Summer down the Shore starts this weekend. Blink once and it’s Fourth of July, half over. Blink twice and it’s Labor Day, all gone. Until we do it again next year.
In Manasquan, they’re kicking off the summer with a concert and fireworks on the beach, Saturday at 7:30 p.m. It’s sponsored by The Mill at Spring Lake, www.themillatslh.com.
In Ocean City, they’re walking Fido. It’s the Barks on the Boards dog parade, sponsored by the local humane society. Prizes to best-dressed dog, best dog trick and to the owner that looks most like his or her dog. Saturday, noon-2 p.m. www.petfinder.com/shelters/hsoc.html
In Wildwood, they’re flying kites at the International Kite Festival. Hands-on instruction, competitions and a nighttime show. Organizers call it the biggest kite get-together in the country. Friday through Sunday. www.wildwoodsnj.com
Celebrate at the Wheels & Wings Air Show at Millville Airport Saturday and Sunday. The U.S. Navy Blue Angels are scheduled to perform, along with more than a dozen other acrobatic flyers. (856) 327-2347, www.millvilleairshow.com.
The long weekend also marks the start of the season at Cowtown Rodeo in Pilesgrove. It’s as close to Texas as it gets in New Jersey. (856) 769-3200 and www.cowtownrodeo.com.
One other event might tempt some away from the Shore. The Garden State Wine Growers Association’s Blues & Wine Festival is at the Four Sisters Winery in Belvidere. Look for music, crafts, food from local caterers and more than 200 wines from 18 New Jersey wineries. Saturday and Sunday, noon–5 p.m. (609) 758-5400 or www.newjerseywines.com.
There may be only one place in the state for black bears and Brazilian wine.
Which is why “Nothing like us!” is the right slogan for Wine in the Woods www.westmilford.com/Wine_in_the_Woods, the inviting retreat in West Milford. Pick from the six to ten daily pourings selected by owner Allan Capalbo, and relax an hour or two with a complimentary platter of fruit, cheese and crackers.
In winter, you relax inside by the lounge in the fireplace, cozy like a ski lodge. In spring, you hang out in the courtyard that backs onto a cliff, surrounded by trees and flowers. This being Sussex County, bears sometimes amble by, says Allan’s wife Hsin.
The rotating wines by the glass usually feature a theme—Australian wines, for instance, or chardonnays from different parts of the world. If you prefer, select a bottle from the well stocked shop that includes a syrah from Brazil. Yep, Brazilian. They are just beginning to arrive in the United States, and some wine critics say quality is comparable to the wines of Chile 20 years ago.
Or, sip one of the 27 single-malt scotches. There is also an extensive selection of añejo tequilas and high-end vodkas. We loved the hand-painted bottles that “The Jewel of Russia” vodka comes in, a 300-year old tradition (www.jewelofrussia.com).
Hsin also imports rare teas from her native China.
Wine In The Woods. It’s a store and a bar. A nice place to shop, sip, and maybe even spot a bear.
In the town of Rumson, in the county of Monmouth, there are many houses so large that their occupants must surely need a GPS system to navigate from master bedroom to home theatre.
No one is without an interior designer. But name one house that has 45! Even the most landed of the town’s gentry are impressed.
We are speaking of the huge Metcalf estate. And this month, it has been turned into a designer showcase (www.statelyhomesbythesea.com) to benefit Visiting Nurses of Central Jersey. The stunning display has already attracted thousands of visitors.
The estate is the largest privately owned property in Rumson- 30 acres of horse and livestock farm, crowned by an 11,000 square foot house. Into these spaces designers from across the state, and New York City have left their creative imprints.
Stick your head into Cinderella’s Closet, designed by artist Mary Connell Gaynor of Rumson (732-546-7417). Linger in a guest room designed by Karla Trincanello (www.interiordecisions.com) and dedicated to a fantasy visit by Jackie Onassis. Details like the former first lady’s favorite mementos, and her riding attire, are carefully arranged next to a French-styled canopy bed.
In the midst of tradition, there was the fun of a spa-like third floor retreat by our friends at Red Ginger Home (www.redgingerhome.com) and the zing of a yellow room by Eli Dweck Designs (www.elidweckdesigns.com) of Oakhurst.
You’ll complete your tour in the dining room by Barbara Ostrom Associates of Mahwah, (201-529-0444) – there are with bursts of orange and bright flowers relected by huge crystal chandeliers.
The showcase is extended through June 3rd. It’s worth a detour from the beach. You may find your dream design, somewhere in this fantasy house by the sea.
The Glen Ridge mom is the co-founder of one of the country’s top hyper-local blogathons, www.baristanet.com. And her scathingly funny book called Rattled (www.debragalant.com) that takes aim at life in the New Jersey exurbs has just been released in paperback.
Montclair and Glen Ridge residents know all about Baristanet, because the website has its sights on just about every aspect of life in the suburban-urban, over-taxed, media-centric hyper-competitive towns.
