The colors over the mountains was amazing and you can understand why people moved up here.
After rehearsals, it was off to Rhinebeck for dinner at Pete’s Famous, a diner concept downtown that I highly recommend. I had a much needed Hot Turkey sandwich with mashed potatoes ($10.95) and a Coke (see review on TripAdvisor). The main meal was loaded with that thick turkey gravy that diners are known for when serving this dish. The meal started with a Chicken and Rice soup that really warmed me up. It was nice to warm up in the restaurant and chat with the waitstaff.
Pete’s Famous at 34 East Main Street in Rhinebeck, NY has wonderful food
After dinner, I just walked around downtown Rhinebeck, NY knowing that Sinterklaas was only four and a half weeks later. I could see that the Christmas lights were being put on the trees already. Then it was off to bed and back to the Mills Mansion for the tea. The parade would be four days later.
The Chicken Rice Soup is amazing
The ultimate comfort food a Hot Turkey Platter with Mashed Potatoes
Halloween Night was really unusual again this year. The weather was threatening rain all day and it was weirdly warm being 71 degrees and humid that night. Somehow we never saw the rain that night and as it got dark didn’t even notice the clouds.
Getting ready for the parade
I got the parade early this year arriving at 3:00pm to meet with the Head Marshal at the gate (and my distant cousin by marriage), Marc Schuyler. I had lucked out and had been invited to the Marshaling meeting the week before which made me better prepared for the parade. By the time I got there, most of the marshals had arrived and I got to work with the locations of people and where everyone was supposed to go.
My ‘cousin’ Marc Schuyler and myself at the parade entrance
With the exception with one pain who lived near by and snuck into the parade route, we did not have one problem this year and getting people into the parade was easy. We had no hassles this year and because it was not raining as expected, the parade route got really busy. People came out for the parade in droves and the costumes were more creative than in previous years.
We got all the bands in, all the ‘Thriller” dancers checked in and all the float people into the park on time and kept the tourists out. By the time we closed the gate at 8:00pm, there was no one left and the parade was in progress. By the time I got to Sixth Avenue and Spring Street, most of the parade was uptown.
The parade during set up
I got to see about four floats go up Sixth Avenue and one band before the rest of the parade was people in costume. There was everything from Superhero’s to cheerleaders in that parade. People dressed as horses, birds and trees. Lots of Jason’s and Freddie Kruger’s and spirits of death. People were dressed like little kids and cartoon characters the list goes on.
Preparing for the parade
There was a small get together after the parade but that was not until 10:00pm so it gave me about an hour to walk around the Village and watch people in action. I swear I walked all over the Village and Soho and every street and restaurant was mobbed! Because it was so warm outside all the outdoor cafes were open. All the outside tables were taken and it seemed that every restaurant was packed with people with more waiting. Even the McDonald’s and littlest pizzerias were busy. With no rain and warm weather, people were in the mood to be outside one last time.
The Floats in the parade
A group of us had light dinner that night at Da Umberto on 107 West 17th Street in the Village and the food and service were wonderful. They had a nice buffet set up for us and we had a choice of a Risotto Bolognese, Penne with a Pesto Cream sauce, Rigatoni with Vodka sauce, or Eggplant Parmesan as the main dish, a wonderful salad with house dressing and a Tiramisu for dessert. The food and the service was excellent and we had a nice evening just sitting around and talking about the parade.
Da Umberto is an excellent restaurant! Make sure to try the pastas
The food at Da Umberto’s is excellent
When I left the party around 11:30pm, it was still going strong as was the street party after the parade. People were still eating outside, house parties could be seen from the windows and people were still parading around in their costumes.
When I got home just past Midnight, I felt the first drops of the storm and when I got inside around 12:15am, the heaven’s opened up and did it rain! It pounded the roof. God had really spared us all of that. It was the last night that I slept with the air conditioner on and the heat off because when I woke up it must have dropped 25 degrees and the heat went right back on.
Another Halloween over and here come the Winter and Christmas!
I have been travelling up to the Hudson River Valley much more than usual this Fall. There has been so much going on between the events up at the Dutchess County Fair Grounds since the Fair in August and all the of the ‘Mansion Hopping’ and visiting to historical sites for my blog, “VisitingaMuseum.com”, which I have been concentrating on building over the Summer and Fall. I have been visiting on most weekends between September and the end of October.
The Hudson River Valley in the fall.
Travelling up to the Hudson River Valley in the fall is an amazing time. Because of the lack of rain over the summer, the foliage turned much earlier than it usually does and the trees starting turning yellow and red in the end of September and beginning of October as opposed to last year and the year before where it was more the end of October and middle of November.
The views of the Hudson River are always so amazing
I started my journey up to Dutchess County right after the Dutchess County Fair at the end of August and continued through the end of October for Halloween events. I had bought a small Santa from a woodcarver for a small Mother’s Day present for my mom and she absolutely loved it so I had to seek him out again at events through the next three months. He was tough to find.
My mother loves the Santas at the fair
My first trip Upstate was for the Cornell-Marist Football game on September 21st. Because I have to teach college on Saturday mornings I left for the game later in the afternoon and I got to Marist College during the beginning of the second quarter.
The Marist College campus off Route 9 in Poughkeepsie is one of the nicest college campuses I have been to in a while. The campus sits right on the Hudson River and the nice part is that the football stadium is located right off the highway so as I was driving in I could see what was going.
Big Red Football
Long story short it was not the greatest football game I had ever been to and we won 21-7. Cornell University has not invested in its football team the way it should and it was like watching two high school teams play. The funny part was that Marist College and Cornell University have the same school colors so it was hard to see who was rooting for who in the stadium.
Watching the game
The one nice thing about the stadium is that on the other side of the stands of the stadium that Marist has lawn sitting and that is the best way to watch the game. It was also about 85 degrees that afternoon so it was the perfect football weather and I got tan while watching the game.
Sitting on the lawn side of the field is the best place to sit
After the game was over, I decided to explore the campus. God, the Marist College campus is gorgeous. The campus has expanded over the years since I went to school at the Culinary Institute of America and our campus was beautiful as well. Marist College has rolling hills, lush green lawns and the most amazing view of the Hudson River. People should just visit the campus to walk around. The foliage was just starting to turn so the view of the river and the hills that surround it was spectacular.
The next weekend I was back Upstate again to the fairgrounds in Rhinebeck for Oktoberfest. This interesting event was the smaller of the two events that I attended at the Dutchess County Fair Grounds after the Annual Fair in August. This was a smaller craft event that took up one section of the fairgrounds mostly where the craft exhibition space had been during the fair and the rides were located. I had gotten this event and the Sheep & Wool event later in the month mixed up and the wood carver was not there (later when I did meet up with him at the Sheep & Wool Festival he said that he was not invited). Still I stayed and explored the fairgrounds on this warm sunny day.
Along the main path, there were all sorts of arts and crafts vendors and gourmet food vendors selling their wares and there were a few food vendors towards the back of the event but the lines were so long that I decided to eat outside the fairgrounds. So I took a trip up to Red Hook, NY which is located just north of the fair grounds and had lunch at Village Pizza III at 7594 North Broadway (see reviews on TripAdvisor and DiningonaShoeStringinNYC@Wordpress.com) for some lunch.
The food at this Village Pizza is just excellent and so reasonable as well! I had the most delicious Calzone ($6.95) that was just loaded with mozzarella, Parmesan and Ricotta cheese and was a gooey delight with every bite. Their red sauce that I have mentioned in my of my Upstate New York blogs, is just excellent. Well spiced and loaded with flavor.
Village Pizza III at 7594 Broadway in Red Hook, NY is just excellent for lunch and dinner
I came back two weeks later for the Sheep and Wool Festival which was a whole different experience in both 2019 and 2021 (the festival like everything else was cancelled in 2020 because of COVID).
The entrance to the Dutchess County Fairgrounds
The Sheep and Wool Festival which takes place the third week of October was a much bigger festival, larger than Oktoberfest but just a little smaller than the Fair. In the back by the animal pens there were displays from people in the 4 H with their sheep, alpaca and goats showing off these amazing animals. So many of the them were friendly and let you pet them. Most looked bored and tired of people taking their picture.
The sheep at the Sheep & Wool Festival
It was a lot of fun walking through the rows of yarn, specialty crocheted and knitted hats, blankets and baby items plus all the handcrafted items for the upcoming holidays. These took up most of the display pens that during the Dutchess County Fair are used for the animals. There are a lot of talented crafters and artisans that come to the Fairgrounds.
The Sheep and Wool Festival in 2019
The Sheep and Wool Festival in 2022
I did find the woodcarver, Joe Gleeson, on this trip and was able to buy to small Santa’s that he had in stock. It seemed that he had a good sell through at the Dutchess County Fair and there was not much left and he was just trying to keep up. I love Mr. Gleeson’s surrealist designed Santa’s. Another creative carver was Bill Kypreos from Bill-Lin Woodcarving, who I bought another Santa from in 2021.
kypreos8@me.com
After making that purchase, I walked all over the fairgrounds looking over the displays and all the crafts people. There were a lot of interesting vendors offering the most beautiful and interesting items.
Carapace Farm Puppetry by Susannah White
Mr. Gleeson has the most beautiful wooden carvings of Santa’s, Elf’s and Snowman. Bonnie’s Beast’s offered the most creative felt and knit play animals from felt wool. Artist Patricia McGarth created homemade all natural doggie treats that tasted like an all natural cracker. They were not bad to eat for a human. Utopia Bath Ltd. has an interesting bath line and lotions.
Bonny’s Beasts
Artist Susannah White builds and creates puppets through her Carapace Farm Puppetry. She carries the most interesting hand and finger puppets and masks. She works with her mother, artist Amelia McIsaac who also does felt art and works on the “Star Babies” sculptures and other children’s art.
Artist JoAnn Clark is a fiber artist who specializes in Needle felted folk art. She created the most interesting animal art and figurines. Amelia McIsaac created flowering art through her Flowering Art Homestead company.
