The Wellesley Hotel is a welcomed family retreat from all things modern and technological. Built in 1903 in Thousand Islands Park, New York on Wellesley Island the hotel commands glorious views of the St. Lawrence River. We docked our boat at the Thousand Island Park Marina. The hotel supplied us with an official permit. Stepping into the hotel is like stepping into George M. Cohan’s play The Tavern of the early 1900’s: a front desk with a brass bell, an ultra-wide wooden staircase graciously leading to the suites and antique shops. Even more gracious was the married couple running it. David Gilberg the chef, went the extra mile carrying our bags to our room. We stayed with our golden-doodle puppy, Matisse for or two nights in early August.

The corridors leading to the suites are wide as those of New York City’s Plaza Hotel when it was first built in 1907.Each suite has two simple bedrooms joined by a full bathroom. Our large queen size bed was very comfortable. Suites have ceiling fans, which help create a breeze on hot summer nights. Those sensitive to the heat will enjoy visiting in the cooler months of early summer or fall, as the hotel does not have air conditioning. The porches off the second floor are magnificent and provide plenty of refreshing breezes from the great river.

The wrap-around porch, on the first floor is where lunch and dinner are served. Guests can also choose to dine inside. The food is what makes the Wellesley Hotel memorable. It is for those who have an adventurous palate and desire to try a creative take on a well-known dish. We recommend the shrimp cocktail and the New York style strip sirloin steak fit for a king. Henry the VIII, would most likely be pleased at it was thick and juicy. Their pasta is house made and also delicious. Vegetarian options are available. The spectacular dining views, down the emerald lawn to the sparkling American channel of the St. Lawrence are magical. Be sure to visit the flower filled gardens behind the hotel and shops at the end of the porch. A favorite purchase was fine jewelry designed by The Golden Cleat, with a nautical inspiration. Also special is The River Dog Gallery which celebrates all things Thousand Islands, including beautiful photos by artist Bob Cook. River Dog Gallery is run by a friendly husband and wife team Bob and Debi Cook.

The highly respected chef, David Gilberg and hotel manager Carla Goncalves are a married couple team. David also manages the newly rebuilt restaurant across the street called The Guzzel, a casual restaurant and ice cream parlor. The Guzzle serves the best hamburgers east of Kansas, generous fresh Caesar salads were a favorite. And their morning muffins literally melt in your mouth. All the food we had there was excellent.

The Wellesley is a retreat from the 20^th century as well as from our own life on a nearby small island and life in New York City. Still, it offers wifi to guests and luggage service by golf cart back to your boat. Those who drive to the hotel have the convenience of parking right in front. Originally, Thousand Islands Park was a Methodist family summer camp. You will still feel a purity and peace in this place. The loudest noise was a child riding a bike or laughing. As we walked down Coast Avenue West lined with historic Victorian homes, it felt like we stepped into L.M. Montgomery’s, Anne of Green Gables. Perhaps Anne’s just left the TI Park Library and can be found reading in the gazebo. No, it’s not Nova Scotia but it has such a feeling of history that it could be if you closed your eyes to the beauty of the St. Lawrence and dreamed.

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Chez Josephine located at 414 West 42^nd Street in New York City is not only a fine French restaurant but also a rare world of 1920’s Parisian beauty. “I’m so proud that Jean-Claude Baker, who I met in 1985 entrusted me with his beloved dream” said Manuel Uzhca, owner and host. The restaurant first opened in 1986 and continues to be a bright star in New York’s theater district.

The late Jean-Claude Baker died in 2015. Mr. Baker dedicated the restaurant to the legendary Josephine Baker, his adoptive mother who was not only was a megastar but a leader in the French Resistance during the Second World War.  She adopted 12 children from all over the world and called them “the rainbow tribe.” Her spirit and generosity were irrepressible and live on at Chez Josephine.

Aside from the excellent food, the romantic dining room with its life size paintings of Ms. Baker, chandeliers, opulent colors of red, blue and gold make one feel like they’ve stepped into the era of the Follies Bergere, which the late Ms. Baker starred in.

Over the years many famous theater and arts patrons have been regulars, including the late Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. When the restaurant first opened there were many skeptics, including Andre Bishop the former artistic director of Playwrights Horizons and now artistic director of Lincoln Center Theatre. “A theme restaurant based on Josephine Baker, mon Dieu! And the decor looked like a bordello.” But soon, he too became a fan.

In January 2015 there was a party for the last survivor of the Ziegfeld Follies, Doris Eaton Travis. Metropolitan Opera soprano Jessye Norman had a party for her book, Stand Up Straight and Sing at Chez Josephine.

