Volume 16, No. 1January 9th - January 26th 2012FREE PUBLICATION

201-349-4336

Pg. 2 On the Cover

Home Decor

Pg. 13 At the Movies

Pgs. 14 - 16

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I t may seem like an adventurous task – presenting 5,000 years of Chinese culture in one show – and that’s exactly what Shen Yun 2012 sets out to do on Wednesday Jan. 11th –to – Sun, Jan. 15th, at the David H. Koch Theater in Lincoln Center. Prepare to be dazzled! Told through dance, music and song and performed in more than 100 cities around the world, Shen Yun is a collection of short performance pieces that interpret the legends of Chinese culture’s creation and history over 5,000 years. One of the writers and Master of Ceremonies is Leeshai Lemish, who has been with the Shen Yun Performing Arts troupe, based in Orange County, New York, since its inception in 2006. Lemish has emceed more than 400 Shen Yun performances in English and Chinese, has

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Shen Yun 2012 Presents 5,000 Years of Chinese Culture at Lincoln Center – 5 Nights Only!

traveled with the show all over the world and calls Jersey City home. “We have 90 performers and that includes a dance company – 40 to 50 dancers – a full orchestra, vocalists, technical crew and we have three companies that size that tour at the same time in the states and all over the world, ” Lemish says. Shen Yun features traditional Chinese culture and each year it’s a brand new show of dancers in beautiful costumes; singers and an orchestra that blends the sounds of East and West with thunderous drums and classical Chinese instruments. Shen Yun is a visual spectacle of music and dance performed in front of spectacularly vivid and colorful backdrops.

By Sally Deering

River View Observer – Page 2

on the cover . . .By Sally Deering

“One of the themes in the show is the ancient belief that Chinese culture was divinely inspired and passed down from the heavens,” Lemish says. “You see it through the ethnic and folk dances – loyalty and courage, compassion and tolerance – and all the themes that run through folk tales. This culture has five thousand years of history and since the Cultural Revolution a lot of this has been destroyed.” Although Shen Yun performs all over the world – this year Shen Yun performs at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., the War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco and Le Palais Des Congres in Paris, France – China has banned it. “The company is not

allowed to perform in China,” Lemish says. “The Regime, there 60 years, is trying to destroy Chinese culture. In the Cultural Revolution they were targeting traditional culture and thousands of years have been wiped out.” Shen Yun preserves Chinese heritage through the traditional dance, music, costumes and storytelling. The folk tales and legends; the idea of self-refinement where people in their daily lives try to align themselves in a higher purpose and connect the human realm with the heavenly realm, this is the spiritual side to the performance Lemish says. And those stories are told through Classical Chinese dance and music with traditional Chinese instruments and costumes

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co-hosted the kids’ TV show “Learning Chinese is Fun,” produced in Taiwan, and has published articles on China in English and Chinese. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Asian Studies from Pomona College in Claremont, California and a Master’s Degree in International Relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science. Lemish says his passion for Chinese culture goes back to his college days playing baseball. “I was a pitcher and I was getting into the mental side of the game, ” Lemish says. “All top atheletes in any sport say it’s 90 percent mental. I tried guided imagery and meditation, yoga, Zen and Tai Chi, I became interested in Chinese philosophy, religion and culture. ”

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like imperial dragon robes, warriors’ armor and attire worn by the Manchurian, Tibetan, Dai, Mongol, and Uyghur groups. An excerpt posted from the company’s website, www.shenyun performingarts.org explains the history of the stories told in Shen Yun: “Shen Yun’s mini-drama pieces draw upon stories and legends that span China’s history from the Yellow Emperor and through the Tan and Song dynasties and all the way to the modern day. A unique feature of Chinese civilization is that its history has been documented and passed down uninterrupted for 5,000 years, sometimes in vivid detail. This provides Shen Yun with vast source material, making it possible to revive this ancient culture on a present-stage. In less than ten minutes,

