Tag Archives: Hudson River Valley Halloween Events

I enjoy coming up to Germantown to visit the Clermont Mansion at any time of the year especially at Christmas time. I came for a tour of Clermont in the Christmas season of 2019 (pre-COVID) to tour the home. The old mansions of the Hudson River Valley show their real beauty at this time of the year.

The Clermont Library decorated for Christmas

In 2020, the home closed like everything else for COVID and because of extensive renovations on the property and in the home, did not open again until June of 2023. I came up finally in July of 2023 for another tour of the home. The mansion looked very refreshed and bright on a blue, sunny afternoon. The grounds were in full bloom and everything looked so green.

The views of the river when you arrive

Walking around Clermont is like walking through a history book. To think you are walking around the very rooms that family members who wrote the Declaration of Independence, were Governors and Ambassadors from our country and who owned most of Upstate New York lived is really incredible. The Livingston Family did so much for the United States in the formation of this country is a testament to the family.

Once you arrive at the Visitors Center and pay for your tour, you will have time to walk around the exhibition of the history of the family in the old stables. Here you will learn about the family who built and lived in this wonderful home. The family lived here for seven generations and like most families over time when the money depleted, they had to move out. The last daughter of the family, Honoria, sold the estate to the State of New York as a park. The upkeep got to be too much for the family.

The Visitor’s Center display on the family

The family story boards in the old stables

The history of the estate and the Livingston family in the Visitor’s Center

The history of the estate

The tour 2019 was wonderful because of the one on one conversation I had with my tour guide, Molly. It was the same in 2023 when Aaron took me on a one on one tour of the mansion. We started in the entry hallway where the family hang many of the family portraits and the long hall lead to wonderful views of the Hudson River.

The Entrance Hall of Clermont

Just off to the right of the front entrance of the home (the front entrance faces the river not the back entrance where you start the tour) is the Receiving Room. This was the room in 2023 during my summer tour of the house. The Receiving Room is where guests would wait to be welcomed by family members or people would call on the family and leave their calling cards.

The Receiving Room was also used as a Music Room as well

The Receiving Room was decorated for the holidays in 2019 with more beautiful views of the river and a very interesting clock on the mantle that there are only two in the world. This clock represented the first balloon launch in France and this was the clock where the balloon went up. In France was the other clock with the balloon going down. I thought that was pretty interesting.

Our next stop was the Library which seemed very homey and relaxing. It looked like a room that a family would want to spend their time in after a long day. The windows faced the river and the formal gardens at that time and let in a lot of light. The room was decorated with a elegant tree and looked like the family was ready to walk in and join us for the holidays.

The Library of Clermont

The Office/Library on the first floor

Next it was off to the formal Dining Room where the portraits of Margaret Beekman Livingston (a VERY distant relative of mine by marriage) and her husband, Robert Livingston hung. She had saved these along with the grandfather clock before her first house was burned by the British during the war years. It was set for Christmas lunch when the family would dine together.

In the summer months, the room was pretty plain with no set up on the table. The Dining Room has just had some renovation work so the walls and ceiling looked really nice.

The Clermont Dining Room in the summer of 2023

The Dining Room portraits

Margaret Beekman Livingston’s Wedding portrait in the Dining Room

Robert Livingston’s Wedding portrait in the Dining Room

We also toured where the food was prepared and prepped from the kitchen to the Dining Room, which was all done in organized fashion. I was told by the tour guide that for the most part the family lived here year round unlike some of the other mansions who only lived here during certain times of the season.

The Kitchen at Clermont

We took a walk upstairs to see the upstairs bedrooms and see where the third Mrs. Livingston lived. I thought it was interesting that she had two beds in her room in which neither was big enough to accommodate her. One was the main bed and the smaller one was a Day bed when she wanted to take a nap but did not want to mess up her main bed.

The last Mrs. Livingston’s bedroom until the 1960’s

We then toured what had been Honoria’s and Alice’s bedroom when they were children and then became the Guest Room. It still looked like a Children’s Room.

The Daughter’s/Guest Bedroom

Then it was back down to the formal hallway for the end of the tour. The one thing I have to say about Clermont is that it looks like someone’s home not some grand mansion like the Mills or Vanderbilt mansions that looked like they for a moment time or only for a season. This family lived here all the time.