The sheep were surprisingly friendly even after they were given a hair cut
For lunch, I discovered that Janek’s, the Food Truck vendor I had eaten lunch at during the Fair was at this festival as well and I made the ‘B-Line’ to have lunch there.
For $15.00, I got their special again. This was a half pound freshly ground beef patty that was juicy in the center and caramelized on the outside. Then they top it with Cheddar Cheese, Smoked Glazed Ham, Pulled Pork and homemade pickles with a side of freshly made potato-cheese perogies cooked in butter and sweet onions with a side of sour cream.
Don’t miss Janek’s Food Truck at all Dutchess County events
Okay, yes it is not for the cholesterol minded person but I eat this twice a year and do I enjoy it. I walked the Fairgrounds twice just to work it off. I had the exact same thing in 2021 and it was just as good but the price went up to $18.00.
Do not miss the Cheeseburger with pulled pork and pierogi special at Janek’s Food Truck
In 2021, I left the Fairgrounds around 2:30pm to visit the Bard Campus to visit two of the cultural sites I wanted to see on my last couple of trips to the Hudson River Valley, Montgomery Place, the home of Janet Livingston Montgomery and the Hessel Museum, Bard College’s on campus museum.
I had been to Montgomery Place at 26 Gardener Way & River Road many times before when the house was owned by the Hudson River Historical Society. They used to run tours of the house and have cocktail parties on the porch outside. The grounds were breathtaking with views down to the Hudson River and the lawns had been freshly cut. The trees were getting that yellow and orange hue to them and it was nice exercise to just walk around the grounds. The house is now closed to tours (by appointment only).
After a tour of the grounds of the old mansion, I visited the Hessel Museum which is the museum of the Bard College. This interesting museum is specializing in modern and contemporary art.
The Hessel Museum was featuring two different exhibitions: “With Pleasure: Pattern and Decoration in Art 1972-1985”, which was a time of growth in home decorating themed art and “Closer to Life: Drawings on Paper of the Marieluise Hessel Collection”, the founder of the Museum and Co-Founder of the College’s personal collection of works. Both exhibitions displayed the art in its own unique way. What was nice was the museum was free as well as visiting the mansion.
In 2021, I spent the night at the Courtyard by Marriott in Fishkill, NY (see TripAdvisor review below) after the Sheep & Wool Festival so that I could revisit a lot of the businesses and small towns that I had been to in the past to check out the businesses and the status of the towns during COVID. What started as a specular day with a beautiful sunrise over the Catskills from my hotel room ended in a most gloomy cold day of driving around the Hudson River Valley.
The Courtyard by Marriott at Fishkill in Fishkill, NY at 17 Westage Drive
Almost all the businesses in Red Hook, NY were closed on Monday with the exception of Little Pickles, a small toy store that I have featured many times in my blogs (see LittleShoponMainStreet@Wordpress.com), The owner and I talked for awhile about the stores being closed on Mondays and how hard that is on customers.
Red Hook was pretty much closed for the day and was rather gloomy in the rain. On a nice day though, it is the most unique and quaint town to shop and visit.
I left Red Hook and my next stop was Downtown Wappingers Falls, NY where the Meisner Homestead was located. Everything was closed here and about six or seven stores had closed in its unique downtown. Even the Falls were dripping as there was no water coming down the river. I could not believe how much was empty since my last visit almost a year ago. This was the up and coming downtown.
My last stop on my journey was Beacon, NY where a lot more of the stores were open for the day and the weather had gotten nicer. The foliage was a little nicer here but most of the trees were pretty much still green.
I walked the whole downtown twice visiting stores that had interested me in the past. Colorant at 146 Main Street is such a unique clothing store in which all the clothes are made of all natural fibers and dies (see my review on LittleShoponMainStreet@Wordpress.com).
Another store that caught my attention was Flora Good Times, a very interesting flower and gift shop at 197 Main Street. They had all sorts of interesting handmade pottery and a nice selection of seasonal flowers beautifully displayed.
Before I left touring all of downtown, I stopped at my ‘go to’ pizzeria, Pizza & Stuff II which has the best pizza. The slices are really large and the sauce is so well spiced and gives it wonderful flavor. The service here is really nice (see my review on TripAdvisor below).
After touring all the towns in search of new material, I headed home on a rather chilly night. I ended up having to turn the heat on in the house. The rain really had dropped the temperature.
In 2019, after the time at the Sheep and Wool Festival, it was next to the ‘Pie and Punch Evening” at the Kearney House in the Palisades Interstate Park. I had been to the Kearney House two weeks early on a Sunday but it was closed due to a Square Dance fundraiser they were running so I saw this on the Internet and thought it sounded fun (Please see the reviews on TripAdvisor and VisitingaMuseum.com). The house would all be lit by candles and fireplaces as there is no electricity in the house. What could be nicer?
Kearney House at the Alpine Landing is lit by candlelight
Well just to let all you readers know that the Palisades Interstate Park is closed after dusk and does not reopen until it is light out the next day and there are NO lights either on the roads going down the hill to the basin or in the parking lot. When I mean the park is pitch black, it is pitch black. I thought this was dangerous since the road leading to the basin is very steep, not much of a barrier along the cliff side and no lights on the signs. I had some jerk follow me at full speed racing down the hill behind me. Let’s just leave this that there was a small boulder that I did not see and it did not get out of my way. The next hour in the park was not fun!
The warmth of the fire calmed me down
After I calmed down and was an hour late for the event, everyone could not have been nicer to me at the get together. Once I relaxed and had some hot spiced punch and a few pieces of pie and some cheese I calmed down. The boulder aside, it was a very nice event and I had a good time.
The games in the Living Room at the Kearny House
The Kearney House is an old Revolutionary aged home that had been used by the Kearney family as Inn and resting place for sailors and shippers using the Hudson River back when it was bustling with trade. The family ended up selling it before WWI and it was bought by the parks system. The division that runs the Kearney House and fundraisers for its upkeep run these themed events.
The entrance of the Dining Room
The house was all lit up by candlelight in both rooms and both fireplaces were roaring when I got in the room. It was the pies that calmed me down. They offered three different pies, Strawberry Rhubarb, Apple and Pumpkin that were from a bakery in Closter, NJ and were ‘out of this world’ delicious. The apple pie had the sweetest filling and tasted like pears were baked into it along with the apples. The strawberry rhubarb had a tangy-tart sweet filling to it and the pumpkin had a nicely baked creamy almost custard like filling all with this amazingly buttery crust. This is the type of pie that can make you forget all of your problems.
Kearney House story telling
On the table as well were wedges of sharp cheese and accompanying breads, roasted peanuts, ice cold water and served to you by volunteers in period costume. If I had not been so shaken when I entered the house (and of course the couple who helped me with the car told everyone at the party what happened so everyone was extra nice to me) and all the volunteers who helped with the event had not been so nice, it could have been a bad night.
The house lit by candle light and by the fireplace
Still there was a tour of the house both upstairs and into the attic, a musician playing songs and then a half hour of story telling all by the glow of candle and fire light that made the evening special. I ended up having a nice time talking to the other guests and getting to eat the endless slices of pie.
The upstairs bedroom of the Kearny House
I left a little better than I arrived but I will tell you two things: I am NEVER going into this park again after dark, so matter what the event is and that was the last time I set foot in the Kearny House. It was so dark in the parking lot when I left I almost tripped on the barrier on side the of it.
The Attic Tour of the Kearny House
The Kearny House second floor bedroom
My next trip up to the Hudson River in 2019 that next Sunday lead me to Beacon, NY to visit Pollepel Island/Bannerman Castle Island and to visit the mysterious castle in the middle of the Hudson River (see my reviews on TripAdvisor and VisitingaMuseum.com). I had talked about visiting Beacon, NY in my other blogs for the Third Thursday Shopping nights during the holidays and my visit to the DIA-Beacon in VisitingaMuseum.com.
Bannerman Island
Arriving at the island
When visiting Bannerman Island please remember that it is open seasonally and opens in later April and closes at the end of October so you have to plan your trip there accordingly. I got there the last Sunday it was open and please note that you do need advanced reservations to go to the island. I lucked out as there was two trips out to the island that day and there had been a cancellation that afternoon and I was able to make the boat trip.
The trip was on somewhat rough waters as it was a gloomy day with the sun peaking out only at the end of the tour. When we got to the island, we landed at the small dock and then had to walk up over 70 steps to the landing at the top of the hill. It wasn’t hard but hardly ADA compliant. We had excellent tour guide who knew the whole history of the island from when the family bought the island in 1900 to when the sons sold the island in the 1950’s.
The Bannerman Castle was actually an armory for munitions for the Bannerman company. Francis Bannerman IV bought the island to store his inventory of his military supply business and the items were stored there awaiting shipping to all over the world.
The gardens by the dock
The castle itself had partially blown up in the 1920’s when the munitions caught fire and then in turn burned in 1969 and the interiors were destroyed. Recently part of the wall to the castle collapsed so the building is now being held up by metal rods to prevent further collapse.
The ruins of the castle
The tour took us up the path toward the former arsenal so we could take a better look which is pretty dramatic sitting by the water with the vegetative growth around it. Mrs. Bannerman had once had the whole area landscaped with an exotic garden. Now that part is all growth and weeds.
The gardens on the island
Travelling up the path from the ‘castle’, we walked up the path that had been landscaped by the local garden clubs who have been put in charge of landscaping the old paths and gardens leading to the family mansion at the top of the hill. The mansion is going through a renovation so there is not much to see but there is a small gift shop inside and the history in the building. The outside of the mansion is being landscaped and used for theater show, movie nights and concerts. The views of the river are spectacular.
The view from the mansion on top of the hill the Washington’s Headquarters in Newburgh, NY
We exited down the back path and saw more interesting views of the Hudson River. There are more gardens on the way down and we heard more of the history of the island in that it was closed off until recently and was only visited by kayakers and adventurers. The island is now open for all sorts of activities.
