New York By Rail 14th ed. | Page 34

y a d i r F By Bannerman Castle Planning your getaway shouldn’t take as long as the trip itself. Come to Dutchess County, in the heart of the Hudson Valley. It’s easy to arrange on Amtrak ® , and you can get here in less than two hours. Visit modern art museums, dine at The CIA, sample our craft beers and spirits, go for a hot air balloon ride or a river kayak excursion. Try something you can only do he re, like hiking around Bannerman Castle or across the Walkway Over the Hudson. Need help? Save time: DutchessTourism.com/travel-itineraries DutchessTourism.com/getaway-packages #DutchessGetaway DistinctlyDutchess dutchesstourism.com 32 | New York By Rail Sari Botton moved to the Hudson Valley in 2005. As a writer living in Kingston, she is editorial director for the nonprofit TMI Project, which offers storytelling workshops, and runs Kingston Writers’ Studio. She edited the award- winning essay anthology, Goodbye to All That: Writers on Loving & Leaving New York and its New York Times bestselling follow-up, Never Can Say Goodbye: Writers on Their Unshakable Love for New York. Here Be Ask a Local ” I moved to the Hudson Valley because my husband and I lost our affordable apartment in the East Village and real estate in the city had gotten too expensive for us. We had both loved visiting the area. We loved the hiking, biking, swimming and arts and culture. For a long time, I still thought of it as a fallback to the city but I’ve come to see it differently. There’s a deeper sense of community here. With fewer people, and fewer distractions, you connect at a deeper level. That’s not to say there isn’t plenty to do. There’s so much great art and music and activism. When friends visit, we’ll take them to Kingston hotspots like Outdated Café, Boitson’s, Elephant, Savona’s, Pakt, Two Ravens, The Anchor, Keegan Ales or Stockade Tavern. We’ll cycle the Wallkill Valley Rail Trail, see movies at the Rosendale Theatre, visit the Farmers’ Market and hidden swimming holes. We’ll hear music at BSP or UPAC or up at Helsinki Hudson. We’ll travel to Rhinebeck’s Poet’s Walk; Catskill’s bookstore Magpie; Jewett’s Colgate Lake; Maggie’s Krooked Café in Tanners- ey The Hudson Vall FUN ville; Mama’s Boy is known for its part Burgers in Phoenicia; CT ry FA in the Revolutiona Vietnamese food in oric hist pre of ty War, but it has plen Poughkeepsie; skiing at nty, Cou nge Ora too. nce importa home to Hunter Mountain; or right in the center, is both on- carb st olde a’s Dia Beacon. Usually we eric Am North ,500 can’t cram in everything dated human settlement (12 e years old) and the site of mor we want to do, be- any mastodon skeleton digs than cause there’s other place on earth. so much. ” Amtrak.com