The upstairs bathroom was one of the remodeling features

The family lived here until the 1960’s when upkeep of the estate got to be too much for the family and it was sold to the state. The New York Park is now maintained by the New York State Park system.

The Gardens:

The formal gardens were in bloom when I got there that weekend. Since the house opened in June most of the Spring plantings were already gone but the Summer plantings were in full bloom. There were three gardens on the property, two of which had been brought back to nature, the Wilderness Garden and the South Spring Garden and then the Walled Garden was well maintained and planted.

The Wilderness Garden was well-maintained and planted with natural plants

The South Spring Garden

The South Spring Garden has given way to nature

The Walled Garden was the most formal of all the gardens

The Walled Garden

The Walled Garden

The Walled Garden

The Walled Garden

The Walled Garden

In the Fall, I went back up to Clermont for the Ghost Tour and the foliage was amazing, but the rain knocked a lot of it off. Still the colors were glorious.

Clermont in the Fall of 2023

The formal gardens in the Fall

The formal gardens in the Fall

The gardens in the Fall.

The I toured the rest of the estate and saw the ruins of the other mansion, Arryl, that is on the other side of the parking lot and then saw the ruins of the Old House and the Root Cellar.

The Ice House

The Root Cellar

The flowers by the Root Cellar

View of the Hudson River

The History of Clermont:

The name Clermont derives from “clear mountain” in French and was inspired by the view of the Catskill Mountains across the Hudson River from the estate.

The front of Clermont that faces the Hudson River

The estate was established by Robert Livingston following the death of his father, the first Lord of the Manor was inherited by the eldest son, Philip Livingston, 13,000 acres in the southwest corner later named Clermont was willed to Robert. The original house was built around 1740.

The path leading to the main house

Robert Livingston of Clermont died on June 27, 1775 and the estate passed to his son, Robert, who was known as ‘Judge Livingston’ to distinguish him from his father. Judge Livingston was a member of the New York General Assembly from 1759 to 1768, served as Judge of the admiralty court from 1760 to 1763 and was a delegate to the Stamp Act Congress of 1765. He married Margaret Beekman, daughter of Colonel Henry Beekman. Their son, Robert R. Livingston, later known as “Chancellor”, served on the committee that drafted the Declaration of Independence. Judge Robert died about six months after his father, on December 9, 1775.

Burning and Rebuilding:

In October 1777, British ships sailed upriver from New York City in support of General John Burgoyne who was north of Albany. That same force had already stormed two forts in the Hudson Highlands and burned Kingston, New York. Major General John Vaughan led a raiding party to Clermont and burned Livingston’s home because of the family’s role in the rebellion.

The history of the ‘famous’ Robert’s of Clermont

Margaret Beekman Livingston rebuilt the family home between 1779 and 1782. Robert R. Livingston became the estate’s most prominent resident. Chancellor Livingston administered the oath of office to President General Washington, became Secretary of Foreign Affairs and negotiated the Louisiana Purchase.

Margaret Beekman Livingston

He also partnered with Robert Fulton in 1807 to create the first commercially successful steamboat on the Hudson River, the North River Steamboat (later known as the Clermont) which stopped at the house on its inaugural trip.

Robert Livingston in the famous Gilbert Sullivan painting.

The home’s final Livingston owners were John Henry Livingston and his wife, Alice. They added to the home and greatly valued the homes important historical role. The Livingston’s built second mansion on the property known as Arryl House, which burned down in 1909. The ruins of Arryl House are still visible at the south end of the property.

The burnt ruins of Arryl Mansion on the other side of the property.

The Arryl Mansion in the Fall of 2023

Alice Livingston was responsible for creating many of the landscaped gardens that are continued to this day. Following John Henry’s death, Alice turned the Mansion and property over to the State of New York in 1962 so that all the people of New York could enjoy it.

The landscaping around the old Ice House

The house is now a New York State Historic Site and was designated a United States National Historic landmark in 1972. It is a contributing property to another National Historic Landmark, the Hudson River Historic District. Although locate in the town of Clermont, its mailing address is in the nearby town of Germantown.