The views of the river
On our way back, the tour guides gave us their own take on visiting the island which was pretty funny. They run these tours and can’t believe how mesmerized people are by buildings that were falling apart.
The path by the main house and gardens
The Main House on Bannerman Island
As we took the boat ride back to the dock in Beacon, I noticed that the foliage had an unusual line to it up on the hill. It was dead towards the top of the hill and the rest of the trees were combination of yellow and green. The tour guide said that an unusual early frost hit the trees and the ones at the top of the hill had already gone dormant.
Walking along the Red Trail back to the dock
Back to the Dock to leave the island
For the rest of the afternoon, I explored downtown Beacon and all the innovative stores and trendy restaurants. I ended up though eating at a Pizza and Stuff II Pizzeria at 339 Main Street. The pizza there is delicious. Those trendy restaurants prices are ridiculous and I am not too sure how the locals afford some of these places. Still it is a beautiful and quaint downtown with nice businesses set in the distance of the Hudson River mountains. The foliage around the town sets the tone.
Downtown Beacon, NY in the Summer of 2024
The falls in Downtown Beacon by the Hotel Beacon
As Halloween approaches, there will be more to do and see. Check out my blog on Halloween Again 2019.
Open: The Kearney House is open seasonally usually weekend from 1:00pm-4:00pm; closed for the season except for special events. Please visit their website.
I was visiting downtown Beacon, NY because I had been Upstate to take a tour of Bannerman Island (see VisitingaMuseum.com) and wanted to see if there were any changes in the businesses in the downtown area. It seems like the town is going through a second wave of business ownership.
Colorant at the holidays in 2024
In the middle of Main Street I came across Colorant, a clothing and gift store that prides itself on being environmentally and sustainably friendly. The clothes here are all made by the in house designer and store owner or are from vendors that manufacture the same way. The clothes are lightweight, all dyed by hand by all natural dyes and are hand-printed or hand-brushed making each piece its own work of art and technically one of a kind.
I saw this beautiful hand-print on one of the racks
The beauty of the clothes is their simplicity and form that is carefully well-made by the designer and by her counterparts. The clothes are displayed like art where a few pieces are put out for people to try on and make sure the correct fit is made.
Dying of the clothing
The construction of the clothes is very well-made and you can see it in the stitching and dying of the clothes.
This simple indigo dyed dress can be dressy casual in 2019
The owner’s new line for the Fall of 2019 is now in the store and carries a series of blouses, shirts and dresses that were made for what looked like a petite woman. There were also handmade shirts for men as well. The prices are reflective of the quality of the clothing from its handwork to the dying. It is not cheap when is quality cheap?
An indigo dyed men’s shirt at Colorant in 2019
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
It is nice to see American made products displayed in a creative environment with wonderful service. This is something that Amazon can’t replicate.
The new Men’s clothes line in 2024
History of the clothes at Colorant:
Colorant (established in 2012) is a modern line of apparel and accessories that celebrates the use of natural dye plants such as Indigo, Madder Root and Walnut in creating our vibrant palette. Like in nature, botanical colors have unpredictability depending on where and how the material was grown. Sassafras grown in northern regions will not yield the same orange as those from the south, which we here at Colorant embrace as the beauty of the natural dye process. Each season our colors are tested with our chosen fabrications to insure our colors will stand the test of time (Colorant History website).
The back of the store is painted beautifully and the clothing is so nicely displayed.
Each color has a story to tell:
Rich History: Did you know the color purple was the most expensive color in the world? Roman kings were only able to wear it because it took 250,000 Murex Mollusks from the sea to extract enough dye to color a garment.
Earth Benefits: Botanical colors promote the harvesting of dye plants, creating a new agricultural market. Natural dyes are extracted from renewable resources offering a more sustainable option for the textile industry.
Pure Color: Nature provides hundreds of plant which yield vibrant colors. Many have been used for dying since antiquity and Colorant has preserved these tried and true methods.
(Colorant website)
Disclaimer: I credit the Colorant website for the company information and give them full credit for it.
I was visiting downtown Beacon, NY because I had been Upstate to take a tour of Bannerman Island (see VisitingaMuseum.com) and wanted to see if there were any changes in the businesses in the downtown area. It seems like the town is going through a second wave of business ownership.
In the middle of Main Street I came across Colorant, a clothing and gift store that prides itself on being environmentally and sustainably friendly. The clothes here are all made by the inhouse designer and store owner or are from vendors that manufacture the same way. The clothes are lightweight, all dyed by hand by all natural dyes and are hand-printed or hand-brushed making each piece its own work of art and technically one of a kind.
I updated my trip to the Dutchess County Fair when visiting in 2024. It is one of the great fairs of New York State and you all should not miss it next summer!
The Dutchess County 4 H Display
Don’t miss the fairways and the food at the Fair!
The Midway during the day
The Midway at night
It was another wonderful day on August 22nd, 2025:
The weather was on the 80’s and sunny all day long
What a beautiful day on the midway
It was starting to get crowded by the early afternoon
Of course I needed my Jaken’s Hamburger fix
The line might be long but worth it
The Pulled Pork Cheeseburger with homemade pierogi
I took some time off from walking in the City to walking around Upstate. I read that the Dutchess County Fair was the last week of August and I had not visited it since my first summer when I was attending the Culinary Institute of America in 1996. I wanted to see if it changed much in twenty years and it hasn’t.
From parking in the lot at the Dutchess County to the buildings that housed the animals and displays it looked to me that nothing changed in over twenty years with the exception of people taking pictures with their phones. Even then, I did not see that many phones out. The Fair was in its 173rd year and people were just having a good time with their families. It was a similar day when I went for the 174th year. The place was crowded with local families catching up…
I swear it was full steam ahead for the rest of the holiday season. December for me just keeps getting busier. From the time we finished the Victorian Walking Tour to after the Epiphany my feet never touched the ground. Christmas tree sales kept me busy on the weekends, class finished up with my final exam night on the second week of December (I am very proud to say that I gave out 28 A’s, 2 B plus’s and 2 B’s) and then I really got busy with my volunteer work.
After the weekend with the Victorian Walking Tour and the Washington’s Crossing event, it was off to visit Lillian again. I had just seen her at Thanksgiving and here it was three weeks later, I was out on Long Island for another family event. The facility she lived in really does a lot of nice things for the families.
Lillian and I with her Christmas present, Petula the Pup from FAO Schwarz
I had given Lillian a choice, would she like me to come out for the Family Dinner or the the Family Concert the next week? I unfortunately could not do both. Work was getting busy and I had two Christmas parties to plan. So we decided on the Family dinner. We really had a nice time.
We joined her roommate, Marie and her two daughters for dinner that night. The facility had a nice dinner for us with roast beef, mashed potatoes and broccoli that was surprising well cooked and seasoned for a nursing facility and they gave you plenty of it. We had a nice time chatting and getting to know one another when Santa and Mrs. Claus made an appearance and greeted all the residents and their families. The two staff members who played the roles did a marvelous job with it and made it extra festive.
After dinner and a tour around the building greeting other residents and their families I said my goodbyes to Lillian and her roommate and her family. I had a long trip ahead of me as well. I could tell that Lillian was a little sad by it but I said that I would see her at Valentine’s Day and we would see each other after the craziness of the holidays was over. That is when I surprised her with the small Petula the Pup that we both used to sell in both of our time in the Pre-School Department at FAO Schwarz. She was very surprised and touched by it. It must have triggered something because I saw her cry a little. It made her happy that someone remembered (Please see the blog on Day One Hundred & Thirty-Lillian passed away three weeks after our dinner together).
The next morning myself and the volunteers who work with me at work had our Christmas party for the residents of the Maywood facility that I work with on my job with the County of Bergen for our Post-Stroke & Disabled Support Group. We had entertainment with Van Martin Productions and we decorated the tables with garland and candy and the room for the holidays. The whole affect was very festive.
The ladies who are part of the group that comes to our events had a wonderful time. Each one of us baked a special dessert for the event and at all the place settings were chocolate Santa’s and candy canes for each resident. We served desserts and coffee to everyone, handed out gifts to all and had a wonderful afternoon of good food and wonderful entertainment.
That evening, I hosted an Italian dinner at my home for the ladies who volunteer for me. Taking everyone to a restaurant gets expensive plus at the holidays everyone rushes you out so I found it more personal to have it at my house.
I cooked the entire meal and served it. We started the meal with homemade mini-meatballs that I made a few days before, sautéed shrimp and cheeses for the appetizer and for dinner I made chicken cutlets, spaghetti with marinara sauce, garlic bread and a nice salad all with the accompanying wines. We had a wonderful time and did a lot of laughing that night.
Chicken cutlets and pasta.
As I was serving dessert which I made an assortment of cookies and cakes, the noise got louder. Other guests joined us later and there was a lot of catching up to do. It was a enjoyable way to spend our last day together before the holidays.
The next day I joined a friend that I had not seen for almost two years for lunch in Sanducci’s at 620 Kinderkamack Road in Paramus, NJ (see review on TripAdvisor). It was just nice to finally catch up as it had been a long time since we talked. We both agreed that our lives had us running in different directions. We spent our afternoon laughing at things from years ago and in our current lives. It is nice to spend time with friends at the holidays. I had not realized that Nancy and I had not seen one another in two years!
After lunch, I had to prepare another dinner as we held our annual Men’s Association Christmas Party at the tree-stand to end our season of selling. That Friday night, we had four trees on the lot and by the time the party was over we sold them out. We sold 338 trees (one was stolen, and one was donated) during the holiday season and that was a new record for us.
The Christmas tree stand site the night of the party
I made a batch of stuffed shells for dinner and a batch of chocolate brownies for dessert. I never know what to make as it is a potluck, and all the guys bring something different but two years earlier three of us brought baked ziti. So, I know shy away from that. That and I wanted something quick because I was still tired from cooking the night before.
