Hudson Valley is Fabulous

We have just returned from a romantic anniversary weekend in Hudson Valley, NY.  We thought long and hard about where we should go for our anniversary trip this year. It had to be affordable and we had to be able to get there quick because we cut our trip from a week to four days. Gotta save that vacation time in case a little one shows up in our lives.  When Marlon first suggested Hudson Valley, I have to admit I crinkled my nose and wasn't convinced.  He finally sold me on it and let me pick a B+B based solely on that they had Scottish Highland cows on the property.  You have to love this man.

Uly and Nessie

Brookfield Farm B+B was wonderful.  It is located in the middle of all the places we wanted to go.  It was the perfect place to slow down for a few days and to watch the birds and chipmunks out the window.  The room was decorated beautifully, but simple. It had a clean, sophisticated country look.  Each morning a picnic breakfast was delivered to our door filled with fresh fruit, baked goods and coffee.  Caroline and Michael were the perfect hosts.  They introduced us to the cows and chickens and gave us some great area recommendations.  I would definitely recommend this place to couples looking for a getaway.

Brookfield Farm

We had quite a few things that we wanted to see.  It's unimaginable that I could just sit for four days.  Of course, we hit Woodbury Common Outlets. It's on the way.  Marlon made a reservation at Le Canard Enchaine for our special anniversary dinner.  It was absolutely delicious and romantic.


We toured Brotherhood Winery, the oldest winery in America.  We had a few tastes while we were there too and stocked up on mead, port and wine.

Driving down historic Huguenot Street and looking at the old stone houses was so interesting.  While we were in New Paltz, we had to stop at October Country comic shop. Marlon found a deal on some old Doctor Who comics. That made his day. 

We took a stroll over the Walkway Over the Hudson.  The walkway was an abandoned railroad bridge that was turned into a pedestrian park.  The walkway is 1.28 miles long, it is the longest, elevated pedestrian bridge in the world.  The weather was perfect for a walk.

We visited the Dia: Beacon museum and checked out the exhibits there.  Some of the art was a little too conceptional for me, but there was an amazing work by Michael Heizer. These sculptures use negative space of steel geometric shapes embedded in the floor of the museum. It was really cool, but made my hands sweat and I held on to Marlon for dear life thinking I would fall into the sculpture.


We had to go to Stewarts. Why, oh why, do we not have Stewarts in Manhattan?  The birthday cake ice cream is the best!  They had 50¢ ice cream on St. Patty's Day.  It took all my self control not to order two.

My favorite part of the weekend was driving by this house on our anniversary and they had a sign out front that said "Happy Anniversary". We turned around and pulled in the drive-way (full of chickens) and jumped out and took our picture in front of the sign using the timer on the camera as fast as we could.  We drove by the next day and the sign had changed to "Happy Birthday to so and so".  I love that we stopped; it was one of those once in a life time moments that you just have to grab.

Hudson Valley was a great little vacation for us. You would never know NYC was just 1 1/2 hours away.  This might be our last anniversary trip as a couple.  After 18 years together, I think we can handle a family vacation next year. Fingers crossed!

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