The views from the back of Clermont to the Hudson River

(This information is a combination from the Clermont Website and Wiki and I give them full credit for this information. Please check the website above for more information on the site and its activities through their Friends site.)

The Clermont Grounds

The Fall in the Hudson River Valley is one of the most brilliant times to visit and the foliage is so colorful. The constant rain knocked a lot of it down already but all around the house their were still signs of the reds, golds and oranges. I came up for the Ghost Tours which the mansion resumed this year to sold out crowds.

The Clermont Estate in the Fall.

The river front of the estate in the fall.

The Hudson River in all its glory.

The Ghost Tour of the estate:

The Ghost Tour took us on a tour through the house to meet the costumed characters throughout the mansion. The mansion was decorated for the Halloween and with the lights dimmed, it gave the house an eerie appearance to it.

When I arrived at the estate, the house loomed in the distance in its it glories with the golden colors of autumn.

Jack-a Lanterns lined the pathways and lit the way to the house.

We were greeted with fresh Apple Cider Doughnuts and Apple Cider from a local farm in Kingston, NY.

We were also treated to old fashioned Halloween candy with Mary Janes, Tootsie Rolls and other treats.

We started our tour at 7:00pm at twilight with the lanterns lit and the house waiting in the distance.

The hallway was decorated for Halloween.

First we met an embittered Robert Livingston (who over acted)

We stopped in the haunted Living Room to talk to the maid.

We met the ghost of Janet Livingston Montgomery in the Parlor.

Then it was off to the Dining Room to meet the last inhabitant of the house, Janet Livingston.

Margaret Beekman Livingston guarding the Dining Room.

On the way to the kitchen, we met Captain Kidd, the Livingston children and the last owners of the house on the way out the back door to end the tour. The whole tour took less than an hour.

We exited the house through the kitchen and out the door to a moon lit night with jack-a-lanterns taking us back to the Visitors Center. The night had fallen in the early evening at the mansion as we were the second to last tour of the evening and the moon had come out giving the sky a ominous and spooky look about it.

The Christmas Open House: 2024

I visited again for the Christmas Open House in early December to see the decorations. I had not been there since 2018 and wanted to see how things had changed for the winter months. Everything was decked out for Christmas. The rooms were decorated but not in an over the top way as some of the other Hudson River homes.

The Clermont Estate at Christmas time.

The Clermont Estate at Christmas time.

The Front porch at Christmas time.

The Christmas tree on the porch.

Even the logs on the porch were decorated for the holidays.

The entrance foyer from the stairs.

Upon entering the front door, you could see the beauty and simplicity of the Christmas holidays in the early 1800’s before Victorian traditions took over and the house was overdone with decorations. Garland, Holly and simple pine trees adorned the rooms and welcomed everyone to the Christmas Holiday Open House sponsored by the Friends of Clermont. The home was nicely decorated for the holidays circa 1840’s.

Entering the Front Door at Clermont at Christmas.

The wreath was beautiful on the door.

Livingston Painting in the foyer

The Sugar Spun Clermont Sculpture.

Painting in the Foyer of Robert Livingston

Portrait of Margaret Livingston in the Foyer.

The holiday display.

The Office of Clermont

The Table Top tree in the Office.

The Library was set for Christmas morning with a large tree, homemade presents from the family and a morning of Christmas cheer. The views from the windows would have shown the beautiful views of the river.

The Library at Clermont

The Clermont Library at Christmas time.

The Christmas tree in the library.

The Library decorations.

Library decorations.

The Living Room was set for Afternoon Tea and for greeting guests who would have entered through the front door right off the main hallway.

The Living Room decorated for Christmas.

The Living Room was set for Afternoon Tea.

The portrait of Robert Livingston in the Living Room.

The portraits of Alida and Robert Livingston.

The Dining Room was not set for dinner but in anticipation of the holidays. The elegant runners, china, crystal and silver were off to the side awaiting the servants to set the table and prepare for Christmas dinner.

The Dining Room decorated for the holidays.

Holiday display in the Dining Room.

The Wedding Painting of Margaret Beekman Livingston in the Dining Room.

The family’s private bedrooms were decorated with garland and a small tree in the foyer.

Heading to the Second Floor of Clermont.

The view of the foyer from the upstairs.