The Baristas examine the mundane aggravations: curbs with metal rods that damage residents’ tires. They investigate the cause of purple bird droppings (was it the mulberry bush?) and lead the assault on a new housing development because its sanitary nature is so out of character with Montclair’s charming, eclectic housing stock.
Debate is encouraged, sometimes pitting neighbor against neighbor.
Rattled is set in a brand new Burlington County development called Galapagos Estates. The Peters family has just moved into their dream McMansion.
Pushy heroine Heather Peters, weaponized with cell phone and PDA, battles the inequities of bad movers and builders and bureaucratic school systems.
Then her handyman slays a threatening timber rattlesnake, and Heather is tossed in jail (her arrest during back-to-school night is LOL funny) for killing an endangered species.
Turns out, the whole place is a snake pit. Environmentalists and the media descend. The result is a painfully funny ex-urban version of Bonfire of the Vanities.
Debra, formerly the New Jersey columnist for The New York Times, was inspired by a snake-related arrest she reported on in South Jersey.
The brand new fictional sub-division is a long way from the established leafiness of Montclair and Glen Ridge. But the mischievous Debra is stirring things up in truth and fiction. Maybe her two worlds are not as far apart as we think?
Everyone knows wedding presents are really for the bride. We love our crystal candy dishes, two dozen monogrammed linen napkins with their sterling napkin holders and our vases, from bud to bouquet.
The guys are feeling left out. They spring for the ring, and watch the women run the show. But not any more. Now they can hop over to www.groom2b.com and register for gifts and maybe even get a present that has a practical, everyday use.
The couple behind the website, Dana Weisberg of Warren and her fiancé Steve Zeller of Manhattan, launched the business in November. Their slogan is “because men get married too.”
The groom2b website offers gifts like entertainment centers, outdoor barbeques, dartboards, pool table equipment, and humidors. Things for the rec room or to put around outside around the pool. Not to decorate the dining room table or breakfront.
What inspired them? Steve told us, “a lot of my friends are getting married and they’re tired of all the Pottery Barns and Tiffanys.”
Also, when a close male friend living overseas married a woman who was unknown to Steve, he was at a loss as to what to give the couple. Gifting for the groom was the only solution.
“Women still dictate what goes on in a wedding,” says Dana, “but men need to have a present too.” The men were “feeling a little neglected” Steve says. Now, they’re on equal footing.
For now, Dana and Steve are living the life of their customers, and planning their wedding, and thinking about their wedding gifts. Some will be from Bloomies and Tiffany, others, from groom2be.
They’ll be learning the first lesson of marriage: the art of compromise.
…realized Asbury Park is happening, check it out. As many as 18 venues (including the legendary Stone Pony) host The Wave Gathering, a festival of music, dining and art exhibits. $20 for a single-day pass, $40 for Friday-Sunday. www.wavegathering.com.
…rode English style, get up on a horse. The Lord Stirling Stable in Basking Ridge has beginners’ rides Sunday starting at 10 a.m. Somerset County residents $32, others $40. Sign up for a 10-week lesson if you like it. (908) 766-5955, www.somersetcountyparks.org.
…thought modern art really could be garbage, the Dumpster Diver Exhibition at the Perkins Center for the Arts in Collingswood will set you right. See a piece of trash converted into a cool piece. (800) 387-5226, www.perkinscenter.org. If you go Saturday, stop by the Collingswood Farmers' Market, open 8 a.m. to noon with produce local farmers plus natural cheeses and breads. www.collingswoodmarket.com.
…take the time to really savor healthy locally grown food, run to the Slow Food of Northern New Jersey Fine Food and Wine Tasting. Our friends at Gary’s Wine & Marketplace (www.garyswine.com) bring the bottles. Saturday 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. at historic Van Vleck House, Montclair. $50 in advance, $55 at the door. www.slowfoodnnj.org.
…knew one of the world’s great furniture makers worked in Enn-Jay, take the tour of Craftsman Farms in Parsippany. It’s the former home of Gustav Stickley, the moving force of the Arts and Crafts style in the early 1900s. Sunday 1 to 4:30 p.m. www.stickleymuseum.org.
…went bird watching , let the New Jersey Audubon (www.njaudubon.org, 609-861-0700) start you off at Cape May Spring Weekend. A day of field trips and workshops is for $120 for non-members; the entire weekend including Friday and Saturday dinner at the Grand Hotel (www.grandhotelcapemay.com) is $365. Members pay a little less.
Get out and spread your wings… have a great weekend!
In the town of Rumson, in the county of Monmouth, there are many houses so large that their occupants must surely need a GPS system to navigate from master bedroom to home theatre.
Everyone knows wedding presents are really for the bride. We love our crystal candy dishes, two dozen monogrammed linen napkins with their sterling napkin holders and our vases, from bud to bouquet.
