Historic Outings: Trips Through History

Richmond Town
441 Clarke Ave.
Staten Island, NY
(718) 351-1611
www.historicrichmondtown.org

Actors at Staten Island’s Richmond Town preparing a feast.

In the heart of Staten Island, there's a place where you can walk through history. It's called Richmond Town, a living museum that shows visitors little slices of life from New York City's past.

The village - which boasts 17 restored historic buildings situated on 25 acres - paints a portrait of daily life in Staten Island over the last 300 years. Historians demonstrate how people used to dress, eat, talk and socialize at different times in history, ranging from the first settlers in 1650 to the early industrialists of 1880.

Richmond Town used to be the county seat of Staten Island, but the area lost importance to other coastal towns during the 19th century. But thanks to this historic preservation, a project started in 1959, New Yorkers can always get a glimpse of its glory days. $5 for adults, $4 for seniors, $3.50 for kids; there is no charge for children under five years of age.

Bethpage
Round Swamp Road
Old Bethpage, NY
(516) 572-8400

A blacksmith in Richmond Town gives a demonstration.

Take a trip back in time this summer with an outing to Old Bethpage Village Restoration, a pre-Civil War Long Island Village that illustrates how it was to live in a mid-19th century American village.

The 209-acre village displays an assortment of homes, farms and businesses and includes 51 historic structures that were saved from destruction, moved to the site and accurately restored to a specific point in their history. Costumed interpreters portraying farmers, teachers, storekeepers and blacksmiths live out the life of the period.

Old Bethpage is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday during the summer months. The village shuts down in December.

Admission is $7 for adults and $5 for children and seniors. Children under four are free.

County Fairs

If you think the church fairs held in Queens are exciting and filled with great food, rides and entertainment, you've never been to a genuine County Fair in upstate New York.

Dutchess and Ulster counties, which lie directly across from each other on opposite sides of the Hudson River, turn August into a month-long party, though, admittedly, with a bit of an agricultural twist.

The Ulster County Fair is held at - where else? - the Ulster County Fairgrounds in New Paltz. Smaller in scale, this is probably the more romantic of the two. The rides are close together, the setting is more intimate and the food is top-notch. When you get a cheesesteak sandwich, it's not some sliced meat that has been sitting in a brine waiting for somebody to order. No, full roasts are placed onto automated slicers that keep going, and the freshly carved meat is piled high on soft buns and smothered in cheese.

On the other side of the river is where you get a bit more of the country flavor, with an emphasis on the agricultural end of the fair - ribbons are handed out on the hour, or so it seems, and competitions go on for days with young kids and their prized cows.

Sure, it ain't the city, but it sure as heck beats being crammed elbow-to-elbow into a parking lot as house music thumps and you pay $4 for a hot dog.

Dutchess County Fair
Aug. 19-24
10 a.m. - 10 p.m.
(845) 876-4001
www.dutchessfair.com

Ulster County Fair
July 29-Aug. 3
(845) 255-1380
www.ulstercountyfair.com
Gates open at 10 a.m. excluding Tuesdays when gates open at 4 p.m. Gates close Tues-Thurs, 10 p.m., Friday-Sat 12 a.m., Sunday 8 p.m.

Kutztown Festival
Kutztown, Penn.
(888) 674-6136
www.kutztownfestival.com
June 29-July 6, 9 a.m.-6 p.m.

Affordable family fun is in abundance at the Kutztown Folk Festival, taking place June 29 to July 6 at the Kutztown Fairgrounds.

The event features America's largest quilt sale, a virtual gallery of more than 2,000 quilts displayed for sale. The festival will also feature live shows at the Children's Farmyard Theater, 200 folk artists and traditional American craftsmen demonstrating and offering an exceptional range of fine works, six stages of folksy entertainment and, most importantly, a bounty of Pennsylvania Dutch Food including funnel cake, waffles, pretzels, smoked meats, ox roast and much more.

The Kutztown Festival also offers a window into Pennsylvania living history and folk life. Daily admission to the Festival is $12.