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LIROADTRIP1123238A_2023-11-23-08-53-59

December holidays, it moves that quickly. And on this week's road trip, close to home, our Angela Cascarano takes us on a family fun journey through Eisenhower Park's Holiday Light show on this road trip. Close to home, we're in Nassau County inside Eisenhower Park. And Luminosity is back for its fifth year. This year's theme is the Magical Wonder Journey where you can catch Alice in Wonderland. It comes to life with illuminated sculptures and hundreds of thousands of lights like this tea party. We watch so many movies and that's from the Alice in Wonderland Collection while we are watching the movie, we're like, oh my God, we can make this internet lights that into the lights. So that whole journey is like so precious. The Long Island Children's Museum and Luminosity partnered together to bring the Fiddler Crab and the whole underwater journey to life. This year, our special program with the Children's Museum in Long Island where we turn children's join into our, our lanterns. Um So there are 11 kids selected, which is really hard for us. There's over 500 kids participate and they are all amazing. Our mascot Lumi, which is this giant B you can find it everywhere you can enjoy. Luminosity through January 7th on this road trip. Close to home. I'm Angela Cascarano News. 12 Long Island. Happy holidays.

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roadtrip1123_2023-11-23-08-04-54

It is the first community of its kind in Connecticut and it's the perfect destination for holiday shopping in this week's road trip. Close to home news, 12 photojournalist, Laurie Goliath takes us to live work and play in Oxford. Today we're at Quarry Walk in Oxford, Connecticut. It's an interesting concept. It's a live work play, dying health care community. You could spend an hour here, you could spend a day here or as our residents who live here. You can spend a lifetime here prior to Coy Walk being here, Oxford had really no commerce. So here at Quarry Wok, we're situated down just over 30 acres and we have soup to nuts. So at Quarry Walk, there's a huge variety of restaurants and pub style places to eat from that pub style to uh ramen to a five guys burgers. We are at tea with Tracy Oxford. So we are at the Quarry Walk. We do um breakfast, lunch and Wednesday through Saturday. We do dinner. We have our afternoon tea. It's traditional scones sandwich and desserts and it comes with a pot of tea. We have our advent calendars. It is 25 days of tea. And there's some Christmas and then there's some non Christmas flavors. The beauty of it is you have the small boutiques. These are businesses that are owned and operated by an individual or a family. So you get that true personalized attention. I think that's what sets us apart. Um, is our personalized service. We are zi Bra boutique located at Coo, we specialize in putting women in the right size bra shop. Local is so important to all of us these days. You know, when you come in, we really try to give you that extra experience of, of why you're here. Our store is called the Toy Tree and it's in Quarry Walk in Oxford, Connecticut. It's always fun to come to a toy store no matter what. We have things for babies on up to grown adults and we sell lots of specialty items that you can't find in the big box stores. We love to shop local ourselves. So we like to buy from mom and pop shops ourselves and uh support local as well. We think quarry walk is great all year long. It really starts to capture the imagination during the holiday season. The place is very magical. All lit up coy walk um is very much a pedestrian destination. So it it truly is a family friendly, pet, friendly uh one stop shop. And we like to think that everything is here. The businesses that are here are businesses that are in your community and the type of businesses that we all want to support. We love Coyo because it's such a great place to shop, to walk around. It's just such a nice community. You can't miss it. Shop sip and stroll is at quarry walk on the 30th of this month.

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MTNJRoadTrip4p0126_2023-01-26-16-29-24