The Livingston girls Bedroom.

The Livingston girl’s doll adorns the room.

The Christmas tree in the upstairs Foyer outside the bedrooms.

The Gingerbread House display in the Foyer.

When touring the kitchen which is located to the side of the house, the counters and tables were filled with all the delicious foods that would have been served at Christmas. Roasts, Trifles, Cakes and Pies would have been served by the staff for holiday get togethers and dinners at the mansion.

The Kitchen staff preparing the family’s Christmas dinner feast.

Preparations for Christmas dinner for the family.

Preparing Christmas dinner in the kitchen at Clermont.

After the Christmas Open House tour was over, the Friends sponsored Marshmallow roasting on the front lawn of the mansion and refreshments and talks up at the Visitors Center.

Roasting Marshmallows over the firepit on the mansion’s grounds after the walking tour of the mansion.

Christmas cookies, Apple Cider and Classic Candies in the Visitors Center ended the tour and the Open House for the day.

After the tour was over, I toured the gardens, which were dormant at the time and the grounds along the Hudson River. The views were just amazing and the gardens awaited the coming of the Spring when flowers would be blooming again.

The Garden Tours:

In the Summer of 2024, I took a special Garden Tour of the Livingston Gardens. A new Lead Gardener had been hired by the State of New York and she was starting to renovate the gardens. So we took a tour of the four gardens near the mansion. While we toured the estate grounds, we visited the South Spring Garden, the Walled Garden, the Children’s Garden and the Cutting Garden to see how they were progressing. The staff here is doing a good job bringing these gardens back to life to how Alice Livingston envisioned them.

The first was the South Spring Garden which is closest the house. This was built when the stairs to the side of the home were built and one of Alice Livingston’s first gardens.

The South Spring Garden sign

The South Spring Garden in Summer 2023

The South Spring Garden being cleaned up in Summer 2024

The grown in wall of the South Spring Garden

The Root Cellar sign

The Root Cellar remains by the South Spring Gardens

The flowers in the South Spring Gardens

The sign for the Walled Garden

The Walled Garden

The Walled Garden

The Walled Garden

The Walled Garden

The Walled Garden Statuary

The Walled Garden

Then we visited the Wilderness Gardens that were just beyond these and they also had been brought back to life by the gardeners. This was to be a transition from the formal gardens to the woods.

The Wilderness Gardens:

The Wilderness Gardens sign

The Wilderness Gardens

The Wilderness Gardens

The we visited the Children’s Garden and the Cutting Gardens which were the newest gardens on the estate. The Children’s Garden playhouse had just been renovated and the beds had been replanted.

The Children’s Garden with the Children’s playhouse

The Children’s Garden from the entrance

The Children’s Garden Garden

The Children’s Garden

The Cutting Gardens were created so that Alice Livingston could grow the types of flowers that would decorate the house at various points in the season. These gardens have been brought back to their original purpose and the flowers and assortments that have been planted are colorful and the fragrances are so nice. On a beautiful day, walking amongst the beds is so nice and relaxing.

The Cutting Garden

The Cutting Garden

The Cutting Garden

The Cutting Garden trellis

The bridge between the Walled Gardens and the Children’s and Cutting Gardens

The Gardens Tour was very informative. Alice Livingston’s love of flowers and how they accented the house were her pride and joy. The Cutting Garden were all the flowers that she used to decorate the house with and the Children’s Gardens taught her daughters responsibilities and knowledge of horticulture.

The biggest problem in recent years is how to maintain all these gardens. This takes a lot of effort and work to weed. plant and prune these beds and make them look nice. The new gardener hired by the State and her team of two staff and volunteers are doing a nice job cleaning out the old beds and replanting and pruning all the plants and bushes that were already there. You can tell by the pictures there is a lot more to do but the gardens are on their way back to their original look.

The Garden Tour in 2026: “Gardens and Growth-The Evolving Landscape of Clermont”

The Clermont Garden Walking Tour 2026:

I returned in the Spring of 2026 for the an updated walking tour of the gardens “Gardens and Grounds: Evolving Landscaping of Clermont”, where the State of New York horticulturalist who had just been hired to maintain the gardens, explained to us the developments and goals that the State wanted for the direction of the landscaping on the property. They wanted it brought back to the 1930’s blueprint of what Alice Livingston had originally envisioned for the estate when she returned from Europe.

