3 ways Long Islanders can travel this weekend
The WaterFire Festival is a fire sculpture installation on rivers in downtown Providence, Rhode Island. Credit: WaterFire Providence/ John F. Nickerson
November weekends are for the new, the old and the fiery.
Few Hours: West Village, NYC
Hot mini-doughnuts are the specialty of COPS, a Canadian doughnut shop that just opened a shop in the West Village. Credit: Newsday/Scott Vogel
Miss out on Greenwich Village’s storied Halloween parade this year? Make up for it by visiting five West Village shops and eateries, all of them new and noteworthy. First, everyone’s heard of NYC’s famous chopped cheese sandwich, but everything comes chopped at the Brown Bag Sandwich Co. on Thompson Street, from the popular mortadella-and-provolone feast on a kaiser roll to a fine roast beef number sparked by pickled mustard.
Every item at the new Locavore Variety Store is produced within a hundred miles of New York City. Credit: Newsday/Scott Vogel
For dessert, head over to COPS, a Canadian export specializing in hot, made-to-order doughnuts that opened in September (the sour cream-glazed variety is otherworldly), or Salt & Straw, a kicky, Portland-born ice cream shop that debuted on Hudson Street on Oct. 18 with flavors both decadent (fleur de sel with caramel ribbons) and weird (pastrami on rye — ice cream — actually, it’s pretty good). Or, join the line of social media mavens at Lil Sweet Treat, a tiny Seventh Avenue shop that features high-quality, scoop-your-own candies from around the world, everything from pineapple gummies from Sweden to Belgian Sour Bears.
Lil Sweet Treat is a new and tiny candy shop in the West Village, its unique confections imported from Europe and beyond. Credit: Newsday/Scott Vogel
Finally, come down off your sugar high with a visit to Sixth Avenue's Locavore Variety Store, a new and fascinating boutique in which every item from beanies to bug repellent is produced within a 100-mile radius of the city.
A Whole Day: Cave into it
When it comes to the natural world in all its splendor and variety, Long Island is truly blessed in every way save one: its conspicuous absence of caves. For some, this may seem like no great loss, especially given the abundance of stalactite formations of unknown origin in the New York City subway. But for the rest of us, there’s nothing like going deeper, exploring mineral deposits, tunnels and underground rivers in all their subterranean glory. The easiest way for an Islander to scratch the itch is by visiting New Jersey’s Sterling Hill Mining Museum, a two-hour drive from Melville to Ogdensburg. Tours of the former zinc mine (1897-1986) are given on weekends, and include a visit to the so-called Rainbow Tunnel, an area of fluorescent zinc ore that glows bright red and green when exposed to ultraviolet light. After that, adults but not kids are invited to go prospecting for fluorescent nuggets to take home, although the little ones are welcome to do a little on-site sluicing — putting sandy water through a sifter in search of minerals. Two hours north, meanwhile, sits the Dover Stone Church Cave in Dutchess County, a magnet for tourists since the early 1900s. Hike past the Gothic cathedral-shaped entrance — hence the name — and into the cavern itself, where you’ll find a babbling brook and a waterfall.
A Weekend: Providence
Crowds gather along Memorial Park to enjoy the WaterFire Festival in Providence. Credit: Erin Cuddigan
How have you never been to the WaterFire festival in Rhode Island’s capital? On certain select nights for more than 25 years, the city has been lighting bonfires in braziers on the three rivers that flow through its downtown, as well as lanterns and torches on the bridges and surrounding environs, in one of the country’s unique public art installations. As it happens, the last night of the season — themed around a salute to veterans — will be Nov. 2, and include a ring of fire created by 100 torch-carrying military personnel. A potent symbol of the city’s rebirth, WaterFire offers a perfect opportunity to explore downtown Providence, from noteworthy restaurants like Gracie’s and Pot au Feu, a favorite bistro of Julia Child, to newer stays like The Beatrice, a boutique hotel, and the Aloft Providence Downtown.
Newsday writer and restaurant critic Scott Vogel aims for a refreshing, gimlet-eyed take on the Long Island food scene, often while drinking a refreshing gimlet.