I started walking Harlem again after the holidays and I saw the last vestiges of the holidays all over the neighborhood. Some of the brownstone owners still had their wreaths and garland decorating their homes and it was still quite striking to see a ‘Victorian Christmas’ in front of me. There were still some Santa’s up and trees with lights at twilight and it was nice to see that some people kept their decorations up for the Epiphany.
The Christmas trees in the City were kept up later than usual
I started my day by walking the avenues first and then I would do the side streets. It is very different to do this walk in the winter months than in the summer as the days get short and it gets dark very quickly. Some parts of this part of the neighborhood can be somewhat sketchy so try not to venture out too late. I would not say that some parts are dangerous but in any part of New York City even in daylight, you should watch yourself. Even parts of the Upper East Side can be daunting after dark.
The part of the neighborhood that I was covering on this part of the walk is from south of 145th Street east of Fredrick Douglas Boulevard and Edgecombe Avenue to FDR Drive, which is near impossible to walk as there is no outlet to get onto it with getting yourself killed.
I had covered most of First, Second, Third and Lexington Avenues over the summer but I walked them again to see if there were any changes. There were a few as new buildings are going up by 128th Street and some of the businesses in the area had splashed some new paint on the buildings. This area of the triangle bounded from Lexington Avenue from 131st Street to 125th Street is dominated by commercial buildings and the bus depots with a few small parks that have seen better days.
Walking through Harlem River Park, you will see all the murals along the walls of the park. The creativity of the murals was quite a site and they continue to grow everytime I walk through the park on The Great Saunter.
The murals of Harlem River Park
The murals of Harlem River Park
The murals of Harlem River Park
The murals of the park
The murals keep growing in the park
There is a very nice recreational area that I walked through on 128th Street, The Harlem River Park, that was very active in the Summer with loads of kids playing soccer and baseball but in the winter months, there were a few kids milling around and playing chase and soccer. Mostly groups of kids hanging out after school. As I walked up the ramp to the 3rd Avenue Bridge to the Bronx, I noticed a few pairs of eyes watching me as I was watching them. The same thing happened at Colonel Charles Young Playground on West 145th Street and Lenox Avenue.
The Colonel Charles Young Playground could use some work
In the summer, the Colonel Charles Young Playground was very active with a huge basketball tournament that had attracted a big crowd. In the winter, it had just a few kids playing basketball and a few mothers strolling with their kids. The site of a six-foot-tall white guy had people staring at me, but I have gotten used to it by this point.
Colonel Charles Young, the third Black graduate of West Point
Even Park Avenue in this part of Manhattan is not very glamorous. Much different from the blocks south of 96th Street. Up here, it is more commercial with a few schools in the area and a few new apartment houses. There are many small businesses, and the area is mostly geared towards transportation. It is not a place to be late at night if you are not from the neighborhood.
Around 132nd Street down to about 128th, the glamour continues with the Department of Sanitation having one of their uptown buildings. This area under the train underpass is where they keep all the garbage trucks, and the area is really busy during the days of pick up. It gets a little scary up here at night and it does smell but also too you get to see how the city works. I wonder how these effects the health of so many residents who are living in public housing that surround the area.
Once you pass Park Avenue, then the neighborhood becomes more residential, and you really see the beautiful brownstones and apartment buildings. From Madison Avenue to 7th Avenue, most of the streets are lined with the most graceful buildings from the turn of two centuries ago. Some of the doorways were still decorated for the holidays and it complimented the homes nicely.
This area of Harlem is dominated by many large public housing complexes, which is the reason why the Harlem section of the city will remain a diverse section of the city. This is unless the city decides to sell off their housing department to meet the demand for housing at market rates. This would really change the complexity of the city.
Walking the Avenues did not take as long as walking the streets. I was able to walk from 1st Avenue to Fredrick Douglas Boulevard in two days and get a real view on how the commercial districts are slowly changing. Since the summer, many businesses I have noticed have closed or have been replaced by chain businesses.
It is funny that for the number of years that the city moaned and groaned about chain businesses not wanting to enter the city it is now being dominated by these businesses often pushing out the mom & pop businesses that give each neighborhood its uniqueness.
The one thing about Harlem is that if you ever want a quick snack, there is no lack of bodegas and small restaurants that are reasonably priced. I stopped in at Food Company Deli at Madison and 130th Street (now closed) for pastilitos, those wonderful and reasonable meat pies I enjoyed so much in Washington Heights. They were $1.25 here but still delicious.
They were freshly cooked and full of chicken and beef respectively. They had a wonderful selection of hot snacks, probably for the after-school crowd from the two schools around the corner and the people playing in the park down the road. All I know is that the owner got very excited about me being there and jumped through hoops when I walked in and paid for my purchase in cash.
The Beef Empanadas at Food Company Deli were delicious
The Chicken Empanadas
The Beef Empanadas
When both walking the avenues and the streets, you will notice that there are a large number of public housing units that spread over several blocks. The Drew Hamilton Housing Complex dominates from 144th to 141st Streets from Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard (7th Avenue) to Fredrick Douglas Boulevard (8th Avenue) and Fredrick Samuels Houses run from 141st to 139th Streets between Lenox Avenue and Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard (7th Avenue).
The Drew Hamilton Houses from West 144th to 141st Streets
Saint Nicholas Houses at 127th to 131st Streets was my start off point since the summer months and where I completed the walk in February at 6:30pm while watching a group of kids play basketball (their park is still having a major makeover that has been going on since the summer months).
The Saint Nichols Houses from West 131st to West 127th were also just struck with fire
Between 142nd Street and 139th Streets, from Lenox to 5th Avenue, you have the mixed income and renovated Savoy Park Apartments. They are gated and you can see by the landscaping and the cars in the lots not public housing. It is much better taken care of then the surrounding housing but reading reviews on the internet, they still seem to have similar problems. Even though this series of former public housing still has older residents and am not sure if all the buildings are fully renovated yet.
I walked through most of these complexes around twilight and no one ever bothered me. Most people either ignored me or looked the other way. Sometimes groups of young men would be on their cell phones while I was walking on one side of the street and then would disappear by the time, I walked back down the other side of the street. Since I crisscrossed most of the neighborhood for a second time, I was able to judge how the neighborhood was changing just in the few months it took to walk this side of Harlem.
The areas the surround the CUNY campus seem to have the most changes to it. Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard and Fredrick Douglas Boulevard keep changing all the time in the areas between 140th Streets to about 132nd Street. Many of the buildings have the ‘new window’ syndrome, where you can tell the building is either been renovated or in the process of being renovated.
This is where your newer restaurants and shops are popping up. This is especially true at around St. Nichols Boulevard and Edgecombe Avenues where brownstones and pre-war apartments being sandblasted back to sparkling perfection with new plantings and artwork to accompany them.
Dorrance Brooks Square Park and the Historic District at Edgecombe Avenue and West 136th Street
The homes around Dorrance Brooks Square Park between 136th to 137th Streets have a real beauty to them with their unique designs and big windows over-looking the small park. The park was named in 1925 after Dorrance Brooks, a WWI veteran killed in action before the end of the war (his father was a Civil War veteran as well).
The area gets even nicer in the fast-gentrifying St. Nicholas Historic District, known as ‘Strivers Row,’ of brownstone homes between 137th and 139th Streets right off St. Nicholas Park between Fredrick Douglas and Adam Clayton Powell Boulevards. These majestic buildings were once ‘the’ area of Harlem and are fast taking their rightful place in the neighborhood again. So much of the block I have passed over the past two months has been under scaffolding (as much of the neighborhood has been).
These buildings built between 1891-1893 in the Colonial, Georgian and Italian Renaissance styles and have been home to many famous residents including musician Eubie Blake and congressman Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Really take time to look at the architecture and the detail work. You can still see traces of the past century in the details.
‘Striver’s Row’ in the East 130’s
The commercial avenues are where you are seeing the most changes. The weird part is that it changes from block to block. Even the restaurants change. You can have a hip new barbecue place next to a Chinese restaurant with bullet proof glass and a small slot to get your food. The funny part is when the young white kids enter these Chinese restaurants and the looks on their faces when they are ordering.
It can such a juxtaposed array of businesses catering to both old and new residents. Even when I walk in the owners seemed perplexed with who I was and what I was doing there. This happens right across the street from the housing projects but even in the nicest restaurants in the area, it is a mixed crowd of residents enjoying themselves.
One note when walking this upper part of Harlem is that there are scarce public bathrooms around the area. Outside of the McDonald’s on Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard the only other bathroom you can use in the neighborhood is in the much needed in renovation Fred Samuels Park. The park was named after Frederick E. Samuel, the three term Harlem Congressman who passed away in 1985 and had brought significant positive changes to the community.
Fred Samuel’s Playground at Lenox Avenue and West 140th has decent bathrooms
Their bathrooms are clean but still falling apart. The park is located between 139th and 140th Streets off Lenox Boulevard and is well used both days I passed it. You would think of the condition of the park and its bathrooms though that the park system could do more for the neighborhood.
Another part of the neighborhood is the very busy and very famous “Harlem Hilton”, Engine 69, Ladder 28 Battalion 16 located on 143rd Street, a block that I am sure has completely changed over the years. The years of the ‘burn baby burn’ days are long over but the company was out the whole time I was there making calls all over the neighborhood. This famous fire company had seen it share of fires over the years. With all the public housing in the area, it looks like the companies are kept busy.
The ‘Harlem Hilton’ Engine 69/Ladder 28 at 248 West 143rd Street is one of the busiest houses in the FDNY
Two unique blocks that I passed was the 132nd Street neighborhood and their garden, the West 132nd Street Community Garden that is tended and planted by the neighborhood association and compliments the well-taken care of brownstones on the street. The effect must look nice in the summer.
Another nice-looking garden is the Harlem Rose Garden at 6 East 129th Street. It was under a foot of snow the time I passed it, but it must be quite nice in June.
The West 132nd Street Block Association Garden at 108 West 132nd Street
There are also the ‘Harlem Grown’ gardens at West 127th Streets, which is an urban youth garden that caters to the children in the neighborhood by sponsoring programs and volunteer planting while working with schools to create school gardens.
This unique program gets kids involved with the whole process of urban farming. Again under a foot of snow when I passed it, you could see traces of activity in the small green houses on the property.
Some of the most beautiful buildings in the neighborhood was the Astor Row block on West 130th Street. These 28 single family brick houses were built by William Backhouse Astor Jr. between 1880 to 1883. These homes, mostly newly renovated have front and side yards and wooden porches that have been added again since their renovations.
Most have renovated but in the middle of the development there is one home that is bricked up with a huge sign that says ‘not abandoned and not for sale. Don’t inquire.’ on the door. This is how desperate people are to buy into the historical housing in this area.
After seven weeks of walking this part of North Harlem, I finally reached 128th Street, months after the summer months of walking from 125th to 128th Streets. It was so nice to see the park at the Saint Nicholas Houses where I had started so many months ago.
Much has changed since the summer months with Colombia University growing by the Hudson River side of the island and scaffolding all over the areas surrounding the areas between Madison Avenue to Fredrick Douglas Boulevard where brownstones and prewar apartments are being snatched up quickly.
More college students are moving in and venturing to further reaches of the area and the housing projects are even going through their own renovations. It won’t be so strange this time to see college students sunning themselves in St. Nicholas and Jackie Robinson Parks anymore. The whole area is changing and there is a lot of investment in the neighborhood not just in housing but in the parks as well. With community gardens and block associations cleaning up empty lots, the pride of Harlem is alive and well. You just have to look for it.
This part of the walk completes the whole neighborhood above 125th Street known by the realtors now as NoHA, North of Harlem.
I had some business to do uptown on my way back from Chinatown in Lower Manhattan and had to go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for the afternoon, so I decided to check out the new Q line stops along the new Second Avenue line. The Q line runs all the way from Coney Island with me picking it up on Canal Street. What an amazing trip!
“Perfect Strangers” on the West 72nd Street subway line
The new construction of the subway lines has been in the works for almost a hundred years and has recently completed four stops along the Second Avenue line that make travelling to uptown Manhattan a real pleasure. The fact that not too many people have caught on to the line yet makes it even better as there is plenty of room to sit down on the brand new cars and you are not squeezing in like on the number 6 line. If you have ever been on the Number 6 subway in Manhattan at rush hour, you know what I am talking about. Sardines are not squeezed in like this.