Our former President Mike and VP Roy at the Christmas Party
It a fun evening of great food and conversation mostly dwelling on the success of this year’s sale. God, can some of these guys cook! Our former President, Mike, makes a venison chili that is always the highlight of the dinner especially on a cold night. The stuffed shells were put under the warmers and were a big hit. I never have to sell brownies to anyone. I was sure they were gone by the end of the evening.
The HHMA Christmas Party at the tree stand
The weather started to drop that night and after an hour at the party it went down to 35 degrees. Even sitting by the barrel fire, I could not take it anymore. I said my goodbyes by 9:00pm. I was exhausted from a week of cooking and had still more to do over the weekend. I had to plan two menus for that Sunday and had to have back to back meals. One of the guys later on told me that a group of them were there until 2:00am. Not a night I would have been out.
What was left of the trees the night of the party
I had to sleep in that Saturday morning because I was worn out from the running around that week but there was food to prepare, a house to clean and a table to set. I needed a break from it all to put me back into the spirit of the holiday so before I started all the prep work, I went to Ringwood Manor for their celebration and to see the decorated house.
Ringwood Manor every year is beautifully decorated by a group of volunteers. The house was open for tours of life in the Victorian Age. Each of the rooms was decorated to the hilt with garland and plants and all sorts of decorations.
The Ringwood Manor Dining Room
Ringwood Manor has an interesting history. The area around Ringwood, NJ was the center for iron ore manufacturing and was a big player in munitions during the Revolutionary War because of both the amount of ore in the hills and the strategic location near New York City.
In 1807, the land was bought by Martin J. Ryerson who built the first home of the property which was a 10 room Federalist style home. In 1853, Peter Cooper bought the mines and the home and it became one of the biggest suppliers iron ore to the Civil War effort. Peter Cooper’s partners were his son, Edward and his future son-in-law, Abram S. Hewitt.
The Ryerson section of the house decorated for the holidays.
The home became the summer estate for Mr. & Mrs. Hewitt and added on to the house in 1864, 1875, 1900 and 1910. The home then had 51 rooms and was designed in the Classic Victorian style with furnishings from all over the world. In 1938, the home, it contents and grounds of the estate was donated to the State of New Jersey (Ringwood Manor Park History).
The Dining Room at Ringwood Manor
The tour was self-guided and you could take as much time as you wanted seeing each room. There was a docent on hand to explain all the decorations and furnishings as well as the purpose of the room. One of the points that was made when I was visiting the decorated homes during the holiday season was that Victorians never decorated every room in the house like on the tours.
The Christmas Tree in the French Drawing Room
They decorated maybe the living room and dining room with a tree and garland. Only the wealthiest families would decorate more than that because they had servants to maintain it. Trees and garland were used after the Civil War because Queen Victoria’s husband, Albert was from Germany and brought the Pagan tradition of putting a tree inside the house with him to England (Victorian Christmas History).
After my visit to the manor, it was off to Auntie El’s Farm at 171 Route 17 South in Sloatsburg, NY (see my review on TripAdvisor and LittleShoponMainStreet@Wordpress.com) for some baked goods and a tour of the farm. I roamed through the farm stand who just like us were wiped out of Christmas trees. I bought cake truffles ($5.00 each) and a Caramel Apple Cake ($10.95) for my Christmas dinner and munched on Apple Turnovers ($3.50) and Cider Doughnuts ($1.00) while I was there looking around the bakery. In the farm stand area, they have to most delicious jellies and jams to choose from and other gourmet products.
Auntie El’s desserts!
The Christmas department at Auntie El’s
When I got home, I spent the rest of the time cooking for our Engine One Brunch for Company members and families on Sunday morning and then for my Christmas dinner with my family on Sunday night. I never left the kitchen.
That Sunday was a busy day for me as I had to pull off two back to back meals. In the morning from 10:00am-1:00pm was the Engine One Brunch and after clean up and saying goodbye to everyone was the early Christmas dinner with my family from 4:30pm to 9:00pm. I had never done back to back meals before and don’t plan on doing it again. Way too much work!
I got to the firehouse at 8:30am that morning and had to deal with a major mess. The Department Christmas Party had been the night before and they did not clean it properly. So the first thing I had to do was clean all the tables, throw out the garbage and mop the floors. That took almost an hour.
Then I had to clean and set up the kitchen for Brunch. Once I got that done, I set the buffet table for the food and then put all the table clothes on the tables in the main room. Then I set up and started to cook and set the tables for breakfast. By the time I was done with all of that, the first guys started to arrived to help me.
Me setting up breakfast
I cooked an elaborate breakfast menu for the members of our company, our honorees and family members.
Me in front of the Brunch Buffet Table
It really was great meal. I prepared two egg casseroles, one with bacon and the other with Italian sausage, a French Toast Souffle, homemade waffles (I drag that waffle iron all over), fresh fruit salad and then I baked a cinnamon crunch coffee cake, blueberry muffins, a chocolate chip pound cake and brought in assorted bagels from Panera and doughnuts from Mills Bakery in Wood Ridge. There was something for everyone.
We had a wonderful time. About 54 people showed up for breakfast and did people come hungry. We did not have much left. Our Lieutenant, Bernie Valente, gave the welcoming speech and greeted everyone for brunch and wished everyone a happy and safe holiday season. It was a nice morning of good food and conversation.
The Engine One Members at the Brunch
After the Brunch was over, I said my goodbyes to everyone and had to clean and mop the room again. That took some time but the place was spotless when I left.
I ran home and thank God, I had already cleaned the house, set the dining room table and prepared the house for guests. I was able to take a 45 minute break before my family showed up for a pre-Christmas dinner. I relaxed on the couch for about twenty minutes before my family showed up. I was so grateful they showed up late.
What a great time we had that night! My Aunt Dee and my cousins, Wayne and Bruce came to dinner and we had a wonderful time. Since I was joining my brothers at my Mom’s house for Christmas Eve and Day, I would not be seeing my aunts and cousins this year.
I cooked a four course meal that was my pride and joy. We started with an assortment of cheese and crackers, sauteed shrimp on toasts and mozzarella sticks with a bottle of bubbly to toast the holidays. We had a nice time just catching up with work and family events.
About an hour later, I served dinner. I kept it simple this year making chicken cutlets, a potato puff and string beans with butter. It was the perfect evening of good food and conversation. My cousins told me about work and what was going on in their lives and my aunt was telling me stories about her upcoming holiday events. We always have a nice time.
For dessert, I had the desserts from Aunt El’s. I served the caramel apple pie and the cake truffles. I have to admit that they were all a little sweet but still good. There was a layer of caramel and chocolate on the top of the apple pie. It was a nice way to end the evening.
After a week of cooking for five parties and dinners, I took a break from the kitchen and planned a couple of Christmas events. The first was I attended the Hasbrouck Heights High School Holiday concert. I had a nice time listening to the choir and jazz band. The school was packed with people filming the whole thing. I have never seen so many cells phones out.
The one event I had gone to last year was the holiday concert at Carnegie Hall and looked forward to seeing it again. The ‘Home Alone Concert’ with the New York Philharmonic had been sold out as was the ‘Holidays with Brass Concert’. So I scoured the internet to see if there were tickets left to the concert and I was in luck. It looked like someone had given up their two tickets and grabbed the second to last ticket for the concert and it was on the isle! What a concert!
First, I love going to Carnegie Hall during the holidays. It is so beautifully decorated for the holidays and everyone from the staff to the concert goers are in the festive spirit. The concert was called “Under the Mistletoe” with the New York Pops with singer, Ashley Brown who had originated the role of “Mary Poppins” on Broadway.
Here is Ms. Brown preparing for the concert I saw on December 22nd.
What a wonderful concert! Ms. Brown was accompanied by Essential Voices USA which was a choir that sang during the concert. They opened with much excitement the songs “Deck the Halls” and “It’s the most wonderful time of the Year” and then introducing Ms. Brown singing “Jingle Bells” and “Winter Wonderland”. The rest of the concert was filled with traditional Christmas songs and a lot of holiday cheer.
The Carnegie Hall Stage before the show at Christmas time
In the middle of the second act, Santa came down the aisle near me and greeted the crowds. I swear I was having a somewhat rough holiday season missing my father and all and when I saw Santa, I really believed it was him. I was so happy to see him as was everyone else in the room. I could see how emotional people were and knew they felt the same way. It looked like everyone just wanted to believe that night and we are talking of a crowd of concert goers who were in their fifties, sixties and seventies. I guest you are never too old to believe in Santa. It has been a rough year for everyone.
The inside of Carnegie Hall decorated for the holidays
The concert ended with a big sing-a-long with Santa, the Essential Voices USA and Ashley Brown leading the “Jingle Jangle Sing-Along” with the songs, “Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer”, “Frosty the Snowman”, “Here comes Santa Claus” and ending with “Jingle Bells”. Even Santa joined us singing! I swear, that whole concert hall rocked with people singing all the classics and it brought the house down. People were on the feet applauding at the end of the concert. I had never seen so many smiling faces in one spot in a long time.
The Sing a Long with Santa
The next morning, was still singing the concert in the back of my mind as I was preparing breakfast at the firehouse for the Department’s Annual “Santa Around Town”. A group of us got to the firehouse early to wash the truck, so I cooked the traditional Engine One breakfast before we started the wash and decorating. I made a pancake and sausage breakfast for the guys. We had a ball eating, laughing and talking about upcoming holiday plans.
The Brothers of Engine One Hasbrouck Heights before ‘Santa Around Town’
We then got to work washing the whole truck and preparing it for the long trip around Hasbrouck Heights greeting residents with holiday cheer and assisting Santa handing out candy canes to all the kids. It is a long evening but we really lucked out with the weather. It was warmer than usual around 45 degrees and people really came out to see Santa. We had large families of kids and dogs taking group shots with Santa. It is nice to see that people still do believe (See my Blog: The Brothers of Engine One participate in “Santa Around Town” December 23rd, 2018). We had a great time that night.