Shen Yun dances recount ancient myths, bygone heroes, or celestial paradises. Whether set in the past or in contemporary China, every dance embodies traditional Chinese values. Ideals of loyalty, filial piety and veneration for the divine are cherished and celebrated. Heroes are extolled for their compassion and tolerance as much as (for) their courage or determination when facing adversity.” “China is a big part of all consciousness, ” Lemish says. “Few people in the west know much about it. We may know about the human rights issues, but go all the way back to the traditions. If you understand the history and background, you have a much stronger context to understand. ” Lemish, who was born inOhio and grew up in Israel –

con’t from pg. 2 In 2011, Shen Yun performed for Royals in London and to packed houses in Asia, and received standing ovations at Lincoln Center in New York. Visit the website and you’ll read reviews by stars like Cate Blanchett: “…it was exquisitely beautiful,” and fashion designer Donna Karen who said, “Shen Yun is like taking a journey to China.” Shen Yun performs at Lincoln Center Jan 11th through the 15th and then the show travels on to Washington D.C., San Francisco and Paris, France. It may not be welcome in

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China, yet, but Shen Yun has a loyal following here in the states and around the world, offering us westerners a glimpse into a culture whose calendar dates back 3,000 years from ours. That, in itself, is interesting -- add music, dance, costumes and sets – and that’s Shen Yun.

Wed. Jan. 11th toSun. Jan. 15th, 2012

Shen Yun 2012 Lincoln Center

The David H. Koch Theater20 Lincoln Center

New York, NY 10023For more info: 1-888-974-3698

www.shenyunperformingarts.org

Visit www.njrockstar.comfor video & photo coverage of our weekly FUN Fridays

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Hudson Then...Again Ah, the misguided ingenuityof the criminal mind.

by Maureen Wlodarczyk While researching my second book, Young & Wicked, I spent many hours ferreting out and reading 19th century newspaper stories related to one of the central characters, Wil-lie Flannelly, Jersey City bad boy and my great-grandmother’s second cousin. Among the various true stories of his juvenile delinquency and anti-social behavior was one recounting him using a slungshot blow to the head to knock out a popular local featherweight boxer named Cal McCarthy. Different from a slingshot, a slungshot was a maritime tool consisting of a weight attached to a heavy cord that later became a favorite concealed weapon of thugs in the late 1800s.

Callahan J. McCarthy was born in Pennsylvania in 1867 and came to the Horse-shoe section of Jersey City with his Irish immigrant parents about five years later. One of six children, he made his first public appearance as an amateur boxer in 1887 in association with the Scottish-American Club of Jersey City.

A bare knuckles fighter and all of 5’ 2” and 100 pounds, he won the American ama-teur 110-pound champion-ship that year and turned pro in early 1888. McCarthy, called the “Wonder,” had a great left jab and quick cat-like movements. He went on to fight more than 40 bouts in various venues around the country, taking on both American and European opponents and won the Featherweight

Champion ship of America.In 1890 in Boston, he took on George Dixon in a bout that went on for 70 rounds until a draw was declared. In their second meeting in 1891, Dixon beat McCarthy in 22 rounds. Following that defeat, McCarthy reportedly turned to drinking, soon los-ing his form and discipline but still fighting sporadical-ly. The young boxer never regained his stride, was stricken with tuberculosis and, still planning a boxing comeback, died in 1895 at 28 years old. Despite that, he was remembered by fight fans and sports writers who, two decades later, still reminisced about McCarthy when talking about the latest crop of young featherweight and bantam boxers.

