Hudson Valley Trip Report
Nov 1st, 2015, 10:42 AM
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Hudson Valley Trip Report
Well, thanks to the beautiful weather and the great advice we got from the Fodorites, our Hudson Valley drive was a pretty good trip! I say pretty good rather than great because if I had it to do over again with the knowledge I have now, I’d change a few things. But that’s why we read other people’s trip reports, right?
First of all, here are the things that I’d planned to do but we didn’t:
We explored Ithaca’s downtown but didn’t get a chance to walk through the campus.
We didn’t get to see the gorges in Ithaca.
We didn’t get to Storm King.
We didn’t walk across the Hudson at Poughkeepsie (but we did drive across it several times).
However, we did see the absolutely gorgeous fall colour – we’re officially leaf peepers now!
If I had it to do over again, I’d tack on one more day, maybe even two to this trip. We left on the 9th and returned on the 13th which seems like enough time but there’s a lot of driving time involved in this trip. While we planned to meander down small highways and country roads and we did do that to a great extent, there were plenty of times when we had to opt for the bigger highways if we wanted to get to where we were going and still have time to explore it.
So here’s what we did:
Day 1 Friday: We Toronto about 8:30 a.m., got to Ithaca in the early afternoon and checked into our hotel (Homewood Suites/Hilton). The hotel was fine, your standard low-end Hilton. The room was big and had a living room end and a little kitchen. Huge shower. Breakfast was standard and OK. If I had any complaint it was that we barely got a smile from the desk clerk. I normally don’t care much about greeters so if it was noticeable to me, it was pretty lackluster, especially compared to the other two Hiltons we stayed at who greeted us like old friends.
At the recommendation of our friends, we went to Collegetown to have lunch at a restaurant called Stellas. Found it. Alas, closed forever. So we wandered around a bit thinking that part of town was pretty lackluster with lots of restaurants that were either really closed or at least closed for lunch. We ended up having an OK lunch at a place called Aladins Natural Eatery. But then when we got back to the car and drove about half a block farther on, we noticed was seemed to be the only popular place in that area. I think it was called Collegetown Bagels and was next to the entrance to the campus. If only we’d walked a few door in the other way!
After lunch we drove to downtown Ithaca, which we found quite lively and charming. We walked the pedestrian mall and the area surrounding it and went into some lovely craft stores. By then though, the weather had turned cold and rainy and since our dinner reservation (Mahogany, 112 N. Aurora St.) wasn’t till 8 we needed something to do indoors and lo! there was a cinema so we popped in and saw a movie. We got out a little early for dinner but we checked and they could sit us at the bar which I always like anyway because you can chat with people and that’s exactly what we did. I highly recommend this place. The food was excellent and the place was hopping. In fact, all the restaurants on that street were really busy so I’d suggest you find the one you want and make a reservation, then go do your touristing. Our friends had recommended a restaurant called Madelines for dinner (in the pedestrian mall) but we looked at the menu and I’m sure it’s good because I trust their judgement absolutely but it just seemed like to formal a menu for us at that time. After dinner, we walked around a bit more but by then we were pretty pooped so off to the hotel we go.
Day 2 Saturday: This was the day we were going to go to Storm King but we just didn’t make it. We stopped for a quick lunch in Catskill and I had the best sandwich in the world (grilled cheese and prosciutto) in a restaurant called, I think, something like the New York Café. Took a quick walk on the main street and drove to Nanuet where we checked into the Hilton Garden Inn. Our suite there was huge. The living room was as big as the one in my house and the bedroom was almost as big, and there was a decent sized kitchen. We didn’t get to see much of Nanuet because we wanted to get to Tarrytown in time for dinner before the theatre. We drove across the Tappen Zee (no traffic problems either way) and then made a wrong turn at the other end which took us a bit into Irvington. Holy cats! That looks like a really expensive town! We were trying to figure out who lives there and in Tarrytown as well since the houses were huge and everyone we saw seemed pretty well-heeled. We finally got turned around in the right direction found the centre of town. We didn’t have any dinner reservations but there were tons of restaurants and we just wanted a casual bite so we ate at a place called Taco Project, just across from the theatre. We had a bit of time after dinner to browse the very lively main street before we had to get to the Music Box where we saw a wonderful band that did every note of the Beatles Abbey Road – that’s what they do – it’s called the Classic Albums Live series. We would have had to see whatever was playing that night so I feel we really lucked out. Back to Nanuet for sleep.
