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WAVE HILL - Riverdale, The Bronx

Wave Hill Public Gardens and Cultural Center admittedly is not the easiest place to get to if you don’t have a car, but talking the bus and walking the rest of the way is well worth it to get to this little slice of heaven on the Hudson.  While not as botanically impressive or abundant as the Bronx Botanical Gardens, Wave Hill is substantially more inviting as a place to come and just relax with a cuppa joe and a book or paper. Sitting on the lawns is encouraged (unlike the BBG) and comfortable Adirondack-type chairs are provided throughout the property for guests. A lovely way to spend a weekend afternoon!

AN BEAL BOCHT - Riverdale (238th Street - up the hill!)  
                                        Reviews here and here

As my outings all across the Bronx hopefully have shown, this borough has some fabulous bars and eateries, but so far An Beal Bocht tops my list of Favorite Places To Hang Out!  Another neighborhood haunt where everyone seems to know everyone else and where regulars come in to hear the local gossip and news as much as they do to eat.  I had a wonderful late breakfast after which I spent a few hours just reading, listening to the great music they play and watching the locales come and go.  How nice it is not to be hurried or rushed by an over-eager waitstaff desperate to turn tables.  Check out their website to learn more about upcoming live music dates.  Bonus: They have WiFi! Oh, and did I mention the Guinness…?

Mini-Irish Breakfast (bacon, sausage, beans, egg, tomato, potatoes and black and white blood pudding.)

The main room (above)

The more contemporary addition (above and below)

FENWICKS BAR (A True Neighboorhood Bar) - Riverdale (238th Street)
I spent a wonderful day walking around Riverdale (more posts coming soon) and I find myself looking forward to going back. I wandered in to Fenwicks Bar to ask for directions (I’m sooo not the type of woman who feels comfortable in a bar alone), but within minutes I found myself welcomed-like-I-was-a-long-lost-friend by bartender Regina Wallace (pictured below) and the many regulars (Karyn, Doris, Maureen, Robert and all the others whose names I seem to have forgotten but who interacted with one another as if they were regulars on Cheers). I had a great evening and I learned more about Riverdale (and the Bronx in general) in just a few hours than in all of my research on this borough put together! It will take me months to visit all the places these insiders were so gracious enough to turn me on to. Riverdale is a little enclave that (at first glance anyway) feels like a true village (with the usual small town cast of fascinatingly  unique and colorful characters) - quite surprising, refreshing and heartening to find!  TIP: Apparently, this place gets packed with the college crowd later in the evening, so if you’re older and want to enjoy authentic local company and flavor, drop by during the day and early evening. 

Extraordinarily hospitable bartender Regina and local Maureen.