Peter Conway

Bellissime – Musica – Canto – Capella & Tramonti

Translated — Beautiful Music, Singing, Chapel & Sunset

What a beautiful Friday evening at The Chapel Restoration in Cold Spring. The sky, sunset so soft and comely, the historic chapel overlooking the river, and the beautiful voices and music of Bellissime, the duo of sisters Ania Butkiewicz and Gabriela Mikova Johnson.

Luscious piano accompaniment by Tania Vaneckova and lovely costume designs of Veronika Hindle.

The concert was performed at an over 150 year old chapel, originally known as Chapel of Our Lady, overlooking the river from a high perch. It was built in 1833 for those employed at the West Point Foundry in Cold Spring. it was designed by, a 19-year-old from England, Thomas Kelah Wharton. And created of “locally made red brick covered with stucco, the chapel was in the Greek Revival style, then in vogue. Its columns were of the Tuscan order, a simple, unfluted version of the Doric, whose supreme expression is the Parthenon in Athens.” Restored and preserved by Chapel Restoration, a nonprofit organization created to restore and maintain this landmark.

The chapel with its view of the river is completely uplifting while it immerses you in history.

The music delightful, like angels on the wing, joy, laughter and tears were abundant in the audience. Ania and Gabriela sang towering opera, show and popular tunes that stirred our soul and filled the chapel with a rapture of harmonious notes and vibrations.

A truly wonderful evening.

More Here:

Bellissime

Chapel Restoration

Discovered a Prayer Path in Garrison

It is a mystery to me. I wonder what the story is on the ten wooden crosses that we found on a winding path near the Garrison Institute.

I know that the building and grounds here were once the home of the friary and a convent of the Capuchin Franciscans, Province of St. Mary. They acquired the property back in the 1920’s. But, they have not been here for well over 15 years. While some of the crosses are very old, a few look brand new. Some souls are taking care of this treasure that I have called the “Prayer Trail.”

Since we moved to Garrison’s Landing 18 months ago we have walked the trails to Arden Point and the paths called Marica’s Mile dozens of times, but it was just recently we discovered the paths, part of Marcia’s Mile, that venture into the woods close to Garrison Institute.

Let me walk you through them.

One of the multiple entrances to these paths is right behind the marker that designates the way between Arden Point and Marcia’s Mile.

The trail wonders up into the woods.

Following the main path which does branch off here and there you will come across the first cross. This is one of the new crosses. Who you think put it here?

Further on is the second cross which is older. It stands on a rise. Overlooking the river.

Most of the crosses are surrounded by some rocks, at first we though they might be grave markers.

Here is the third cross. We dismissed the grave marker idea.

Along the way you will see remnants of stone stairs that were placed to make the trail easier.

The fourth cross is in need of repair

Cross five has its horizontal piece broken away, I expect it will be repaired sometime soon.

Cross six, is surround by stone blocks that form another cross. I can picture friars kneeling here in prayer.

The seventh cross is our favorite with the sitting area it has. The stone benches seem to have been in disrepair for some time but still quite tranquil and comforting. Perhaps here is where a group could sit and contemplate.

The path rolls up and down through the woods and beds of Laurel

The eight cross is a newer one. Rousing more curiosity. We thought maybe they represented the eight apostles, but then we found two more.

After this cross there is a fork in the trail. Following Yoga Berra’s advice “If you come to a fork in the road take it.” If you want to see the ninth and tenth and find your way back to the main Marcia’s Mile path go to the right.

The left leads to the Garrison Institute buildings.

Very old boulders.

The ninth cross. Recently replaced, you can see the remains of the previous cross.

The tenth cross.

I also thought they might be stations of the cross, but are missing four more places if it was that.

I’ve search the internet high and low and found no description for these crosses or even a mention of the trail.

If you know anything about them please let us know.

A Walk About Glenclyffe Loop

The Gazebo on the River in Glenclyffe

A Delightful Diner at Ziatun Bistro, Beacon NY

In Arabic Ziatun means olive or olive tree, a wonderfully symbolic name for this delightful new Middle Eastern restaurant in Beacon, NY.

Olives, there oil and the olive branch and leaves have held deep symbolism to many cultures and religions for thousands of years. The olive symbolizes such qualities as a glorious life, renewal, resilience, and peace for all. The oil suggests purity, protection, health and light. The olive branch long a symbol of peace in the world. Could there be anything more perfect to subdue and reconcile the misguided anger and hate that is being promoted today.

Ziatun is place for a wholesome and pleasing meal to be enjoyed in a relaxing setting.

Arfully created by lovable Kamel Jamal. This is his fourth restaurant, part of the family of Beacon Bread Company, American; Angelina’s Pizza; Italian, and Tito Santana Taqueria, Mexican. All are great. No surprise considering Kamel has been cooking since he was 17. His restaurants are all casual and fun, serving great quality food.

Here the cuisine is authentically Middle Eastern, which always reminds me of the favorite film Cairo Time when Juliette, Patricia Clarkson, refers to her Cairo visit as “to the Middle East,” her new charming Egyptian acquaintance Tareq, Alexander Siddig, is prompted to wonder what the expression means. “Middle of what?” Cairo Time

Some could consider the “Middle East” as the middle, center of the world, all civilization. So much of what we have today has roots there. In any case we love the food.