This is certainly different if you're looking for new ways to test your archery skills or maybe just try it for the first time. Yeah, why not? New soul? Photojournalist mike roberts takes us on a road trip close to home. You know how they tell you to do what you enjoy. I spend more time teaching and doing archery than my other business. Now somebody was actually selling the business. So I came in as a partner because I really didn't know much, learned everything from scratch and here I am. I retired five years ago, I enjoyed archery when I was young. Let me get back into archery. I came here, I took lessons from jay. Our facility is a little small so we do recommend making a reservation. I was meaning to charge for a really long time actually, ever since I was a little kid and I don't know today, I was like, you know what let's accomplish this dream. The good news is if you need any extra help like me, they do offer lessons, you're gonna raise the ball right up to your shoulder height, standing straight. I wanted to teach people the correct way. Okay, so touch your chin. I like to teach in recurve 123. I think you get a better sense of what is the proper technique you have to try and figure out why or where you are and adjust so that you're correcting the errors. It's not important where you're touching, but it is important to touch in the same spot. I secretly listen to every single thing he says to you guys. I will attempt to beat mike the photo extraordinaire in this archery competition. Am I allowed to be critiqued in between shots? I'm like right next to you. Look at that, yikes, I'm sorry I have to win like 80% is all new people who's never done it before. They end up liking archery so much I like seeing improvement in my my accuracy today was my best day. I am going to be back for sure.

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Has a new name and a fresh, new look. That's right. But the family recipes that have made the Polish Deli stand out for decades, they have not been touched since the shop first opened. New Songs. Doug G takes us inside Polka Deli. In this week's East End is a Polish town. And for decades, this Polish Deli has been a popular spot for both locals and out of towners. I'm super happy. Super proud Anna Tarnowska recently took over the deli which her uncle and aunt started. Decades ago. She changed the name to Polka Deli. Did some changes to the inside but kept what everyone comes here for delicious authentic Polish foods. We do everything from scratch and the pierogies. Of course, different kinds of pierogies. All those comfort foods were a welcome sight to long time customers who initially were confused by the New Decor. When we changed these, the deli cases, I saw the loyal customers they would open the door and like, oh wrong place, sorry, they turn around, come back and they're like, no, wow, what a change? Another change involves the sweets. Some Polish staples such as Babka are still brought in from a bakery in Brooklyn. But other things are made from scratch here, including blueberry danish, which Anna started baking on Sunday morning. I started making six. now I'm up to 100 and 60 they go before noon, they're gone. People like our food. So I I'm very, very thankful for more information about Polka Deli. Other fun spots in the area to visit and to see more of my east end segments. Go to news, twelve.com/east end in Riverhead, Doug G news 12 Long Island.

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BXBKRoadTrip112323noon_2023-11-23-13-35-04

If you're looking for some fun things to do around Town News 12 has you covered in this week's road trip? Close to home. We are kicking off the holiday season with light scape. This is at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden News twelve's Marissa Marcelino gives us an inside look at this fun festive event. The magic of the holiday season takes on a whole new meaning at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. When you wind your way through the grounds after dark as they transform into light scape, you've got these big beautiful oak trees and pine trees and they become magical elements in an enchanted forest landscape. Feast your eyes on a colored fountain show that rivals the Bellagio in Vegas, harmonize with singing trees and see a giant supernova light up the night. They may have come to the garden 100 times, but when they see it by us, I hope they get something fresh and exciting across the 52 acres. You'll see over a million lights in 18 different exhibits and in some, you'll even hear some hit tunes. It's kind of like you go to a Broadway show and it has 18 hit songs starting at the beginning and going to a great crescendo end because there's a lot of new things here and it's at the, it starts with a bang, it ends with a bang as you gaze at the displays, you'll hear Christmas classics and of course, some Taylor Swift festive snacks like a Smores cup and hot apple cider will keep you and your family warm during this unforgettable inner active experience. This is very much a cultural headquarters of Brooklyn. And we, we feel like we're creating a very new, very Brooklyn holiday tradition for all of New York. You can check out lights gate through January 1st and you could buy tickets online at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Marissa Marcelino News 12.