The next morning we checked out of our hotel and drove back to Tarrytown to the Phillipsburg Manor where we picked up the tour to the Rockefeller estate. We had a wonderful tour director and the house, the gardens, the art and, of course, the view, were absolutely gorgeous. I really enjoyed that tour and I learned quite a lot about the Rockefellers! We had enough time for a long walk around the residential area of Tarrytown and the main street again, where we had a nice lunch at Sweetgrass. After lunch we had to get on the road to get to Saugerties, where we’d be staying for the next two nights.
Day 3 Sunday: Saugerties turned out to be a cuter town than I expected. We checked into our b&b (Barclay Heights – Smythe House) and met our hosts, Justine and David. The b&b was charming and our hosts provided every possible amenity including gourmet breakfasts but I’m one of those people who just prefers the anonymity of a hotel to the hominess of a b&b. David recommended one of the restaurants on their list for dinner and he made a reservation for us at Miss Lucy’s which I had noticed on the drive in. We had a bit of time before dinner so we browsed the two main streets of Saugerties, the huge bookstore, dropped into the last few minutes of an Italian festival and then had drinks on the patio of the lovely Diamond Mills Hotel overlooking the fabulous gorge and waterfalls. So I did get to see a gorge after all! There was a very formal wedding being held in one of the big rooms and I’m pretty sure that if we’d been dressed better we could have at least snagged a glass of champagne and a nibble! Instead, we walked back up to Miss Lucy’s which was quite busy and where we had a very nice dinner before returning to our b&b.
Day 4 Monday: Up early and after another gourmet breakfast, we were off to Hyde Park for our Valkil/FDR Home & Library/Vanderbilt day. Now, you may remember that I found the website and booking of these tickets very confusing, even after a phone call. Well, I’m happy to say I’m not the only one who had this problem. First of all, the instructions said to go to the Visitor Centre to pick up our tickets. Wrong. If your first tour is Valkil, as ours was, you go there to pick up your tickets for that tour. The tour itself was very interesting and if you go, make sure you take the time to see Stone Cottage as well. Then part two for us was the FDR House and Library. We had to pick up our tickets for that part at the Visitor Centre, where the two separate parties in line in front of us both complained about how poor the website is and the ticket buying process. The young clerk told us that she hears that all the time but there’s nothing they can do about it since the website belongs to the National Park Service. In any case, the house and the library were both fascinating and I wish we’d had more time there. We actually had to rush through the library and this is where I’d change part of our trip. The tickets were good for two days but we’d only planned on one. Also, the final part of that day was the Vanderbilt mansion and omg, I just hated that place! I found it so unbelievably ugly and depressing and hated just about everything in it! In hindsight, I would have skipped that and spent the rest of that day in the FDR Library.
After leaving Vanderbilt (thank heavens!) we drove back to Rhinebeck where we walked the nice little main street and had an excellent dinner at a Fodorite recommendation called the Market Street Café. If you go, have the shrimp and linguini dish!
Back to Saugerties for sleep.