I have been on the line twice since it has opened and what a pleasure it is to get a seat and relax instead of someone pushing into your back for a three stop trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The subway car is one of the new ones with the blue seats you do not have to squeeze into and you can see and hear all the announcements. The old joke of everyone is ‘mumbling’ over the speaker is still true on most subway cars in the city. With all the racket going on between the cars, the speakers and the occasional person singing and dancing in the subway car (I don’t think they have discovered them yet), you can’t hear a thing. It is so nice to read the paper in peace on this line.
It is interesting to note that they have been trying to build this part of the subway since 1919. This first phase of the subway route was conceived when it was realized that the ‘Fourth Avenue line’ was over-crowded and needed to ease the congestion. In 1927, a rapid transit plan was put out that called for a six-track Second Avenue subway line. These plans were abandoned with the Great Depression in favor for completing the IND line. It was revisited again in the 40’s then World War Two broke out.
In 1965, one year after the Urban Mass Transit Act mandated that federal funding be made available for transit programs, the MTA was founded. The Second Avenue Subway plan was proposed in 1968 with one two-track line stretching from 34th Street to the Bronx. The city broke down in 1972 when the city was granted $25 million in Federal funding. Construction started at East 103rd Street and Second Avenue but construction was halted in 1975 due to the Financial Crisis and the project was abandoned again with only three little tunnels between Chatham Square and Canal Street, 99th, 105th and 110th and 120th Streets. (New York Magazine and Gothamist.com 2016)
With Environmental Impact Studies done in 2004, the project was planned in four phases to be completed between 2004 and 2006. Ground was broken for Phase One in 2007 at 99th/101st Street and the project was to done in four phases with the first to go from 63rd Street to 96th Streets. Phase Two has been planned to start in 2019 with the line expanding to 125th Street with the last two Phases expanding down to Lower Manhattan. This will create the T Line while bringing back the W Line to Queens. All of this will alleviate the traffic on the 6 Line. (New York Magazine, Gothamist.com).
The best part of the subway line on top of the cleanliness is the artwork. The MTA Art & Design had four different artists create the work for the four completed lines. Their works are amazing and you feel like you are in a gallery instead of a subway station:
Entering the new station at East 96th Street and Second Avenue.
The Upper level of the subway painting
This creativity starts at 96th Street as you enter the subway with a combination of steel and blue lights and take the escalator down a futuristic tunnel down to the platform and you gaze upon the artwork of artist Sarah Sze. When you see the work from the subway platform, it almost looks like flying papers outside. When you walk the whole platform, you see what she is trying to achieve.
Ms. Sze is a Boston native American artist who has a BA from Yale and MFA from the School of Visual Arts in New York City. Her specialty ranges from sculpture, painting, film making, printing, drawing and instillation (Artist Bio).
Artist Sarah Sze designing the subway station
Her ‘Blueprint for a Landscape’ when completed with tile masters from Spain who used porcelain to produce the work. It takes a few walks around to see the true detail of the work. The work is made up of fragmented images of scaffolding, birds, chairs and leaves. It is like being outside in a wind storm. The main body of work on the platform you can see the papers flying around and as you take the escalator up, you see the blue and white scaffolding, which took me two trips to figure out what is was. Off to the side, you see the birds in flight. It is like seeing a day in New York City with the different aspects of the city flying by. The most touching part is the ‘Subway’ poem by Billy Collins (born 1941).
Subway
As you fly swiftly underground
with a song in your ears
or lost in a maze of a book
remember the ones who have descended here
into the mire of bedrock
to bore a hole through this granite
to clear a passage for you
where there was only darkness and stone
remember as you come up into the light
A touching poem to match the beauty of the art work.
At the 86th Street stop you will be dazzled by the artwork of one of my favorite artists, Chuck Close. I had marveled at his artwork when I lived in Chicago at the Contemporary Museum. You always know his work by the powerful real life images that he presents. He created 12 large-scale works that spread throughout the platforms. Really look at the artwork and you will see that they are made of tiny mosaic pieces.
Artist Chuck Close in tile at the 86th Street stop
Mr. Close is an American born artist from Washington State. He earned his BA from the University of Washington and his MFA from Yale University. His specialty is photography and painting with an emphasis on Portraiture (Artist Bio).
Chuck Close self-portrait
The name plate
It was also the detailed construction of these pieces and the work that went into creating them that is impressive. There are even two self-portraits of Mr. Close in the station proudly pronouncing his work to subway riders. Take the time to really look at the details of each piece even when security looks at you funny (as they did with me twice).
The “Emma” Portrait at 86th Street
The name plate
Arriving at the East 86th Street station is almost futuristic
At 72nd Street, Brazilian artist, Vic Muniz has created a series called “Perfect Strangers” with portraits of real New Yorkers.
Mr. Muniz is a Brazilian born artist who lives and works between New York City and Rio de Janeiro. His specialty is mixed media and photography (Artist Bio).
Vik Muniz’s plaque at the 72nd Street Subway stop
There are portraits of men holding hands, a policeman holding a Popsicle and a man chasing flying papers, who I have read is the artist himself. The artist created this work based on staged photographs on people he knows.
Again really look at the details that created these works. I almost immediately thought I was going crazy when I thought one of them was Daniel Boulud, the famous chef holding a fish in a bag until I read later on that it was him. To see him immortalized in a subway station artwork I thought was a real testament to him as a chef.
The characters of “Perfect Strangers” display all over the East 72nd Street Station
Chef Daniel Boulud in tile
Tiger man
Holding Balloons
Superman
Little Kids
Couple waiting for the Q Train
Waiting for the Q Train
Waiting for the Q Train with “Perfect Strangers”
“Perfect Strangers”
“Perfect Strangers”
“Perfect Strangers”
The 63rd Street station is not modernistic as the other three stations but still has a sense of newness to it. It is also kept so clean now to match the other stations. Artist Jean Shin work is featured at this station. You really have to go outside the station to see the just of her work which was quoted as being inspired by the idea of illustrating the demolition of the Second and Third Avenue elevated lines.
Her more geometric pieces really show the metal work of a different era as well as her work was based on when “she dug through archives at the New York Transit Museum and at the New York Historical Society and used photographs she found based on the images of everyday riders and pedestrians from the 1920’s through the 1940’s, along with geometric shots of elevated girders being dismantled” (New York Times 2016). It took some reading on my part to figure it out. Again you really have to walk the stop to get the feel of her work.
The best part of these new stops are how clean they are and how well-managed the people from the MTA keep them. The three nights I traveled the new Q Line, the gentlemen from the MTA are constantly mopping and sweeping the cars and the platforms. They take immense pride in taking care of ‘their’ station and it shows in their work. The MTA should proud of how well-maintained these new stations are and should take note for many of their other stations that could use the same TLC.
So this is your opportunity readers to see the subway stops on your way to the Met or the Museum of the City of New York, the Conservatory or even Central Park and see the marvel of how art, commerce and construction and immense creativity on the part of the MTA, the City Planners and dedicated construction workers put their best foot forward and gave the city a living, breathing ‘art museum’ to pass through every day.
But SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! We want to enjoy first before the tourist get there.
The Q Subway line being developed
Update since this Blog: August 1, 2018 and December 21st, 2024.
According to Our Town Paper of the Upper East Side, the ridership on the new Q line has exceeded expectations as it is stealing riders from the Number 6 line:
The Q/F Stop at Lexington & East 63rd Street: 20,893 riders
The Q/F Stop at East 72nd Street: 28,145 riders
The Q/F Stop at East 86th Street: 23,722 riders
The Q/F Stop at East 96th Street: 17,150 riders
This has eased the Number 6 line by almost 23% to 29% on most of the same stops. Right now there are plans to expand the line to East 125th Street with stops at East 106th Street, East 116th Street and East 125th Street that could be finished by 2029 if the funding from the government comes through. The cost could be around $6 billion; work on Phase One lasted ten years and cost $4.5 billion. The first phase took almost a hundred years to build with most being set up in the early 70’s before the money crunch of the City.
In 2025, the extension is ready to go and the tunnel between 115th to 120th Streets is already completed and a new tunnel to 125th Street is in the works. It will be one of the biggest mass-transit projects in New York City history when it is done.
Money very well spent!
(Our Town Newspaper August 1st, 2018)
Like an underground museum that everyone just walks by
I spent the evening at an Alumni mixer and got a chance to walk upper Fifth Avenue to see the tree at Rockefeller Center and watch the Christmas light show at Saks Fifth Avenue. Most the city was still decorated for Christmas but all around the stores, the decorations were coming down as the season winded down. It was sad to see it go as it comes so fast and ends so early but I was glad I was able to see ‘the tree’ as we all call it before it was taken down after this weekend.
The tree at Rockefeller Center in 2024
The Rockefeller Center Christmas displays
Even the Christmas village in Bryant Park is almost all taken down. I thought they would wait until the last weekend of the holiday. At least their tree was still up too.
Bryant Park in full swing for Christmas with the Christmas Market
I am glad that some of the places wait until the traditional end of the holiday season to take things down. It still is nice to see it for one more weekend.
The Bryant Park Christmas Tree
Even in 2020, the kept the Christmas Tree in Rockefeller Center up past the Epiphany even by January 8th so that the New Yorkers could enjoy Rockefeller Center. The City was so mobbed for Christmas of 2020 you could not even walk the sidewalks. I had never seen the crowds at Christmas time so heavy. You could not even walk into Rockefeller Center until after the Epiphany.
Bryant Park at night during the holiday season
If you have a chance to see ‘the tree’, it is always a nice sight!
Happy and Healthy New Year in both 2017, 2020 and 2024!
The Christmas markets in Bryant Park in 2024
Places to Visit:
The Christmas Market/Christmas Tree in Bryant Park
I traveled to Woodstock, NY for my third Christmas upstate in 2016, to see the Christmas Parade in downtown Woodstock and go to Christmas Eve services at the Dutch Reformed Church. After that, a quiet dinner out and then a drive by the town Christmas tree. It has been my Christmas tradition since my father passed away. I like the calm and the beauty of Upstate New York. I like to relax after the hustle of the holidays.
Downtown Woodstock at Christmas time
I love the trip up to the Hudson Valley region. After going to school up here for two years, (Alumnus of the Culinary Institute of America Class of ’98, Honors and Perfect Attendance) I have never gotten over how gorgeous this region can be in the early winter. The leaves have already fallen but the hills and streams are still so impressive. It is also not that far from home and the area is fun to explore. Woodstock is not exactly isolated, but it is further off the beaten path.
I love how the town is decorated for the holidays. The tree on the square is a classic every year with plain colorful lights with the backdrop of the lit Dutch Reformed Church, several well decorated businesses and the Village Green B & B behind it (where I stayed the year before). The whole square lit for the holidays can put any non-believer in the Christmas mood. It is classic New England Christmas.
The Parade in Woodstock is unusual in the way it is timed. It starts when the last bus leaves the square for New York City at 5:15pm and must be over at 6:30pm before the Dutch Reformed Church starts its 7:00pm services. It runs like a well-oiled machine. The second that bus leaves the square, I swear I saw the police and fire department had those roads closed fast.
The Woodstock Village Green at night when its quiet
I got up early around 4:00pm knowing from past history that you will never get into town if you don’t get arrive before 5:00pm. I stayed this year at the Woodstock Inn at the Millstream (See review on TripAdvisor). What a beautiful and unique little hotel.
I was talking with the manager, Karen, when I arrived, and she said that it was an old motel that the owners found and fixed up. It is the most unassuming and beautiful place to stay.
Woodstock Inn at Millstream at 14 Tannery Brook Road
It is just off the beaten path off the downtown and within walking distance of downtown. It has the picturesque location right by the Mill Stream. It is one of the most relaxing places to stay in Woodstock.
The hotel during Christmas
It must truly show itself in the summer months when you can sit under the shade trees and look at the stream.
