Pony Rides, Spider Man's House and One of the Best Egg Cremes in NYC Await Intrepid Family Travelers in Forest Hills

A New York City family outing "in the country" is only a 30-minute F train ride away from midtown Manhattan. Forest Hills is not only one of the city's most beautiful suburbs, it is also home to Spiderman, one of the city's oldest stables and a 100-year old ice cream parlor that feels like a movie set from It's a Wonderful Life.

Forest Hills Gardens grew up just outside of Manhattan as a tony suburb at the turn of the century. From the mock Tudor LIRR Train Station to the elegantly laid out streets and multi-million dollar homes of the gardens themselves, this neighborhood, perhaps more than any other in New York, gives visitors the serene feeling of being very far away from the rush of the "real" city. A family afternoon outing here is a perfect place to recall New York's simpler days.

Start by walking from the 71st and Continental F Train station down 71st Avenue past the train station and through "the gardens." The homes on either side of this broad thoroughfare are some of the most elegant, expensive and beautiful in the city. Twenty years ago, it was rumored that many of them were owned by "wise guy" family members who subsequently moved further into Long Island in the late 80's and 90's.

Keep walking all the way through the Gardens till you get to Metropolitan Avenue and 71st Road, then turn left. The street here has a very "small town" feel and is chock-a-block with friendly antique shops, new wine bars, classic old Italian restaurants and other "Mom and Pop" shops. The best is Krause's Candy Kitchen (103-02 Metropolitan Avenue, 718-544-1850). Krause's has been making their own fresh chocolates every day in the same location for 30 years. The charming little shop smells like heaven and there are lots of retro-type toys for sale as well as the decadent lures for chocoholics.

Just down the street at 105-29 Metropolitan Avenue is Eddie's Sweet Shop (718-520-8514). The minute you walk in, you feel as if you've died and gone to Bedford Falls from It's a Wonderful Life. Eddie's has been here for almost one hundred years and has been owned by the Citrano family for the past 38. The Citranos make their own homemade ice cream and their egg cremes are considered amongst the best in New York City. The marble ice crème bar, vintage phone booth and wooden chairs, wall mirrors and other antique fixtures are worth a pilgrimage for any fan of old time Americana (visitors have come as far as Japan, just for a taste of the atmosphere-along with the fabulous homemade sweets).

Time warp at Eddie's, then work off the calories, en famille, on a pony or horse ride at one of New York's oldest working stables. Lynn's Riding Stable and School (88-03 70th Rd, 718-261-7679) has been a working stable for about 60 years. Lynn, the eponymous owner, is smart, sweet and full of horse sense. You can ride in the ring or in good weather, on the bridle paths of nearby Forest Park.

Afterwards, walk back towards the subway past the suburban row houses on 69th Road, off of Metropolitan. These houses were used as the backdrop of Spiderman's neighborhood in the last installment of the film series. Take the LIRR train at Forest Hills Gardens and wait in the Tudor-era station for a classic farewell to one of New York City's most distinctly non-citified neighborhoods.

GK