Day 5 Monday: Checked out of our b&b early for the drive to Rochester and checked into the Strathallan Doubletree, the nicest of the three Hiltons we stayed at and another Fodorite rec. Here we were greeted gorgeously with warm chocolate chip cookies! Our room was not a suite but very large and well appointed except for the odd fact that there was no mirror in the bedroom. One in the little hall and one in the bathroom but none in the bedroom. Odd. We drove down to Park Avenue where we had a good lunch at Jines (oh you excellent Fodorites!) and walked around a bit. Then we hopped back in the car and drove all over downtown Rochester trying to get a feel for it. We were hoping it would be more like Cleveland where the downtown core is quite lovely but Rochester isn’t quite there yet. We browsed in a fabulous vintage guitar store, though, at the more centre-city end of Goodman Avenue. We were both too pooped to go out for dinner that night so we ended up eating at Char, the steak house in the hotel. The menu was a bit over the top for us, with lots of sauces, etc., but the server was very helpful and the chef was amenable to calming things down for us so we had a very nice dinner there. The next morning, after a quick breakfast in the hotel, we visited the George Eastman Museum and house. I’m not much of a photography buff but I did like some of the displays and the building itself and the house was very beautiful.
And then it was time to get on the road for the three hour drive home. All in all, we had a good time and it was really a beautiful time of year for this trip. As I’ve said above I’d add a day or two to the trip, get to Storm King and dump Vanderbilt.
As usual, so many of the best things we did, restaurants we ate at and hotels we stayed in were Fodorite suggestions so thank you all for your help and I hope this trip report is equally helpful to other Hudson Valley visitors!
First of all, here are the things that I’d planned to do but we didn’t:
We explored Ithaca’s downtown but didn’t get a chance to walk through the campus.
We didn’t get to see the gorges in Ithaca.
We didn’t get to Storm King.
We didn’t walk across the Hudson at Poughkeepsie (but we did drive across it several times).
However, we did see the absolutely gorgeous fall colour – we’re officially leaf peepers now!
If I had it to do over again, I’d tack on one more day, maybe even two to this trip. We left on the 9th and returned on the 13th which seems like enough time but there’s a lot of driving time involved in this trip. While we planned to meander down small highways and country roads and we did do that to a great extent, there were plenty of times when we had to opt for the bigger highways if we wanted to get to where we were going and still have time to explore it.
So here’s what we did:
Day 1 Friday: We Toronto about 8:30 a.m., got to Ithaca in the early afternoon and checked into our hotel (Homewood Suites/Hilton). The hotel was fine, your standard low-end Hilton. The room was big and had a living room end and a little kitchen. Huge shower. Breakfast was standard and OK. If I had any complaint it was that we barely got a smile from the desk clerk. I normally don’t care much about greeters so if it was noticeable to me, it was pretty lackluster, especially compared to the other two Hiltons we stayed at who greeted us like old friends.
At the recommendation of our friends, we went to Collegetown to have lunch at a restaurant called Stellas. Found it. Alas, closed forever. So we wandered around a bit thinking that part of town was pretty lackluster with lots of restaurants that were either really closed or at least closed for lunch. We ended up having an OK lunch at a place called Aladins Natural Eatery. But then when we got back to the car and drove about half a block farther on, we noticed was seemed to be the only popular place in that area. I think it was called Collegetown Bagels and was next to the entrance to the campus. If only we’d walked a few door in the other way!
After lunch we drove to downtown Ithaca, which we found quite lively and charming. We walked the pedestrian mall and the area surrounding it and went into some lovely craft stores. By then though, the weather had turned cold and rainy and since our dinner reservation (Mahogany, 112 N. Aurora St.) wasn’t till 8 we needed something to do indoors and lo! there was a cinema so we popped in and saw a movie. We got out a little early for dinner but we checked and they could sit us at the bar which I always like anyway because you can chat with people and that’s exactly what we did. I highly recommend this place. The food was excellent and the place was hopping. In fact, all the restaurants on that street were really busy so I’d suggest you find the one you want and make a reservation, then go do your touristing. Our friends had recommended a restaurant called Madelines for dinner (in the pedestrian mall) but we looked at the menu and I’m sure it’s good because I trust their judgement absolutely but it just seemed like to formal a menu for us at that time. After dinner, we walked around a bit more but by then we were pretty pooped so off to the hotel we go.
