The Road Trip Diaries: Woodstock, NY

28 September 2012

We arrived in Woodstock in the rain. Cloudy, drizzling, drippy. It makes the landscape even more appealing. Makes you want to curl up under a blanket, with a big cup of tea, in a cabin, in the woods. Which is exactly what we did.

The cabin is slate grey, big glass windows show only trees. We're surrounded. They reach for the sky, the leaves already starting to turn yellow and amber. For the most part, it's green. Intoxicating green, makes you breathe deep. Fresh, and wet. Two deer walk past the patio as we sit sipping our wine (post-tea, of course).

Beautiful cabins peek through the trees as we drive along the road. Glimpses of miniature white houses, all with triangular charcoal roofs. And then we reach the town. A whole strip of sweet shops and restaurants, all packed with tie-dye, incense, and ageing hippies. 

Woodstock can only be described as quaint. Very, very quaint. 

Dinner was a treat. An amazing restaurant, good wine and perfect company. A weekend away with family friends is the ideal way to begin this adventure. Training wheels for our road trip, as Husband says.

Restaurant in Review:
Cucina
109 Mill Hill Road  
Woodstock, NY 12498
(845) 679-9800

29 September 2012

We're sleeping in the loft room. Slanted wood ceiling, big white bed. Feels a lot like sleeping in a cloud. A big warm cloud. Muted light filters through the paper-like blinds. It's another overcast day. But at least it's stopped raining - for now.

Fresh croissants for breakfast. Big mugs of tea and coffee to beat the chill. We're off to market.

Market was a little bit more like a yard sale. Like a big yard sale. Like a big hippie yard sale. But fun nonetheless. There's trinkets and trash, and everything in-between. I'm sure there's even a few gems in there, but on a road trip budget I put my blinkers on and pretend I can't see any of it.

All wrapped up, it feels like we're heading towards winter at a fast and furious speed. I feel unprepared. My wardrobe feels unprepared. So I momentarily put aside my road trip budget and pop into a nearby shop and buy a squirrel hat. At least now my ears don't feel unprepared.

We then explored the area by car, stopping at a couple of galleries and a very big lake. The water reflects the sky - grey, pensive, bottomless. The green of the fir trees is so dark it looks like you could walk into that forest and never be seen again. It looks like world before man - completely uninhabited, completely forgotten, completely complete.

We stop at 'Bread Alone', a yummy lunch spot. Hello split green pea and ham soup. Creamy, green and delish. 

The rest of the afternoon is more lazy exploring. We happen upon 'Wok and Roll', a Chinese restaurant that features live rock acts. A cover band is performing all the classics. We order some sake, tuck ourselves under the porch and out of the rain, and listen to some rock. The whole audience is made up of us and a family of locals. It makes for an entertaining experience.

 I'm back on the couch, wrapped in a blanket, sipping wine (yes, more wine). Off to dinner soon.

30 September 2012

Sunday morning bliss. A quiet, slow start to the day.

We eat a late brunch. Delicious scrambled eggs, potato mix and rye bread. Once again 'Bread Alone' is a winner. A brisk stroll through the forest, up the mountain, back to the house, pack the car.

And we're off. One weekend in Woodstock done, it's time to hit the road again. Luckily from here it is only a hop and a skip to our next stop over. Good bye Woodstock, thank you for being a wonderful first time.

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The Road Trip Diaries

So here it begins. The Road Trip. The crux of it all. And so here begins The Road Trip Diaries.

Here comes crazy. 

Today, we get in the car, all packed, journey selected, GPS loaded, camera at the ready. It's just us, a renta-car and miles and miles of open road. The adventure has been chosen. And boy, is it going to be one helluva adventure. I have already decided on that. 

Mmm...the open road awaits. The ocean, the desert, the great outdoors - and the great indoors of the big cities we will meet along the way. Skyscrapers and surf, eagles and elk, castles and motels - we're coming for you. I'm almost as excited as I was on the day our whole journey began. 