The Millstream by the hotel
The Breakfast Room overlooking the stream
Having a snack in front of the stream before the parade started in 2025
There was a large size crowd this year for the parade but not as big as last year when the temperature was 70 degrees (the hottest in history of record keeping). The temperature was a balmy 42 degrees. Very seasonable. Still there was a lot of energy in the crowd as we all waited to see how Santa would arrive.
Downtown Woodstock, NY after the parade
Mrs. Claus arriving by fire truck in 2025
Santa did not disappoint and with the help of the Woodstock Fire Department, Santa made his appearance via a Partridge in a Pear tree. It is the most anticipated part of the parade to see how Santa will make his appearance. Last year it was via a magic hat with a snowman dancing around.
Santa and Mrs. Claus at the end of the parade in 2025
As Santa exited the fire truck and was greeted with Mrs. Claus who arrived on another float, the crowd stood in line for their turn to talk to Santa. The jazz band started to play outside the church. That was the one part of the parade I was disappointed with, in that every year that I have been up in Woodstock, Lindsay Webster and her band, had entertained everyone with her version of jazz Christmas carols. That the parade to me. It was Woodstock’s own stamp to the holidays (Ms. Webster and her band I found out later were touring in Europe for the holidays).
Here’s a clip from the parade in Downtown Woodstock, NY
For the next hour, people were milling around the square, listening to bands, eating snacks in the local restaurants (there is a place called ‘Shindig’ on the square that makes the most mind-blowing mac & cheese (Closed in 2023) and meeting up with their neighbors and friends. It really does have the small town feel about it as unlike Sinterklaas in Rhinebeck a few weeks earlier that is attracting larger crowds. Woodstock attracts crowds but still keeps it small due to the restrictions of time.
I swear by 6:30pm, the crowds started to thin out and the band wrapped it up and were putting equipment away before the church doors opened by 6:45pm. I entered the church about ten to seven and most people including Santa were wrapping things up.
Christmas Eve service at the Dutch Reformed Church is amazing.
Christmas Eve service at the Dutch Reformed Church is always special to me. The church run such informal and welcoming service. It is so different from Catholic services, where we spend the whole service standing up and sitting down. The Church was decorated all over with garland and bows and candles. The Church was built in the 1800’s so it does have the old wooden pews that us modern folk have to squeeze into and there are two levels, so you look up and see more parishioners.
Dutch Reformed Church on the Green at 16 Tinker Street in Woodstock, NY
The service started with a combo playing all sorts of holiday music and then we were welcomed by members of the Church to the holiday mass. The service is lively with many Christmas songs that the audience participates in and the service I have always found very inspirational and enlighten. Reverend Josh has a real passion in making people feel comfortable in Church. His sermons actually say something, and he makes it more personable.
The Nativity scene outside the Dutch Reformed Church
There are those little touches that I don’t see in my local Church such as the bell choir and lighting the candles during the last part of mass. If you really want to see something it’s a Church fully lit with candles in the pitch black. Does that make an effect inside a Church the way the light played off the woodwork and decorations.
Inside the Dutch Reformed Church for the bell service both in 2016 and in 2025
The inside of the church decorated for the holidays
The front of the church decorated for the holidays
After Church, it was the most uninspiring visit to Cucina, an Italian restaurant in Woodstock. After two disappointing years at Joshua’s on the Green, I decided to try something different.
As much as the restaurant is beautifully decorated and appointed and the service friendly and accommodating, the food is dismal. It had no flavor, and its presentation was less than perfect (See review on TripAdvisor).
Cucina at 109 Mill Hill Road in Woodstock, NY
Cucina’s at Christmas time in Woodstock, NY Christmas Eve
The restaurant is really beautiful from the outside and pretty inside
I went back to my room to change and then I took a walk to the Green to look at the stars. I swear you can almost touch them up here. It is also nice to have the whole Green to yourself. It is fun to just sit and look at the tree and the well light store fronts. It is so quiet and peaceful it really gives you a chance to sit back and reflect on the year. I could not believe another Christmas had come again.
I had never seen a year come and go so fast. Time does have a way of passing by quickly without you noticing it. Even so, looking up at the stars and the moon, it really does make you want to catch a glimpse for Santa’s sleigh passing by. It was just one of those nights.
The next morning after an amazing night’s sleep with the sound of a stream passing by and a great breakfast of homemade granola (Karen makes this and it is excellent) and fresh fruit, I made my traditional phone calls to my family and friends and play catch up beyond all the Christmas cards that I sent out earlier in the month. Everyone was happy to hear from me and I had nice conversations with my cousins who lived in different states and friends that I had not heard from in a long time.
I had visited my friend, Lillian, who lives in Assisted Living out on Long Island earlier in the week and talked with other friends earlier in the month, so it was nice just to exchange well-wishes. After sending out about eight boxes of Christmas cards, the lines of communication between myself and my friends and family are excellent.
Then I took a long drive up into the Catskill Mountains. I know why the place is so inspirational to writers and painters, it is just so beautiful and graceful of a place. The mountains are just so picturesque even with no leaves on the ground.
It is sad that many of the small town on Route 28 have gotten so depressed. Even Phoenicia that had so many nice little restaurants and shops two years earlier, things have just closed down. The further I went up Route 28, the more depressed it got.
Pine Hill is run down, Fleishman is the same, in Margaretville each of the buildings could have used a good paint job and it was not until I got to Andes did, I see a little spark of vibrancy. There were some nice little shops and places to eat.
I was taking this tour to visit Bovina Center, which is off Route 28 on Route 6 in the middle of a farming community to visit the Bushman Eating House, a restaurant I had read about in a magazine. I was hoping to have lunch there but unfortunately like most things on Christmas Day, it was closed. Maybe sometime in the Spring when the weather is nicer (See trip to Cornell University Day Seventy-Seven in MywalkinManhattan.com below:)
I made a turnaround and went down Route 10, past the SUNY campus in Delhi, which is located in the quaint little town of Delhi and through Stamford and other smaller towns and then to Tannersville to see some of the closed galleries and then back down Route 214 through Phoenicia again which really closed for the night.
I ate at Little Bear at 295 Tinker Street (see review on TripAdvisor) by 5:30pm and enjoyed another Chinese meal there before the crowds beseeched on the only restaurant open in a ten-mile radius. When I mean that this place gets packed for the evening, it gets packed. I finished my meal at 5:00pm and the line was already 20 deep with the phones ringing off the hook for to go orders. People can be so pushy especially here when they are hungry.
The Little Bear at 295 Tinker Street (Closed October 2021- it is now a Thai Restaurant in 2025)
The food at Little Bear is usually very good but on Christmas Day they just can’t handle the crowds and it suffered the year before. You have to get here before the first movie lets out at 6:30pm. After that it is ciaos until 9:00pm. I had delicious Shu Mai starter followed by Mu Shu pork, both which were good but tepid.
They need more help during the holidays. They have a hard time just keeping up with the to go orders let alone seating people. Otherwise, the one time I ate here when it was quiet, the food was wonderful.
The Mu Shu Pork was good that day
I thought about a movie after dinner but settled on another walk to the Green. It was just too beautiful of a night to sit in the movies when I could walk around town. With all the lights on at the downtown businesses and the tree lit in the Green, it just felt like Christmas Day night. Like Santa had just visited and people were just enjoying time with their families. A few people were walking their dogs or just looking at the tree in the Green with their children.
The Square in Downtown Woodstock, NY
To me, Woodstock, New York is just such a nice place to come to celebrate Christmas. So quiet, so picturesque and serene and relaxing. It is a place that you can sit, think and reflect on the year.
Merry Christmas to you all & a Happy New Year!
If you like this blog, check out my other Christmas visits to Woodstock, NY on:
I put my walk in Manhattan aside for the day and walked the streets of Philadelphia, PA for my annual trip on the Acela to visit the ‘City of Brotherly Love’. I go down to Philly twice a year on purpose for my cheesesteak fix at Carmen’s Famous Italian Hoagie’s Cheesesteaks and to have Beiler’s Doughnuts and Basset’s Ice Cream, foods that you just can’t replicate in New York City or New Jersey. Not the way they do it. This requires a trip on the Acela to the Reading Terminal Market downtown.
Downtown Philadelphia Christmas Market 2024
During the holiday season, I also like to see the light show at Macy’s (which I still call Wanamaker’s) and visit the tree at City Hall. Philadelphia has its own magic at holidays. There is such a beautiful holiday market that surrounds City Hall with all sorts of artisan crafted foods and handmade products. There was a slew of singers, actors and musicians that were entertaining the public.
Downtown Philadelphia’s Christmas Market in 2024
The City Hall Christmas Tree may not be as big as the one in New York but no less nice. It was beautifully decorated and at twilight, covered with colorful lights. A lot of people were taking pictures around it or were getting ready to skate around the makeshift skating rink. It is not Rockefeller Center, but the affect was just as nice, and it really did put me in the Christmas spirit.
The Christmas tree by City Hall in Center City Philadelphia
The beautiful downtown Christmas tree with Downtown Philadelphia in the distance
The first part of my trip was to see the light show at Macy’s next to City Hall. I still have a hard time calling it Macy’s considering it was the old Wanamaker’s store since its inception. This beautiful grand dame of the department store industry was so much nicer when it was Wanamaker’s.
Macy’s Center City Philadelphia-The old Wanamaker’s Department Store
The Windows at Macy’s Philadelphia were nicely decorated similar to the windows in Manhattan
The Macy’s Windows based on the New York windows
Window Two at Macy’s Philadelphia
Window Three at Macy’s Philadelphia
Window Four at Macy’s Philadelphia
The beginning of “Mannequin”:
There were beautiful restaurants, luxury departments and it was always nicely decorated for the holidays. Macy’s does a nice job, but it was a different store in the 80’s and early 90’s. I still see traces of the old store in the movie “Mannequin”.
The movie trailer for “Mannequin” was shot at the store in 1986
The famous opening scene that was shot in front of the old Wanamaker Department Store
My favorite song from the movie “Mannequin”
The movie “Mannequin”
I can still see traces of the old store here and there. It was beautifully decorated for the holidays and it was really pretty in the store. The displays were very colorful and the main rotunda was so festive. It was not the same as the old Wanamaker’s but more like a Macy’s store in New York.
The Rotunda of Macy’s Philadelphia (former Wanamaker’s)
The beauty of the Rotunda decorated during the holidays
The decorations in the Fine Jewelry Department
The Eagle in the Rotunda
The Women’s Accessories Department during Christmas
The Men’s Department during Christmas
The decorations of the main floor
I have seen the light show about five times now and I know I can see the whole thing on YouTube, but it is still fun to see it live in the store and hear the organist play the famous pipe organ. It really is an exciting show. I love the music and I love the way they display the story line. Julie Andrews does a nice job narrating the story.
It is such a colorful program with all the lights and music. I love it when she says, “Goodbye Frosty” to Frosty the Snowman. The crowds are huge and all over the main level, so if you go see it in the future get there early.
Julie Andrews saying goodbye to Frosty!
The video on the Lightshow with Frosty the Snowman:
The light show is only during the holiday season so take the special trip out to see it. It is only about twenty minutes long but still it is one of the things I look forward to seeing.
This is one of the nicest shots of the show I could find online:
The Macy’s Christmas Show in the rotunda of the store
One of the reasons I came down to Macy’s Philadelphia not just to see the windows, see the Lightshow but I made a reservation to see the Dickens Village, which was a relic of Strawbridge & Clothier created in 1984 by the former rival of Wanamaker’s.
The Macy’s Dickens Village is now located on the Third Floor of the store which was the old Executive Offices
The start of the tour of the “Dickens Tour”
The start of the “Dickens Tour”
The Dickens display with Charles Dickens narrating
The Dickens display with Scrooge confronted by members of the Charities
The Dickens display The Ghost of Christmas Past
The Dickens display of Fuzzywink’s Party scene
The Dickens display Meeting Ghost of Christmas Present
The Dickens display Nephew Fred’s Party
The Dickens display Scrooge meeting the Ghost of Christmas Future
The Dickens display The end of the story with a Revelation by Scrooge
The Dickens Village is a lot of fun to walk through and it is a fun way to learn the story and understand the lessons about the story. It is nice to see that Macy’s is keeping these traditions going (for now). After seeing the Lightshow and walking through Dickens Village and walking around the store to see the decorations and what the store looks like, I wanted to get some lunch.
