Shop local at this month-long, indoor market featuring a wide variety of items, including gift baskets, books (new and old, with a focus on local authors), local honey, chocolate, art, crystals and jewels, artifacts, plants and botanicals, gourd bird houses, and more!
Special Edition: Nov. 24 - Dec. 3
"What if today, we were just grateful for everything?" - Charlie Brown
With such a busy season upon us, it's easy to get caught up in the hustle-bustle, and lose sight of what should be the focus of the Thanksgiving holiday: gratitude. We are grateful for our Explore Warren followers, and for all the hard-working local businesses that plan the promotions and events that comprise this newsletter! Thank you!
This special edition of Wanderings celebrates the upcoming four-day weekend, which includes Small Business Saturday and officially kicks off the holiday season. We encourage you to shop small (and unique, with two major craft shows next weekend) for those special gifts. A tradition for many families is to visit a local farm to find that perfect Christmas tree, so we've updated our list of Warren County choose-and-cut Christmas tree farms for your reference. Santa will be appearing at numerous events this weekend and next, so read on to plan your visit!
Happy Thanksgiving, and Happy Wanderings!
Coming Up
Well-Sweep invites everyone to experience the serenity of their greenhouses, filled with unusual blossoms and exotic scents. There will be an informative lecture and tour as this is a wonderful way to learn about the rare and unusual.
Reservations are required for this free event.
Experience a little bit of Christmas South of the Border. Luminarias will light the indoor Cantina, where you will warm to traditional Mexican Christmas music.
The Peter Karp Band continues to carve out his own unique niche, with a sound born in the swamps of New Jersey and the trailer parks in southern Alabama.
Godlewsky Farms is celebrating the season by inviting everyone to enjoy their shop complete with wreaths, handmade grave blankets, fresh cut trees, center pieces and more! Open Monday - Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Stop by your favorite Washington Borough stores to get a head start on your Holiday shopping and DJ Mitch Hess spinning some holiday tunes at the stage in Pocket Park. Keep an eye out for Santa and Mrs. Claus as they make their rounds to the local businesses from 10 a.m -3 p.m.
Hackettstown Businesses will welcoming shoppers for Shop Small Saturday, commencing Saturday, November 25 through Sunday, December 3 as well as the entire Holiday season!
Jingle on Main is a festive Small Business Saturday event featuring over 60 local vendors, food and music, presented by the Blairstown Enhancement Committee and held throughout Blairstown's Historic Main Street.
Brook Hollow has too many amazing vendors to fit in just one day so they made it a whole weekend! Knock out your holiday shopping while perusing local vendors, drinking wine, and enjoying live music!
Come out to Shappell Park for hot cocoa, music, kids crafts, giveaways, face painting and photos with Santa and Frosty! This is free and open to the public.
Dec. 1 SOLD OUT Create your very own Christmas centerpiece, arrangement, mantelpiece or wreath with Flowerland! You can bring your own container or choose from their wonderful selection.
Visit all the shops on the map, enter each drawing and get your map stamped. Visit Rustic Retail Market with your completed map by 3pm on Sunday to enter the grand prize drawing for a chance to win a fabulous townwide gift basket for shopping or dining!
Hometown Holiday is a celebration that will light up the downtown in more ways than one. Come see Santa and much more!
Featuring carriage rides, music, local businesses, restaurants, and community groups, and, or course Santa, it’s a fun-filled weekend for Hackettstown, residents, and visitors. Centenary will also be hosting the Grand Illumination tree lighting at 5 p.m.
Enjoy this free event at the Hackettstown Historical Society museum complete with vintage Santas, live music and refreshements.
Enjoy a sumptuous five-course dinner followed by a sinfully decadent dessert. Bring your favorite bottle of wine to enjoy with your dinner.
Enjoy an evening of carols, cocoa, snacks and the Christmas Tree lighting! Santa and his helpers at the firehouse will be handing out candy canes!
Broadway United Methodist Church is hosting their annual Santa breakfast. Entry by donation. Bring Your Camera!
Call 908-619-6455 to reserve your spot.