In 1889, as McCarthy was turning pro, another Irish-American boy and future pugilist,

Francis (Frankie) Burns was born in Jersey City. By 1910, the Burns family, living on First Street accord-ing to the 1910 U.S. Census, was headed by 20-year-old Frankie Burns, a “helper” at an express company, and

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The Fighting Irish of Jersey CityCallahan J. McCarthy

and Francis (Frankie) Burns

Love to Read? The Readers’ Circle book group resumes on Thursday, January 19 to discuss the novel NEVER LET ME GO by Kazuo Ishiguro.In 2012 the group will continue to meet on the 3rd Thursday of the month at 7:00pm in All Saints, 701 Washington Street, in Hoboken.

The Readers’ Circle is a community event. All book lovers are welcome. Bring a friend. Free coffee and cake is served.

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Hudson Then...Again -Cont’d from pg. 4

included his twice-widowed mother Mary and several younger siblings. Burns had started boxing in 1908 and in January 1911, at 5’5” and weighing in at 117 pounds, Burns fought Englishman Digger Stanley, the British bantam champion, in a ten-round bout at New York’s National Sporting Club.

Newspapers covering the Burns-Stanley match mentioned Burns’ rise from “tail boy” working the back end of Adams Express wagons to world champion contender in less than a year, describing the fight as “one of the greatest boxing bouts ever seen in this coun-try between two little men,”

bell rang for the last round, “the crowd was on its feet” and “cheers almost shook the building.” While local papers called Burns the “practical winner” of the fight, boxing records call it a “no decision” or draw. A week after the Stanley fight, the Wilkes-Barre (Penn-sylvania) Times carried a piece titled “Frankie Burns – Great Bantam – Bread Winner of Family.” The article described Burns as a “clean living and ambitious young fellow” who had come from obscurity to within sight of a championship in just three years despite losing his father at age 5 and working since he was 11 to help support his mother and siblings, including paying medical bills for a handicapped sister. Known as a talented, quick and clever boxer, Burns fought as both a bantam and featherweight and, in over a decade in the ring, had more than 150 matches as a consis-tent championship contender, taking on other top boxers of the day including Johnny Coulon, Eddie Campi and Johnny Kilbane. Burns was often compared to Cal McCarthy, one newspaper describing Burns as “the greatest little fighting man New Jersey has produced since Cal McCarthy, the idol of the Horseshoe.” The well-respected fighter passed away in 1961 at age 71 and, in 1969, he was inducted into the New Jersey Boxing Hall of Fame.Maureen Wlodarczyk is a fourth-generation-born Jersey City girl and the author of two books about life in Jersey City in the 1800s and early 1900s: Past-Forward: A Three-Decade and Three-Thousand-Mile Journey Home and Young & Wicked: The Death of a Wayward Girl and has just announced that the third book in her Jersey City trilogy, Canary in a Cage, will be available begin-ning this month. For info: www.canaryinacage.com.

and reporting that when the

Just Your Average Teenage Diplomats: An Inside Look at the Model UN at

Bayonne’s Marist High School

By Paige Morris, Senior- Contributing Writer The desks in a room are chaotically arranged into groups of three or four. Books and binders lay open, their pages heavily highlighted. The United States, Japan, and South Korea discuss the rights of refugees in one corner. The Philippines chimes in on the dangers of narcoterrorism in another. But all this isn’t happening in a conference hall in New York or Geneva. It’s happening in a Marist High School classroom, where students suddenly find themselves serving as emissaries, preparing for the Model UN.

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Marist UN -Cont’d from page 5 A relatively small and unknown group at the school, the Model UN is usually mistaken for a club about modeling. Needless to say, many would-be participants are shocked to learn what this activity actually entails. The group is led by history department chair, Mr. Tom Murphy. “You represent [a] country, so you have to research your individual country — your allies, your enemies, their position on your topic. You have to know a lot more than just your topic and your country. You have to know, virtually, the positions of the entire world,” says Catherine Weening, a senior and three-time Model UN win-ner currently preparing for her fourth conference. The Model UN is a simulation of an actual United Nations conference, with one glaring difference: all the representa-tives — despite their sharp business attire and fancy-looking portfolios — are actually high school and college students, simply playing a role. Of course, some take that role more seriously than others. “Oh, it’s cutthroat,” Weening says, laughing. “I mean, you can just lay back and chill there for the entire conference. But if you’re like me, you want to be in it to