Falafel is one of our favorite dishes which we have enjoyed in many cities and villages about the world. Here it is sublime, the recipe is Kamel’s mom’s. One of the best we have ever had. We’ve dined here twice now and are longing for more.

Bring some friends and enjoy the love.

Palestinian-Arabic-Middle Eastern. Vegan & Vegetarian

Ziatun

244 Main Street Beacon, NY
(845) 765-8268

Thursday-Monday 11am-9pm
Closed Tuesday & Wednesday

Happy To Be Back

On Sunday May 8th, 2016, my life took a turn for the better, although through a path that most any person would dread.

With the excellent care of the wonderful doctors, nurses, and staff of Vassar Brothers Medical Center and the Hudson Valley Heart Center I have a newly repaired and restored heart and aorta, which is a truly wonderful thing.

Beginning in early May on through August I have traveled a path from near death to a high level of physical, mental and spiritual health I could not have previously imagined.

This all would not be were it not for the rich and abundant prayers, blessings, energy healing, invocations, meditations and kind thoughts and wishes and unmitigated love of my devoted wife, children, family and so many friends.

For all this I am so very blessed and grateful. And very happy to be writing once again.

Sip and Savor at Brunette Wine Bar Kingston

Try anything, everything here and you will be very pleased. Open about a year now Brunette has been on our must visit list for sometime. At last a trip to the Rondout section of Kingston brought us here.

The curators and owners, Tracy and husband Jamie Kennard are the most gracious and interesting hosts. Deeply dedicated to presenting very fine local, natural, genuine food and wine. Our conversations wove through all sorts of topics as we carefully savored each sip and bite.

Along with the food we enjoyed some very nice wine and will be back soon for more.

Brunette

33 Broadway, Kingston, NY

Something Special in Downtown Kingston: Brunette Wine Bar
Brunette, a New Wine Bar in Kingston

The Endearing Esopus Lighthouse Park

Some of our most exciting adventures in the Hudson Valley are joy rides to who knows where. We see a sign and make a turn like this little jaunt on our way to Kingston.

We spotted a road marker that pointed to Lighthouse Park. With a quick u-turn we were on our way. From 9W the park is a few miles down a small rural windy road. We passed a group of people walking with an old farm wagon and horse that looked like Amish or Mennonites.

The park is tiny but well kept and affords a beautiful view of a the river.

You can see the famed Esopus Meadows Lighthouse in the distance.

A wonderful destination that is adjacent to Esopus Meadows Preserve, which has two miles of hiking trails.

Our visit was short was we were looking forward to getting to Kingston. But, we are planning to visit the town here which is reported to have been ” known as a haven for artists and performers including Academy Award and Tony Award-winning actress Frances McDormand, singer and Broadway actress Kelli O’Hara, soap opera star Sebastian Roche, director Joel Coen, choreographer Joe Langworth, Emmy Award-winning actor Peter Dinklage, actress Connie Ray, and musician Greg Naughton, all of whom resided in Esopus.” Ulster County Alive

Espous Lighthouse Park

Open year round, dawn to dusk.

255 River Road, Esopus, NY

You’ll Be Happy at the Stormville Airport Antique Show & Flea Market

From the moment we announced our move to the Hudson Valley friends exclaimed “You must go to the Stormville Flea Market!” Well we finally made it this past weekend and what a spectacle it is.

Our excited anticipation was frustrated on the way there, 3 miles out from our destination, the old Stormville Airport, traffic slowed to a crawl. Next time we’ll bring a thermos of coffee and some breakfast to enjoy while we wait in line.

As we got closer, brightly adorned traffic handlers pointed us to the second of the two massive parking lots.

Once we parked we started to scope out what seemed like endless aisles of merchandise, food, drink, all sorts of things new and old.

The people watching is great too, from locals, to tourists, hipsters and artists. Don’t mess with his guy.

Sited at the old Stormville Airport which was opened in the early Forties, the market is steeped in history. The airport closed in the nineties, but you can still feel the spirit of aircraft and pilots of old. Read more about Stormville Airport History Here.

The market began here in the Seventies with just a few vendors on the front lawn. Over almost five decades it has grown to be one of New York’s largest and most popular outdoor flea markets with over 600 vendors taking over many acres.

The aisles are more less arranged between new merchandise and antiques. There are just all sorts of goodies.

It is clear that the experienced shoppers, Stormville veterans, know to bring their carts,

Because you just might need one of these.Or some of these.

At every turn there was another aisle, we spent a couple of hours shopping.

Of course there is food and drinks a plenty.

Fun for the kids.

And more and more stuff.

And endless people.

Lots of curiosities and curios

This is quite an event! Stormville Airport Flea Market and Antique Show

428 Route 216
Stormville, NY 12582

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By the way, sorry no pets allowed.`

For the Love of Italy – Enjoying Grano Focacceria with a Great Wine

We’ve been waiting about a year for Grano Focacceria to open, creating goodness can take time.

