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Brian Heyman

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Well, New Haven is definitely famous for its pizza. But another food has a city to thank for its claim to fame. Back in 1900 a man walked into louis' lunch and told propriety Louis Louis Lassen that he was in a rush in an instant. Lo placed his own blend of ground steak between two slices of toast and sent the man on his way and just like that, the most recognizable American sandwich was born in this week's road trip. Close to home news. 12 photojournalist, Laurie Goliath takes us there. Just a sense of going back in time. It's all about the experience. We are Louis Lunch and we made the first hamburger sandwich in the United States in the year 1900. We go back with a lot of families and two and three generations that have been eating in here. Sometimes four. I really love the vibe in there. It's super cool. The fact that they keep it really old school. It's just so old timey and sweet. And then once you walk in and you see all the carvings in the wood, I love the set up the seeds. Everything just makes you feel like you're in a different time. What's very unique about it? I think the fact that it's well over 100 years old or 100 and 20 years old, but still run by the same family, which I find absolutely amazing. It goes back a long ways and we're quite proud of what we do and how we've done it and where we are today it was the best burger I've ever had. I'm not kidding. I think it's super cool that you don't get condiments. You can't pick anything. It's just, here's how we do it and here's what it is. We offer cheese, tomato onion, put it right on top. They don't have all the fancy stuff of sauces and toppings. That's not the type of place that is, you know, I think that that's ok because I think that's what makes the burger, the burger. There's uh five different blends and that's why we prefer you to have it. Try it our way. The true purity of the hamburger comes out when you have a quality beef that's obstructed by other flavors that combined into it. And they're normally cooked medium rare and we use Pepper farm white bread and that's the way they were done in the beginning. And that's why we stay true to our forefathers today. I think it's really nice that you get to taste the pure meat of the burger and especially with how it's cooked in such a cool way, put it in the rack, we cook vertically as opposed to on a flat grill. The uh, antique broilers, they're dated 1898. They are the originals. So, if you were to have a burger today, you usually cook and be cooked in the same stove as the very first one was made in. And the toasters from 1929. That's also original. I don't know, there's just something about Louis. It's the charm of the restaurant and it's just simply the most unique and delicious burger. You can get, you can get potato chips or house made potato salad. It's so good. We try to keep it the same and small and simple, just like us if you're in the area or you live in this area and never came. I highly encourage you to come. Definitely come and see us. We'd be happy to see you and it would be a pleasure to serve you and hopefully you enjoy. You gotta come and try it. Louis lunch gotta come.

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If New Yorkers are passionate about anything, people think it's the best bagel that they've ever had. I mean, it's a bagel that you've made yourself. It's bagels. The reason that we have that reputation is because we have incredibly skilled bagel makers who roll and boil bagels and have been doing so since the early 19 hundreds. And now it's your turn. Thanks to this bagel making class led by New York City. Bagel tours, fresh baked scratch made bagels are in the palm of your hand. You roll, you boil you seed, you bake and then you eat hot, fresh delicious bagels straight out the oven to kick off the fresh festivities. A champagne toast topped with an everything bagel, seasoned rim. Welcome everybody to this and we make the five ingredient dough is pre made before guests arrive and then it's time to get class roll in, in class. We teach them the traditional rope and loop method, which is how majority of bagel shops around New York make their bagels. So we'll roll it over your hand and then pinch here of the dough. Now I have the seam of the dough on my hand like this leading. The class is trained sculptor turned award winning Bread Baker Riva who studied bagel making under a member of the former New York City Bagel Union. Once today's bagels connoisseurs myself included, finished rolling and pulling 12 doughy bagels, it was time to drop those babies in the boiler, stir them. What you're gonna do is you're gonna take your bagel more onto the edge of the kettle and then you're not confidently but not violently them into the water, agitate them enough for them to sort of flip over inside the water. So both sides of the bagel get Sam and riva even seasoning in historical and fun bagel baking tidbits during the class. The thing that makes bagels particularly unique is that they are boiled before they're baked. It does feel a bit like alphabet soup, Emily, Catherine and Aidan then seasoning their doughy delights. And after 20 minutes, the big reveal, the crew even made a special bagel for us here today at 12. You eat it with cream cheese and locks and tomatoes and onions and all that good stuff that goes on a quintessential New York bagel sandwich. The crispy crusty craze keeps the New York City bagel tour team busy. They host corporate events, specialty bagel baking classes and even bagel a rat parties and head to our website to learn more in Times Square. I'm Jordan Kisa

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We're saying. Cheers to this next story. A unique winery in the village of Washingtonville now holds a highly coveted title and News twelve's Nikita Ramos is showing us why on this road trip close to home, welcome to Brotherhood Winery. America's oldest winery. We're about to take you back in time to 1839. Let's go. If these walls could talk the stories, the secrets. These wine cellars are time vaults waiting for you to explore. So this is the Smith Vault. This state and national historic landmark brings you 14 ft underground through dimly lit cellars carved out by hand in the late 18 hundreds and a collection of antique artifacts show the progress of the wine making process. It's in tandem with how technology has developed throughout American history. And it is right here in the country's oldest wine cellar. And the reason we're able to say that is because we were open during prohibition still, we were providing church wine. So like altar wine and that's how we were able to stay in business. They're stored among hundreds of oak barrels that line these walls, some of the oldest tower over your tour. Another interesting part of your tour is sort of tucked away in the corner of one of these vaults and behind these locked doors, you'll see some of the oldest untouched wines of the cellar. And just from the looks at some of the bottles you can see from the dust, it definitely hasn't been opened in a very long time. Unlock the secrets of American wine making history through the vaults of time on this road trip. Close to home in Washingtonville, Nikita Ramos is 12.