Favorite dishes are the jumbo shrimp, lobster bisque, French onion soup, filet mignon au poivre and crab cakes. Chocolate desserts are deliciously decadent. The restaurant is open seven days a week. Dinner is Monday through Saturday from 4PM to Midnight and on Sunday from 4PM to 11PM. Live piano music is played everyday during lunch and dinner on the baby grand piano evoking the magic of the Jazz Age.

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The Rosemont Inn at 1423 Genesee Street in Utica, New York is a restored Victorian mansion built in 1866. We stayed at this stylish Bed and Breakfast while traveling back to New York City along with our new puppy. Yes, they are pet friendly!

Upon arriving (we arrived earlier than expected) Rita Sleys, the owner and innkeeper who has run the Rosemont for 13 years, instantly welcomed us to our room on the second floor. It was a little workout moving in our bags and puppy up the grandest flight of stairs we’ve ever seen in a B & B.  How women did it in victorian dress is beyond us. It was worth the climb. The Chantilly room was lovely and spacious with it’s own marble fire place, great windows draped in lace curtains, a comfortable King size bed, sitting area, mini frig and oversized private bath with a clawfoot tub and shower.   The Rosemont has seven beautifully decorated rooms on the first and second floors all decorated in the post Civil War Victorian style.

The Italiante Victorian B & B comes with an incredible four-course gourmet breakfast. We had the french toast that was out of this world. Rita’s daughter brought a pretty glass goblet of fresh pineapple topped with a spot of whipped crème and fresh mint sprinkled in from Rita’s garden. Sipping coffee from period teacups and looking at the antique wall mirror garnished with roses and a string of pearls takes one back in time.

“Being an innkeeper here at the Rosemont allows me to enjoy other things all at the same time,” says Rita. “I love gardening and plants of every variety. Our herbs here at the Rosemont Inn are growing in a small corner outside our back kitchen door.” Her porch adds to the warm atmosphere. It’s filled with flowers, greenery and has comfortable rocking chairs. Her friendly two sons and daughters help with the Inn.

Only a few blocks away is the historic Stanley Theater. It was once a baroque movie palace and now a theatre for Broadway touring companies. Also special is the Munson-Williams Proctor Museum of Art. With all the rich history, travelers need not leave technology behind as wifi Internet access, fax and copy services are available to all of the Rosemont’s guests.

One unique feature of the Rosemont is the massage service offered. They have a wide selection of treatments to enhance and rejuvenate your stay.

Rita is jubilant in talking about Utica’s immigrant heritage, “They give so much to the city,” she says. Built in the industrial hay-day of Utica, the Rosemont Inn is listed on the National Register of Historic Homes. We were glad to have stayed in this relaxed elegant landmark. For reservations call: 315.797.9033 stay@rosemontinnbb.com www.rosemontinnbb.com

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Cobblescote may just be one of my favorite Inns in America. Overlooking picturesque Lake Otsego (also called Glimmerglass), in Cooperstown, New York, Cobblescote’s interior charm, cuisine and the hospitality of its owner, Peter Bissell, is equal to its beauteous setting. Mr. Bissell is a consummate chef serving eggs, waffles, pancakes, fresh fruit other breakfast items.

Cooperstown, home of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, was the home of novelist James Fennimore Cooper who immortalized this Upstate New York region in his timeless romantic “Leather Stocking” indian tales.

At Cobblescote, centuries magically seem to recede and your adventure begins. Canoeing, water-skiing or just sitting by a roaring fire and reading or dreaming, Cobblescote has it all. At 6515 NY-80 only a few miles from downtown Cooperstown, the Dutch Colonial-style inn has pristine warm comfortable rooms, including some with genuine antiques.

One guest posted on Trip Advisor that Cobblescote on the Lake is an “Amazing Getaway.” Nearby attractions include the Glimmerglass Opera Festival, the Fenimore Art Museum and the Fly Creek Cider Mill.

“I love to cook and delight patrons at the Inn with my creations,” says innkeeper Peter Bissell. Included are complimentary breakfast, free WIFI and even free laundry room access. By phone, contact the inn at 607-437- 1146 or see website: www.cobblescote.com. If you spend three nights during Thanksgiving Day weekend, the inn will give you a complimentary Thanksgiving dinner.

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by Priti Saldanha

With the golden Brooklyn skyline as backdrop, the “Wavertree,” retired from her “vagrant gypsy life,” hosted an event that recreated the magic of the sea of old and the seafaring life.  

Like Sirius, the lone star visible in the sky that night, the Knickerbocker Chamber Orchestra pierced through the ambient sounds of helicopters and even at one point, the horn of a ship blowing, in perfect complement to Charles Ives Symphony No. 3. 

“Sails, Stars and the Sweet Sounds of Classical Music” featured the orchestra with Gary S. Fagin, the music director and conductor at it’s helm. The Knickerbocker Chamber Orchestra created musical maritime poetry aboard her deck, as it does other themes, at other interesting and unique, lower Manhattan venues.