You see, when business partners Eduardo “Eddie” Lauria and John Paul Scanga set out to open a restaurant here in Philipstown Square, on Route 9 at 301, they wanted nothing less than excellent.

Eduardo has a great reputation to maintain, garnered with two previous restaurants he has owned, the highly regarded Il Barilotto Enoteca in Fishkill, and the excellent Aroma Osteria in Wappingers Falls. The latter he sold to retire, but apparently became restless and decided to try something new, a Focacceria.

A picture is worth a thousand words so let me share this snap of a Focaccia called the Mastroantonio, with Sweet Fennel Sausage, Broccoli Rabe, Sundried Tomatoes Chili Flakes, Mozzarella cheese. Yes it is like a pizza, on the menu described as thin crust pan pizza. The difference is in the crust. Focaccia, which means cake translated from the Italian, is doughier, fluffier, with more texture than a typical pizza crust, yielding a satisfying, comfort food mouthfeel that delivers the flavors upon it with pleasure.

Served on a wood plank, each ingredient is of great quality, we were awed by the size of this pie, but somehow found a way to eat it all. It’s irresistible.

In Italy Foccaccia is served plain or with any number of topings, just simple olive and salt, great with black olives, or a fancy preparation like this, or one of the seven others you’ll find here.

There a lot of other options on the menu like this crisp fresh “Cesarina” salad, very simple but satisfying.

We really liked the wine list. This wine from the Salentino area of Puglia is terrific. We started with a glass, but then bought a bottle. Read More about the great wines of Puglia here: Wines of Puglia are Quite Exciting

Word on the street is abuzz with praise for Grano Focacceria and while we were the first patrons at 6:00 on a week night, by the time we left every table was filled with happy diners. Not to mention a stream of take out customers.

Our waitress Angela was a joy, apologizing for being new to her trade. Not at all necessary as she opened our wine properly, allbeit with a little shaky confidence. Through our dinner she kept a careful eye attending to our dining pleasure just right.

Grano Foccaceria

3182 Route 9 at Route 301
Philipstown Square
Cold Spring, NY 10516
845-666-7007

Let’s Stock Up and Eat! Marbled Market, Beacon NY

New in Beacon, an exciting eatery, just opened by the fabulous people of Marbled Meat Shop in Cold Spring, Lisa Hall and Chris Pascarella, and for this venture they persuaded long time friend Adam Sternberg to join them as chef.

Located on Teller where the Copper Roof Deli used to be, the place is spruced up in Marbled style. Open just a short while, the word is apparently out.

The place was hoping last Saturday when we stopped in for some lunch.

What makes Stock Up great is the Marbled team’s uncompromising dedication to using the freshest and best quality ingredients. The deli counter has a fabulous selection of cold cuts.

We opted for two of their creative sandwiches, inspired versions of classics.

The Ruben + Sprouts with house pastrami, brussel sprout sauerkraut, swiss cheese, Stock Up secret sauce, on griddled rye. Big, delicious, yet not overly filling.

The Philly Style (Wiz Wit), Adam is from Philly, scrumptious shaved beef, the best meat to be found, with hopped up beer cheese wiz with smoked sauteed onion on a crusty fresh seeded roll.

Sandwiches come with a side of your choice from an awesome selection of healthy tasty creations.

Check this place out, you will be delighted.

Stock Up

29 Teller Ave
Beacon, New York
(845) 202-7400

Read More about Stock up on A Little Beacon Blog.

Are We Lost – Winter Walk Around Canopus Lake — Fahnestock Memorial State Park

A certain fearful anxiety can haunt some first time walks into the woods. Thoughts swirl around “are we on the right trail, might we get lost, will night fall come before we find our way back.” Stories have been told of souls being lost, massive searches launched, don’t want to be one of those people.

Fahnestock State Park is a big beautiful park with many trails and interesting things to see. It is well documented and maps are available but on this walk we thought we knew the way.

One of the highlights of this park is Canopus Lake, that spans 105 acres, 1.5 miles long. We’ve passed it many times by car, and were longing to get a closer look.

On the Cold Spring Carmel Road, Route 301, east of route 9 there is a boat launch area and some parking area across the road a bit west of the launch. We thought there was a trailhead that began at the boat launch but the path into the woods was unmarked. Undaunted and following a small but cryptic map that showed a path around the lake we ventured in.

As much as we prefer the warmer weather, without leaf cover winter walks allow such nice views.

We eventually figured out that what were on was the cross country ski trails that are maintained by the parks department. But with the light snow we had this winter there was not enough on the ground to allow this sport.

But the paths do provide many visual pleasures.

At a mid point in the lake there is a bridge which we crossed looking for a trail that circled around but were unsuccessful and returned the way we came. At this point we were feeling lost and not sure how to return,

We finally made it back. There are a few branches of the path we were on that took us by some old interesting ruins. Seem to have misplaced those pictures.

Across 301 there is an interesting cavern.

It seems that the Appalachian Trail [blazed white] runs through the park by the lake. But we had not accessed it at the right point. We will try again in the spring.

More Info Here