The next morning it was off to visit my immediate family for Christmas. I know I have visited Woodstock, NY and Cape May, NJ in the past for the holidays (as you have seen in this blog) but it was time to join the family again on Christmas Day. I had not spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with my mother and brothers since 1981 and the last time I had spent Christmas with my Mom was in 2010 so it was something I was looking forward to this year.
I spent my morning visiting cemeteries, paying my respect to my aunts, uncles, cousin. grand parents and finally my father, dropping off flowers and arrangements to all locations. I say a small prayer and send my wishes. I think this important at the holidays.
Then it was off for the four hour trip down to my mother’s in Delaware. It really was a wonderful Christmas with my family. We all had not been together for the holidays for such a long time. The last several years I would go down after the holidays and we would spend time together then. Since my father’s passing this is the first time the rest of us have been together as a family.
Christmas Eve was always a lot of fun in my family growing up. We would go over to my parents long time friend’s house from 1969-1981 until my parents divorce. Christmas Day was with my Aunt Elaine and my cousins from 1969-1990 right before my aunt passed away. Those were very special Christmas’s and I will always remember them. Since then it changed from year to year as was Christmas Day. All of us kids moved around the country and with school and jobs everything kept changing.
Somehow the stars aligned this year and we were all available. It really was a nice four days and it was fun connecting with everyone again. My younger brother came up with my niece and my older brother with his husband, so the extended family was all there.
We went to Confucius Chinese Restaurant at 57 Wilmington Road in Rehoboth Beach for Christmas Eve dinner (see review on TripAdvisor) and it was packed that night as if everyone in town had the same idea we did. We spent most of the evening either yelling over the table or saying hello to the dozens of people my mom knew in the community. The town was hopping for Christmas Eve and there were cars all over the place with people eating at restaurants up and down the downtown area.
When we got home after a wonderful dinner and tour of the downtown Christmas tree, we just relaxed in the living room and talked. It was nice to finally catch up with everyone in a peaceful environment. In the back of my mind, I still could not believe how Christmas creeped up on us this year or that it was actually Christmas Eve. I slept like a rock that night.
The Lo Mein is amazing here
As are the Soft Shell Crabs
A delicious Christmas Eve dinner
The next morning it was all hands on deck as I was helping my mother in the kitchen after breakfast. After a quick bowl of cereal and a shower, it was off to chopping, cutting and rolling in the kitchen. My mom said she would need my help in the kitchen helping with dinner which was a surprise as she never lets anyone in the kitchen when she is cooking.
I helped her make the breaded broccoli, the pigs in a blanket, making sure that she tied the crown roast the right way (it took some time) and stuff it and then arrange cookie trays for the dessert. Four of my mother’s friends joined us for dinner so there would be ten of us and did we eat that afternoon. My mother is an amazing cook and host and knows how to entertain at the holidays.
Cooking in the kitchen with my family
We had a nice afternoon of reminiscing about family Christmases of the past, what my mother’s friends were up to and how all of our lives were going. It was a nice evening of good eating and wonderful conversation. My brothers and I even cleaned the whole kitchen for my mother so she could relax and enjoy her guests.
Christmas with my family
The next two days we spent at my mom’s house just catching up and relaxing and my brothers and I each hosted a meal for the other members of the family so that we could give my mom a break from cooking for a large group of house guests.
In the afternoons, pretty much everyone did their thing and then we would meet up for meals. My brother and my niece brought their little French Pug named “Boogie” up to my Mom’s so she would not be lonely. God, did we spoil that dog with attention and treats. She was the cutest most well behaved dog and what was funny was when I was lying on the floor watching a movie with my family, she plopped down next to me on the pillow and slept.
Boogie sleeping next to me
Our first afternoon after Christmas, our family met at “A Touch of Italy” restaurant at my mother’s recommendation. The food was excellent. The most delicious thin crusted pizzas I have had in a long time. The pizzas, pastas and sandwiches are delicious here. For dinner the next night, we went to ‘Big Fish’, a local seafood restaurant my mother wanted to try.
It was now two days after Christmas and people looked like they were having family dinners before everyone had to go back to work. The place was mobbed! Our waiter, Scott, really handled the table well with our ten people. “Big Fish” (see my review on TripAdvisor), is a local seafood restaurant whose most popular dishes is everything fried. A friend of my mother’s said that she always has the fried shrimp when she is dining there. So that is what I had for dinner.
The inside of Big Fish Grill at 20298 Coastal Highway
They were like heaven in every bite, sweet and briny and the breading was cooked perfectly. The potatoes and vegetables were also perfectly cooked. Between the entree and appetizers, there was no room for dessert to the shock of my family. Me miss dessert?
The Fried Shrimp meal at Big Fish Grill is excellent and should not be missed
Our last morning was tough. My brothers were leaving for home and I was heading up to Cape May that evening to go to the theater to see “The Actors Carol” at the Cape May Theater and spend the night at the Chalfonte Hotel. It was baby steps back into the family Christmas and I still wanted some time alone for the holidays.
My mother made a big family breakfast and then we said our goodbyes over a fritata and sweet rolls. It was nice being able to spend some time with my brothers who live in other parts of the country and my niece who was off from school. We chatted on about the holiday and what we were doing for New Years and then it was off to travelling for all of us.
For the first time, I took the Lewes-Cape May Ferry from Lewes, Delaware to Cape May, New Jersey (see review on TripAdvisor). It was about an hour and a half and had it been a warmer sunny day it would have been a beautiful trip. When I got there, I sat outside and watched dolphins swim by us. Of course, it had to be a cloudy day and then started to get cloudier and sprinkled so I spent the rest of the voyage inside watching a tourist film. I was able to watch the bay go by and it is quite a site. There is a beauty to the Delaware Bay.
I got into Cape May within the hour and settled at my hotel. I had just been at the Chalfonte in September for the Firemen’s Convention and the town was still hopping with tourists. It really has become a big destination for the holidays. It is funny though to see the main hotel closed for the season. It really does look haunted at night when only the spotlight is on it. The place was buzzing when I left nine weeks earlier.
The Chalfonte Hotel in Cape May at Christmas time (the main hotel is closed)
I settled into the Southern Annex (see review on TripAdvisor) and took a nap before the show. It had been a long but fun four days. It was nice to just relax and be by myself now. It was funny what a year can bring to you and how different you can become. I guess I was no longer that person that needed Cape May or Woodstock anymore. They were perfect for their time in my life but even I felt it was time to step out in the world again.
The Southern Quarters right next to the main hotel
My usual bedroom at the Southern Quarters on the top floor attic room. What a view!
The Christmas welcome at the Southern Quarters
The room has a wonderful view of all the decorated homes
The show was funny that night. “The Actor’s Carol” was a take on the classic “Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens. The star of the show within a show was a Prima Donna whose best acting days were behind him and made everyone miserable in this small town production. He was in turn visited by three ghosts from his past to show him how he got to where he was in life. It was not the most original show but very clever in premise.
After the production was over, I looked for a place to eat but a lot of the popular places were either closed for the holidays or closing for the evening. Just wanting a snack after the show and before going to bed, I stopped at Dellas 5 & 10 at 501-503 Washington Mall (see review on TripAdvisor) in downtown Cape May for dinner. This small drugstore has a soda fountain and restaurant in the back like Woolworth’s did years ago. The food is very good and the burger I had was well prepared. I had fun as the only customer talking with the waiters.
Washington Mall during the holidays
I walked all over downtown Cape May that night as I had the year before. It just seemed different this year as the experience was surreal. It was still Christmas to me but I just felt changed by the last four days. Still downtown was beautiful with all the lights on the trees, the creative window displays and the bells from the church sounding in the back. The gazebo in the main square still had the Christmas lit up and that put me back into the Christmas mood.
The Gazebo in downtown Cape May
I got back to the hotel and slept like a log. All this driving and running around got to be too much on me. The hotel annex was really quiet even though it was full of guests. I did not hear or see anyone in my time at the hotel.
Their Christmas tree in the downtown park is always spectacular
The next morning as I checked out, I was surprised to see Uncle Bill’s Pancake House at 261 Beach Avenue (see review on TripAdvisor and DiningonashoestringinNYC@Wordpress.com) open this year. It was locked shut last Christmas. I guess they figured the town was busy for the holidays and trust me, a smart choice as the restaurant was busy. They have the best breakfasts and their pancakes and scrambled eggs are cooked in butter so there is some extra caramelization to them. The service there is always so friendly and welcoming.
Uncle Bill’s at 261 Beach Avenue at Christmas time
The pancakes at Uncle Bill’s Pancake House are the best
After breakfast, I walked the downtown again, walked all through the Congress Hall Hotel, where I stayed last year for Christmas (See Day One Hundred-This is Christmas) and then visited the Physick Mansion for another Christmas tour of the house (See TripAdvisor & VisitingaMuseum.com). It is always a nice tour and the mansion is so nicely decorated for the holidays. The tour like everything else in Cape May was busy. It was sunny and around 48 degrees that morning.
After the tour, I left Cape May, probably to see it later again in the Spring and then headed up the Jersey Shore line to visit Margate and the Lucy Elephant statue (see my review on TripAdvisor and VisitingaMuseum.com). I had not climbed the top of the elephant yet and since it was a nice day wanted to take the tour before the statue closed for the day. I drove up the shoreline to Margate, NJ and got there by 2:00pm.
I got on the tour which was just about to leave and we climbed the whole statue and got to the top of the ‘howdah’, the transport on top of the elephant. That was the reason why I went the statue. I had not been able to go to the top in 2015. It is the most beautiful view of the ocean and the best part is that it got warmer toward the afternoon. I was able to walk around the statue and by the beach and it must have gone up to 50 degrees.
The top of the Howdah
I decided since it was early to double back to Ocean City, NJ and have some lunch before I drove home. What a spectacular afternoon walking in the Boardwalk. It was crowded because of the weather and surprisingly this late into the holiday week, a lot of the businesses were open.
I was able to go to Johnson’s Popcorn at 1360 Boardwalk (see review on TripAdvisor), which had a line ten deep, for caramel corn. They were making it in small batches and when I started eating it was still hot from the machine. There is nothing like warm caramelized corn on a cool day.