My main purpose and then I made a B-line to be the Reading Terminal Market for lunch. Somehow there are just regions where you cannot replicate the foods from that area. Philly is one of those places.
The sign for the Reading Terminal Market
I had not been to the city since the spring, and I needed my serious cheesesteak fix and the best place to do that in the downtown area is Carmen’s Famous Italian Hoagies & Cheesesteaks (Closed October 2024).
The Reading Market Terminal for all those wonderful restaurants
Located in the center of the Reading Terminal Market, which is only about two blocks from City Hall, Carmen’s has some of the best sandwiches in the city. I have my usual plain Cheesesteak with Cheese Wiz.
Inside the Reading Market Terminal in the seating area by all the restaurants
My favorite places to eat at the Reading Market, Beiler’s Bakery and Doughnuts and the Dutch Eating Place
Sorry New York City, we do a lot of things great up here but cheesesteaks like this are not one of them. They load a fresh, soft chewy hoagie bun up with thin sliced steaks and then load that up with loads of Cheese Wiz.
The amazing Cheesesteaks from Carmines
Biting into that sandwich is heaven on earth and I enjoy every bite of it. It is always funny to see the staff watch me enjoy my sandwich and the guy that looks like the owner likes it that I enjoy it so much (See TripAdvisor review). It is also fun to talk to the other guests because they come here from all over for the same reason.
When I returned to Philadelphia in December of 2024, Carmines closed in October upon the retirement of the owner to be replaced by Gus’s Cheesesteaks. Now the Cheesesteaks are $17.00. They still look good but a little expensive.
Carmine’s at North 51 12th Street for Cheesesteaks is great! (Closed October 2024)
Carmine’s Cheesesteaks was replaced by Gus’s Cheesesteaks and the cheesesteaks are now $17.00
When I returned to the Reading Terminal Market in 2024, Carmine’s had closed and replaced by Uncle Gus’s Cheesesteaks and their sandwiches were $17.00! I thought this was way too expensive so I went back to the Dutch Eating Place a few rows over whose prices and portion sizes were still close to what they were when I last visited. The food is still excellent.
I had not had a chance to eat a Thanksgiving dinner because of work, I had to have the Roast Turkey platter. This was lots of sliced turkey between thick slices of freshly made white bread served with Mashed Potatoes with lots of thick gravy with a side of Cole slaw and cranberry sauce. I ordered a freshly made Pink Lemonade for a drink with my meal. It was excellent and what was nice was talking with the other patrons. We had a nice conversation about my dining blog, DiningonaShoeStringinNYC@Wordpress.com. They got a kick out it.
The Roast Turkey platter at Dutch Eating Place is so good and a very generous portion for lunch
Yum! This was delicious!
My next part of the trip was to Beiler’s Bakery, which has some of the best doughnuts in the world. These little gems are so beautifully displayed and are constantly being refilled that I do not think that there is a stale doughnut ever in that case. The line wrapped around the counter.
Don’t miss the selection of doughnuts at Beiler’s at 51 North 12th Street.
It is fun to watch the doughnuts fried out in front of you and then cooled on the racks. Then each doughnut is hand filled and glazed right in front of the customers behind the glass. All of their fillings are hand-made and are oh so good.
The employees making the fresh fillings and filling the freshly made doughnuts
The fresh fillings of the Beiler’s Doughnuts
I had a strawberry glazed with what tasted like fresh strawberry jelly and I had a peppermint cream filled doughnut that was a specialty for the holidays that had just a hint of the peppermint sweetness. It was a hard choice though. I could have eaten a dozen but you have to be good here (See TripAdvisor review).
When I made a beeline back to Beiler’s in 2024, I wanted to try some of the classic and creative doughnuts. I tried a Glaze Doughnut and a Lemon cream filled Lemon Doughnut which I went outside and devoured pretty quickly. The doughnuts are excellent and I really missed coming here. It had been three years since I had been to Philadelphia and I really missed Beiler’s.
The Glazed doughnuts really impressed me in the case
The Glazed Doughnuts are delicious
The Lemon Cream filled doughnuts are amazing
After lunch was over it was off to the Philadelphia Museum of Art to see the “Paint the Revolution: Mexican Modernism 1910-1950”, which was well-worth the trip. You don’t get to see much of this art in New York museums or just on a smaller scale than this. The exhibition showed such a wide range of art from the traditional landscapes to cubism and the modern person. I liked the way the way that the curator set the exhibit up. It jumped around and as it flowed you saw the art from many perspectives. I advise readers in the New York area to take a trip down to see this exhibition.
Philadelphia Art Museum at 2600 Benjamin Franklin Parkway
I walked around the city after my museum visit and saw all the different holiday displays downtown. Philly really is a pretty city and the downtown has been much improved in the last ten years. It is so much more vibrant and safer than in years past. I walked down the main shopping district to look at the closed department stores of the past, Strawbridge & Clothier and Lit’s. Downtown Philadelphia is improving but still has a ways to go since you can’t always build office buildings in an economy that is still working remote.
The old Strawbridge & Clothier in Downtown Philadelphia
Before I took the train back up to New York City, I took one more stop at the Reading Market to go to Basset’s Ice Cream for a cone and stop at Beiler’s Bakery across from their doughnut stand to take some baked goods home. I can’t get Shoofly pie or proper moon pies at home.
Again the place was still so busy and I was able to load up on Whoopie Pies, Shoofly Pie and Sweet Rolls for the trip home and some Whoopie Pies for my aunt who needed some cheering up. They are so well-baked and delicious I wanted to eat them there. Everyone at the stand was so patient with me as I had to make my decisions. Add in a few fry pies and I was done for the day (See review on TripAdvisor).
Beiler’s Bakery was fully stocked on New Year’s Eve and was really busy
Next was off to Basset’s Ice Cream for a cone for my walk back to the station. I settled on the holiday Eggnog flavor (Yum) and the Pomegranate and Blueberry flavor (unusual and worked). On a fresh waffle cone there is nothing like it even in the winter. Everyone I passed saw the huge smile on my face and made comments about eating ice cream in the winter. Sorry folks, there is nothing like ice cream with butter fat in it to make a man smile (See review on TripAdvisor). It was a great walk back to the train station. All the lights went on in downtown and the City Hall Market looked even more festive.
Basset’s Ice Cream at 45 North 12th Street at the Reading Terminal Market
The train station was beautifully decorated with lights, wreaths and a huge tree and it was nice to just sit back and relax until the train came. On the way back, the city was all lite in front of me. The boat houses on the river were lit with Christmas lights and boats passed by lit up as well.
The Christmas tree in Penn Station in Penn Station in Philadelphia
The tree was truly beautiful at the end of the Christmas season
The latter part of the evening when I got back to New York City was a quick trip to the Met to see their Christmas Tree and an evening of looking at the windows of Barney’s, Bloomingdale’s, Saks Fifth Avenue and Lord & Taylor.
Saks Fifth Avenue in New York City at 611 Fifth Avenue
The entrance to Saks Fifth Avenue during Christmas holiday
I took a quick trip through the holiday market in Bryant Park and then to Port Authority. It really was the perfect day to get into the holiday mood.
Post Christmas visit during the Philadelphia Flower Show 2025:
What was sad though when I returned two months later for the Flower Show, it was announced that Macy’s was shutting down the downtown store as part of the store cuts as Macy’s was downsizing the company. Almost all the inner city stores like Brooklyn and Philadelphia were going to join stores like Pittsburgh and Minneapolis. It was a sad day for Philly.
Macy’s during my day of touring
Sad day in Philly
It reminded me of when B. Altman closed in New York City
The display windows said it all but had been very festive just two months earlier
The once elegant Men’s Department
The mannequins for sale
Me with the ‘Mannequins’ on the first floor
Me with the decorations that once adorned the first floor during Christmas
It’s so sad to see where John Wanamaker once walked and Andrew McCarthy and Kim Cattrall once danced down the aisles has now been reduced to abargain sale
The empty cases were once filled with beautiful jewels and fancy perfumes
All the Christmas decorations from two months before were all sold
The beautiful atrium where I watched the light show a few months before
The Accessories Department
No one was near the Eagle that day
The back part of the Atrium
The sadness of the Clothing Department
The Cosmetics Department had nothing left
The beautiful embellishments around the Cosmetics Department of the Eastern States. This is of Massachutes
This is the New Jersey emblem
Where Kim Cattrell and Andrew McCarthy danced in the film
The lion guarding the stairs
The actors dancing in the film “Mannequin”
The front of the old Wanamakers store where the opening scene of ‘Mannequin’ was shot
Not what John Wanamaker envisioned for his store
When I returned in November of 2025, they were trying to keep the tradition alive.
It is a sad day as this was once one of the most beautiful and creative stores in the country now reduced to a bargain sale.
This is the second time I have hosted the “Teens, Tots & Toys” holiday event at the Lodi Memorial Library. The Friends of the Lodi Memorial Library created “Teens, Tots & Toys” as an alternative to many libraries having a “Story Time with Santa” event that can leave out some children who don’t celebrate Christmas.
Our mascot for the event, “Tinker Street” was created by myself to set the tone for the event and can be seen on YouTube in the video from last year’s event with special invited guest, US & World Figure Skater Elaine Zayak and with this year’s event with Best Selling and Caldecott Medal Winner, Christopher Raschka. We were so happy that two such prominent people wanted to join us for this event.
Chris and I at “Teens, Tots & Toys”
The premise for “Teens, Tots & Tots” is as a holiday event that caters to all children and their families. The Friends wanted to build the event on having a toy drive, a celebrity visit and showing a holiday movie. Last year, we donated toys and books to the Emmanuel Cancer Center in Midland Park, NJ. This is in partnership with the library when they run their Annual Gingerbread House Making event.
This holiday season we were very excited when Best-Selling Children’s Author and Caldecott Medal, Christopher Raschka, decided to join us. I have to admit, we had a lot of communication between each other for over a year and there were a lot of emails going back and forth and time commitments we both had and I was glad that he could join us for our holiday event. I was very excited that he was coming to our library. As the expression says. “Good things come to those who wait” and the visit went beyond my expectations. Everyone had a such a good time.
I had first become acquainted with Chris’s work when a few years earlier I had done another event at my old library with Giant’s player and fellow Cornell University Alumni, Kevin Boothe. Kevin had read from the inspirational book that Chris wrote and illustrated, “Everyone can learn to Ride a Bicycle”. I thought the illustrations were very unique and creative and that is when I thought it would be interesting to have the author come out to the library. It took almost a year and a half of planning.
Giants Player Kevin Boothe reading “Everyone Can Learn to Ride A Bicycle”.
Chris Raschka is a graduate of St. Olaf College in Minnesota who graduated with a degree in Biology. He also has a love for music as he was a member of both the Ann Arbor and Flint Symphony Orchestra’s. While working as an intern at a children’s orthopedic clinic in Germany, he experienced an interest in working with children.
He has received many awards and recognition’s for his work. In 1992, he won the Best Books of the Year citation, the Publisher’s Weekly, the Notable Children’s Book citation, the American Library Association (ALA) and the Pick of the Lists citation, the American Booksellers Association, all for ‘Charlie Parker Played Be Bop’. In 1994, he received the Caldecott Honor Book Award and he was the ALA and US winner of the UNICEF-Ezra Jack Keats award, both for ‘Yo! Yes?’. In 2005, he received the Boston Globe/Horn Book Award nomination for ‘The Hello, Goodbye Window’.
Chris Raschka was awarded the Caldecott Medal in 2006 for his illustrations in the ‘Hello, Goodbye Window’, written by Norton Juster (one of my hands down favorite authors since I was a kid and the author of the ‘Phantom Tollbooth’), a story about a child’s visit to her grandparents. In 2012, he won his second Caldecott Medal for his wordless children’s book, ‘A Ball for Daisy’, that chronicles a little dogs loss of his most prized possession and is a tale of loss, recovery and friendship. We were very lucky that he read from both of these books and from’ Yo! Yes?’
