Pennsylvania water parks, Xanadu Roller Arts and more: Getaways Long Islanders should take this month
Kalahari Resorts offers fun for the whole family. The resort features a waterpark, full-service spa, restaurants and retail shops. Credit: Kalahari Resorts and Conventions
Enjoy the cold or escape it during the second week of December.
A few hours: Eating Australia
Sourdough toast with Vegemite and avocado at Ruby’s Cafe, which has four locations in Manhattan; An Aussie cucumber mule, a cocktail on draft. Credit: Scott Vogel
Long Island, cornucopia of the world’s many cuisines, is woefully deficient in restaurants specializing in Australian fare. The city, not so much. You might have trouble getting into Acru, an upstart from Tasmanian native chef Daniel Garwood that opened in October in Greenwich Village with a constantly changing menu that’s recently featured everything from damper bread to lamington cake. Luckily, however, there are at least two other Aussie stalwarts, the always-lively Ruby’s, which has four Manhattan locations and serves all-day brekkie for the Vegemite crowd, as well as sandwiches, salads and uber-refreshing draft cocktails like the Aussie cucumber mule. And then there’s the Ruby’s offshoot Dudleys on the Lower East Side, whose Down Under favorites include chicken schnitzel and bronte burgers, its patties goosed by sweet chili sauce.
A whole day: A 70s borough tour
Scott Vogel enjoys the square slices at Spumoni Garden in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn; The margherita pizza at Grimaldi's in DUMBO, Brooklyn. Credit: Ed Quinn
Ah, Brooklyn in the 70s. Crime was high, rents were low, and everybody danced to "Saturday Night Fever" and skated roller disco. You can do both in a new way at Bushwick’s Xanadu Roller Arts, named for the Olivia Newton-John flick that skated its way into film infamy, and later, Broadway. The gorgeous maple floored facility — the city’s first new rink of its kind in years — accommodates all skating levels under its disco ball, even as it serves cocktails and doubles as a concert space. Elsewhere, few time machines will take you back like Slice of Brooklyn, a four-hour bus and pizza tour that visits such pie legends as Bensonhurst’s L & B Spumoni Gardens. And while iconic seafood restaurant Lundy’s closed in 1979, it reopens Dec. 11 in Red Hook with a menu that’s sure to stir nostalgic feelings of tiered shellfish towers past.
A few days: A Poconos water park weekend
Father and son on Alberta Falls at Great Wolf Lodge in the Poconos. Credit: Great Wolf Resorts
Of course it’s too early for cabin fever, but that doesn’t mean you can’t inoculate yourself and your family in advance with a Poconos getaway that might take you to one, two, three or even four — yes, four — indoor water parks. They’re all less than 25 miles apart, and all offer overnight accommodations in which water park admission is included. There’s Kalahari Resorts in Pocono Manor, with its truly terrifying raft rides for the kids and serene swim-up bar for the not-kids. (Water park-only tickets are $69; stays at the adjacent lodge start at $719 a night); Great Wolf Lodge in Scotrun, Pennsylvania, a 120,000-square-foot facility warmed to 84 degrees year-round ($40/$354); Tannersville’s Aquatopia at Camelback Resort, where the sun shines through a transparent roof ($59/$336); and H2Ooohh! at Split Rock Resort in Lake Harmony ($35/$196). Visit all four for that perfect pruned look.
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.