Arriving to the Clermont estate for the walking tour

We started the tour with a history of the house and Alice Livingston’s return from Europe to create her famous gardens

The front of the mansion in the Spring of 2026

We started the tour at the Walled Garden which was just finished being restored. The back wall had just been finished and the site’s main horticulturalist explained that she was working with a group of volunteers to maintain the gardens.

The Walled Garden designed by Alice Livingston

The Walled Garden in the Spring of 2026

The inside to the entrance of the Walled Garden

The back part of the Walled Garden

The next garden we toured was the Wilderness Garden which included wildflowers and a fish pond

The Wilderness Garden sign

The back part of the Walled Garden leads to the Wilderness Garden

The entrance to the Wilderness Gardens

The lecture on the design and plantings of the Wilderness Garden

The colorful wildflowers that line the grass paths

The fish pond in the Wilderness Garden

We then followed the path and walked up and toured the Cutting and Children’s Garden. These colorful gardens once supplied the house with an assortment of fresh flowers. It also taught the Livingston girls the attributes of gardening.

The Cutting Garden and Greenhouse sign

The main Cutting Garden

The Cutting garden

The Cutting Garden in the late Spring

The in season flowers in the Cutting Garden

The Children’s Playhouse and Garden is next to the Cutting Garden

The Children’s Garden in the Spring

Touring past the old Greenhouses

Part of the former greenhouse

The tour through the grounds with my group

The pathway back to Clermont

Touring along the river

The former roadway between the house and the river

The South Spring Garden

Our last garden toured was the one closest to the house and that was the South Spring Garden of which Alice could see from her window. When the porch was removed from the home and Alice developed plans for other gardens, this garden went ‘native’.

The South Garden

The South Garden in bloom

The views from the South Garden

The flower planters near the South Garden

The planters filled with Spring geraniums

Walking back after the tour was over and looking at the beautiful grounds

Ending the tour that day with a walk along the river

It was a beautiful day to walk the gardens and the perfect way to spend the afternoon. Each time I take a tour of the gardens, I am amazed how different they seem. I love the different times of the year and how it changes these gardens.

Exploring Germantown, NY:

https://germantownny.org

After touring the mansion at Christmas time in December 2023, I visited Downtown Germantown, which itself was decorated for the both holidays.

Downtown Germantown, NY decorated for the Christmas holidays.

This Is How to Spend a Charming 24 Hours in Germantown

Downtown Germantown during the Christmas holidays.

Downtown Germantown at the Christmas holidays.

Downtown Germantown for the Christmas holidays and church service.

After the tour in July 2024 for the Summer Garden tour, I revisited Germantown again to see what it was like during the summer months. It is a very active and historical downtown with nice restaurants and shops, a wonderful gourmet grocery store and beautiful historical churches. It is a nice place to spend the weekend when touring the mansions in Columbia and Duchess Counties.

Germantown in the Summer of 2024:

Downtown Germantown, NY in the summer

The town square and historical sign

The Inn downtown

The restaurant row of Germantown with Gaskin’s in the background

The Reformed Church of Germantown. For some reason the clouds started to roll in after a sunny day.

The church grounds across the street

Germantown is a small town that keeps changing as more people from the City move up to the Hudson River Valley. A lot of the buildings in town are becoming art galleries, furniture shops and new restaurants. With each season, there are more changes coming to the town.

Day Three Hundred and Sixty Two Exploring the Hudson River Valley on a Fall Day Sheep and Wool Festival and Cemetery Walk October 18th, 2025