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This week, we have a special road trip close to home. We're celebrating the 2/100 episode of the series and showing you a place where you can enjoy a fun filled day outdoors at Wharton State Forest in Burlington County. Here's News twelve's Amanda Lee here at War and State Forest. You can get lost in the woods on one of their many hiking trails. You could even pitch a tent or you could go canoeing. But first, there's a lot to learn. Bats stow has been here ever since 1766. We were founded by a man named Charles Reid. He was an iron master here in South Jersey. And so Bats Stow was really established to produce iron. One of the neat things about a village like Bats stow is that we have lots and lots of different things for just about anyone who would want to visit the village. So if you are interested in history, you know, we can take you through the buildings, take you on a mansion tour, kind of show you all of the, you know, historic sites here. If you're interested in nature, we have all of our trails. Um and different, you know, kind of spots throughout, not just Bastow but Wharton State Forest as a whole. So what's this room right here? So this room uh so this room was added to the house, we think sometime around 1830 there were multiple additions to the house. So kind of the central core was built sometime around 1784. Then one part of the house was added around 1815. This part of the house we think was added around 1830. Most people living here at Bastow would not be in a house like that. That was very much, you know, the one family that owned the, uh, the town they would all be in there. And this is an example of one of the worker cottages here in Bastow Village. So, uh, you know, we do all sorts of interpretive and natural events. So just about every, you know, every weekend or so there might be something going on. So the best way to kind of stay informed with us is to sign up for our newsletter.

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The Hecker Museum of Art is the perfect spot. If you want to spend some time indoors and outdoors and get inspired and the best part about it, it's free. Our Sha Lanier takes us there on this week's road trip close to home, whether you're an art lover or a novice. The Heer Museum of Art is a great place to come to be inspired with more than 2500 works of art from the 16th to 20th century and ever changing exhibitions. The CEO says there's always something new to see here. We have three exhibitions going on right now. The rains are changing fast showcases new pieces like Courtney Leonard and pieces that have been in our collection for years like Howard Dina Pell's piece. That's right behind me. We also have a show called George Gross's Stickman, which showcases watercolors by George Gross, as well as our masterpiece by George Gross Eclipse of the Sun. And we also have an exhibition outside called Sound. So this is where our Sound walk begins. You can scan the QR code and use your own smartphone and then you can go around the park and learn about how the pond and the nature inspired Arthur Dove and Helen tour. You know, for those who have never been to an art museum, especially this museum, what should they know before they come? Well, an important thing to know about texture museum is that we're free admission. So that's important. We never want cost to be a barrier to anyone experiencing great art. And I love how a lot of your descriptions have English and Spanish on them. Yes. All the text in the museum is bilingual. Everything you see is in English and Spanish. And one of the things I think I hear a lot of people say is we don't have all day to go spend time at a museum. It's gonna take forever. Yeah, absolutely. Now, here at the Hector Museum, we're small but mighty. The museum is quite intimate and you can definitely experience the museum in less than an hour. Enjoy the park, the playground in the pond. All right. Well, there's something for everyone here and you don't have to spend all day to enjoy it. So, come check it out from Huntington Shannon Lanier on this road trip, close to home.

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In this week's road trip. Close to home. We're taking you inside Van Courtland Park news twelve's Ellie Murillo has more on the park's hidden treasures and you can explore them and what's in store for the summer too. Van Courtland Park is the third largest park in New York City with 600 acres of natural areas for New Yorkers to enjoy. If hiking is your thing or bird watching or just sitting quietly in nature, we have a place for you as we have forests, we have wetlands, we have a pond behind me. We have hiking trails. We have over 20 miles of hiking trails in the park. It's over 1000 acres, is home to historical burial grounds, hidden trails and the even Courtland House Museum and which is the oldest building still standing in the Bronx, Deputy director, Christina Taylor says the pork itself is full of so much for families to enjoy, especially as the weather gets warmer by playgrounds. There's numerous sporting fields. We have baseball, soccer, rugby, football, cricket, and tennis and get this. You even have the chance to catch a film here at that Courtland Park this summer this year. Theme is Enchanted Forest. People can bring blankets or chairs that they want to. And before the movie starts, we have a DJ that will be playing music from the same year the movie was released. So all the movies are from different years. So each week will be different. So if you're ready for adventure, you may want to add the Bronx Park to your list. The best park in New York City at Van Courtland Park. More news. 12.

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Here's a look at all the great spots to hit from this week's episode of Road Trip Close to Home.

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