This was no ordinary author visit in that the author sat down, read the books and then led a discussion. Chris got up and engaged the audience with storytelling, acting and illustrations. I have seen many book signings but none like this.
Chris could not have been more personable with both the adults and the children in the audience and had the younger set completely engaged in his books. We first started off with a introduction of his work and a little about himself. Chris started his program with a drawing of his two cats. These two amusing drawings of the little cats made quite an impression on the kids, many of whom had pets at home.
What impressed me the most is when he got the children from the audience to get up and act out his books in character. You don’t see many authors doing that. Chris had children who volunteered from the audience act out the books ‘Yo! Yes?’ , ‘Goosey Goose’ and ‘Buggy Bug’ in a series of short plays. The kids were really excited to get up and act. He also got the audience to participate as well .
Then he did a series of drawings creating pictures using people’s names. He took kids from the audience and asked them to write out their names and then developed a figure of the letters of the names. The best part was each of the children were able to take the picture home. I have the most unusual picture of a person using the my name “Justin” (Yes, I did have it framed).
Chris engaging with the children of Lodi, NJ
Chris followed this with a book discussion of the Caldecott Medal Winning book ‘A Ball for Daisy”, the all picture book. He went through all the frames of the book and then got a group of the children to get up and act out the book using some balloons as props for the ball. He really got the kids to use their emotions in the play and it made the rest of the program very personal because the children could relate to him as another kid. Chris knew how to enter their world.
During the question and answer session, the children had some very interesting questions on how he published his books, where he got his ideas and he put his books together. He even explained how he came up with the idea for ‘A Ball for Daisy’ on an incident that happened with son when he ball was damaged by a neighbors dog. He also discussed how long a book took to develop and where some of his inspirations came from. It really was nice participation from the audience.
To honor Chris’s visit, the Friends of the Lodi Memorial Library presented him with an ‘Honorary Membership’ to ‘The Friends of the Lodi Memorial Library’ and our Mayor of the Borough of Lodi, Emil Carafa, presented Chris with a Medal of Honor from the Borough of Lodi.
Chris receiving an Honorary Membership to the Friends of the Lodi Memorial Library
It was a fun and engaging afternoon and we were very honored to have Christopher Raschka be our guest for the Second Annual ‘Teens, Tots & Toys’ holiday celebration. We will see everyone next December for the Third Annual “Teens, Tots & Toys” celebration.
Chris with the Friends of the Lodi Memorial Library
Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year from the Friends of the Lodi Memorial Library!
(The Legend of Tinker Street was created by Justin Watrel for the holiday event, “Teens, Tots & Toys” for the Friends of the Lodi Memorial Library)
Christmas on Tinker Street in Woodstock, NY
Teens, Tots & Toys Mascot, the holiday elf, Tinker Street, is a lovable little prankster who lives in the valley of the Catskills Mountains in which the downtown Main Street of Woodstock, NY is named after.
Tinker Street is a gregarious, generous elf who represents the happiness, generosity and thoughtful charity during the holiday season. Tinker Street does not represent one holiday but all holidays celebrated where love, family and get-togetherness are found. Coming out of his home only on December 1st of each year, you can never truly see Tinker Street. You can only feel him when good thoughts pass through you, when a good deed is done and when helping another person is done with great kindness.
Tinker Street is an elf of great kindness and tolerance and where you find him is in the understanding that no two holidays are alike so respect for all of them is very important. The true meaning from a visit from Tinker Street is the generosity to charity, the thoughtfulness of a distant family member or friend and looking back to the kindness and remembrance of someone who is gone but not forgotten. When we receive a visit from Tinker Street, we see only the best in ourselves and others around us.
When you see a big smile on someone’s face or happy laughter in a gathering, you know Tinker Street has been there. So to be part of the holiday celebration of “Teens, Tots & Toys”, we wish you and your family a happy and healthy holiday season and experience the magic in the days ahead.
Only Tinker Street can add a certain joy to the holidays and that’s the symbol of “Teens, Tots & Toys”.
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year from the Friends of the Lodi Memorial Library!
The Friends of the Lodi Memorial Library with World Champion Skater, Elaine Zayak, at the first “Teens. Tots & Toys” in 2015.
The Friends of the Lodi Memorial Library at the Second Annual “Teens, Tots & Toys” with Best Selling Author Christopher Raschka in 2016.
Join us again at the Lodi Memorial Library next December for ‘Teens, Tots & Toys 2017’
I have been participating in Sinterklaas since 2010 when I went up to Rhinebeck with my father to meet Jeanne Fleming, the artist who runs the parade for an article I was writing and to participate in all the activities and get involved in the parade. That year my dad and I held the banner at the end of the parade to let people know to meet at the end of the parade.
A lot has happened since then and this is the third time since that I have been involved with the parade. I had participated in two fundraisers to start the planning process, one the “Star Party” in Rhinebeck in November and the other “Sweets & Treats Party” in Kingston. Both were a lot of fun and it was nice to get to know people within the organization. It was a plus to raise money for the event.
A group of us at the Mills Mansion Holiday fundraiser
I had stayed in Rhinebeck after a holiday fundraiser at the Mills Mansion and got to the parade route at 10:30am in the morning to help unload the floats and props out of the truck for the parade. It is interesting to see how a parade comes to life.
The Mills Mansion at Christmas time for the party
The foyer at the Mills Mansion at the holidays
Most of the people I worked with had been working on the parade for years and really knew their stuff. They know exactly where things get placed and the condition of the props for the floats. We were lucky that the weather held out and it was a nice day as mostly everything is Paper Mache and two years ago could not be used or else it would have fallen apart.
We unpacked the ballerina, Mother Earth and various bees, penguins, turtles, horses and this year’s mascot, the Owl. All the other animals had made appearances in the parade in other years when they were the mascots. I remember last year when we put the bees together for the parade. We put all the final touches on each of the puppets and the floats that needed extra parts added to them.
Preparing for the Sinterklaas Parade
The Owl Puppets during set up
Our mascot this year was the Owl, which was prominent in all the artwork and in the giant puppets that were created for the parade. They were the stars at the middle of the parade. For most of the morning, we put together most of the puppets that people would be handling for the parade including stars, bees and horses. That’s when I found out that I would be the back of the dragon puppet that would fight a knight.
The Owl puppets being prepared in the parade route
We got done with the basic set-up for the parade in about an hour and that gave me a chance to join in the activities. I was able to make the opening ceremony at the Beekman Arms in downtown Rhinebeck. There we met the people who ran the parade and many of the characters who would be walking around town including Mother Holly (who was feeling Jolly), the Owl Queen and her companion, a mouse, the Queen Bee (our hostess last year when the Bee was our mascot), the Pocket Lady, who showed her pockets of gifts, The Polar Bear and his trainer, who dances when you sing a song to him and several other costumed characters who would walking around town and the parade.
The parade is starting as we walk down the hill from the Starr Library
Jonathan Kruk, the famous storyteller, started his program telling stories of the Legend of St. Nicholas and life in Dutch New York, a story on Hanukkah and then a story on the Wise Old Owl Take. Mr. Kruk, I have heard several times over the years in both Rhinebeck and Tarrytown and he is amazing at telling a story. He really captures an audience. He just has that type of voice that commands a room. Everyone was spell-bound by him as he knows how to tell a story. The Legend of St. Nicholas and he became Sinterklaas and eventually Santa Claus is very interesting and parts of it can be seen on YouTube.
Jonathan Kruk at Sinterklaas
The rest of the afternoon was spent at various sites all over Rhinebeck seeing college choirs and quartets from Bard, Vassar and SUNY. There were story tellers on the streets, the Wish Lady was walking around talking to people, the Grumpuses were dancing around town performing in parking lots and on lawns. There were musicians on stilts in costume playing their instruments to the crowds and all over the sidewalks charitable organizations were selling baked goods and other holiday treats. The most interesting prop they built for the event was the Coo Coo Clock in the alley in the downtown area that really worked and you could meet the Owl court.
I heard the church choir at the Third Evangelical Church and then had my lunch in their basement room. Now I have been to the other church that served lunch and I am sorry that $4.00 for Mac & Cheese and $3.00 for a hot dog is ridiculous. Those are a rip off in New York City but for upstate New York?
When I ate at the Lutheran Church you could get a grilled cheese sandwich and a hot dog with all the Christmas cookies you could eat with the meal for $1.00 each and they accepted it as a donation. Needless to say, I have eaten here since 2010. What’s nice is that all the parishioners bake their favorite cookies and that makes it even more special. The people who volunteer here could not be nicer and can really cook.
The Third Evangelical Lutheran Church at 31 Livingston Avenue in Rhinebeck, NY
After an afternoon of concerts, story-telling, musicals, shopping and touring the town, it was time to get ready for the parade. It is always exciting getting ready for a parade but this one is very hometown. It still is a local crowd even though people are beginning to come up from the city to see the parade. We met back at the Star Library up the hill and got ready to line up for the parade.
The weather dropped a bit. It was still cool but as cold as it could have been at this time of the year. I was assigned to hold a puppet and I held the back part of the dragon (Yes that is me on the back of the dragon puppet on a few YouTube videos). It is not the same as the balloons I used to carry in the Macy’s Parades back in the 90’s but it still took some work to carry the dragon puppet down the hill to the downtown area. I still got a kick at the guy who ran the front of the puppet. He got to engage with the crowd with the head of the puppet and get the face into the crowd. I just followed behind.
I could tell by the crowds that Sinterklaas is becoming more popular as the crowds that lined the main street of Rhinebeck were about ten deep. People were very excited watching the floats and puppets ride by them. People were spreading out all over the street by time we made it to the heart of the downtown. I wish they had better crowd control as they narrowed the path to the point where they could walk right up to us. I could tell by the big smiles and the excited yells that people really enjoyed the parade.
The Parade in full swing Downtown Rhinebeck, NY
As we progressed through the crowd and I ran from one side of the street to the other chasing after the front of the dragon float, we exited to the town parking lot to the 6:30pm Pageant & the Children’s Star Ceremony. Here the crowds met with all the characters in the parade.
The crowd got to meet Sinterklaas, the Owl Queen, the Snow Queen. the polar bear with his trainer, the Pocket Lady, Mother Holly and the Grumpuses. It was followed by a fire juggler performance that excited the crowd and a musical performance. it was a magical night to everyone in the crowd.
The closing ceremony with all the cast of characters at the end of the day
I ate at Pizzeria Posto at 43 East Market Street (See review on TripAdvisor) for the most amazing thin-crusted pizza with sausage. The sauce is flavorful with fresh mozzarella and fresh basil with local sausage.
Pizzeria Posto at 43 East Market Street is a pretty restaurant
The pizza and the service are excellent. They let me stay after the restaurant had closed for the evening. That was service and they could not have been nicer.
The pizza is excellent at the restaurant
It is a fun parade to be part of and I am looking forward to participating in Sinterklaas 2017. It is held the first Saturday of December but all year-long there are events to prepare for the event.
Just walking around Rhinebeck in its picturesque look can put anyone in the holiday mood. It looks like a village in a Currier & Ives print. There are white lights in the trees, costume characters that walk around the town and after the sun falls, there is a sax player that plays Christmas songs.
Downtown Rhinebeck, NY at the Beekman Arms at Christmas
Downtown Rhinebeck is so magical at Christmas
Again magical.
Places to Visit:
Staatsburgh State Historic Site (The Mills Mansion)
Hours: Open Thursday-Sunday: 11:00am-5:00pm (the last tour is at 4:00pm)/Open Monday Holidays from April 19th to October 28th. The mansion then closes to prepare for the holiday season. Closed on Thanksgiving and Easter. There are special programs from January to April so please see the website.
Admission: $8.00 for adults/$6.00 for groups and Seniors/Children under 12 are free. Special events have separate fees and can run from $8.00 to $10.00 and above.
Visiting in Rhinebeck, NY:
The Sinterklaas Parade
Every first Sunday in December
Please check their schedule online by August when most events are posted
The Churches have their own food service during the parade time.
