And it's where you'll find the cradle of American harness racing: The town's historic track, built in 1838, hosts the Harness Racing Museum and Hall of Fame. There are Grand Circuit races in July, and harness racers train there year round. Across the street from the track you can dine on fine Northern Italian and international fare at Limoncello's at the Orange Inn, a 1790 landmark, or the casually upscale Catherine's, named after the chef's grandmother and still serving many of her recipes. Other local favorites are the cozy Tuscany tastiness of Il Tesoro, the deli and bakery treats from the Goshen Gourmet Café, and the Mexican specialties at the Hacienda, where you can dine to mariachi music every Friday evening.
Goshen is not overloaded with retail, but the stores they've got are the kind that can't be found just anywhere and are well worth the trip. Linda's Office Supplies, for example, mixes up unique "productivity items" like safari-print tape dispensers with a good selection of office basics and business forms, wild wearables, and unique toys and gifts. Prolifix Skateboards and Apparel is a dream come true for its young owners, who promise old-fashioned customer service. If you're fond of marksmanship, Davis Shooting Sports offers a wide selection, safety training, and a shooting range.
Retail Therapy
But when central Orange residents need serious retail therapy, Middletown is just a few minutes away. A city of just under 30,000, Middletown grew up as a railroad town bustling with industry, populated largely by Irish and Italian immigrants. The end of the downtown railroad station and the development of a hyperkinetic Miracle Mile of retail on Route 211 brought the town nearly to its knees, but for some time now, it's been standing back up. Szefc and her SUNY Orange co-conspirators have a light month in March, given that it includes spring break, but they're finding time for a lecture on women in psychology, a lecture on the feasibility of solar electric, and still another on Miranda v. Arizona, the Supreme Court decision on the right to legal counsel—not to mention jazz, symphony, and music from South China.
"The Times-Herald Record recently used the word 'vibrant' about our downtown—I'll take it," says lifelong resident and retired teacher John Degnan, executive director of Middletown's Business Improvement District. Degnan's office is in the Paramount Theatre, which will host the Hoboken International Film Festival from May 31 through June 6, screening 90 films chosen from 1,500 submissions. The theater itself is a refurbished architectural gem from the 1930s with a genuine Mighty Wurlitzer pipe organ that anchors the dining and entertainment district. "Diversity has exploded and we've only got four vacancies out of 135 habitable commercial spaces. We pushed to make it mixed-use, and allowing apartments above the retail does a lot. People move in, shop, eat out, come to the free Friday night concerts in summer. We have a great Interactive Museum downtown for kids too."
"The guys who run the hookah bar, they're on our board. Sounds Asylum [an Internet café/gallery/arcade/music venue], they're right over next to the Grace Episcopal Church, and the pastor tells me that the one time he had to ask them to keep it down a little, they were great about it. I taught the mayor [Joseph DeStefano] in school—now his wife runs the Olde Erie Restaurant. Truly amazing food."
Middletown's a mecca of sorts for foodies seeking ingredients—Garcia's for Latin American, Aaojee for Indian delicacies, the Great Tang Supermarket for Chinese and still more Latino. Out on Route 211, one can shop Asian Groceries and Halal Meats (pheasant, anyone?) or the Famous Deli-Licious Italian Pork Store. Bargain hunters can prowl a good sized flea market or several consignment shops—Lovely Ladies, which gets about 500 new items on an average day from more than 2,000 consignors, or others run by churches and nonprofits.
Washington, Take Note
Irrepressible Middletown is also where Orange County holds its fair every summer. Stock cars roar at the Speedway, the oldest continually operating dirt track in the US. "It's easy for the Route 211 area to be vibrant," remarks Degnan, and indeed, it can't seem to help itself—through decades of reinvention it's remained a useful and pleasingly varied sprawl, ever since the days when Orange County boy Ed Lloyd pioneered one-stop shopping in the 1960s.
Sarah Wells, one suspects, would be gratified to know that her descendants open some of her husband's fine stone houses to the public. And Goshen's Great American Weekend has a well-deserved reputation as the Hudson Valley's signature Independence Day bash. The county legislators who toil in postmodern brutalist offices in Goshen collaborate with and take pride in the burgeoning art scene and support the farmers' markets.
"It's funny," says Szefc. "Howard [Garrett] was the driving force behind General Montgomery Day, and he's a complete liberal. Steve [Brescia], the mayor, he's a staunch Republican. They've been working together on cultural and civic things for years and it hasn't mattered—Washington should take lessons."
Resources
Ethan Allen (845) 565-6000
Goshen Gourmet
Happy Buddha Yoga
Mike’s Auto Care (845) 294-8284
Pleasant Stone Farm
Reginella Bridal
Wallkill Valley Federal
Wildfire Grill
