Five best-kept secrets of Westchester County
While making the trek into New York City is worth it, sometimes we don’t want to venture too far from home. For a little fun in our area, we found a few hidden gems in Westchester County to add to your summer scavenger hunt.
Eat hot dogs from a temple-like stand.
Walter’s Hot Dogs, a Westchester institution and nationally registered historic landmark, has been serving its frankfurters since 1919, and has been housed in a copper-roofed Chinese pagoda since 1928. Sink your teeth into the beef-pork-and-veal dogs, served on a toasted bun with Walter’s signature mustard. Walter’s Hot Dogs is located at 937 Palmer Ave., Mamaroneck.
Visit Washington Irving’s gravesite.
Originally opened in 1849 as Tarrytown Cemetery, Sleepy Hollow Cemetery is the final resting place of many famous New Yorkers, including Washington Irving, author of the town’s eponymous legend, Walter Chrysler, who commissioned the Chrysler Building in Manhattan, and William and John D. Rockefeller, founders of the Standard Oil Company. Wander the 85-acre grounds to see beautiful gravestones and sculptures (maps are available), or participate in a walking tour to learn about what makes the cemetery so special.
See Matisse and Chagall works in an unassuming church.
Visit Kykuit, and you’ll discover the Rockefellers were lovers of fine art. But you don’t need to tour the estate to see fine works purchased or commissioned by the family. Union Church of Pocantico Hills is home to stained glass windows by Henri Matisse and Marc Chagall. The rose window was Matisse’s last work of art before his death in 1954, and the Good Samaritan window by Chagall, which spans eight windows in the nave of the church, memorializes a number of the Rockefellers. Union Church of Pocantico Hills is located at 555 Bedford Road, Pocantico Hills.
Go on a foraging walk.
You can find edible foods right in your local parks! Though his home base in in the city, Wildman Steve Brill regularly hosts foraging walks in White Plains, Bedford, and Dobbs Ferry. You’ll learn about renewable, wild edible and medicinal plants and mushrooms that many destroy as weeds, and how to utilize them every day.
Watch the progress of the New NY Bridge.
Do you have a little engineer who is curious about the New NY Bridge? Do you wonder how the bridge has progressed since work started in 2015? Head to the viewing platform in Tarrytown’s Scenic Hudson RiverWalk Park to get a view of the action. The platform features viewing scopes and informational panels, including a spotter’s guide that identifies different equipment being used. Plus, see if you can spot the peregrine falcons that reside on the current Tappan Zee Bridge.
Main image: The Good Samaritan window by Marc Chagall was originally commissioned by David Rockefeller in 1963 as a memorial to his father, John D. Rockefeller, Jr. It has since expanded and includes eight windows in the nave of the church, memorializing other Rockefeller family members.
Jaime Martorano
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