Johnathan Kruk reading “A Christmas Carol”:
This was the Sinterklaas Parade that I participated in 2016. Look for me holding the back of the dragon. I credit this YouTube video to the attached contributor:
I have had to put my walk on hold again for a month as I was organizing another visit from the Bergen County Zoo to the Lodi Memorial Library. The Friends of the Lodi Memorial Library decided to do a series of events with the theme “Follow the Yellow Brick Road Back to You Library”. This was to promote visiting the library and opening a library card.
The Lodi Memorial Library in Lodi, NJ
Our first event was the visit from Miss New Jersey 2016 Brenna Weick and finished with a huge fundraiser at Friendly’s Restaurant in Woodland Park, New Jersey. We reached out to the Lodi Community and the surrounding towns with engaging, innovative programming that appeals to all ages.
The visit from Miss New Jersey 2016 Brenna Weick, who performed “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” to the audience
Miss New Jersey Brenna Weick singing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”
Her visit started our series of events to “Follow the Yellow Brick Road back to the Lodi Memorial Library”. Miss New Jersey read the book “The Wizard of Oz” to the children at the library and sang to the audience, showing us the talent she showed in the ‘Miss America’ Contest. After her visit, we had the Bergen County Zoo visit with barnyard animals that Dorothy might have seen on the farm.
The video of the program on YouTube
This event featured two innovative programs that were created by the Bergen County Zoo exclusively for the library, “Dorothy’s Barnyard Animals” and “The Tales of Flying Monkey’s”. Both programs included a reading of the book ‘The Wizard of Oz’ tailored to that program.
In the first program, “Dorothy’s Barnyard Animals”, zoo educator Carol Fusco created a program to show the children and their parents what animals live in a barnyard and what animals ‘Dorothy’ might have taken care of while working on the farm. She went through what animals are available to see at the zoo versus what animals you might see on a working farm in New Jersey and beyond. She then asked the kids what animals they have seen recently to a very engaging discussion of what is in their own backyards.
Dorothy’s Barnyard Animals was the second theme for the event
Then she brought out a special guest, ‘Butterscotch’ the chicken, who came out to visit us all the way from the Bergen County Zoo. This gentle little bird was so friendly I swear that she smiled at me. The kids just loved her and some of them got to pet her. I can tell you that that chicken did not blink and the kids got such a kick out of it (I could tell the parents did as well with the big smile on some of their faces).
The second program, “The Tales of Flying Monkey’s”, Carol and her partner from the zoo read a section of the book after Dorothy had melted the Wicked Witch of the West and how the monkeys were indebted to Dorothy for freeing them from the clutches of the evil witch. They explained who the monkey’s really were to the kids and made them less afraid of them. I thought it was an interesting they took that perspective on how misunderstood the characters were in the movie versus the book.
“Tales of Flying Monkeys”
Then there was a discussion of mammals who fly and there place in the wild. There was an interesting discussion how animals fly and the place in nature that they had. The educators passed around pictures of different animals and explained how they live in the wild. For a program that was geared to kids from the first grade to third grade I really learned a lot. I never knew that much about animals from the perspective of the zoo keepers but it opened my eyes on their place in society. Plus I got a kick out of holding the chicken. It is really a great chicken.
The barn at the Bergen County Zoo where all the barnyards animals live
We had about 30 people at the event and a mixture of age groups including a lot of parents and grandparents join us for the afternoon. I even had the parents walk up to me and say that they learned a lot as well. That made me feel good that the Friends could offer such a nice educational program that engaged the kids and got them off their cell phones. It was a younger crowd then I had thought we would attract but it seemed to me that the families all had a good time and were happy that the zoo came to them.
The program was followed by a light reception with all sorts of cookies, fresh fruit, wrap sandwiches and chicken fingers that were donated by Inserra ShopRite of Lodi. We want to thank them and Inserra Supermarkets for their support. Thank you!
For those who have never been to the Bergen County Zoo, it is a real treat. It is located in Paramus, New Jersey in the Van Saun Park off Forrest Avenue. It is a real treat and has a nice selection of animals to visit and more creative programming to experience. A big Thank you to Carol Fusco and her team for creating such a great program for the Friends of the Lodi Memorial Library.
Thank you to everyone who participated and we hope you enjoyed the program.
Articles on the Friends of the Lodi Memorial Library events:
As the leaves started to change colors and wanting to see the foliage around the state before all the leaves fall (they have since), I decided to revisit a place that I was exploring over the summer.
In 2021, a series of storms have knocked the foliage off the trees earlier than before so I got to see what was left before everything falls off the trees this week. In the summer of 2023, everything was in full bloom and sunny and warm. It is amazing how beautiful the area looks in the summer months.
Budd Lake in the summer of 2023
Budd Lake in the Fall of 2025
As I have said in previous blogs, I have never really gotten to know my own state and I was born and raised in New Jersey. I have wanted to see some of the far corners of the state and explore the back highways and roads and see some of the parks, beaches and historical sites that I have only read about but never visited (this has been very helpful in my blog “VisitingaMuseum.com).
Driving around Budd Lake on Shore Drive
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The driving around Budd Lake in the Fall of 2025
Along the way, I have visited many beautiful parts of the state and formed my own opinion of the ‘Garden State’. There is much more to see of the state than what is on the opening of ‘The Soprano’s” and the description of the state in most TV sitcoms.
Driving around Budd Lake on Shore Drive
I made the trip to Budd Lake and the surrounding areas are off Route 80 and in a section of the state near the Delaware Water Gap, a scenic section of the Delaware River surrounding a mountain pass. During the summer, it is lush with trees but in the fall is when it shows its true beauty. The leaves change colors at different times due to the species of tree. The effect is trees at various hues of green, yellow, gold and red at different points during the months of September, October and early November. By the second week of November, the show is over for New Jersey as the leaves have fallen.
Driving around Shore Drive on Budd Lake
In 2016, I had never explored Budd Lake before and took a sunny, warm November afternoon after I had finished everything I needed to do at the house and took a road trip to the area. This is a section off the highway that most people do not venture unless they really want to see this section of the state or live or work here.
In 2021, the day was rather gloomy but still it was a nice day to get out of the house and explore the area in more detail. I missed not coming out here in all these years. On the trip to the area again in the summer of 2023, it was sunny, warm and clear, the perfect day to visit the lake and the surrounding farms.
In 2025, I had not noticed how fast the foliage had changed and I wanted to replace a lot of pictures where the foliage was not full. So I started the trip at 10:00am and made my first stop the Delaware Water Gap and then worked my way back down Route 46 East to Budd Lake and stopped at a lot of farms along the way. The whole trip was much nicer with all the colors on the trees.
Budd Lake is small but breathtaking in the summer of 2023
The road that lines the lake, Sand Shore Road, only takes you to a portion of the lake front, which is lined with beautiful homes and spectacular views. A lot of the homes reminded me of former summer homes that had been winterized while others were new and much more elaborate reflected the money that is moving into the area.
Since COVID and my first visit in 2020, I can see that many of these homes had been through a renovation since the last time I travelled out here. Still when I drove down the road, I felt like I was taking a step back into the 1970’s. It was a just the feel of the homes that I passed.
The view of Budd Lake from the pier.
It was a sunny day that reflected off the lake, which looks more like a catch bastion than a true lake. There were not the boat slips or yacht clubs that normally would line a lake but still there were some smaller boats lining the shoreline. There were small parks with views of the lake and as you entered the Budd Lake State Wildlife Management Area and Bog, the road moved away from the lake and it was mostly homes and woods and not much more to see unless you went into the park. Upon exiting, you are back on Route 46 West.
Budd Lake in the Summer of 2024
The Lake in the Fall of 2025
In 2021, I drove off Sand Shore Road and travelled down the back roads closer to the lake and drove past houses closer to the other shore line and even discovered an independent theater, the Pax Amicus Theater at 23 Lake Shore Road, that was performing that afternoon. You have to travel down Pine Grove Road and Manor House Road on the other side of the lake to see the beauty of the area and views of the lake.
The sun shining on the lake in the Fall of 2025
Route 46 West (I live off Route 46 East) is the highway that time forgot. It goes through many small towns being the main artery of the state until Route 80 was built many years later. It takes you through quaint small towns that had once seen better days but were improving in post COVID times or long stretches of woods.
Driving along the lake in the Fall months
The beauty of Budd Lake in the Fall of 2025
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The sun blazing in the Fall of 2025
The sun simmering on the lake at Budd Lake
Looking across the lake in the Fall of 2024
You have to get to places like Budd Lake when the foliage is at its peak to appreciate it. In 2025, I lucked out and had the day off before a major storm was going to hit and I knew that would knock the foliage down. It had been so dry for the last several months, it really did affect the trees.
The first time I visited Budd Lake in 2016 and then again in 2024, I ate at a terrific pizzeria named Enzo’s Ristorante & Pizza at 382 Route 46 West, which I highly recommend (see review on TripAdvisor). The pizza there amazing and the service is excellent. They are very friendly and the pizza is just wonderful. Their sauce is full of flavor and is cooked perfectly. They also have a nice lunch dinner menu. I passed it on this trip unfortunately wanting to try another place.
Since my visit in 2016, the restaurant has grown three fold and now takes up three full parts of the strip mall it is located in. The pizza was fantastic.
The Cheese Pizza is delicious.
In 2021, I had spent my morning at the Knights of Columbus in Lodi, NJ monthly All you can Eat breakfast so I was hardly hungry. They had a buffet of pancakes, French Toast, Bacon, Sausage, Hash Brown Potatoes, Fresh rolls with butter and coffee, tea and juice that you could load up on. I personally love breakfast so I went back several times. Needless to say, I was not hungry for most of the road trip. So, by the time I got to Budd Lake that morning, food was the last thing on my mind. I had wanted to try the Budd Lake Diner 120 West Route 46 but that will be for another time.
In 2023, I got to try Budd Lake Diner for breakfast when I was hungry for another meal.
The food at the diner is really good and the service is excellent. It is a typical New Jersey diner with the long booths and the extensive menu. The service was excellent and very friendly.
The inside of the Budd Lake Diner
I ordered and ate my second breakfast of the day. I had the French Toast platter with scrambled eggs and sausage patties. The portion size was really big and the meal was delicious ( see my review on TripAdvisor). The prices were also very fair in comparison to its Bergen County counterparts.
The French Toast platter with scrambled eggs and sausage patties at the Budd Lake Diner.
When breakfast was over, I toured around the lake and took pictures from all angles. It was nice to see the lake finally with some activity around it. People were sitting on the beach and boating in the lake. As I toured Shore Drive that surrounds part of the lake, I could see the numerous signs asking people to stay off their property. Shore Drive only follows the lake for a short distance and then veers off and the rest of the lake is surrounded by parkland.
Exploring the edges of Budd Lake
After my tour up the lake, I doubled back to a small shore line on Budd Lake off Route 46 East and stopped and sat on a bench and just watched the day develop in the afternoon. It was something to just relax and look at the colors of the trees surrounding the lake. In the summer, this little park was filled with sun-bathers finishing their day but today I had it all to myself along with the birds who were looking for a handout. I could not believe that seagulls were in shore this far. In the summer of 2023, there were a few people sunbathing in the early morning not paying much attention to me taking pictures.
The small beach at Bud Lake
Before I left Budd Lake I stopped at RH Farm stand, a small farmstand at 500 Route 46 West. I would spend most of my day exploring various farmstands along to way to see the selection and prices of the items. For the most part, everyone was charging New York City farmers market prices for produce. Some stand were charging $6.99 a pound for peaches and $12.00 for a small pie. I guess many of these people were hoping people from Manhattan were coming out for the day. I did find some decent prices but for the most part most of the stands were pretty expensive.
This picturesque little farm stand has been in business since 2012 (I would have thought much longer) and offers an array of produce, gourmet products and flowers. I just thought it looked really nice. The prices are a little high though. Still quality does have a price tag to it.
The entrance of RH Farm Stand
The inside of RH Farms Farm Stand
The inside of RH Farms
The beautiful flower arrangement at RH Farms
The peaches and produce at RH Farms
4th of July display in Summer of 2024
4th of July display in the Summer of 2024. Uncle Sam looks on
Christmas display in the Summer of 2024
The plant display in the Summer of 2024
Their little cat welcome me with a couple of charming rubs to my legs
Visiting the farm in October of 2025
The sign welcoming you to the farm
I was out exploring the Route 46 corridor several years ago from Budd Lake to the Delaware Water Gap and I visited a series of small farm stands along the way. RH Farm at 590 US 46 was one of the standouts that I visited .