October 27, 2025"A Local Journey: Exploring the outskirts of New York City, Dedication to Warren Watrel, Dining on a Shoe String in New York State, Exploring Historic Dutchess County NY, Exploring Historic Graveyards and Cemeteries, Exploring Historic Towns of Upstate New York, Exploring Hyde Park NY, Exploring Manhattan Block by Block, Exploring New York City by foot, Exploring New York State, Exploring Rhinebeck NY, Exploring the Historic Hudson River Valley in New York State, Exploring the Island of Manhattan, Exploring Tivoli, NY, Historic New York State neighborhoods, My walk in Manhattan (MywalkinManhattan.com), MywalkinManhattan at the Halloween Holidays, Uncategorized, Visiting a Museum in New York State, Walking in Hyde Park, NY, Walking in Rhinebeck NYAddthistoyourgrocerylist@Wordpress.com, Author Justin Watral, Author Justin Watrel, BergenCountyCaregiver.com, DiningonaShoeString@Wordpress.com, Dutchess County Fair Grounds, Exploring Hyde Park NY, Exploring Rhinebeck NY, Exploring the Historic Hudson River Valley, history, Hudson River Valley Fall Events, Hudson River Valley Halloween Events, Janeks Hamburgers, Justin Watral, Justin Watrel, lifestyle, LittleShoponMainStreet@Wordpress.com, MywalkinManhattan.com, Sheep and Wool Festival Rhinebeck NY, St. James Church Cemetery Walk, travel, VisitingaMuseum.com, Warren George Watrel, Warren Watrel, Wing Shui Chinese Restaurantjwatrel

It was a beautiful afternoon in the Hudson River Valley with the leaves changing and a clear sunny sky. I was exhausted from all the running around with classes and needed a break from everything. With Midterms next week, I figured that I needed a change of pace and decided to head to the Sheep and Wool Festival at the Duchess County Fairgrounds.

Looking at the beautiful foliage on Route 87

I finally was able to sleep in after many early mornings and relax and enjoy breakfast. I got on the road after 10:00am and it seemed like everyone was headed in the same direction. The highway was packed until we got to Route 84 and then things calmed down.

Route 87 going up to New York

I had to stop several times just to take pictures of the foliage on the New Jersey side of the border. Unfortunately the best angles I could not get due to the fact there was no shoulder to step at on the highway. Still the colorful mountain was a site to see.

The foliage on the way up

With a rain storm coming up the coast, I wanted to be sure I got pictures of all the foliage with this brilliance.

The mountains were so beautiful I had to stop the car and photo them

Going through Hyde Park first, I stopped at the Hyde Park Farmers Market. I have been coming to this Farmers Market for years and it is always so nice.

The Hyde Park Farmers Market

https://www.hydeparkny.us/541/Pauls-Hyde-Park-Farmers-Market

https://www.facebook.com/farmersmarkethydepark/

It must have been just as the Market was closing because it was so quiet. All the vendors had time to say hello to me.

Walking by all the tents of produce and freshly made products

There were all sorts of produce, baked goods and craft products. The one thing I did notice was how expensive things have gotten. Egg Custards for $3.50 and breads for $10.00.

The colorful display of Fall produce

The Fino Farms who always has such great product

I took a quick walk through the market and then headed to the fairgrounds. That was just as packed as well.

The sign for the Sheep and Wool Festival in 2025

https://sheepandwool.com/

NY Sheep and Wool Festival

My review on TripAdvisor:

The entrance of the festival on a beautiful sunny afternoon

The Sheep and Wool Festival is not as big as the Dutchess County Fair but had a lot of the same food and merchant vendors. On a smaller scale, it is much more manageable but with the number of people who attend this every year, they could use more food vendors for the event.

The sign and directions in the fairgrounds

The foliage was so beautiful that afternoon

The Festival takes place the second week of October just when the Duchess County foliage is coming to its peak. The fairgrounds were covered in golds and reds.

Entering the Midway at the Sheep and Wool Festival where the food vendors were located. The foliage was at peak color.

The Midway was not as packed with vendors as the fair but is had a nice selection of food vendors

Entering the middle of the festival was getting busy

The foliage was amazing both inside and outside the fairgrounds

I got up to the fair late this time, not arriving until 2:00pm ( I thought the festival ended at 6:00pm but it ended at 5:00pm) and needed to get done lunch. Amongst all of my choices, I still always head to Janek’s, the barbecue/hamburger truck that has been my favorite for years.

Janek’s food truck is always at the same location

For years I have been getting the Piggy Back burger with Cheddar cheese and pulled pork on top(which I highly recommend) but I decided to do something different and have the Burger with freshly made Pastrami and Swiss Cheese. A very nice substitute.

The Pastrami and Swiss burger

The burger was perfectly cooked with slices of smoked pastrami on top

Yum!