win it. You’re not there to make friends. You’re there to win.” At the Model UN conferences, delegates can win prizes for anything from the most well-written position paper to their ability to debate alone or as a team. Weening herself has won the awards for Outstanding Delegate in both her freshman and sophomore years, and Honorable Mention Delegate her junior year. She walks into these conferences with full confidence now, but she’s seen others crumble under the stress of the competition, resorting to extreme measures in order to win. “People have been known to try to hack into computers to delete resolution papers,” she recalls. “It gets pretty bloodthirsty out there.” While the discussions do tend to be fiery and the delegates can get merciless, the Model UN is a social experience unlike any other. Delegates from North Korea and South Korea might reach a compromise in the first hour of the conference, and the United States might work on a resolution with Iran during the next few hours. By the next day, they could all be back to feuding, fighting to pass a resolution and make their countries’ voices heard. Here, anything goes.

hob’art cooperative Establishes Permanent Gallery at Monroe Center hob’art cooperative gallery announced today that it has leased permanent gallery space at Monroe Center. Working closely with Monroe Center’s owner, Hershy Weiss, hob’art’s new gallery will be lo-cated on the 2nd floor next to the Monroe Center Theater. Liz Cohen, President of hob’art, founded the organization eleven years ago by approaching a number of Hoboken artists to establish a cooperative association. Ms. Cohen lives and works in Hoboken and has curated many exhibits for the association both in Hudson County and other venues. “Hob’art was founded as a moving art exhibition until a permanent home was established and we are delighted that Monroe Center has worked with us to meet this long awaited goal,” said Ms. Cohen. “With this space we can now reach out to the community to offer discussions, workshops, and forums which is another important aspect of our mission.” Today, hob’art cooperative gallery has 56 members from Hudson County and other parts of North Jer-

sey. The gallery’s first exhibition will open in February, with the public invited to a grand opening celebration of the only coopera-tive gallery in Hoboken. “Hob’art is an organization that is truly dedicated to pro-moting art in Hoboken not only among other artists, but also in the community at large,” said Mr. Weiss. “This perfectly comple-ments the vision of Monroe Center and we couldn’t be more excited to be the home of their permanent gallery.” France Garrido, the new Director of the gallery, is a Wee-hawken resident and a profes-sional curator. She is currently co-curator of Visionaries, a show to open in 2012 at a CUNY gal-lery. She is also on the staff of the Deptartment of Education of the Newark Museum and Urban Arts at the Monroe Art Center. Her artwork is included in the ‘Visionary Art Yearbook 2010-2011 by Otto Rapp and the 2009 ‘Lexikon der Phantastischen Künstler’, a compilation of Inter-national Artists.

River View Observer Our 15th Year Serving

Hudson County

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seating area within an open floor plan. And - of special interest to the many boomers who are eschewing retirement - find a standing wood-panel screen to create privacy or isolate a work space, say, in a bedroom office area.* And don’t forget to make it sustainable. For more information on American Hardwoods, visit www.HardwoodInfo.com.

Living large in smaller spaces: The shrinking,

changing American home(ARA) - The American home may be shrinking, but not the Great American Dream. Amer-icans are still living large, just doing so in smaller spaces. To some trend-watchers, the downscaling of the Ameri-can home comes as good news. Architects, designers and so-cial observers say our willing-ness to resize our floor space means Americans are rethink-ing the way we really live and how we use whatever space we do have. Home, they say, has become less about impressing others and more about making ourselves happy. And since we are mostly baby boomers - that tidal wave of Americans born between 1946 and 1964 - who have long been accustomed to getting what we want, happi-ness is often defined in terms