It was not just the selection of fresh produce I saw on each of my visits in both in the Spring and Fall, but it was the selection of the variety of goods there was to purchase and the way they were displayed.
There was also a nice selection of freshly baked goods, arts and crafts items and plants and flowers all beautifully displayed like a boutique.
The inside of the farm
The selection of pumpkins in the Fall
I love the way they decorate the farm for each holiday. They decorated not just the selling space but other parts of the farm as well like the grounds and the barn area.
The display of holiday crafts and pumpkins
The holiday display of pumpkins and flowers
The Halloween decorations
I continued down Route 46 West and made a stop in the historical town of Hackettstown, the home of M & M/Mars. You would never know this was a corporate town of anything as the downtown seemed somewhat depressed in 2016. A lot of the stores were empty or filled with some not great shops. This all changed when I visited in 2023.
Downtown Hackettstown NJ in 2023
The statue of the Minuteman greets you as you enter Hackettstown, NJ.
The sign welcoming you to Hackettstown, NJ studded with M & M’s.
In 2021, Downtown Hackettstown had changed a lot. Most of the buildings in the downtown had been renovated and there were lots of new restaurants and shops. There were new design stores, consignment shops, innovative restaurants that were not the cheap and several new antique shops. I guess the New Yorkers in their quest to leave the City discovered Hackettstown as well and started to renovate the town. Many of the Victorian structures in the downtown area as well as the homes on the outskirts of the town have been fixed up and brought back to their glory.
David’s Restaurant at the start of Downtown Hackettstown
When I returned in the Summer of 2023, the whole town seemed to be renovated and so much more vibrant since my last visit two years earlier. Admittingly it was right after everything opened up after COVID, but there was a new feeling here very active and spirited. The whole downtown had changed from the first time I visited back in 2016. The town looked like it came back to life.
The front of the church on a quiet Saturday in 2024
The church in the Fall of 2024
The beauty of the church in the Fall of 2024
There were two terrific places that I found walking around. One was Tracey’s Candy Shoppe at 210 Main Street (see TripAdvisor review), where the owner’s mother and talked when I walked in. They had set the shop up in one of the older buildings in town and the affect made it look like an old-fashioned shop from the turn of the last century.
They had all sorts of candy from the 60’s and 70’s at not such 60’s and 70’s prices. They also had a selection of penny candies that were more than a penny. I found a Charleston Chew, that are still the most amazing candy. More of nougat than a bar.
Tracey’s Candy Shoppe at 210 Main Street
I met the owner’s mother again on my visit this time and she let me sample some of the homemade chocolates that they made inhouse. At $6.00 a quarter pound I have to admit the cinnamon truffle she let me sample was delicious but hardly matched the price. I settled on a small bag of fruit slices ($1.99), which I like much more. I had not had them in years and loved biting into their sugary core.
The homemade chocolates at Tracy’s Candy Shop
The owner’s mother explained how they are trying to bring the downtown back with concerts and farmer’s markets. In its day, it must have been a nice downtown but some of these small towns off the beaten track have been affected by malls and the rerouting of the major highways. Still a classic little place like this, set up to look 1930’s has a place in the books. It had an interesting selection of candies and a very warm, welcoming feel to it and you should visit it when you are in the area.
Tracey’s Candy Shoppe selection is wonderful
Five years later in 2021, it looks like that strategy worked as the downtown is coming back to life. They will be having a traditional tree lighting ceremony and holiday fest the first weekend of December and all sorts of activities during the month of December. It looks like it will keep changing going forward.
Down the block, I found a Colombian bakery, Pan Rico Bakery at 183 Main Street, for a quick snack. They have the best version of an empanada that they serve with a chili hot sauce and for a $1.30 each, they are a steal.
I ordered one of the beef ones which I ate going back to the car and it was well worth the trip inside as the sauce had some kick to it. It is a good place to stock up on a long road trip.
The bakery selection at Ran Rico Bakery
I continued my trip out of Hackettstown and passed the rest of the downtown and the surrounding neighborhood that had many beautiful Victorian homes that lined the streets as you exited town. It showed the money that once was in this town and the influence it once had in the area. Unfortunately, unless you work for one of the major firms out here it must be a hard place to live.
Downtown Hackettstown, NJ and their stock of Victorian homes.
This is becoming quite the downtown in Central New Jersey
The Historical District of Hackettstown offers a treasure trove in Victorian architecture and you can see that new people are moving in and renovating this neighborhood surrounding downtown. The gingerbread architecture is being touched up and the colors of the homes reflect the care residents are putting into their property.
The historic Wilson House location where George Washington was entertained
One place I had missed on my previous trips was the Hackettstown Historical Society. The society is at 106 Church Street right off the downtown and is packed with local information on the town and the surrounding area.
The Hackettstown Historical Society at 106 Church Street.
I visited the Hackettstown Historical Society on a recent trip to Downtown Hackettstown and this small historical society is packed with interesting information on the history of the town and the local town of Mansfield, NJ that has more information but they do not have their own building for a society of their own.
The historical information on Mansfield Township, NJ
The other exhibits on the first floor are on the history and clothing of the “Gibson Girl”. It shows how women were progressing in society during the late 1800’s after the Civil War. It shows how women gained more independence after the war years and showed it in their clothing, physical activities and schooling.
The “Gibson Girl” exhibit
The first floor exhibition also had a display on the first Miss America from New Jersey, Bette Cooper, who was Miss Bertram Island. She won the award and then ran away from the award. She never wanted to participate in the Miss America Foundation and because of her, there was a contract put together for future winners to participate in activities for the organizations. The Cooper family resided in Hackettstown, NJ at the time of her being a winner.
Miss America winner Bette Cooper
Another exhibit explained the transportation for Hackettstown and its influence in the outside community.
The Transportation exhibit in Hackettstown, NJ.
The local toy manufacturers are displayed on the first floor as well.
The Toy Company exhibition on the first floor.
The Beton (Bergen Toy and Novelty) Manufacturing Company display. The company manufactured at the turn of the century in Hackettstown, NJ.
On the second floor, the museum has displays on the businesses of the community. There were many manufacturers of items such as carriages, farm equipment and of course the M & M/Mars Company.
The Business display on the second floor.
Another exhibit was on how a households were run at the turn of the last century and what went into keeping house in those days. From equipment to clothing you could see how a woman’s time was taken up on a daily basis.
The Household Exhibit on the second floor
The Kitchen exhibit on the second floor.
The museum is free but donations are accepted. It is a nice diversion when visiting the downtown area for shopping and eating out. I explored the edge of the downtown before I left the town and discovered that two new microbreweries had opened up. The hipsters found their way here. I even got to enjoy the music at the local Farmers Market.
As I left Downtown Hackettstown to continue my trip to the Delaware Water Gap, I had visited the Farmer’s Market in town before it closed for the day and then made a effort to visit a lot of the farm stands that dot Route 46 West on my way to the park.
Downtown Hackettstown in the Summer of 2024
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Leaving downtown in the Fall of 2025
The foliage in Hackettstown, NJ in 2025
My first stop was right out of town at Best’s Farm Stand at 1 Russling Road. This small farm stand had all sorts of fruits and vegetables and I made a quick note of all the items they carried.
The small stand carries an array of fruits and vegetables.
The fresh peaches at Best’s Fruit Farm.
Best Fruit Farm in the Fall of 2024
Best Fruit Farm in the Fall of 2024
Pumpkins at Best Fruit Farm in the Fall of 2024
I stopped in Independence, NJ to a new farm stand that had just reopened to new owners. The family that reopened the Vienna Hill Farm & Market at 3 Asbury Road did a beautiful job not just renovating the farm stand but renovating the Victorian home that was adjacent to it.
In front of the farm was a large garden where a lot of the fresh fruits and vegetables are being grown and the owner was telling me how they are working with local artists and bakers to bring in new product. The farm stand was gearing down for the closing on Thanksgiving weekend so there was not that much in ways of items left. When I visited in 2023, the farm was stocked with products and was having very brisk business.
The inside of Vienna Hill Farm in summer of 2023
There were still freshly baked pies, cider doughnuts, greeting cards made locally and fresh produce still available for sale in a cheerful barn-like building that greeted passersby.
The farm stand is very modern and attractive
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Vienna Farm would close for the season Halloween week
I followed Route 46 West along the section that lined the Pequest River, a tributary of the Delaware River, to my true lunch destination, Hot Dog Johnny’s. Hot Dog Johnny’s, located at 333 Route 46 West (see TripAdvisor and DiningonaShoeStringinNYC@Wordpress.com reviews) is like Rutt’s Hutt in Clifton.
It is an old roadside stand that people used to stop at on the way to view the Delaware Water Gap or needed to get into Pennsylvania. It must have been there since the 30’s and I had not eaten there since I was about ten when my parents took us kids there when viewing the Gap in the 70’s. The food has not changed.
Everyone must have had the same idea that I had because there was a line 20 deep after I got my food and sat at the outdoor picnic bench. What a view! The restaurant sits on the bank above the Pequest River and has the most beautiful view of the surrounding mountains where the foliage was a golden hue. The hot dogs have not changed in years.
Hot Dog Johnny’s had not changed my last visit in 1974
They are still deep fried in peanut oil and are every bit the crunch they were when I was a kid. Still crisp and full of flavor and still delicious with lots of mustard and pickles on them. The fries are still crisp and well-cooked and the birch beer is still ice cold. On a beautiful fall day overlooking the river and mountains, there is no place better to be.
The hotdogs and fries are the lunch of the day and are still extremely popular.
In 2016, It was one of those relaxing afternoons to watch the view and listen to the locals talk about the upcoming election (Yes, Trump did win). I still could not believe the number of Trump signs on the lawns in this area. Totally different from Bergen County.
The hot dogs and fries have not changed one bit
In 2021, some of the Trump signs are still up and it will be interesting to see what happens in 2024. Still the food has not changed a bit and I still ordered the same hot dog with mustard and pickle, French Fries and small birch beer ($5.72) and it still tasted the same as it had in 1975.
The view of the river from the back of Hot Dog Johnny’s
The river views of Hot Dog Johnny’s
The original stand still on the property
In the Fall of 2024, the restaurant was just amazing as it is in the summer.
The restaurant was celebrating its 80th birthday in the Fall of 2024
The hot dog restaurant in the fall
Fall at the restaurant
Fall at the restaurant
The end of the foliage across from the restaurant
The streams behind the restaurant in the Fall of 2024
The Foliage along Route 45 West was just breathtaking at the beginning of November of 2024. It was at its final stages but it was still amazing. I came back to the same farm in 2025 and was able to get more amazing pictures of the farm. The foliage was extremely colorful.
The fields were just being cut down for the end of the growing season
The farms along Route 45 West in 2025
The beauty of the farms
The same farm in the Spring
Their farmhouse in the Spring
Driving down Route 46 in the Fall is a real treat. The beauty of the foliage is just amazing. I had to keep stopping just to take pictures in the oddest spots just to get the right angles to share with readers.
It was such a beautiful path along Route 46 West in the Fall of 2024
What a spectacular day for a drive
The farms were so picturesque
What a beautiful day
When I traveled back in the Fall of 2025, the farm was just taking down the corn crops and plowing their fields.
The rolling hills of the farms around Route 46 West in Fall 2025
The farm in the Fall of 2025
I had never stopped to look at the river views but there was a real beauty in the them that I never noticed before. I had to stop in an obscure parking lot just to walk back a quarter mile just to take some pictures. It was just gorgeous site to see.
The river view
The river in the Fall of 2025 was just amazing
To add to the haunted pleasures of visiting the farms, the Ramsaysburg Cemetery lays just on the Marshall Farm Stand border. It adds to the spookiness of the Halloween holidays in the surrounding areas.