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Well, if you're looking for a family activity, you're in luck opening today for the season. It was Wykoff Christmas Tree Farm. Our Karina Gary has more. It's the most wonderful time of the year. That's right now that Thanksgiving is over. It's time to get out your Christmas decorations and pick the perfect Christmas tree. That's why I'm here in Warren County at W Cross Christmas Tree Farm where they put a little remix on your classic Christmas tree. That's right. Colored trees and I'm not talking about fake trees, real Christmas trees. You can chop down yourself is like I always say the, the lady that comes in with purple glasses, purple coat, purple boots, she doesn't want a green tree. Of course, they also offer your regular green tree. The white Coffs have been in the Christmas tree business since 1958. The farm has over 70 acres of trees, that's 70,000 trees in total. And this season there's 7000 available, but it's not only Christmas trees that they offer, they also have a Christmas barn filled with Christmas ornaments, mugs, bells, local grown wine and so much more fresh wreaths, greens, gray blankets cemetery boxes and all decorating items, uh as well as local honey, local wine and maple syrup. And it's not only New Jerseyans who come to the farm, they've also had people from as far away as Georgia make the trip. Whatever I can do to make somebody's Christmas brighter. We're happy to do it. It's important to remember growing Christmas trees takes a lot of time and love. It can take between 7 to 10 years to grow your average Christmas tree when you see the smiles on folks faces when they're coming out of the field with a Christmas tree and the kids are dragging the tree. It's, it doesn't get any better than that in Warren County. I'm Karina Gary News 12.

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wohop

Right now we are in a Chinatown Manhattan where there's restaurants and food and culture galore. But the reasons that make the restaurant just down the steps behind us so special go far beyond just the menu items. Yeah, it's just the best food around. We come here like minimum every two weeks, minimum. It's a gym in this area. Woop restaurant is recognized as the oldest and best restaurant in all of Chinatown traditional old fashioned Chinese restaurant since 1938 and general manager of the world renowned favorite calls it a family affair. Every time they visit New York or they live around here, they bring their new generation here and also they can bring back their memory. Recently awarded the 2022 James Beard America's classic on account of their quote, timeless appeal and reflection of its community. Woop is sure to leave your belly and heart full. What did it feel like when you heard that you won? It was because we didn't know that you can make it. But finally we make it. Huang may have been shocked by the recent win but other Woop regulars were not, the service is wonderful. The food is fantastic. And I think if anyone who wants to economize and get the best high quality kind of Chinese food, really. This is a gift. Long time customer Andrew to calls the traditional Chinese restaurant a generational gem. I've been coming here since 1986 but my wife has been here has been longer than that, like 40 something years. I've been coming here since I was seven years old. My dad, my son who's in Austin comes every month and says mom, we have to go down to Chinatown to Austin as in Austin, Texas. Yep, it's that good. It's beef youngs, chow mein. It's, it's fried noodles with vegetables and all kinds of goodies on top. It's delicious. If you haven't tried it, I'd encourage you to try that one time. So, maybe the secrets in woops history. They're delicious dumplings and mouthwatering Loma. Or maybe it's in the memories of diners past decorating the walls. Either way to says, people know it from all over the world. So you're lucky if you here in Chinatown, Manhattan. I'm Jordan Kisa News 12.

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It's time to get active in this week's road trip. Close to home news, twelve's Nikita Ramos takes us to Spins Hudson in Peekskill where they have it all. We're established. 2017 started off with Bocci ping pong shuffle board and then just changed over the years. Now. We have ax throwing laser tag arcades. Ropes course, keep going. Don't give up. We have dance games. We have like a, a dance dance revolution over here. It's actually called Step Maniacs. We have air hockey, we have basketball, race car games, motorcycle games and we're actually about to start renovation on party rooms up front and we're gonna double arcade size. Yeah. Laser tag is very popular. It's two floors. It's fantastic. So it's a blast. Got you got her. The games are six minutes. What you thought that was? And they get a little break in between. You can sex me like this. Oh no, because trust me running around two floors. Six minute shooting up people. Great tag. You need a quick breather. Say bye bye, gutter. We have ropes course which I've been told is one of the best ones here on the east coast. I'm ready to climb guys. We have an indoor, outdoor, it goes up 55 ft inside is 25. You gotta push with your legs. Will you go through a brief ring? Take those two black handles out there. You see how to get harnessed up properly on the blue vertical, just straight up and down, like rock climbing walls. I want to make it to the top. I'm not afraid of heights or anything, But the first time I did it literally jumping off it getting a little queasy. I think that's the funnest part is the coming down. We're all big kids at heart, so we have a spot for everybody. It does look like a lot of fun.

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You think your holiday lights are cool? Take a Road Trip Close to Home with News 12 for a real show!

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