published the first in her best-selling series of “The Not So Big House” books. Her mantra is indeed, think smaller, and she also believes that “luxury comes from the materials we sur-round ourselves with. Beauty comes from natural materials. You can see where they come from - in the grain, the veining. The more natural the materi-als, like real hardwoods and granite, the more content you are. There’s a quality you can’t name, but you can feel it.”Gale Steves, author, editor and design industry consultant sums up a similar concept in her book about “Right-Sizing Your Home.” According to Steves, “Right-sizing is about

making the best use of the spaces you have for the way you live.” She suggests these ways to best enjoy the shrink-ing and changing American

home.* “Create a room within a room,” Install hardwood flooring throughout to unify the spaces and make them look larger, then use area rugs to define separate areas.* More ideas: Use a sectional sofa to delineate an intimate

of luxuries and personal amenities. “Natural materials like American Hardwoods are redefining the word ‘luxury,’” says Linda Jovanovich of the American Hardwood Informa-tion Center. “Hardwoods bring richness and warmth to even small rooms, whether it’s used on the floors and walls, or crafted into built-ins. Custom hardwood furnishings like bookcases and cabinets make a home personal, yours alone, and isn’t that the ultimate luxury?” This new definition of luxury - top-quality, mostly natural materials, careful attention to architectural details like natural wood window frames and mould-ings - is one that architect and author Sarah Susanka agrees with. And what Su-sanka thinks matters. In 1998, her professional hunch launched what has become the “build-better-not-bigger” movement, when she

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Silver • Coins • Diamonds • PlatinumEstate Jewelry • Watches • Broken Jewelry

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CASHCASH A Thousand Images of a Thousand Days - Hoboken Photographer, Author, And

Educator Peter Zeibel Discusses His On-Going Quest To Capture The Constantly Changing Local Urban Landscape As The Hudson School’s Highly Acclaimed Think

Thursdays Series Returns On January 19, 2012 Since April 2009, Hobo-ken photographer Peter Ziebel has posted a new photograph each day on his website, KingNopa: A Daily Log of Light and Geometry (www.kingnopa.net). All of the now nearly 1000 images pub-lished on the site were taken in Hoboken and, lately, other nearby neighborhoods. While KingNopa was not originally intended as a documentary series, many of the images

which have vanished or, conversely, which didn’t exist until fairly recently. “My work is a continuing attempt to depict my experi-ence of the ever-changing face of this area’s urban landscape,” Zeibel says. “I am particularly interested in the visual juxta- positions of old and new, classic and kitsch, growth and decay, public and private, the mundane and the majestic, etc., that define the visual character of much of

this region.” Now in its second year, Think Thursdays is held once or twice a month from 7:00 – 8:00 p.m. through spring 2012. Admission is $7 for THS family mem-bers and $10 for the general public. All are welcome to attend.

The Hudson School601 Park Avenue

Hoboken 201-659-8335

Movies Page 13 River View Observer

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restaurant VIEWSRestaurant Week Hudson Style

Mon, Jan. 23rd – Fri, Feb. 3rd:Take a Chance on a New Restaurant

By Sally Deering

Are you feeling the January blahs that seem to come right after the holiday highs? No need to hide un-der the covers on these cold winter nights watching other people have fun on TV. Put on your galoshes and wooly muffs and go somewhere new, sip a trendy ‘tini, taste a new delish dish! On Mon, Jan. 23rd and running through Fri, Feb. 3rd, a select group of Hud-son’s restaurants, bistros and bars will participate in Hudson Restaurant Week, where they will serve a discounted prix fixe menu and for one (low) price you get a delicious meal with all the fixings. There are some great restaurants participating this year and a juicy promotion: When you “Tweet from Your Seat” using #hudsonrw, you’re entered to have your meal free. Nice, huh! Just make sure to always tip your wait person! Hudson Restaurant Week was started and sponsored by Tamara Remidios of Xplore Communications, a promotional company that produces magazines and websites. In Hoboken, restaurants participating in Hudson Restaurant Week