My favorite is the Cheddar and Caramel Corn combination. It never arrives home full!
After that, I went to Manco & Manco Pizza at 8, 9 & 12th on the Boardwalk (see reviews on TripAdvisor) for lunch. Their slices were the best. They make a good sauce and it was so busy that the pies are coming constantly so it was fresh. This is a real Jersey Shore pizzeria and the attitude of the guys working there showed it. You have to visit the Jersey shore Boardwalks to know what I am talking about. As the sun started to go down, it was time to leave. It was getting cooler. I got home later that evening in good time because there was no traffic.
Manco & Manco Pizza is always busy all times of the year
New Year’s Eve was just sitting at home relaxing and calling friends. It looked like everyone was bunking in this year and the fact it went down to 10 degrees on New Year’s Eve night I could not believe all those crazy tourists were sitting in Times Square. I went to bed right after Midnight.
Later that week, I did make a trip up to Woodstock, NY to see their Christmas tree before they took it down but it was down already. The town just seemed depressed when I arrived. I had not been up here since Christmas of 2016 so it had been over a two years since I celebrated a holiday up in the mountains. First, it had a cool damp feel to the town but since you are in the mountains it can be that way. Also, since the holidays were over, a lot of decorations were already down and usually you would keep these up until the Epiphany on January 6th.
Downtown Woodstock, NY during Christmas
The worst was several of the restaurants and clothing businesses that I had remembered from a few years back had gone out of business so there were empty storefronts. It just did not seem like the magical place that I had enjoyed three separate, wonderful holiday season’s. I really wanted to see the tree in the square but you can’t have it all. Still I had lunch at Shindig located at 1 Tinker Street (see review on TripAdvisor) and they have the best burgers and mac & cheese around. It was nice to sit by the window on this cold but sunny day and watch the world go by. I just walked around the town on this quiet afternoon.
Shindig at 1 Tinker Street in Woodstock (closed June 2022)
It is a new bar/restaurant in 2024
The Epiphany brought my only church visit to Corpus Christi Church and the service was nice. The church was still decorated for Christmas so it was the last thing to keep me in the spirit of the holiday. We had our Installation Dinner at the fire department a week later but that is another story Check it out on my blog, The Brothers of Engine One HHFD below.
Overall, it was a nice Christmas. Different from the last five years since my father’s passing but it was time to move on and enjoy the new family traditions we are creating. I was ready for the change.
I took some time off from walking in the City to walking around Upstate. I read that the Dutchess County Fair was the last week of August and I had not visited it since my first summer when I was attending the Culinary Institute of America in 1996. I wanted to see if it changed much in twenty years, and it hasn’t.
The parking lot was packed in the summer of 2023.
COVID really changed everything and the fair did not run in 2020. In 2021, I pulled a muscle in my back and could not go to the fair in 2021 and was really disappointed. In 2022, the fair seemed to be back in full swing and the crowds came cautiously back. In 2023, not only was the place packed, they added all sorts of new attractions and events to the fair making it one of the biggest ones that I have been to since returning the to fair in 2018.
When I returned in 2024, my best friend, Maricel came with me, who had not been at the fair since we went the summer of 1996 right before I left for my Internship in Hawaii.
Entering the Dutchess County Fairgrounds
From parking in the lot at the Dutchess County to the buildings that housed the animals and displays it looked to me that nothing changed in over twenty years with the exception of people taking pictures with their phones. Even then, I did not see that many phones out. The Fair was in its 173rd year and people were just having a good time with their families. It was a similar day when I went for the 174th year. The place was crowded with local families catching up with one another.
From walking to the admission booths (it was $18.00 to get into the fairgrounds in 2022) to walking the paths not much had changed. When visiting the fairgrounds means almost a step back into time when things seemed so much slower. Being just outside Rhinebeck with its galleries and high-end restaurants it seems a world away.
The fair sign in 2023 welcomed me.
In 2023, my day started late as I had so many errands to run and work in the morning that I got off to a late start. I got to the Dutchess County Fairgrounds at 3:00pm and spent the rest of my afternoon exploring the Fair. It is so interesting to see how much has changed in the world but how little it really changes. In 2019, I had the whole day to spend at the fair and it really is a lot of fun. In 2023, I planned the whole day like D-Day wanting to take pictures of things I had seen in the past in Hyde Park and then at the fair.
The entrance to the Hyde Park Historical Society
In 2022, I stopped first at the Hyde Park Farmers Market and the now open Hyde Park Historical Society before arriving at the fair. I parked in the parking lot and then walked over to the museum first to see what is was all about. It is a great little museum. In 2023, I followed the same path and stopped at the Farmer’s Market, which is bigger this time of year, to see what was there and then walked over to the museum. I figured I had plenty of time.
The new Boy Scout and Girl Scout uniforms that were donated to the museum.
I got a chance to walk around the museum which is loaded with interesting artifacts and local antiques from people’s homes from the area. The exhibition was nicely mounted and takes only about an hour to tour.
The Hyde Park Historical Society at 4389 Albany Post Road
The Farmers Market in Hyde Park was closing down at the end of October so I got to see some of the items that the artists were creating for both Halloween and Christmas.
The sign welcoming you.
The Hyde Park NY Farmers Market is very popular when in season.
It was the end of the season so there was lots of apples, root vegetables, pumpkins and corn. There were lots of baked goods and jellies and preserves available for sale as well.
The Fino Farm at the Hyde Park Farmers Market
The Farmers Market in late October has so much to offer between the bakeries, cheese places, meat purveyors and fruit and vegetable farmers. There was a really nice selection of things to buy. What I also liked was that the artists came out and showed off their wares. There was of interesting things going into Halloween.
Interesting wood carvings at the Farmers Market
The selection of Arts & Crafts at the Farmers Market
The delicious baked goods at the Hyde Park Farmers Market
Delicious looking cookies at the Farmers Market
Tom’s Heritage Baked Goods & Jams at the Hyde Park Farmers Market
One of the baked items I was most impressed with when I came to the Farmers Market in 2023 was a Sausage and Cheddar Brioche by a baker named “Little Loaf” who came to the Farmers Market for the first time. Their baked goods while pricey were very impressive in creativity and quality.
The “Little Loaf” sign
The baked goods at “Little Loaf” with the delicious Cheddar and Sausage brioche.
The creative baked goods at “Little Loaf”
The indulgent Cheddar, Sausage Brioche with a Bechamel center. Yum!
There were a lot of people doing so many creative things at the Farmers Market that I might have to make a special trip up for it again. The crafts and baked items were really impressive and the prices are not over the top like a lot of the Farmers Markets in the other towns.
A cow is a cow at the end of the day. How to take care of it and milk it has changed over the time and the philosophy of animals and their care have advanced but the cow is still in the pen, fed hay and goes Moo! That goes the same with chickens, rabbits and goats. There is also the immense pride these children in the 4-H take in these animals that far extends taking a picture of them on an app and having them talk like a human.
Maricel and I arriving at the fair in 2024. She is just as picture happy as I was that day
(I credit Maricel Rincon on this picture)
Walking the Fair is interesting in that it is broken down into many different areas to explore but when you first walk in what is there but all the food carts and booths. I have never seen so much deep-fried food in my life, and I have been through the Feast of San Genaro dozens of times.
The crowded concessions area of the fair.
There were food trucks selling fried dough, funnel cakes, Twinkies, brownies and zeppole’s. There carts selling deep fried hot dogs, stuffed pizza and giant tacos. It is hardly for the Vegan customer, but you know what, it is fun every once in a while, to eat like this. I don’t do it every day.
The Midway of food vendors at the Dutchess County fair
Both in 2019,2022, 2023 and 2024, I got there in the early afternoon and was starved. I stopped at a food truck in the Midway named ‘Janeks’ and ordered their ‘Chef’s Hamburger Special-The Piggy Back Burger’. It is one of the best burgers ever!
The Janek’s Truck is always where I eat at the Dutchess County Fairgrounds
The special was two freshly made beef patties that were caramelized and cooked to perfection, topped with smoked bacon, pulled pork and freshly made cheddar on a home baked bun with a side of homemade pickles and cheese and potato pierogi that had been sautéed in butter and onions.
My FAVORITE item: The “Chef’s Special Burger”
It was on the pricey side but was the best $12.00 ($19.00 in 2023) I had ever spent. The flavors were so complex and so delicious on that burger that I thought the guy who made it was more of an artist than a cook. It blew away any pizza or fried dough I would have eaten. The combination of the Cheddar Cheese, Pulled Pork and Ham on top of the burger gave it so much extra flavor and added to its smokiness. I only eat this twice a year, at the Fair and then at the Sheep & Wool Festival when I return in October and look forward to it.
After eating this burger at Janeks Food Truck it is so perfect you will see God!
This burger is so amazingly juicy and crisp from the caramelization and the pierogis are so delicious
The burger is so good!
The Janeks food truck is my only stop for lunch at the Dutchess County Fair
My first stop in the Fair was the Amusement section where all the kiddie rides, Ferris wheels, games of chance and thrill rides were located. In the early part of the day, the area was mildly busy but by the time I left and the lights came on the true ‘Wonderland’ came to life. The lights, the noise and all the screaming coming from the thrill rides brought the area to life. During the day though, it was little kids on the carousels, mini-rides and small track rides. To be a kid again at this Fair.
Dutchess County Fair Midway
Leaving the Amusement area, I ventured next to the historical area of the fair, the Century Museum Antique Village, where the Cider Mill, Sugar Home, the One Room Schoolhouse, the firemen’s tent, home of the Firefighting Museum of Dutchess County and the Historic Train Station were located. These recreations of old Dutch farming villages showed a way of life from the turn of the last century and beyond. It is amazing to see how we have progressed in education since then, but I think the times were different when I see the teacher in front of the board describing the lesson plan.
