Some Beacon Ideas

Some Beacon Ideas

Beacon is a very popular day trip for city folk and with good reason. It’s cool and close - it even has its own Metro North spot, making it a commuter town. For those of us in Westchester and Lower Fairfield, it’s even closer. Beacon has been “up and coming” for awhile now. Read on for some of my favorite ways to do Beacon.

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Counter Culture (Some Great Counter Service Spots)

Counter Culture (Some Great Counter Service Spots)

Sometimes you can’t or just don’t want to cook. And sometimes you can’t or just don’t want to spend the time and money on a long, drawn out sit down restaurant meal. In these moments, quick service spots are what you can and want to do.

We all rely on counter service spots to quickly pop into to grab ourselves or our kids or our friends or our co-workers a fast and tasty meal. We all have our favorites (my kids favorite is a place called McDonald’s). Here are a few of my favorite local fast casual spots to satisfy various cravings.

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Wow, Warwick is Wonderful!

Wow, Warwick is Wonderful!

Warwick, NY is yet another small, (barely) upstate New York town that I’m now smitten with.

Known for its farming community, a fall festival called “Applefest” and a drive in theater that has been around way before the entire country turned to “drive ins” in an effort to continue business in the time of COVID, Warwick is only about an hour fifteen from Manhattan.

I’d been a few times previously to visit a friend in town, but this was our first time truly soaking up Warwick. We had a LOT of fun.

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Feed Your Kids - Westchester and Lower Hudson Valley

Feed Your Kids - Westchester and Lower Hudson Valley

I love good food. I have two kids. Although it’s not always easy, I take those two kids out to restaurants A LOT. And, believe it or not, after years of dining out, they actually LOVE going to restaurants; and they are slowly getting better at sitting in their chairs for an entire meal.

There are so many food blogs out there. But none really focus on tasty but family friendly dining - I’m talking the kind of family friendly dining that doesn’t in any way resemble Chuck E. Cheese.

So here now is a running list of my suggestions in WESTCHESTER and LOWER HUDSON VALLEY on where to Feed Your Kids. No, these spots are not like the cafe inside your local day care - these are legit restaurants that cater to adults. But I have done each of these with our kids, and I know you can and SHOULD, too!

I will continually update these lists - so check back often! AND ENJOY!

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Legit Counter Service Filipino Food in Nyack

Legit Counter Service Filipino Food in Nyack

As a food obsessed parent living in the suburbs, I am ALWAYS lamenting the lack of really good food in casual settings around here. In NYC there is plenty of ethnic food, street food and even killer slice joints that you can quickly pop into or take out from for a great meal. With some notable exceptions, in the suburbs, your choices are often limited to chain spots like Chipotle, forgettable pizzerias or hunkering down in a waiter service restaurant for a full service meal. Spoiler alert: Kiddies don’t always love sitting still at a table for awhile.

For this reason and several others that I’ll get into, I was super excited when I learned that Jeff Gordinier, Food and Drinks Editor for Esquire Magazine, included Nyack’s casual Filipino newcomer, Karenderya, in his rundown of Esquire’s Best New Restaurants In America, 2018.

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Rocking Rockland County

Rocking Rockland County

Right over the Tappan Zee Bridge, an adventure awaits. That is, you can grab legit craft beer, a solid burger and maybe take in some bowling, arcade games and a ropes course all in a day’s time.

This morning, we threw the kids in the car, drove less than an hour and first landed at District 96 Beer Factory in New City, New York. From there, it was just another 10 minute drive to the Palisades Center. Read on for deets.

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