The cemetery is home to many veterans of the Revolutionary and Civil War
The lines of historic tombstones
Many of the tombstones date back to before the Revolutionary War
The grave of Revolutionary War veteran Private Barney Banghart
The back part of the cemetery has a spooky allure to it in the Fall
After my visit to the cemetery and walking amongst the historic tombstones of our brave veterans. I continued on my trip down Route 46 West and I made a few stops at some of the farm side stands. Talk about a step back in time when you could find fresh cider and doughnuts and freshly picked apples by the side of the road and not worry about germs. I stopped at Marshall’s Farm Stand at 114 Route 46 (see review on TripAdvisor) for fresh cider and cider doughnuts.
Talk about a step back in time. It reminded me of places I used to go to as a kid that have since disappeared with suburban sprawl. I toured around the stands with shelves of fresh jellies and honey, sauces and salsa and arts and crafts. I found a nearly empty shelf of pies and doughnuts and not a sweet roll in site. The girl working the register told me that everything sells out so quickly and they had baked a second batch of everything.
The signs leading to Marshall’s Farm Stand in the summer of 2023
There were three pies left and that was it of the baked good when I got there.
I did grab one of the last bags of cider doughnuts for the trip home and freshly made cider that you rarely see any more. Most of it is processed in big facilities now not at farms. Their doughnuts were outstanding ($4.75 for six). All but two got home with me as I munched on them on the trip through the Delaware Water Gap.
The Apple Cider doughnuts at Marshall’s Farm Market
The Apple Cider doughnuts are amazing here!
In 2021, I bought the same items again but after a big breakfast and then lunch, I only ate two of the doughnuts this time.
Marshall’s Farm Stand in the summer of 2023
The Fresh peaches and plums at Marshall’s Farm Stand.
I had a lively conversation about the upcoming election and trust me, this woman said a mouthful as most people were right before the election. In 2021, people were talking about the recent Governor’s election and Murphy seems in the doghouse with most of these residents. I said my good byes as quickly as possible. Politics is not something to talk about when buying food products.
Marshall’s Farm on a warm sunny afternoon.
The farm in October 2023 for Friday the 13th
The signs that Halloween is on its way
This chair must amuse people taking pictures at the farm.
The farm on Friday the 13th when I returned.
When I returned in October for Friday the 13th, all the farms were decorated for Halloween and all the fall festivals that were planned. It was supposed to rain over that weekend but on Friday October 13th, 2023, the weather was warm, clear and sunny.
Marshall’s Farm Market stand during the fall.
Decorated for Halloween 2024
The display was more elaborate in 2025
The Kiddie Corn Maze in the fall.
Just after Halloween, the farm prepared for Thanksgiving in Fall of 2024.
Marshall’s Farm on a warm November day
The front of the market in the Fall of 2024
They had delicious pies on sale when I visited
The delicious pies and pastries on sale at the farm
The homemade pies on sale
Get there early or they will run out of cider doughnuts
The fields in the Fall of 2024
For dessert, I decided to try another classic place to dine, Humpty Juniors at 72 Route 46 West in Columbia, NJ. This old fashioned sandwich and ice cream stand has been around for years and I wanted to stop for dessert.
Humpty Juniors at 72 Route 46 West in Columbia, NJ
I had passed Humpty Jr’s many times on my trips to the Delaware Water Gap and have never stopped before. I had stopped for lunch at Hot Dog Johnny’s up the road and I just needed a little dessert. I stopped for an ice cream sundae and while I waited I saw the sandwiches that were coming out of the kitchen. They looked amazing. The cheesesteak alone looked like it could feed two people and the hamburgers, that won awards, looked pretty good as well..
The full menu at Humpty Junior’s is really reasonable.
The Dessert menu at Humpty Junior’s
The Humpty Dumpty mascot at Humpty Juniors.
I just ordered a Vanilla Soft Serve with Strawberry sauce that hit the spot after a long ride down Route 46 West. It was a nice way to end my meal. The soft serve was rich and creamy and very reasonably priced. The strawberry sauce was the perfect topping to the sundae. It was nice to sit outside on the picnic benches and enjoy the sunshine. Humpty Juniors warrants another visit for lunch in the future.
The Strawberry Sundae with Strawberry topping.
That is exactly what I did in the Fall of 2024. I eyed the Cheesesteak with Wiz on my last visit and wanted to have it when I returned again. It was fantastic.
The Cheesesteak with French Fries at Humpty Jr.’s is amazing
The sandwich was really large and they put extra Cheese Wiz on it for me
Yum!
When I ate here in the Fall of 2025, I was in the mood for one of their Grass Fed Organic Cheeseburgers. It was really flavorful and juicy and perfectly cooked. The coupled with a soda was the perfect lunch.
The Organic Grass Fed Cheeseburger
The burger and fries were excellent
Yum!
Sometimes you need something sweet for dessert and I thought this is the perfect way to end a meal or just for a snack.
The delicious Cookies and Cream and Cotton Candy Ice Cream for dessert way to end a meal
My last part of the trip was Route 46 along the Delaware River which was still a blaze with color. In both 2016 and 2021, the leaves were still in the process of changing and it was awash with yellows, oranges, reds and gold. It was quite the site. As much as I wanted to venture further into the Gap, there was really no time to walk around as you seriously need time to walk the trails. Still the afternoon of foliage was impressive.
The entrance to Route 46 East from the Water Gap
In 2023, the trees were a sea of emerald as the last part of the summer was still in bloom. The park was still filled with hikers and kayakers who were just coming back from their journeys. The park was busy but the Visitors Center was still closed. I don’t think they will reopen this anytime soon. The paths were full of wildflowers and the views from the park were breath taking.
The Delaware River in the summer
The Delaware Water Gap at River Road off Route 209 in 2025
I was able to stop at the U turn on Route 80 West and park in the beginning of the trails that go through the park. Since it was so gloomy out and it was getting late in the afternoon, I stuck by the Visitors Center, which was closed for the season and walked along the river. Most of the foliage had been knocked off the trees by the two recent storms but there were still hues of gold and yellow with the trees that were left. It is a breathtaking view of the mountain range.
The foliage from the highway
When I returned in October of 2025, I timed it so that the trees would be at their peak and it was before a major rain storm the next day. I figured this would be the best time to come. Plus it was going to be the last nice day of that week. The trees were just past peak but because there had not been much rain that summer, the leaves changed earlier than in past years.
The mountains at the Delaware Water Gap from the Visitors Center in the Summer months
I had gotten to the park earlier than previous years and since I had time, I explored the park more than I had in the past. I looked at the map and decided to visit Turtle Beach , a small gap in the wood further up in the park. I could not believe how bad the roads were in the park. They were loaded with potholes and it made it very difficult to drive in the park. I thought it looked easy to get there but it took some time. My poor shock absorbers took a beating. I got there a half hour later and it was not worth it.
Turtle Beach is a small gap in the woods along the Delaware River for swimming and even with the signs that said that there was no swimming that day, people were in the water. I swear people do not want to listen as the algae count could have been high in the river.
Turtle Beach in the Delaware Water Gap Park in the summer
I originally want to venture further up the road but the roads were so bad and it would get dark by 8:00pm, that I did not want to risk it so I headed back to the main part of the park. That in its self was an adventur3e. At least there was no traffic heading back to the main road.
In 2016 and 2021, I did take one more stop through Hope and Blairstown. I wanted to visit The Toy Chest at 335 High Street, a toy store that is in the small downtown section of Hope, NJ. In 2023, I returned to hope to visit the Hope Historical Society which was supposed to be open and was closed during the hours of operation.
Downtown Hope, NJ in the Fall of 2023
Downtown Hope where Annie was dropped off and Ralph’s bike. Very Clever!
Plus, I wanted to see what the cemetery in Hope looked like this time of year. It is where the opening scene of the movie, “Friday the 13th” was shot. It looks more like the movie this time of year.
The Moravian Cemetery on High Street in Hope, NJ, where “Friday the 13th” was shot in 1979.
The location documentary on “Friday the 13th” in Blairstown and Hope, NJ
My interview with former Scout Master Donald Stein for the “35th Anniversary of the movie ‘Friday the 13th'”, who worked on the film with the Blairstown Fire Department.
The Blog on the Friends of the Lodi Memorial Library’s “35th Anniversary of the movie “Friday the 13th”:
After seeing the famous cemetery, I visited the stores in Hope. My first stop was the Hope Junction Antiques at 331 High Street. This unique little store was a combination of antiques, works from local artists and in the upstairs gallery was a display of art from a painter who lived in the area (this is where the famous diner scene from ‘Friday the 13th’ was shot).
The Hope Junction Antiques at 331 High Street in the fall of 2023.
The store windows for Halloween and Friday the 13th
The store already had their Christmas merchandise out and while I was admiring some handmade ornaments, the owner came out and we chatted for a while. Come to find out she was an expat from Bergen County and had lived in Ridgewood, NJ. Small world. What I did not know was that I later found out this store was used for the opening scene in the diner for the movie, “Friday the 13th”.
I ended up buying some of her handmade Christmas ornaments that she created when she was stuck at home during COVID. She created some interesting works. After my purchases, it was off to the toy store.
The merchandise at Hope Junction Antiques is one of a kind
On a recent trip back to Hope, NJ lead me back to Hope Junction Antiques and their beautiful Christmas windows and decorations. I went out for the ‘Hope Annual Moravian Christmas’ on December 11th, 2021, an event which included a Lantern tour of the Downtown buildings, a live Nativity and a Candlelight Service at the St. John’s Methodist Church at 7:30pm. The luminaries that had been planned had been canceled because of the upcoming rainstorm but they put some out for the tour on the edges of the streets.
My first stop when I went into town was to talk to the owner of the store, Lisa Iulo, to tell her that my mom loved here homemade Santa ornaments that I bought from her last month. She took pictures of the outside of her store for me before I started the tour. Talk about beautiful decorations!
Hope Junction Antiques at Christmas time is amazing!
These festive little sheep are available at Hope Junction Antiques
There are interesting items to peek in the window at Hope Junction Antiques
The Toy Chest toy store
The Toy Chest was still open at 4:00pm and I had a lively conversation with the owner, Kirk Perez, who funny enough was another expat from Little Ferry and had moved down to this section of New Jersey to be closer to his wife’s family. It is a great little store loaded with all sorts of games, plastic toys and action figures.
The Toy Chest has an interesting selection
What he has added since my last visit since 2016 is all sorts of interesting high-end collectables dealing with horror and fantasy films, a complete line of Playmobile and Lego products and creating a showcase on the second floor for wooden toys and board games. The main floor also has an extensive collection of action figures and memorabilia from the film “Friday the 13th”.
The front of the store
There are a few more unique little stores along the strip but otherwise I just walked around a little and then got to Blairstown down the road for a quick drive through the downtown at twilight. It was a nice little tour.
In 2021, I was chatting so much with the merchants in Hope, NJ that I never got to Blairstown. It has gotten so dark so early (I hate it when it gets dark at 5:00pm) and had been so gloomy outside, I decided to head home early. It was pitch black outside when I got to Route 80 East. When visiting in the summer, I wanted to see more of the park.
In 2023, on the beautiful fall afternoon, all these smart merchants embraced the original film and were either wearing ‘Friday the 13th’ shirts, carrying Friday the 13th merchandise or having photo shots as the real estate office did with the bicycle. The Moravian Church was even selling cemetery dirt for $10.00 for a donation to help the church.
The cemetery dirt on sale on Friday the 13th.
The afternoon was a step back to a quieter time where people are not on top of each other and there is a slower pace. It really is another part of New Jersey not touched by time as the other parts of the state have become. It still is the New Jersey of my childhood.
The Delaware Water Gap in all its glory in the summer of 2023.
Hope was just as beautiful in the Fall of 2024. The town had just finished a busy Halloween and was preparing for Christmas.
The Methodist Church
Where Annie was dropped off in the movie “Friday the 13th”
Open: Sunday & Monday 9:00am-4:00pm/Tuesday Closed/Wednesday 12:00pm-6:00pm/Thursday-Saturday 9:00am-6:00pm (Seasonal-will close after Thanksgiving and reopen by Easter. Please check their website).
Open: Sunday 2:00pm-4:00pm/Monday-Tuesday/Closed/Wednesday 2:00pm-4:00pm/Thursday/Closed/Friday 2:00pm-4:00pm/Saturday Closed (check the website for additional open hours)
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