will include 3Forty Grill; Amanda’s, Bistro La Source, Brass Rail, Clinton Social, Dino & Harry’s, Elysian Café, Gaslight, The Madison, OddFellows Rest, The Quays, Trinity, West Five Supper Club, Wicked Wolf Tavern and Zylo Tuscan Steak House. In Weehawken, the Chart House with its beauti-ful views of the New York Skyline and Hudson River and its seafood menu might entice you – there’s valet parking, too! And why not try these restaurants in Jersey City: Boca Grande, Box, Casa Dante, Cityside Bistro, La Conquita, Ed-ward’s Steakhouse, Ham-ilton Inn, Henry’s on the Hudson, Komegashi and Komegashi Too, Liberty House, Light Horse Tavern, Maritime Parc, MichaelAn-thony’s, O’Connell’s, Porto Leggero, Port-O Lounge, Satis Bistro, Sawadee, Sky Thai, The Merchant and The Embankment. David O’Brien, owner of The Merchant and The Embankment restaurants

Jersey City‘s Embankment Restauarnt has been participating in Hudson Restaurant Week since it began six years ago. “It definitely increases business and brings in people from out of town,” O’Brien says. Hudson Restaurant Week allows local restaurants the chance to advertise and showcase the restaurant, O’Brien says, and although restaurants pay to partici-pate, it’s well worth the fee. Instead of offering customers choices from an abridged menu for Hudson Restaurant Week, O’Brien will offers customers at both

The Merchant and The Embankment a very sweet deal: they can choose an

an appetizer, entrée and des-sert – three courses for $25. “Most of the restaurants do a limited menu, but when we did a limited menu, we would run out of food,” O’Brien says. “We started to get really busy when we offered our entire menu.” The main reason O’Brien participates in Hudson Res-taurant Week is to bring new people to his restaurants and give them the opportunity to taste his food.“We have to pay to be part of it and we make some money, not a lot, but we Cont’d on page 17

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restaurant VIEWSHudson Restaurant Week Cont’d from page 14

Amanda’s Restaurant in Hoboken and Komegahi Too, in Jersey City Participating restaurants in Hudson Restaurant Week

we know we’re targeting customers,” O’Brien says. “This event guarantees the customers will walk through the door, but it’s our job to make them return. The idea is to convert them into regulars.”

Hudson Restaurant WeekMon, Jan. 23 – Fri, Feb. 3, 2012

For info: www.hudsonrestaurantweek.com Send an email: info@hudsonrestaurantweek.com

Come celebrate the Russian New Year

2012 at MoRA museum! RED CARNIVAL BALL

and The RED ExhibitionJanuary 14 th

7pm to 12:30am.80 Grand Street, JC

Red symbolizes beauty and happiness in Russian culture.Participants are encouraged to wear the color red.There will be art for sale, fun auction, dancing, surprise performances, prizes for the best costume and dress. Cover charge $49 in advance includes: Hot buffet and Russian appetizers, wine, beer, cocktails, tea, coffeeand entertainment. Contact Grigory Gurevich

Artistic Director for the RED BALL 201.451.4862

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Travel Sanibel & Captiva Islands ….Beauty, Sophistication & Fun

By Tom Dwyer As winter sets in, and the Hudson River starts to freeze, Hudson County residents dream of escaping to a tropical paradise. But getting there can be a pain, especially if you need to change planes or go through customs. That’s where Sanibel and Captiva Islands come in. Just two-and-a-half hours on a direct flight from Newark Airport to Ft. Myers, Florida, located on the Gulf Coast, a pair of welcoming and enchanting American islands await you. Rent a car at the Ft. My-ers airport and it’s a quick and easy 30-minute drive to Sanibel and Captiva.