In 2024, the Dutchess County Firefighters Museum opened at the fairgrounds and is a testament to the fire fighters in Dutchess County who raised the funds for this and worked on the displays. The original tent displayed most of the items that we now see in the museum.
The temporary headquarters of the Firefighting Museum of Dutchess County in 2023
I had a very interesting tour of the Dutchess County Fire Museum (See review on VisitingaMuseum.com) that had been set up on a temporary basis at the fair awaiting a permanent home on the fairgrounds in 2023
The Dutchess County Temporary Fire Museum at the fairgrounds in 2023
The Pine Plains Ladder Truck on display in 2023
The retired firefighters that I talked to said that they have been trying to raise money for a museum, but it has been tough. The fairgrounds have now offered them a space the only problem being that it would be open only when the fairgrounds are open. When I talked with the guys in 2022, they explained that the fairgrounds are working with them to build a new home there. In 2023, it looks like it will become reality.
In 2024, the museum was completed and stocked with items from the new Dutchess County Historical Society that opened in Rhinebeck (another impressive museum). The gentlemen who ran the museum did a nice job mounting the displays and there is still much more work that will be done in the future.
The new Dutchess County Firefighters Museum at the fairgrounds
Bunker gear at the new Dutchess County Firefighting Museum
The ceremonial equipment for the parades
The hand held hose cart at the new museum
The old Ladder Trucks from the Pine Plains Fire Department
The hand held hose bed from the 1800’s
When I walked all these buildings that were created before electricity, computers and even modern light, I think there were less distractions, and you had no choice but to work. Those were the days of back-breaking work loads and things were done totally by hand. There was a care and quality to those items. It is interesting to see how these things were made and how the design has not changed but they have been electrified.
The school room at the School House Museum I have seen in many historic museums and have not much changed from their modern version except the furniture has gotten nicer and there is more light. The philosophy of learning the ‘ABC’s’ is still there and the black boards are still part of the routine. I still think it is the best way to learn.
The Schoolhouse Museum on the Dutchess County Fairgrounds
The School Room has not changed much over the years.
Inside the schoolroom has not changed much since today.
We still do the same thing today
The other building right next to the old schoolhouse is the Pleasant Valley Train Station that was also moved here and open when the fairgrounds are open. The one thing I have to say as an educator is that the set up as a schoolroom has not changed since this time period with the exception of modern electricity and convenances.
The Pleasant Valley Train Museum on the fairgrounds
The hand cart at the Train Museum
The train manager’s office in the museum.
The baggage room at the station
The display in the Waiting Room
The train routes through the Hudson River Valley
The pathway lead me to the Animal Barns and this is where the Fair had not changed. The families stood guard at their at the different pens washing and taking care of the pets. I never saw such pampering to pigs, cows, chickens, rabbits and goats. They were so well-groomed and well taken care of and their pens were so clean and if they weren’t the kids were right there to take care of it. There were ribbons for all the hard work these children put into it. The care and the pride these children have on animal husbandry is encouraging.
This well groomed cow in the Cow Pen is named “Oreo”.
I saw the cow grooming show when I was visiting the Cow Barn and I have never seen such clean cows before. They were washed, brushed and combed by their owners and it reminded me of similar judging at the Dog Shows that I see on TV. When they walked their cows along the path in the ring, there was such pride in the owners faces especially to the winners. I have to say that the ribbons were very impressive.
This lamb’s name is “Queen of Hearts” and she was for sale. She gave me the funniest look.
The Llama Barn was interesting in that I usually find Llama to be friendlier but these animals really kept to themselves and stood in the corners of their pens. They seemed to want to socialize with one another and avoid the humans.
The Goat Barn was the exact opposite. I could not have met a friendlier animal with good social graces. They looked like they were so happy to see me. They all came running up to me as I stood by their pens. They are really are an observant animal. They just stare you down when you are looking at them and then they walk away.
These little guys were so happy when they were being fed.
The surprising part of the Pig Barn was that it wasn’t a pig pen. It was one of the cleanest parts of the Fair. Each of the stalls were really clean with only the smell of the pigs which probably surprised people coming up from the City. The only thing was some of these over-sized pigs didn’t fit into the pens and there was not much moving room for them. They really do oink a lot. Their owners sat outside the pens socializing and catching up with one another while their pigs slept. They closed the barn off for about an hour.
Mama pig with her piglets
My favorite part of the animal barns was the Comerford’s Petting Zoo that they had between the amusement areas and the barns. I never got into petting zoos even when I was a kid but got some feed from what looked like bubble gum machines and then the goats and sheep were putty in my hands. They were so friendly and let me pet their warm fur. I have never seen so many happy faces chasing after me. The sheep had such a nice feel to them with their soft furry backs and the goats which I thought might be aggressive could not have been friendlier.
Little piglets in the pen were well taken care of.
When you pet them they seem so grateful that you are scratching their backs. I ended up spending more time here than I planned feeding the animals and petting them. They seemed so happy that they got extra attention.
The Sheep were really friendly
In 2024, Maricel and I toured all the pens and looked at all the animals being groomed that day. The sheep had just been sheared and they had their coats and masks on to keep them warm. The cows had all been washed and were being bushed and the pigs were being corralled around their pens.
The Animal Building was so well landscaped at the fair and the pens were kept so clean
We visited the Goat pens as it was feeding time
This goat gave me the friendliest look as he thought he was going to get fed
The Sheep being sheared that afternoon giving us a surprised look
We visited the cows who were being washed and groomed
Visiting the cow pens in 2024
The Century Museum Village was used as the Horticultural Building, which reminded me of my many trips to the Philadelphia Flower Show, large self-contained displays of flowers, lawn decorations and furniture each with their own them. There was a lot of creativity to their displays with water sources, planted flowers and shrubs all over the place all colorfully designed. They also used some statuary to accent the plantings. It was a nice size building made even bigger with these creative gardens.
There was a lot of creativity at the gardens displays.
After visiting all the barns and historic recreations, it was off for a late lunch. In 2018, I headed back to the food trucks to decide between the cheese steaks, meatball sandwiches and fried desserts. I decided on a pulled pork sandwich with pickles and a Coke for lunch that was more than enough. The sweetness of the barbecue sauce with the roasted meat on a soft roll made a wonderful meal. The nice part was sitting under a tree on a picnic table to enjoy my lunch. On a nice day, there is nothing like it.
People enjoying the outdoor vendors in 2022
In 2019, I avoided all the fried desserts and got a traditional pretzel with mustard from a vendor from Pennsylvania. The was an expensive pretzel at $8.00 but it was well worth it. The thing was huge, freshly rolled and made and was still hot. With a little mustard there is nothing like it. The softness and butteries of the outside made every bite enjoyable.
In 2022, I through caution to the wind and ordered a Funnel Cake with loads of powdered sugar on top from Sugar Shakers Fair, a vendor out of Sarasota, Fl who were frying out the largest funnel cakes of the fair and what looked like the freshest ($8.00). It had been made ahead of time but still warm and still delicious. I loved pulling apart all the pieces and dipping it into the extra powdered sugar.
The funnel cakes at Sugar Shakers are really good but can be premade so watch their stock.
In 2023, after a big lunch and a milk shake I wanted something sweet and saw all this fried dough around the fair. I needed to have one and stopped by one stand near the amusements > it figured I found the one place that could not make fried dough correctly.
Debbie’s Funnel Cakes and Lemonade
I have to say one thing that the Lemonade was freshly squeezed and was amazing. It was so tart and sweet that it quenched my thirst on a hot day. It was amazing. The Fried Dough sat on the plate luke warm and flat. When I asked for another the man working the counter pointed to a very over-worked woman who did not look like she wanted to make me another and I saw a stack of premade fried dough and fried oreos. I knew it was the wrong stand. Next time I will go to the one closer to the midway.
The Lemonade was amazing but the Fried Dough looked like a deflated pancake. It was just okay.
My funnel cake looked good in 2024 but still needed about 40 more seconds in the fryer
In 2024, I gave Debbie’s another shot and both Maricel and I had Funnel Cakes. At $10.00 a pop, I thought these would be much better than the flat Fried Dough. The Funnel Cakes were good but not great and I did not appreciate the guy at the counter trying to sell me one that had been sitting for awhile. Two new ones were made and both of us bought and again it was okay and looked good but it was not cooked all the way through. I have to write this off for next year or find another vendor at the fair.
After lunch, walked through the rest of the barns looking at rabbits, chickens and taking another peek at the Goat Barn. They are really are a beautiful animal. After leaving the barns area, I walked down to watch the Equestrians perform. There is such a grace to jumping and the ladies did a great job. Some of them are so poised on their horses.
As the afternoon wore on, my last stop was the Gift tents where they were selling handmade arts and crafts. You should see the work of these knitters, quilters and wood carvers. Some of the baby blankets and clothes were so beautifully made and colorful that I wished I had someone to give it to as a gift.
My favorite Santa wood carvers at the fair
The wood carvers were getting ready for the holidays with Santa’s and snowmen. It never ceases to amaze me that we are in a perpetual state of Christmas no matter what time of year it is. The surrealist look of many of these Santa’s were done by the cut of wood that the artist had to work with when carving the piece. These men and women are very creative in their work and they will be back in October for the Craft’s Show.
I love picking out the Santa’s for my mom
Before I left for the evening, a saw a long line forming by the 4 H Exhibit Building and I found out they were selling giant homemade milkshakes with the milk and cream from the Dairy Barns. The sold these large Vanilla, Chocolate and Strawberry shakes for only $5.00! (In 2022, the 22 oz was $7.00 and the 16oz was $5.00. In 2024, they went to $8.00 for the large but the small was still $5.00. I still ordered the large). That was one line I did not mind being in.
The 4 H members preparing these popular milkshakes in Vanilla, Chocolate and Strawberry.
In 2018, I ordered this Vanilla shake where you really could taste the fresh ice cream which was loaded with several scoops. There is nothing like a fresh milkshake with real ice cream. It was the perfect way to cap off the evening. In 2019 and in 2022, I ordered the Strawberry milk shake and one is more than enough. All those scoops of fresh ice cream and sweet milk. It is heaven! You could even scoop up the fresh strawberries on the bottom of the cup. In 2023, it was back to vanilla.
