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This Saturday and Sunday, from 1 - 4 p.m., the Kearney House in Palisades Interstate Park will feature staff members dressed in period attire as they serve cider and teach youngsters how to play a number of games.
“A lot of people are kind of looking for something to do with friends or relatives in town," said Eric Nelsen, a historical interpreter for the park who has overseen the riverfront historic house since 1998. "You don’t want to go to a mall.
"This gives you a nice little option and way to chill out,”
This is the last event of the season before the house closes for the winter (It is scheduled to reopen next spring). No pre-registration is required.
The circa-1760 house was previously owned by Rachel Kearney, a widow who raised nine children and kept a riverfront tavern at the former Closter Landing, a busy river port and farm landing.
“A tavern wasn’t the same thing as a bar or saloon,” Nelsen said. “(It) was more like an inn. They might serve beer and spirits, but they’d also offer food -- even lodging."
In 2012, a record storm surge from Superstorm Sandy almost destroyed the building.
The house remained standing long enough for maintenance crews to rig up temporary framing. Repairs took months before it reopened to the public on the the July Fourth weekend last year.
MORE INFO: www.njpalisades.org or (201) 768-1360 ext. 108.
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