I couldn't agree more with this quote. Change comes from within. I'm ready to take that first step.

I'll be updating the blog as often as possible from the road, wireless-permitting, so that you can keep up-to-date with every moment of our trip. It will almost feel like you're with us. 

One Month In New York City

Why, how the time has flown. It feels like just yesterday we arrived, jet lagged, hot, sweaty into this vast city. Since then, it's been four weeks. Some days were off days - just to chill; some days were bad days - when none of the plans went right; some days were non-stop sightseeing - one beautiful thing after the next; and some days were so full of the boring admin and planning and chores that they didn't even feel like a holiday anymore.

New York City isn't as glamorous as I was expecting. I was somehow expecting hordes of fashionistas at every turn, streets full of models, and style that would turn heads. But, I don't know, I didn't quite see it. When you ride the subway, and there's a homeless guy down one end, and a tired-looking businessman sitting next to you, and a run-down student across from you, it certainly doesn't feel like the city of glitz and glamour. There's no head-turning styles on the subway, that's for sure.

I guess what I'm getting it, is that New York is raw. It's real. It's stuffed full of ordinary people. And yes, I'm sure there are a lot of people here living the high life, and you do glimpse bits of it by night, and by the limo that drives past every few blocks or so, but I feel privileged to have seen the heart and soul of New York, the down-to-earth beat of the city.

I don't by any means deny that the glamour and the fashion and the parties are out there and happening as I type, but from where I sit - in bed on a Thursday night - there's a whole lot of real life going on too.

In-between all these moments the weather changed. New York became a different city. Summer into Fall. Snap. Just like that.

Within one week - wait - a few days - within moments - the seasons changed. One week it was sweltering, sweaty hot, headaches day-in-and-day-out from the thirst-draining sticky hot. Then, the very next week, it was gone. The days were still sunny, but there was a chill in the air. A chill that very quickly turned into a bitter chill. And suddenly, light summer layers were no longer an option. Only layers and layers would do. Suddenly scarves and jerseys and jackets were coming out to play. And this is only Fall. Wait til the Winter hits.

This month in New York has been filled with ups-and-downs. The days blur into each other.

We traversed the city by car, taxi and tube, hopped on buses, hopped off buses. Got to see the city from many angles.

My favourite moments keep coming back to me, perfect days, and wondrous evenings. The roar of life, coming from a little island big city.

Little city big island.

Click below to see some of those moments:

- Sailing Around The City

- On The Night Bus

- The High Line

- Eating Bunny Chow in New York City

- Lobster Smash

- New York, New York

New York really encapsulates that All-American ideal of bigger is better. Bigger buildings, bigger portions, bigger cup sizes, bigger people. Louder, prouder.

If you can't beat them, join them?

Another treat in NY was getting to see some Broadway.  And Husband has promised some theatre reviews, coming soon.

And now? Now we're off again. Hitting the road to go see what else there is to see. Husband kept saying, the whole time we've been here, how New York isn't America. It's a city unto itself. A little like Monaco.

So here we go, off to see America. We'll be leaving on the morrow.

What did you think of New York City?

[Map from Google Maps]

PS Just in case you missed it, here is where we've been so far. 

A Mini Restaurant Review: New York

1. Fig and Olive

Husband had heard about this one, but we just happened upon it, one afternoon, between tours. It was swanky, suave, chic. Packed with the high-paid business men and women of NY on their lunch break.
I ordered the skirt steak panini which was more like a skirt steak toasted sarmie. But with chunky crisp potato wedges, and lightly dressed salad it made for a perfect lunch. All served up on a wooden board.
Husband was feeling a bit more ambitious and ordered the 'fixe lunch' or set menu. He ate a delicious gazpacho soup, a good-looking paella, and a chocolate mousse. The bites that I had of his were scrumptious.

