NYGB train show, Hudson holiday market and Cape May; 3 getaways to take from Long Island
Cape May's Victorian landmarks shine in all their holiday finery for the annual Christmas Candlelight House tours. Credit: NEWSDAY/Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts
It’s all holidays all the time for travelers over the first weekend of December.
A few hours: New York Botanical Garden
See miniature trains chug along the tracks of a festive backdrop at New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx. Credit: The New York Botanical Garden (NYBG)
’Tis the season for model train exhibitions all over New York City, but few demonstrate the site-specific creativity of the Holiday Train Show at The New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx. Large-scale model trains (1/24th actual size) race around tracks inside the Haupt Conservatory and — thanks to Kentucky-based designer Applied Imagination — past iconic New York structures built from plant materials. Tickets start at $35 for adults, $25 for children ages 2-12 and advanced ticket purchase is recommended. Later in the month, the garden turns into an impromptu Christmas party after dark ($52/$32), with cocktails, live music, garden employees in train conductor drag, hors d’oeuvres and some adults-only nights.
A whole day: Holiday shopping on the Hudson
Reachable by car or a two-plus-hour train, upstate Hudson is well known for its antique shopping opportunities, quaint streets, and this year for the first time, a holiday pop-up market on select Saturdays and Sundays (including Dec. 7 and 8). Held on the grounds of the Cannonball Factory, a structure that dates to 1871, the market will feature more than 20 vendors, food and “bonfire hangouts." Supplement your visit with a meal at one of Hudson’s newest eateries, including Restaurant Manor Rock, which opened in October in an old town house and features dishes with produce grown on the adjacent farm and meat from the farm’s chickens and Mangalitsa pigs; and Via Cassia, a trattoria specializing in house-made pastas and other Italian favorites.
A few days: A New Jersey Christmas
Grand homes in Cape May, New Jersey, are annually dressed in festive lighting and decor to mark the winter holidays. Credit: Cape May County, NJ Department of Tourism
While primarily known as a summer destination, New Jersey’s Cape May goes all in for the Christmas season, taking advantage of its large stock of Victorian buildings to create a holiday of the past.
The town square is dominated by Washington Street Mall, whose shops and hotels are festooned in holiday finery. And don’t miss the annual West Cape May Christmas Parade on Dec. 7 — or Santa Claus’s arrival on a firetruck — or the chance to learn about Cape May seasonal traditions during a trolley tour of Cape Map’s historic district ($20/$15). The city’s website includes a definitive list of eateries open year-round, including the much-loved Blue Pig Tavern and the elegant restaurant at the Peter Shields Inn. There are a number of year-round accommodations in town as well, though most are either sold out or quite pricey. Budget-conscious travelers should consider staying 10 miles away in Wildwood, where rates are often lower ($80 to $120 a night).
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.
