Tin Can Trading Post, Jughead & Archie, 60 years later

It was like walking back in time.  We were in the Catskills, drinking wonderful coffee made for us by the proprietor of Cafe Devine (Lower Main Street, Callicoon, NY).  Energized, we started to explore the 'downtown' when almost immediately, we found ourselves ambling past an alleyway. Always curious, we backed up and decided to explore, and glad we were, because  at the end of the alley was none other than Jughead!  But where was Archie?  We didn't have to wait too long to find him, and when we did, we immediately asked him to pose with his friend for us, and if he did, we promised to write a blog post on his newly opened funky antique shop, a shop like the ones we remembered from the 1960's, a shop where you could still feel like you were exploring grandmother's attic.  If you're ever in the Catskills, after you drink coffee at Cafe Devine, be sure to visit Jughead and Archie, better known as the Tin Can Trading Post, Callicoon, New York. (This is the blogpost we promised you, Archie!)

Dancing around a fountain to the music of Frank Sinatra, Villa Roma

We thought the dance would go on forever . . .  We had arrived late one night -- not Rome or Italy.  We were in the Catskills,  Callicoon, New York.  Not Dirty Dancing.  Just moving together to the music of Frank Sinatra and the splashing fountain -- it was our first night at Villa Roma.  After parking our car, we had walked to the main hotel in the moonlight and danced under the stars. It was getting late, and we planned on coming back every night for that sweet romance.

But we were wrong.  Frank Sinatra never sang for us again, and the fountain never again founted (or whatever it is that fountains do).

1950's Ice Cream Parlor, Villa Roma, Callicoon, New York

In the Catskills, Looking for the New York Times

Whenever he goes on vacation, Marash Boy's favorite past time is sleeping late, and then going hunting -- hunting for the New York Times.  And so, when he found himself in the Catskills, and it was after 11 AM, search as he might, he could find no copy of that day's New York Times.  But what he did find made up for it.

On the back of a pick up truck in the supermarket parking lot, Jeffersonville, New York, the Catskills!

Pasta Fajole at Ronnie's - Villa Roma, Callicoon, New York

After reading the sign above that appears in the tiny convenience store located on the grounds of Villa Roma in Callicoon, New York, I wondered if it could really be true . . . I didn't have long to wait to find out.  Joe (our friend who was born in Italy) came rushing in the door of our little 2 bedroom unit announcing,  "Guess what!  That sign really means what it says.  Today they have pasta fajole and eggplant parmajan . . . Can you believe it?  And of all days,  Ann Louise made spaghetti and meatballs for supper!"  But I have to say that Ann Louise's spaghetti and meatballs (homemade sauce, homemade meatballs, store bought spaghetti) was the best I have ever tasted! I wonder if she'd share her recipe . . .

MY FATHER, PAGLIACCI & SAL RICHARDS

Marash Girl's father, Peter Bilezikian, often told the tale of Pagliacci which went something like this.  There was a man who was always very sad, so sad that he finally decided to go to the best psychiatrist in town.  The psychiatrist had the ultimate cure: "Just go to see the famous clown Pagliacci.  That will cure what ails you!"  The sad man answered, "But I am that clown. I am Pagliacci!"

Sal Richards signing his autobiography, BEHIND THE LAUGHTER, HIDDEN TEARS

I was reminded of my father's story when funny man Sal Richards stood before an audience at Villa Roma in Callicoon, New York, and made everyone laugh for over an hour, but after the show he sold an autobiographical treatise on his not so funny life: Behind the Laughter, Hidden Tears.

Sal Richards holding his autobiography, BEHIND THE LAUGHTER, HIDDEN TEARS

While Marash Girl was standing in line waiting to purchase Behind the Laughter, Hidden Tears, she decided to ask Sal to write "something funny" in the book.  And he did exactly that, writing on the title page, "Something funny. Sal Richards", eliciting yet another laugh from the audience that was still waiting to purchase the autobiography.

When you read Sal's book, you'll understand why Marash Girl remembered Peter's Pagliacci story .

HAUNTED: THE STONE ARCH BRIDGE, JEFFERSON COUNTY, NEW YORK

No sooner had I written my post on the Stone Arch Bridge  (which took several hours with all the photos), the post disappeared.  Now this is the first time that has ever happened.  Do you think it was the ghost's doing?  Well, I'm going to try again with a humbler post and see how it goes.

Very kich. The Stone Arch Inn, located down the street from the Stone Arch Bridge, uses the image on its place mats.  Should we bother going to the bridge? After all, it's raining out.  Maybe it's enough that we look at the images on the wall of this restaurant (scroll down to see them).  My husband overhears the one line that will get me to risk my camera in the rain for the sake of some photos.  The barmaid says, "But the bridge is haunted."  "Did you hear that?" my husband asked me.  "The bridge is haunted."

Peaceful as it seems, does evil lurk beneath?

The story goes that in 1880, the German Swiss immigrants Henry & Philip Hembt built a road over Callicoon Creek connecting the old Newburg-Cochecton Turnpike and Callicoon Valley, a road that was important for commerce.  Less than two years later, in 1882, a hex murder was committed on that bridge, labeling it forever as haunted.  This is what happened.  Adam Heidt thought himself cursed by George Markert's hex, a hex which was making Heidt's life miserable.  One dark night, Adam & his son, with the hope of ending the hex, attacked Markert, killed him, and threw him over the bridge into the cold waters below.  It is said that on cold dark nights, Markert's ghost can be seen walking over the bridge, a bridge which is now a preserved historical structure.  I wonder if the ghost is included in that historical preservation.

They say that on dark cold nights, the ghost appears.

Is that the ghost reflected in the waters below?

Is that the ghost walking over the bridge? No, it's not dark enough! It's just Marash Boy looking for the ghost!

Below are the images of the three arched stone bridge that line the walls of the Stone Arch Inn; over the years, the bridge has captured the imagination of all who live in and around Jeffersonville, New York.

 

Can you find the ghost in any of the images above?