10 East 52nd Street, Manhattan, NY
(212) 319-2002

2. Risotteria

When we first walked past this spot in the West Village we knew it was a winner. As big fans of the scrummy rice dish, this sounded just like our kind of spot. So, when we found ourselves in the West Village a few days later, bellies-rumbling, feet-sore and risotto-calling, we knew it was time.

270 Bleecker Street  New York, NY 10014
(212) 924-6664

3. Taverna Kyclades

Mmm...Saturday afternoon. Hungry. The day is hot, but the wind is blowing, just like it does at the ocean. We sit down at a roadside restaurant in Aistoria and order dish after dish of delicious seafood. It feels even more like we could be by the ocean. What a feast!

33-07 Ditmars Blvd Astoria, NY 11105 
(718) 545-8666

Design {Days}

Just stumbled across these on the net - what a wonderful decorating trick for the avid traveler! I might have to include some of these in my home one day. I particularly like the 'Read' one above.

These little guys make me smile.

[Photo sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]

The New York City Pass

OK, I'm going to go utterly touristy and travel blog related, and blow the horn of this wonderful little thing I found on the internet while researching our holiday in New York City.

The New York City Pass is a very clever little invention. One set fee for 70 of New York's biggest attractions, based on how many days you have to explore. We had the luxury of spending seven days using the pass, and paid $175 for that luxury.

A little flash of the card, and you can jump queues, get discounts and enter into a whole pile of the top spots you want to visit across the city.

Wanna know what we got to see?

Here's the post about the NBC Studio Tour, bowling at Bowlmor, and the Guggenheim.

We also went on a walking tour across the Brooklyn Bridge and into DUMBO.

We had a once-in-a-lifetime experience sailing around Manhattan on the 1929 Shearwater, an 82-foot double-masted Great Gatsby era sailing yacht.

And then we got to do a whole pile of other things, including:

- Bodies: The Exhibit
- Museum of Sex
- MoMA
- Statue of Liberty
- Spy: The Exhibit
- Ripley's Believe It Or Not
- Empire State Building
- Top of the Rock

And there was even more we did do, and could have done! We just ran out of time. Check out the full list of attractions here.

What a winner.

Coming up this week: more NYC posts, the next big part of our adventure (which I'm over the moon about!) and some mini restaurant reviews!

Face Smashing

Oh my gosh I'm going to smash this in my face. Hunger strikes!

Hot dogs in Edinburgh, Scotland. I love me some street food.

First Day of Fall

According to this website Fall has just begun, right now, at 10:49 AM EDT on the 22nd of September 2012.  

Of course, we're still calling it Autumn. Even if it confuses the Americans.

[Picture from The Google]

Sailing Around The City

This was the winner. Out of everything. Out of our whole New York City Pass. Out of the whole of New York. 

Jumping on a sail boat late at night, off to see the city. 

We're running late, after dinner, after museums, after a morning in bed. It makes you sloppy. It's hard to catch a cab in NYC on a Thursday night. It's like Johannesburg, back home - Thursday is party night, time to hit the town, paint it red...white...and blue.

But you make it, running through the financial district, cutting through buildings, and along the harbour. Make it. Tourists mingle, the line grows. No one is quite as out-of-breath as you are.

The whole city is alight. Doubly-so, because it is all reflected in the water. Nine-thirty in the city of dreams.

On the boat. It's old. A sailing boat. The 1929 Shearwater, an 82-foot double-masted Great Gatsby era sailing yacht. Waves lap, the open water beckons. I've always liked boats. I tell Husband which one I'll buy for us one day. It's hard to choose.

Manhattan is spread out on one side, Jersey on the other. The horizon is dominated by sparkling lights and skyscrapers, and skyscrapers covered in sparkling lights.

The sails catch the wind, the boat moves fast. Suddenly you're down the bottom of the Manhattan island, and heading out - out towards Ms. Liberty.

In Review:

Shearwater Sailing
(free as part of our New York City Pass)

385 South End Avenue  Manhattan By Sail, New York, NY 10280 (212) 619-0907