The dining areas of the festival were busy from the time that I got there until the festival closed that evening. Even up to closing time and just after, people were ordering food.

The crowds kept getting bigger at the Midway at lunch and dinner time

After a good lunch and getting my energy back, I headed over to the animal pens and the craft stalls to see all the handmade products. My first stop was the Sheep pens, where sheering was going on and they were many contests to showcase the livestock. The Sheep were being shown, sheered and were talking amongst themselves as we walked around the pens admiring them.

I found that the sheep looked really relaxed and seemed to have more fun staring at us

This little guy kept smiling at me watching him

While the livestock contest was going on to a huge crowd, I toured the Crafts stalls. In the Summer for the fair, this was full of cows and goats, it now had all sorts of wool vendors, knit items, handcrafts and cosmetic items.

The colorful wool items on display

These wool dragon sculptures I thought were really interesting

Bonny’s Beasts were back with more creative gifts

Bonny’s creative beasts

More creative beasts

I also revisited my favorite wood carvers to see their Santa wares. This was the first year that my mother did not want something!

The Santa Carvings

The Santa Carvings

After touring the stalls and the open museums on the fairgrounds, I decided just to take a walk around and see what things were open since the fair.

The 4H Building was closed and there were no milkshakes now. Just coffee and hot beverages. I thought I saw someone walking around with a milkshake.

The foliage around the fairgrounds was just dazzling

By 4:30pm, they kept making announcements that the show would closing by 5:00pm, so I just wondered around and observed everyone having a good time on this warm and sunny afternoon. I had been watching the football games on my phone to watch Michigan State lose again to number three Indiana. Cornell won the Bucknell game so I figured Bucknell must have been pretty bad.

The last of the patrons at the end of the afternoon with the beautiful foliage in the background by the food vendors

As I left at 5:00pm at the end of the show, I observed the old signs from previous shows. Time has flown since my first show a decade ago. I still can’t believe it will be 2026 soon.

The shoe sign from 2021, post COVID

The last show I went to pre-COVID in 2019

After the show was over, I decided to tour around Rhinebeck. I was going to attend the Cemetery walk at St. James Church again in Hyde Park at 7:30pm so I had plenty of time. I had taken this tour back in 2021 just as everything had opened up and it was a lot of fun.

St. James Church before twilight at 6:15pm

The staff was just setting up the lights at the cemetery (technically a graveyard)

The inside of St. James Church in Hyde Park, NY, parish of the Roosevelt family

https://www.facebook.com/stjameshydepark/

https://www.dutchess.org/events/st_james_historic_graveyard_tours

My review on TripAdvisor:

I got to the church an hour before my tour and just relaxed and admired the beauty of the church. I never saw an hour fly by before my tour started. Then darkness came and my tour started.

Darkness came by 7:30pm and the cemetery looked much different

We started the lantern tour with a talk of the spirits who were buried in the grave yard. Each of the actors was waiting for us at each stop. I still could not believe these actors were waiting alone in the dark in a graveyard for people to walk by the them.

Each of the actors told their tales of when they were living and stood beside the place that they were buried. It was very intriguing.

The first person we met was Mrs. Emma Victoria Pitkin Marshal

Mrs. Marshall was once known as the ‘Poet Laureate’ of Dutchess County. She was well known in the world of publishing.

The second spirit I met was Mrs. Harper, Mrs. Mill’s housekeeper up at the Staatsburgh mansion. She told us the story of her life working for the Mills and Livingston families.

Mrs. Catherine Kennedy Harper

Mrs. Harper told us about her life working for the Livingston family and her relationship with Ruth, who she was her nanny and then housekeeper.

Our conversation with Mrs. Harper

Our next spirit we visiting was the ghost of Gertrude ‘Gerdie’ Livingston who talked about her time in the Hudson River Valley and in New York City.

Gertrude ‘Gertie’ Livingston

Mrs. Livingston telling her tales of the Hudson River Valley

In between our conversations with the spirits of the past, we walked through the graveyard as twilight gave way to darkness. The graveyard was illuminated with lanterns and lights to follow the paths. It is easy to trip over a tombstone while you are walking around the paths. They did give us lanterns to light the way but there were not enough to go around.

