For our Travel and Recreation issue, we asked members of our committee and staff members at Jewish Federation of Delaware to share some of the fun destinations they’ve visited and activities in which they’ve recently participated. Whether you’re looking for something to do nearby or getting ready to plan your next vacation, we hope our recommendations spark some inspiration for your recreation!
Ellisha Caplan:
My family took a fairly last minute trip to England this past December, and we found some true gems while there.
JW3 is the Jewish Community Center of London, located in Northwest London (its NW3 postcode is the inspiration for the name). Not only did they have a really beautiful restaurant and an ice skating rink, JW3 has a theater that was running an original Jewish pantomime play that was fun and funny for all ages (our ages spanned from eight to almost 50, but there were children and adults younger and older than us). Pantomimes have traditionally been a Christmas-time show that can be found all over the country, but—until JW3 introduced its first Jewish pantomime in 2023—the Jewish community had been left out of this very British tradition, which typically features songs, gags, slapstick comedy, and dancing, all built around a well-known fairy tale or children’s story. Goldie Lox and the Behr Mitzvah really managed to toe the line of the pantomime tradition while celebrating the Jewish British community’s history and culture.
Chichester, England is about an hour and a half away from London, and we spent a few days there on this visit. It is quaint as can be, with many great places to shop and eat, and close-ish proximity to the southern coast of England. We stayed at the Goodwood Hotel, which is also home to Goodwood Raceway, which, for racing enthusiasts, is very exciting, and was still neat for someone without any interest in racing at all (me!). There’s also an airfield where antique planes are refurbished and people are able to go up in them. A delightful surprise while in Chichester was that the Chichester Cathedral has a Marc Chaggall window! It was special to see one of his windows in person. I am pretty sure the only other time I’ve seen any was at Hadassah hospital when I visited in 1999.
https://www.chichestercathedral.org.uk/learning/learn-do/marc-chagall-window
Emma Driban:
Just last month, my whole family drove out to Kirkwood, PA to a glass blowing studio called Burning Branch Studio for a private session in celebration of my mother’s birthday. Most of us had never blown glass before, and the staff did an AMAZING job of guiding us through the process, teaching us the techniques to craft beautiful, custom pieces. We each had the opportunity to create two pieces—an ornamental orb and either a glass or small dish—taking turns manning the blowpipe (the long metal tube used to ‘grab’ and maneuver the molten glass) and assist by blowing air through the pipe. With the staff’s guidance, we selected and added colors, shaped the glass, and learned to knock it off the blowpipe. It was an incredible experience and yielded beautiful results!
Sharon Fullerton:
During the winter months, my husband and I like to plan our constitutionals away from our neighborhood. It’s way too easy to cut our walks short or give up entirely when it’s freezing outside and our house is nearby. We love the All Trails app for finding new places, but it dawned on me recently that I’ve never actually spent time in Old New Castle. So off we went! The New Castle Historical Society has a self-guided walking tour online, so we followed the map and listened to the informative audio files on our phone. Once the tour reached The David Finney Inn, we popped inside to check out Dream Bakery, a new Ukrainian pastry shop that was pleasantly busy compared to the quiet cobblestone streets. We enjoyed our fresh pastries (made from scratch with locally sourced ingredients)—and also enjoyed meeting a couple tour guides from the Court House Museum across the street who popped in on their lunch break.
Needless to say—we spent the next hour in the Court House Museum on a free tour (donations accepted at the end). We had the guide to ourselves, and it was a wonderful way to spend an afternoon.
Rachel Lee Garofolo:
In September, I—along with my husband, sister, and her boyfriend—received an early Christmas gift from my dad to experience the NASCAR Racing Experience at Dover Downs Speedway. It was unforgettable! After a training session, we dressed in real racing gear and set off for timed racing sessions by ourselves in a real NASCAR. It was just me, the track, and a spotter over the car-radio. I’ll never forget holding on to the wheel for dear life while I sped over 110 mph for two eight-minute sessions. If you want an absolute thrill of a lifetime, I highly recommend you try this!
Michael Sigman:
Linda and I took our first Viking River Cruise with the goals of getting away and exploring vaunted cities we had yet to see. Our trip started in Berlin and would end in Prague, while cruising the Elbe River. I felt a little uneasy walking the Berlin streets, standing near the Reichstag Building, and taking pictures in front of the Brandenberg Gate when I knew this place proved deadly to millions of my people. Yet, here we were walking through the colossal Holocaust memorial, visiting the Jewish Museum, and reading about the scourge of the Nazi regime in a lobby museum at the former SS headquarters where Heinrich Himmler, principal architect of the Holocaust, had his office. We found that all official German memorials and displays (as well as the tour guides) accepted responsibility for the war and its atrocities, and shared hopes for a more peaceful world. In addition to the Jewish areas of interest in Berlin, we were fascinated by the era of the Berlin Wall and the Cold War sites that were so much a part of this city.
Prague is rich in historical and architectural splendor, and, of course, we took a tour of Jewish Prague. I highly recommend you spend time in the Jewish section, visit the synagogues, Holocaust museum, and the hundreds of years old cemetery. You will learn the legend of the Golem and see tributes to Franz Kafka. You can patronize the only Kosher restaurant in Prague, if you like, but it is not a culinary wonder. Enjoy!