Ol' Saint Nick will be taking photos with good boys and girls and, of course, listening to their Christmas wish lists!
Annual Warren County Technical School Craft Show. More than 130 of the area's finest crafters and artisans will come together for this one-day juried event to display their unique handmade items.
The 46th anniversary of a wonderful town-wide holiday event spans two days with six buildings to explore full of holiday cheer! Be sure to visit Santa located in the Community Center for that special holiday photo. Don't miss out on entering to win a hand crafted Amish quilt!
A day of fun for all in Belvidere square with ice skating, Santa Paws photos, face painting, food trucks, crafts, music and trackless train rides! And, of course, the lighting of Christmas tree with the arrival of Santa! And while you're at it, check out the Belvidere Shopping Trail.
All the railroad non-profits will be open for "Holly Jolly Express Day" including the Historic Roseberry House. In addition, Phillipsburg Union Station will have it first of its kind Holiday Market with craft vendors inside and food trucks outside.
Come by the tracks on Broad Street by the Borough Park/Pool to see Santa and Mrs. Claus as they will be on board to help the Marines load up the train car.
The Phillipsburg Railroad Historians' annual Santa Train returns this weekend! The Centerville and Southwestern miniature railroad will be in operation and Santa will be there to interact with guests. Cookies and hot cocoa will be avaailable. This event is outdoors so please dress appropriately.
Tour through five historic homes and the Warren County Historical Society. Tickets can be purchased through The Cellar Door and Found, Tracey Williamson and Rebecca Lucas. This event is sponsored by the Belvidere Tree Lighting Committee and trolley transportation will be available.
All-you-can-eat breakfast with Santa! Cost is $10/adult, $9/senior (65+), and $5/child. Kids younger than 5 are free. Bring your camera!
This free holiday event hosted by Rutherfurd Hall will include professional photos with Santa by One Part Rustic; horse and carriage rides; arts and crafts; dance performances; cookie decorating; face painting; games; holiday music; and pet adoptions through Cold Nose, Warm Heart Animal Resc
Come visit Father Christmas at the VanNest-Hoff-Vannatta Homestead! This is a free event for children and adults. Please bring your own camera. Sponsored by Historic Preservation Commission of Harmony Township and Harmony Historical Society.
Continuing
Visit Well-Sweep Herb Farm at a time of year when garden fairies transform the Gift Shop into a Christmas wonderland. The greenhouse is stocked with a selection of attractive windowsill herbs, tender perennials in bloom, and unique topiaries.
Kathy's Kove invites everyone to shop for the holiday season at the 3rd annual Fair Trade market, running from November into December, Wedneday through Sunday.
Kathy's Kove invites everyone to shop for the holiday season at the 3rd Annual Fair Trade market, open Wedneday-Sunday, November through December.
Plan Ahead
Spend an evening under the lights surrounded by Christmas sounds, sights and scents! Enjoy homemade baked goods and coffee as you browse special Christmas sales with friends & family
1,500 luminaries around the whole village with lantern walking tours every 20 minutes from 4-6pm at the community center. Enjoy a Moravian candlelight service at St. John's Methodist Church at 7:30pm on Saturday.
Guided Lantern tours will be Saturday only!
This thrillingly epic event, Murder Mystery Dinner at Four Sisters Winery, will be one that you won't want to miss! This is an interactive dinner that begs the question can you identify the perpetrator?
Swing into the holiday season with the Water Gap Singers, who will be sharing a variety of musical greetings of the season.
Join Four Sisters for an enchanting Valentine's murder mystery and dinner featuring wine, a new menu and a souvenir glass.
Cost for this 21+ event is $60/person, plus tax.
It’s not a typical who done it. It’s the guests in the audience that create a witty, weaving story line. As the plot thickens, the victim falls prey and the detectives investigate with deductive reasoning to reveal the murderer.
It’s not a typical who done it. It’s the guests in the audience that create a witty, weaving story line. As the plot thickens, the victim falls prey and the detectives investigate with deductive reasoning to reveal the murderer.