Day 2 Saturday: This was the day we were going to go to Storm King but we just didn’t make it. We stopped for a quick lunch in Catskill and I had the best sandwich in the world (grilled cheese and prosciutto) in a restaurant called, I think, something like the New York Café. Took a quick walk on the main street and drove to Nanuet where we checked into the Hilton Garden Inn. Our suite there was huge. The living room was as big as the one in my house and the bedroom was almost as big, and there was a decent sized kitchen. We didn’t get to see much of Nanuet because we wanted to get to Tarrytown in time for dinner before the theatre. We drove across the Tappen Zee (no traffic problems either way) and then made a wrong turn at the other end which took us a bit into Irvington. Holy cats! That looks like a really expensive town! We were trying to figure out who lives there and in Tarrytown as well since the houses were huge and everyone we saw seemed pretty well-heeled. We finally got turned around in the right direction found the centre of town. We didn’t have any dinner reservations but there were tons of restaurants and we just wanted a casual bite so we ate at a place called Taco Project, just across from the theatre. We had a bit of time after dinner to browse the very lively main street before we had to get to the Music Box where we saw a wonderful band that did every note of the Beatles Abbey Road – that’s what they do – it’s called the Classic Albums Live series. We would have had to see whatever was playing that night so I feel we really lucked out. Back to Nanuet for sleep.
The next morning we checked out of our hotel and drove back to Tarrytown to the Phillipsburg Manor where we picked up the tour to the Rockefeller estate. We had a wonderful tour director and the house, the gardens, the art and, of course, the view, were absolutely gorgeous. I really enjoyed that tour and I learned quite a lot about the Rockefellers! We had enough time for a long walk around the residential area of Tarrytown and the main street again, where we had a nice lunch at Sweetgrass. After lunch we had to get on the road to get to Saugerties, where we’d be staying for the next two nights.
Day 3 Sunday: Saugerties turned out to be a cuter town than I expected. We checked into our b&b (Barclay Heights – Smythe House) and met our hosts, Justine and David. The b&b was charming and our hosts provided every possible amenity including gourmet breakfasts but I’m one of those people who just prefers the anonymity of a hotel to the hominess of a b&b. David recommended one of the restaurants on their list for dinner and he made a reservation for us at Miss Lucy’s which I had noticed on the drive in. We had a bit of time before dinner so we browsed the two main streets of Saugerties, the huge bookstore, dropped into the last few minutes of an Italian festival and then had drinks on the patio of the lovely Diamond Mills Hotel overlooking the fabulous gorge and waterfalls. So I did get to see a gorge after all! There was a very formal wedding being held in one of the big rooms and I’m pretty sure that if we’d been dressed better we could have at least snagged a glass of champagne and a nibble! Instead, we walked back up to Miss Lucy’s which was quite busy and where we had a very nice dinner before returning to our b&b.
Day 4 Monday: Up early and after another gourmet breakfast, we were off to Hyde Park for our Valkil/FDR Home & Library/Vanderbilt day. Now, you may remember that I found the website and booking of these tickets very confusing, even after a phone call. Well, I’m happy to say I’m not the only one who had this problem. First of all, the instructions said to go to the Visitor Centre to pick up our tickets. Wrong. If your first tour is Valkil, as ours was, you go there to pick up your tickets for that tour. The tour itself was very interesting and if you go, make sure you take the time to see Stone Cottage as well. Then part two for us was the FDR House and Library. We had to pick up our tickets for that part at the Visitor Centre, where the two separate parties in line in front of us both complained about how poor the website is and the ticket buying process. The young clerk told us that she hears that all the time but there’s nothing they can do about it since the website belongs to the National Park Service. In any case, the house and the library were both fascinating and I wish we’d had more time there. We actually had to rush through the library and this is where I’d change part of our trip. The tickets were good for two days but we’d only planned on one. Also, the final part of that day was the Vanderbilt mansion and omg, I just hated that place! I found it so unbelievably ugly and depressing and hated just about everything in it! In hindsight, I would have skipped that and spent the rest of that day in the FDR Library.
