Saturday, January 2, 2016

What do you mean you've never been to Bogota, New Jersey? Bergen County fun

This piece originally appeared in December 2012 at another site

Not too long ago I relocated from Oakland, California to the NYC area.  On a recent afternoon, my father, chess book author Fred Wilson, took me to small Bergen County, New Jersey town called BOGOTA, New Jersey to check out a tiny row of antique shops on Fort Lee Road near the railroad tracks. The stores are full of cool, reasonably priced collectibles and furnishings.  These cartoon wood cut out figures of 1940s cartoon character Jiggs and a lady were on display at the first shop . . .


The highlight of Bogota's 'blink and you'll miss it' row of antiques shops is a gem of a store called Good Things run by a friendly and knowledgable fellow named Dan Navarro, who still has a day job at a publishing company when not running the shop.  He has a great selection of items that could rival the inventory in any hipster Soho shop of similar antiques but I bet Bogota's treasures are more reasonably priced . . . rare, mod Italian lamps, vintage belt buckles, assorted vases, figurines and a gold leaf deco cat are just some of Dan's cherry picked goodies that make Bogota worth a trip over the Hudson River.
 
me in front of Good Things
my father talking with Dan of Good Things


Funky medical ear chart tray at Good Things

cool cookie jar at Good Things
Dan recommended a film about Bogota called 'Anytown, USA'.  Another highlight of his groovy little shop was seeing the cool apple cookie jar at Good Things and then buying some cookies at the Palisades Park bakery!  We finished up with lunch at a real, chrome diner, the Jackson Hole in Englewood, New Jersey which has excellent food.  They have little, flip card jukeboxes at each table and make real whipped cream for the sundaes.
cookies from the Palisades Park bakery
Jackson Hole Diner in Englewood, NJ

No comments:

Post a Comment