JFK Adventure!!!!!

     This ADVENTURE all started when my oldest daughter Megan was making plans to spend the summer in New York.  She  found that she could save a lot of money by flying into JFK International Airport (four hours drive away just outside of New York City) and wondered if I might be able to pick her and my grandkids up when they got there.  My wonderful sister, Peggy, agreed to go with me to get them.  Peggy and I decided to turn it into a short trip to the Catskills where we like to explore the BORSCHT BELT.  

     Peggy arrived late in the evening on Saturday June 30th, and the plans were to drive to Roscoe the following morning and find DUNDAS CASTLE, an old abandoned castle.  However, Peggy had problems with her cell phone which necessitated spending some time at the VERIZON Store in Oneonta, so we got a late start and by the time we got to Roscoe we realized it was too late to look for the castle since we had a four p.m. appointment to visit the LIVING TORAH MUSEUM in the Village of Fallsburg, New York.  So, we went to our lodging (Howard Johnsons) in Liberty and got settled in and then headed out.  Before leaving we found a geocache in Liberty and we drove through Woodbourne because we were interested in seeing how much damage was done to the Aladin Hotel which suffered a fire a few weeks ago.  The Aladin was very busy, it appeared that summer residents (Hasidic Jews) were arriving and moving in for the summer.  We saw the damaged building, but did not stop to take pictures because there were too many people around.  We also stopped at a Jewish bakery.

     We arrived at the LIVING TORAH MUSEUM a few minutes before four p.m. and soon two Jewish women joined us and then the proprieter came and let in.
  We spent the next couple of hours watching a video and seeing ancient artifacts from the holy land.  We actually were able to touch and hold a bowl that existed when Abraham (of the Old Testament) lived.  This museum is a fantastic place!  Then we decided to check out the TAMARACK hotel which also had a fire.  Indeed, the main building was gone (appeared that it had been razed.  We found the bungalow colony associated with that hotel and explored it a bit.  and then we went to Woodbourne and went into a few shops.  We decided we were in the mood for chinese and went back to Liberty to eat at a buffet we had been to a couple of times.  However, it was closed down we drove to Monticello to eat at the other chinese buffet.  .  

     The next morning we decided to walk across the road to GROSSINGERS.  This is a HUGE old abandoned hotel from the Borscht Belt days.  We were able to get inside of a couple of buildings that we had not been in before.  We went back to Howard Johnsons and cleaned up and packed up the car and headed out.  We had the rest of the day to explore the Borscht Belt, get to Hoboken, New Jersey and then to JFK.

     Our first stop was in Hurleyville where I took a few pictures, and then it was back to Loch Sheldrake just in time for lunch at Dizzy Izzy's Knish Shop.  We purchased two knishes and a Snapple and shared them.  Then we went to the nearby antique shop in the old Chinese Cultural Center.  I found a tiny rooster which I wanted to purchase, but the owner wanted TEN DOLLARS for it, so I passed.  She kept saying how inexpensive things were, but they really were not.

     After that, we decided to drive some back roads in search of THE FOUR SEASONS LODGE, which was a bungalow colony that holocaust survivors met at for many summers.  I am pretty sure we found it at 99 Geiger Road (which is the name of the documentary about this), but it appears that it has been sold or changed hands and is now a family camp.

     We then went to Ellenville to go to COHENS BAKERY.  We stopped at the public library to see if the museum was open, but it was closed, and we found a geocache nearby.  And then  we decided to check out the NEVELE we were hoping to be able to walk around the grounds, but a security person at the front entrance told us it was recently purchased and has a new owner and it was clear that he would not let us past.  We were also not allowed to walk around the HONORS HAVEN next door unless we were accompanied by a security guard, so we passed on that.

    We only had a small amount of time left before we would have to head to Hoboken, New Jersey, but we decided to
check out the HOMOWACK lodge and found it was fenced in even more thoroughly than it was in 2009.  We decided to drive to Mountaindale, where I took some pictures of some interesting buildings and we looked briefly for a geocache (not successful).  From there it was time to drive to Hoboken.

     In Hoboken, we went to CARLO's BAKE SHOP, which has been on the Food Network.  There was a long line of people waiting to get in, so we took a number.  I think we waited about forty minutes before we could get in.  It was disappointing because there seemed to be absolutely NO order inside.  Potential customers seemed to be standing around with little movement either forward and the few workers did not seem at all busy.  After about twenty minutes of almost standing still at the back of the crowd)but more people were being let in), I decided it was not worth it and told Peggy I would find a bench outside and wait for her.



Ten or fifteen minutes later, she came out without making a purchase.  HONESTLY, I think they could do more inside to move people along better than they do now.  We had planned to eat at a Cuban restaurant just down the street from Carlo's, but Peggy checked it out and was not impressed.  So, we had supper at TUTA PASTA, and it was very good, but a bit on the expensive side.
    Then it was time to head for JFK.  Unfortunately, the GPS led us right through midtown Manhattan, right through Times Square.  We arrived at JFK about an hour and a half before Megans flight arrived, so we waited, and read, and walked around.    Their flight arrived at exactly midnight and about ten minutes later, Cassy came running through the doors, followed by her mother and Tyler.  We had a happy reunion, waited for luggage and then went out to the car.  We had a bit of a time finding room for everything, but we managed.....poor Tyler was way in the back, with stuff all around him, but, he did fine.
     We stopped at a Dunkin Donuts for food and drinks around 1:30 a.m.  I think we arrived back at my house around 5:30 a.m.  I slept about an hour before the phone woke me up and then I had to stay awake for TIME WARNER's delivery of a new modem.  Peggy and I spent most of the day napping off and on hoping to catch up on our sleep.  Megan seemed to recover quickly and her and the kids went to see relatives in the afternoon.  I prepared BBQ pork ribs, scalloped potatoes and succotash for supper, and we all watched MALL COP in the evening.