The vaults are illuminated at night to follow the ghostly trail

Our next with the spirits was the ghost of Reverend John McVickar, who was the Rector at St. James Church starting in 1811. He married Eliza Bard, the daughter of Dr. Samuel Bard of Bard College and raised their nine children together.

The spirit of Reverend John McVickar telling his tales of his life in the church

Walking past the church at night

The last apparition we met that night was the spirit of Mr. Augustus C. Colman, the son of a sailing captain who invested heavily in Manhattan real estate on the advice of his boss. John Jacob Astor.

The spirit of Mr. Colman telling his tales of the City

Both himself and the Reverend went at it in the graveyard

The stained glass windows at the church

The church at the end of the tour

After the tour was over, I drove to downtown Kingston , NY to talk pictures of the Dutch Reformed Church at night.

There was no cemetery walk this year here and I just wanted to visit this graveyard looked like at night with the full moon. It was more intriguing than scary.

The Kingston Old Dutch Reformed Church at 272 Wall Street

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Dutch_Church_(Kingston,_New_York)

https://www.facebook.com/OldDutchChurch/

Home

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g48003-d7232701-Reviews-Old_Dutch_Church-Kingston_Catskill_Region_New_York.html

My review on VisitingaMuseum.com:

Historic Old Dutch Church 272 Wall Street Kingston, New York 12401

The graveyard was well lit at night

The church from the front

Even without a graveyard tour the ground can be a little spooky

After my tour of the Old Dutch Church and the graveyard, I walked around Downtown Kingston. I have never seen a town like this that rolls up its sleeves so early in the evening. It seems like a majority of the restaurants close at 8:00pm. I can understand the stores but the restaurants?

I stopped at my favorite go to restaurant in The ‘Stockade District’ Wing Shui at 53 North Front Street. The food is consistently wonderful and extremely reasonable and you can sit down inside the restaurant.

https://wingshuikingston.com/

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g48003-d822310-Reviews-Wing_Shui_Chinese_Restaurant-Kingston_Catskill_Region_New_York.html?m=69573

My review on DiningonaShoeStringinNYC@Wordpress.com:

Wing Shui Chinese Restaurant 53 North Street Kingston, NY 12401

I was surprisingly hungry even after the big burger at lunch. It got cooler that evening so I ordered the Wonton Soup, the Steamed Dumplings and one of their wonderful eggrolls. It was such a great meal and really warmed me up. For such a small hole in the wall restaurant/take out place, the food is excellent.

My dinner that evening at Wing Shui

The Wonton Soup had for large wontons that you could barely fit in your mouth in the rich chicken broth. That warmed up after a graveyard walk in the dark.

The Wonton Soup with the oversized Wontons and rich chicken broth

The steamed dumplings were plump and moist and filled with spiced pork mixture.

The dumplings here are delicious

Their egg rolls are always a treat and are the first thing that I ever tried here years ago.

The egg rolls here are excellent

Yum!

I was nice to sit in the restaurant and just warm up. The temperature really dropped that evening and it was a rather cool October in comparison to other years.

After dinner, I walked around Downtown Kingston some more and admired some of the decorations and store windows decorated for the holidays. It seems like Halloween is now the lead into Christmas rather than Thanksgiving (some places have already decorated for Christmas).

The ‘Jack Pumpkin’ decoration that looked like it out of “The Nightmare before Christmas” in Downtown Kingston, NY

https://andnorth.com/kingston-downtown

From “Nightmare before Christmas”

A lot of windows were decorated for the Halloween holidays. The merchants in Downtown Kingston are so creative and here are some of my favorites.

This was displayed in the window on a North Front Street store.

The faceless entities in the windows

They face this witches hat

The skulls and pumpkins in the window. The merchants get quite creative at the holidays in the downtown area.

I walked back to my car and contemplated the upcoming Halloween holiday and all the interesting events I planned to see. It is no longer just Trick or Treating anymore.

The front of the Old Dutch Church at night

While waiting for a friendly ghost to come and greet me.

Here comes Halloween. Boo!

mywalkinmanhattan

Exploring the Island of Manhattan block by block and traveling beyond.

Tag Archives: Hudson River Valley Halloween Events

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