After leaving Vanderbilt (thank heavens!) we drove back to Rhinebeck where we walked the nice little main street and had an excellent dinner at a Fodorite recommendation called the Market Street Café. If you go, have the shrimp and linguini dish!
Back to Saugerties for sleep.
Day 5 Monday: Checked out of our b&b early for the drive to Rochester and checked into the Strathallan Doubletree, the nicest of the three Hiltons we stayed at and another Fodorite rec. Here we were greeted gorgeously with warm chocolate chip cookies! Our room was not a suite but very large and well appointed except for the odd fact that there was no mirror in the bedroom. One in the little hall and one in the bathroom but none in the bedroom. Odd. We drove down to Park Avenue where we had a good lunch at Jines (oh you excellent Fodorites!) and walked around a bit. Then we hopped back in the car and drove all over downtown Rochester trying to get a feel for it. We were hoping it would be more like Cleveland where the downtown core is quite lovely but Rochester isn’t quite there yet. We browsed in a fabulous vintage guitar store, though, at the more centre-city end of Goodman Avenue. We were both too pooped to go out for dinner that night so we ended up eating at Char, the steak house in the hotel. The menu was a bit over the top for us, with lots of sauces, etc., but the server was very helpful and the chef was amenable to calming things down for us so we had a very nice dinner there. The next morning, after a quick breakfast in the hotel, we visited the George Eastman Museum and house. I’m not much of a photography buff but I did like some of the displays and the building itself and the house was very beautiful.
And then it was time to get on the road for the three hour drive home. All in all, we had a good time and it was really a beautiful time of year for this trip. As I’ve said above I’d add a day or two to the trip, get to Storm King and dump Vanderbilt.
As usual, so many of the best things we did, restaurants we ate at and hotels we stayed in were Fodorite suggestions so thank you all for your help and I hope this trip report is equally helpful to other Hudson Valley visitors!
Nov 1st, 2015, 11:03 AM
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Aww, this was a great little trip you took !
A long time ago when my husband worked, and we had children in school, we would take any long weekend available in the fall, drive to Rhinebeck, stay at the Beekman Arms or a little hotel in Poughkeepsie that was actually great ! and we would go apple picking, bring home a pumpkin for Halloween and just enjoy the beauty of the area.
You were not so far from me .... I am just north of Hudson, but not far : )
Today is very windy and the leaves are falling like crazy.
A long time ago when my husband worked, and we had children in school, we would take any long weekend available in the fall, drive to Rhinebeck, stay at the Beekman Arms or a little hotel in Poughkeepsie that was actually great ! and we would go apple picking, bring home a pumpkin for Halloween and just enjoy the beauty of the area.
You were not so far from me .... I am just north of Hudson, but not far : )
Today is very windy and the leaves are falling like crazy.
Nov 1st, 2015, 01:36 PM
#5
I loved our visit to FDR museum and house and Eleanor's little cottage. I came away with an even greater admiration for Eleanor.
We did get to eat at the CIA and it was a delicious evening. It really was quite by accident. We just went there to see it and asked about dinner the next evening and they had an opening. I understand that usually the wait is months in advance. We got lucky!
We did get to eat at the CIA and it was a delicious evening. It really was quite by accident. We just went there to see it and asked about dinner the next evening and they had an opening. I understand that usually the wait is months in advance. We got lucky!
Nov 1st, 2015, 04:54 PM
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Nice report! You hit the area at a beautiful time of year. There's so much to see and do that it's difficult to experience everything. At least, that's how we felt after our visit in '14. The area just calls for a return trip.
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Sep 15th, 2015 05:01 PM