The Islands Local lore has it that rum-running pirates and CIA operatives once lived on these islands. But it’s the natural beauty and the gulf waters and its unique shell-covered beaches that make these islands magical.The residents have a deep love and respect for the wildlife and the land —

from protecting the alliga-tors on golf courses, to maintaining the renowned J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge, a 6,400 acre sanctuary that shelters 290 species of birds, 50 types of reptiles and at least 30 mammals. www.fws.gov/dingdarling In addi-tion to its natural wonders and world-class sunsets, Sanibel and Captiva offer a variety of sophisticated but casual lodgings, restaurants and cultural events. The

islands attract visitors from Europe and Canada as well as most states across Amer-ica, with New Jersey rating in the top five.

Sanibel In fact, my wife and I visited the islands twice last year. Our first decision was where to stay. The range of accommodations: condos, house rentals, hotels and motels, inns, timeshares and camping. Last March we chose the Casa Ybel Resort

in Sanibel, with one and two-bedroom condo suites and fully equipped kitchens. The resort’s Thistle Lodge Restaurant is one of the island’s finest. www.casay-belresort.com It didn’t take us long to discover that bik-ing is the way to explore the true beauty of these islands. There are 22 miles of flat and well-marked bike paths, and plenty of bike rental shops. If you’re feeling fit and want to see the islands in all their panoramic beauty, bike from the light-house at the tip of Sanibel to the Seven Seas Resort at the tip of Captiva. Our most recent trip to Sanibel and Captiva was in December. (High season runs from Christmas week to the end of March. The population of the islands can triple during that period.) This time we wanted to experience more of the old-school (but still first-rate) Florida Gulf Coast inns. The Island Inn on Sanibel is the most historic lodging on the island. We stayed in a beach cottage just yards

away from the Gulf waters.It was a blend of old-fash-ioned beach living (painted white wood floors, screened verandah) and modern con-veniences (wide-screen TV, Wi-Fi and air conditioning). Their restaurant, Traditions on the Beach, offers a clas-sic menu with Mediterra-nean-inspired dishes – and fresh fish right off the boat. There’s a superb wine list and the staff welcomed each diner like they were the one customer they couldn’t wait to see. The holiday décor at the Island Inn was charming. In fact, Sanibel and Captiva go all out with Christmas decorations, hanging lights on palm trees and just about everything else that doesn’t move. It’s a beautiful thing. www.islandinnsanibel.com

Captiva We packed the car for the short, scenic drive along the San-Cap Road, cross-ing a two-lane bridge into Captiva, a thin-strip of island with mansions tucked behind luscious gardens on

Cont’d on page 17

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Travel Cont’d from Page 16…Sanibel & Captiva Islands

both sides of the road. Both Sanibel and Captiva are world-famous for thevariety of sea shells found on their beaches. (The Bailey-Matthews Shell Mu-seum is a must. www.shell-museum.org .) It wasn’t long before even novice shell seekers like us were in the Captiva crouch search-ing for the perfect treasure along the shoreline. Captiva also attracts the young and more hi-octane water sports athletes, like surfers, paras-ailers and kayakers. At the far end of Captiva, there’s the recently renovated South Sea Island resort, a 300-acre resort that offers tons of activities including: a spa, sailing, fitness center, ten-nis, fishing, shopping, golf. www.southseas.com Our choice in Captiva was ‘Tween Waters Inn Island Resort. The view of the Gulf of Mexico from our beachfront terrace was stunning. The Olympic-size swimming pool was just the place to hang out, read nov-els and shake away the win-ter blues. A sea salt scrub at the spa smoothed away even more rough edges.

