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

She's crafty! Snooki's charming art show in New Jersey

Everyone's favorite Jersey Shore starlet Snooki appeared at an event on February 22, 2015 at a Veterans' hall in New Jersey. She displayed her hand decorated crafts and took pictures with fans and donated proceeds to a veterans' fund. Nicole 'Snooki' Polizzi was dressed cute in a 'grunge'-style plaid over-shirt and big frame glasses to complete her artist look!

Snooki and her helpers were charming and her crafts were cute! Hand painted mugs and shot glasses were adorned with leopard spots and sayings like "I'm ANTI Morning".

Snooki and writerebecca

Ode to New Jersey

things I like about New Jersey that I missed in California...close proximity to NYC, daffodils and irises

bagels,  

pizza,

loudmouths, diners, 

 buildings made of bricks, 

no hipsters,

 change of the seasons, 

green grass with dandelions in it, 

the ravine,

old ladies who have their hair done just to run errands, 

Babe's taxi sign in Fort Lee NJ which reminds me of Babe Ruth and the yankees, small town political rivalries, 

 

Fort Lee, NJ Italian Saint Rocco parade

 the Mets logo on shirts, comic book shops with less emphasis on Tolkien and more on DC and Marvel, everyone walking their kids to school,

 driving across the George Washington Bridge, buying good sweaters in the thriftshops but window shopping at Henri Bendels and Bergdorf Goodmans and Trash and Vaudeville, 

nut vendors on Canal Street, old bars in Manhattan, Broadway casts - wait I'm talking about New York now

All photos c 2014 by Rebecca G. Wilson