Cragsmoor, NY

This weekend I went up to Cragsmoor, NY, with my dad & grandpa. It's a small town on a mountain about 90 miles north of NYC, where my grandpa was born & lived until he was 18 and went off to college. My aunt Ann is looking to buy a house there now, so we went to check it out and see the village. We got to meet a bunch of people and see some pretty cool places all around the area.

This is the house my aunt wants to buy. It's got 2 bedrooms, a 1-bedroom cottage on the property and lots of land in the backyard. There's also a view of 2 separate mountain ranges. Oh, and I saw a snake out back when we were walking around - yikes!

The Ellenville Reformed Church, where my grandma and grandpa got married in 1941. The ceremony was actually in the portion of the building on the right of the church. The sign out front declares that the first service held here was in 1841.

We visited Mohonk Mountain House. It's this huge resort built in 1869 up in the mountains on Lake Mohonk. Lot's of activities (golf, hiking, swimming, horse-back riding, etc.) and beautiful views all around.

On Saturday we went to the annual Birdcage party in Cragsmoor. It's a benefit for the Cragsmoor Free Library, and everyone puts their donations in the birdcage hanging from the tree. Everyone brings a dish to set out and share, and it's held at a different home around town each year. This year it was at Tom Gale's house, next to the Stone Church.

When we got back to NY we went to visit Ellis Island. They have a great museum there to explore and learn more about the immigration process throughout the years.

On the boat over to Ellis Island.

Grandpa had the names of our relatives who came through Ellis Island put on the wall, so we spent some time finding them all.