We did miles of walking on the beach (word to the wise: bring a flashlight if you’re out after sunset.) We capped off the day with a gourmet meal at Old Captiva House. www.tween-waters.com

Golfing With both public and private golf courses on the islands it’s pretty hard not to find one that fits your handicap. Check out the Dunes Golf and Tennis Club www.dunesgolfsanibel.com South Seas Island resort www.southseas.com Sun-dial Beach & Golf resort. www.sanibelcollection.com and The Sanctuary Golf Club www.sanctuarygc.net The Sanctuary, an 18-hole course designed by Arthur Hills, is a private club but If you’re lucky enough to know a member, a visit to the Sanctuary is a must – even for duffers. The Sanc-tuary is a certified Audubon Cooperative - much of the design and planning in-volves strict protection of endangered species. Matter of fact, we did see an alliga-tor sunning at the 14th hole. The Sanctuary is the na-tion’s only golf course that

reports to the US Depart-ment of Interior because of its prominent role in conserving native plants and wildlife, and it’s won awards as a model of envi-ronmental stewardship.

Other Things to Do Big Arts -- Herb Strauss Theatre www.bigarts.org First-class exhibits, musical and dramatic performances and classes. A stop for visi-tors and residents alike. Sanibel Sea School — If you have kids you must check it out www.sanibelseaschool.org The Mucky Duck, located on the beach in Captiva.

English pub with terrific food. Amazing key lime pie. The sunset from the patio is spectacular. www.muckyduck.com The 75th Annual Sanibel Shell Fair & Show

March 1-3rd 2012. www.shellabration2012.com Captiva Cruises - A great day on the water. Look for dolphins. Take the half-day cruise to the tiny island of Cabbage Key, and have a burger in one of the coolest food shacks around. Save a dollar bill to tack on the wall ---it’s a tradition. www.captivacruises.com

Doc Ford’s Rum Bar & Grill - a local best-selling mystery writer owns the place. www.docfords.comBailey’s General Store —full service grocery and hardware store. And the best iced coffee on the islands. Where people meet and greet. www.baileys-sanibel.com The Sanibel & Captiva Islands Chamber of Com-merce staff can help you with any questions con-cerning visiting Sanibel & Captiva. www.sanibel-captiva.org

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•REAL ESTATE• Hartz Mountain INDUSTRIES adding EIGHTH

Hotel to Harmon Meadow ComplexResidence Inn by Marriott to offer 154 Luxury Rooms for Area Guests

January 6, 2011 – Construc-tion has begun on the Resi-dence Inn by Marriott, the eighth hotel at Hartz Mountain Industries’ signature mixed-use development, Harmon Meadow in Secaucus, NJ. Situated on the Plaza at Har-mon Meadow, the new hotel will feature 154 suites. Click here for pictures.Located on the former site of the Loews Six-Plex movie theater, the project reflects Harmon Meadow’s evolution and the developer’s commit-ment to maintaining its posi-tion as the region’s premier mixed-use location, according to Hartz Mountain chief oper-ating officer, Emanuel Stern. Accessible from the New Jersey Turnpike and Route 3, Harmon Meadow includes more than two million sq. ft. of office space, one million sq. ft. of retail space, more than 15 restaurants as well as seven existing hotels, an LA Fitness Signature Club and the 64,500 sq. ft. Meadowlands Exposition Center. The development is accessible via free week day peak-hour shuttle service to and from

Secaucus Junction as well as direct bus service to Manhattan. “Additional hotel rooms compliment our tenant mix very well,” said Mr. Stern, “We’ve replaced the movie theater with a state-of-the-art Kerasotes Theater across the streetfrom the new hotel. Visitation to the region continues to increase and attracting more of those stays to Harmon Meadow will ben-efit its retail tenants and provide a resource for its office tenants.”

“Harmon Meadow is an established destination and offers spec-tacular conveniences and amenities and for both business and leisure travelers,” said Tom Galle vice president, lodging devel-opment at Marriott International. “When you add the proximity and access to New York and the rest of the region, it’s an ideal fit for the type of product that we offer.” The Residence Inn at Harmon Meadow will feature suites with fully equipped kitchens, private meeting spaces, a fitness center, whirlpool and spa and a business center among other services and amenities.

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