Boarding the deck of the Iron hulled “Wavertree”  docked at Pier 16, a tour by an enthusiastic volunteer led us from mast to mast, through the eyes of it’s crew, leading us to discover the world of the old sea dinghy, when she was seaworthy. The vessel is in the process of being restored to some of it’s former glory. 

Settling down to a full boat of classical music lovers of all ages, a glass of wine, chips and cookies, a red canopy shields the Knickerbocker Chamber Orchestra from the elements. 

The orchestra consisting of two violins, one viola, a violoncello, flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, trombone and bass, begin to etch into the estuary air, the ostinato’s of Stravinsky’s ” Concerto in Eb ( Dumbarton Oaks) in three movements (Tempo giusto- Allegretto- Con moto). Stravinsky wrote it during his darkest time; he found solace in listening to Bach’s “Brandenburg Concertos” as he watched his daughter waste away to terminal tuberculosis. He drew heavily from it. He called it “little concerto in the style of the Brandenburgs.” 

The Knickerbocker Chamber Orchestra (KCO), the program reads, “brings outstanding orchestral and Chamber music performances and educational programs to the Lower Manhattan community, incorporating the area’s rich history into innovative presentations through collaboration with acclaimed soloists, choral, dance, literary and historical organizations.”

Tenor Glenn Seven Allen who has performed on Broadway, off-Broadway, and at major regional theaters, concert venues, and opera houses throughout the United States, accompanied by the orchestra, passionately belted out director Gary S. Fagin’s lyrical arrangement and composition which set to music, John Masefield’s poem “Sea-Fever.” The music was profoundly moving capturing the angst and fervor of the poem completely. The yearning of the call to sea. This stood out in stark contrast to the instrumental sets and in some way because of it’s positioning between the other pieces and the fact that it was on a ship and Glenn Allen’s operatic voice did it such justice, made it a piece de resistance of sorts. 

The orchestra then played “Eventide.” As it’s last few notes died away…Mr. Fagin quipped that brief as it was, Ralph Vaughn Williams’ beautiful, brief, “Eventide” (Abide with Me) from Two Hymn-Tune Prelude, it’s brevity didn’t in any way take away from it’s beauty. It didn’t! He added that purportedly, it was the last song played by the sinking “Titantic” Charles Ives “Symphony No. 3, The Camp Meeting” Pulitzer winning score, closed the evening on the East River on the majestic sailing boat with it’s lit up masts rising up in the darkening sky. 

For this symphony, Charles Ives drew upon material from earlier liturgical organ works. Ives liked leaving choices of possible solutions up to the performer. The version we heard was based upon the published score of 1964 edited by Henry Cowell, but also took into some account a new edition, by Kenneth Singleton, which had significant differences with Cowell’s edition. Subtitled “The Camp Meeting” it had a hymn like quality and even draws from various hymns, “Silent Night” included. 

“Stars, Sails and the Sweet Sounds of Classical Music” was a brief, enchanting foray into a long gone maritime past through orchestral music, thanks to the innovative programming of the Knickerbocker Chamber Orchestra.

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Call it Love, with a capital “L.”

I have never felt as looked after as I have at the Maple Leaf Cottage Inn in Elsah, Illinois.

Steps from one of the most picturesque parts of the Mississippi River, the five-bedroom Maple Leaf Bed and Breakfast is designed with comfort and beauty in mind at every point.

Our bed was as or even more comfortable than any my wife and I had slept in from The Waldorf-Astoria in New York to the Millennium Chelsea Harbour in London.

The windows of the Maple Leaf Cottage are graced with stained glass; The “garden room,” where my wife and I stayed when my son graduated from Principia College, overlooked rose and other gardens and was wonderfully and conveniently located next to the inn’s dining room.

The college is located on the bluffs overlooking historic Elsah, Illinois and the Mississippi. The area abounds with biking, hiking and jogging trails.

To say breakfast is included in our $150 room rate is a serious understatement as our country breakfasts were feasts indeed.

Selected as one of the top 25 “Best Romantic Getaways in Illinois” by Lonely Planet Guidebook, “Imagine sitting under the stars by firelight surrounded by peaceful nature,” says a Maple Leaf Cottage brochure.

In 1949, The Attic Room was the inn’s first guest room with antique items dating back 150 years. A room called The Maples features two queen beds. The Garden Room has one queen bed. Other charming rooms that offer comfortable accommodations are The Wash House and The Gables. See their website for photos of each country room: www.mapleleafcottageinn.com

For reservations call 618-374- 1684.

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Never Say Never is a documentary short film directed by Mohammadu Sawo. It captures the hopes and dreams of senior high school studentsfrom the South Bronx. The film shows the young men’s commitment to a Martial Arts Club led by Katherine Boynton who instills in themleadership qualities and encourages them to live them today and in the next phase of their life after graduation.

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