The milkshake is one of the things I look forward to at the fair.
Yes it is worth the $7.00 price tag.
In 2024, I had to try the Strawberry Shake. Maricel made fun of me the whole time as I indulged in it. I love a good milk shake and these are such good quality with local milk and cream to make these delicious drinks.
The Strawberry shake was rich and creamy
The Strawberry milkshake was amazing!
Walking the Fair at twilight you really see it come to life with all the lights, screaming kids by the rides and hungry patrons at the food trucks. It is so funny to see these small kids gobble down cheese steaks and fried dough. They had some appetites! When you work on a farm and take care of the animals as I saw the fairgoers did they must burn off all the calories.
The amusement area in the late afternoon.
When I left at 7:30pm (I hate driving in the dark), the whole fair was coming to life with all the lights on and the shows winding down so that the 8:00pm concert could take place. The lines outside when I left were just as long as when I arrived at 2:00pm. I guess people were in for the show and for dinner.
The amusement area in the late afternoon.
It was a great day and I learned a few things about Animal Husbandry and landscaping. I just wondered why on the way home it took me twenty-two years to come back.
The amusement area in the late afternoon.
In 2024, Maricel and I decided to do an overnight in Poughkeepsie so that we could enjoy the fair late in the evening. I hate to drive at night and it is an over two hour trip home. I had never been to the fair after dark and it is an amazing place to experience in the evening I could not believe what a fantasyland it turns into at night.
The Midway in the late afternoon
The Midway in the late afternoon
Me kidding around at the fair
Maricel and I kidding around the Midway
(Credit to Maricel Rincon on this picture)
The Midway Gardens in the late afternoon
Maricel decided she wanted to go on the Ferris wheel and I thought that would be fun since I had not been on one since my best friend, Kris and I went on the Wonderwheel in Coney Island a few years earlier. We just wanted to wait until it got dark so we could experience it with the lights on. Waiting until dusk was a good idea because the whole fair came to life when the sun went down.
(Join Maricel and I on our trip around the Ferris Wheel)
After the trip on the Ferris Wheel we walked the Midway and took the most spectacular pictures of the Midway and of the rest of the fair. This is the Dutchess County Fair at night:
The Midway at night
The Midway at night
The Midway at night
The Midway at night
The Midway at night
The Midway at 9:00pm that evening
The Midway at the end of the evening. People were still milling around.
We were both exhausted when we left the fair and were happy that we each had our own rooms. I barely made it into my room when I knocked out for over and hour waking up not knowing where I was at 11:30pm. I could not believe I just feel asleep that fast.
The Marriott Courtyard in Poughkeepsie, NY at 2641 Route 9 South was our headquarters for this tip
The lobby of the Marriott Courtyard in Poughkeepsie, NY
My bedroom at the hotel
The courtyard view from my room in the late summer
I have stayed at this hotel many times over the years and it had just gotten renovated. The room had the most fantastic king size bed that I just sunk into. I barely made it to the pillow I was so tired that evening between all the driving and running around before the fair.
The next day we were meeting a friend of Maricel’s for breakfast so we checked out of the hotel and headed to Eveready Diner in Hyde Park. Here was another place I had not been to in about twenty six years. The last time I ate here was with my mother and brother on Graduation Weekend from the Culinary Institute of America.
The Eveready Diner at 4184 Albany Post Road in Hyde Park, NY
I have to say nothing has changed in this restaurant as the food and the service are still excellent and the decor looks very similar to what it was many years ago. It always looks retro.
The inside of Eveready Diner
I was starved that morning. While Maricel and her friend met for breakfast on the other side of the restaurant, I enjoyed the ‘Eveready Breakfast’ platter of three large pancakes, two scrambled eggs, two pieces of bacon and two sausage with hot tea and freshly squeezed orange juice. That was great orange juice (at $5.99 a glass it should have been).
My breakfast that morning
The ‘Eveready Breakfast’ platter is excellent
It was a nice relaxing breakfast and I got to just take my time while Maricel enjoyed her time with her friend. It was just a nice break from all the running around I had done that week as I prepare for college in three weeks. I have been cramming so much in that I am tired from everything. The fair and the overnight was a nice way of not rushing through things. I got a chance to catch my breath and just enjoy the fair. It was a nice afternoon and evening out.
The Dutchess County Fair is the last week of August and is well worth the trip up to Rhinebeck. It is a real wonderful experience and a great way to spend the day or two.
The Fair in 2025:
I had to wait for Hurricane Erin to pass by before coming up for the fair. It had been cold and damp for two days but the storm gave us much needed rain and a break with the heat. On Friday morning, the weather was sunny, cool and clear. The perfect day to drive up to Rhinebeck for the fair.
The Dutchess County Fair in 2025
I got up to the fairgrounds by 12:30pm and it was surprisingly not as busy as I thought it would be that afternoon. I got through the check points and in the fair in about ten minutes.
The entrance of the fair
The crowds were light in the Midway in the early afternoon
Passing through the food Pavilions on my way to the exhibitions
Instead of immediately eating, I decided to visit the exhibitions first. The crowds were lighter so I could walk through much quicker. I first went to the food tent to see what was to sample and what was on sale.
These amazing jellies by Dragonfly Jams and Jellies were terrific
Then I went through the Craft exhibits and then went through the 4-H exhibits with all the baked goods.
The award winning baked goods
The baked goods on display
An amazing assortment of cookies
The cookies and cakes looked so good
After I visited all the display exhibits it was about 2:00pm and it was time for lunch. The choices you have at the fair.
The decisions you have to make
The decision is always easy when Janek’s is at the fair. I need my Cheeseburger with pulled pork on top and the side of homemade pierogi. I know most people would call this an indulgence but I only eat it twice a year and when I do, I really enjoy it.
The line was surprisingly short and I was able to order quickly
The mascot greets you when you order
The company is celebrating their milestone
My favorite lunch at the fair, the Cheeseburger topped with pulled pork with the homemade pickle and homemade pierogi with sour cream
The best food at the fair
The taste of the burger is incredible
I just sat at the picnic tables, enjoying my lunch and people watching. It was quiet on an early Friday afternoon so I had plenty of room to spread out. It was perfect weather to eat outside.
After I finished lunch, I decided to visit the museums again. I started at the Duchess County Fire Museum. The museum was manned by retired firefighters swapping stories with other firefighters like myself.
The old hose beds from the 1800’s
Then it was off to the Train Depot Museum to look at the displays.
The depot was moved here when the building was decommissioned
Working along the lines
The old luggage room
The displays in the old waiting room
The train route through the Hudson River Valley
I then moved to the schoolhouse museum and always note to myself how nothing has really changed over the last 100 years.
The schoolroom of the mid-1800’s
Then I visited the Agricultural Museum and noticed some new displays they added to the museum.
The Century Village Museum & Collectors Association
The 1920’s picnic display outside the museum
The new Barber Shop display
The updated farm equipment display
The change in transportation on the farm
The equipment from the turn of the last century
I decided to take a different turn and explore the amusement rides area next. The rides were getting busy with younger patrons having fun being whipped and thrown around by the assorted rides.
The Ferris wheel dominates this section of the fair surrounded by smaller rides and lots of dessert stands.
The actors on stilts entertaining the crowds
Juggling and laughing with the crowds
They really captured the crowd
The performance was very engaging
I thought I had worked with these two at the Sinterklass Parade celebrations but they were so busy, I did not have time to ask. So I continued my walk around the amusements to see the rides in action.
The kiddie rides were busy in the afternoon
My fan favorite the Ferris Wheel
The rides that throw you around
The Colossus seemed to be the park favorite
I then moved on to the Petting Zoo. I was afraid that the animals were getting too much to eat but the goats and sheep had no problem eating from my hand.
The animals ran up to me waiting for food
The camels were just as eager as the goats and lambs and reached out for food
The moment I put the food in my hand they licked it away
Even the camel reached out to me
The next stop was the 4H pens to visit the cows, sheep and rabbits. It is really funny but some of the animals looked so happy to see us.
Our welcome to the cow pens
The cow pens
The cows looked really tired
I then visited the sheep pen and most of the sheep had just shown and had their coverings on.
The sheep had just been shaven
The sheep relaxing in their pens
The rabbits were the last pens I visited in the 4H booths
The 4H Building
I loved the sign
The fluffy rabbits were a big hit with the kids
After I had visited all the museum, exhibitions and paid my respects to all the animal pens, it was my favorite part of the fair, my annual milkshake at the 4H building. The line was forming and it was time to get in line.
My favorite line at the fair, the milkshake line
You can’t leave the fair without supporting the 4H and buying one of their milkshakes. It is the best $7.00 you will spend. They are so creamy and delicious.
Now this is a milkshake!
Now that I had my Janek’s and milkshake fix, I had to work all this food off before the two hour ride home. I couldn’t stay up this year and had another function the next day (all I did was run around this summer), so I toured the fairgrounds.
Walking the gardens by the 4H Building
The gardens in full bloom during the fair
The Butter Carving
Visiting the food vendors by the amusements
Somehow my appetite came back when I passed one of the Fried Dough vendors and saw someone pass by me with a fried dough with an apple topping. I had to have that.
Sugar Shakers will be my go to spot for future trips to the fairgrounds
The Fried Dough topped with butter and powered sugar and an apple pie topping
My new favorite dessert
The crowds got larger as the evening wore on
Now that I had another dessert in me I needed to walk around a bit more before I left the fairgrounds. I did another round the amusement area as the lights were coming on. There really is a magic to when the lights come on at a fair.
The amusement area at twilight
The rides as it got darker outside
The rides got more interesting
The lights came on and then the fun began
The rides got busier as people came after workIt was snot
Wonderful night at the fair and I wish I had had time to go back but it can only be one day. I really enjoyed myself again. Until next year.
mywalkinmanhattan 