Home to a diverse group of artists, chefs, and outdoor lovers, the Hudson Valley – located about two hours north of New York City – provides the ideal backdrop for a quick weekend away. And unlike farther-flung destinations, a recharging trip here (even with a few indulgences) can come with a low carbon footprint. The Hudson Valley train line from Manhattan’s Grand Central is a great, sustainable option for non-drivers, though I had access to Volvo’s new XC40 electric car, making the trip upstate even easier. I simply jumped in, told Google “to take me to the Hudson Valley.” and voila, I was on my way. In addition to feeling like you’re doing something good for the planet (you are), charging stations are becoming more readily available – keep scrolling for more on where I charged in my destination, the town of Hudson – making driving electric a convenient way to plan a road trip sans gas. However you choose to travel to this pastoral paradise, here’s what to do once you arrive.
Things To Do
Columbia County Retail List
Our office has joined forces with the Columbia County Chamber of Commerce to assist in the Columbia County Comeback/Buy Local crusade.
In support of the Columbia County food and beverage related businesses, we have been actively updating a Columbia County Dining, Food & Beverage List for the convenience of the many dedicated patrons. This list is shared regularly through social media and our websites. https://columbiacountytourism.org/dine/takeout-delivery-columbia-county-ny/
NEW to this combined effort is a Columbia County Retail List. Please shop local and lets all advocate for a successful Columbia County Comeback!
Special thanks to the support from Chamber members who are listed in BOLD. If you are actively conducting business and do not see your business listed, please email us at: [email protected]
Best 15 Engaging Things to Do in the Mid-Hudson River Valley
HUDSON NY
Go uphill for the riveting views, and stay for the house tour at Frederick Church’s home, Olana. Church, a significant artist in the Hudson River School of Art movement, built his Persian-influenced style home overlooking his beloved river. Posthumously, Church became an important player in the Hudson River conservation movement, when one of his paintings was employed in the effort to ban a nuclear power plant within view of here. Protesters in the 1970’s used one of Church’s winter landscapes to show exactly how an industrial facility would mar the perfect scene. The ploy worked and the plant was put elsewhere. You’ll see this landscape and a number of Old Masters on a fascinating tour of Church’s home and studio.
Read article here.
Five Arty Upstate New York Towns To Check Out
If you’ve hopped around all the galleries the city has to offer, you can head out of the five boroughs and see what the more bucolic upstate towns have to offer in the way of art. From touring a former school that’s now a gallery in Columbia County to a day trip to Peekskill, there are many ways to sneak in some culture during a weekend escape.
Read article here.
Eye On Hudson: Five New Hotspots You Should Know About
You hear it all the time: those who occasionally visit Hudson will remark on the many changes they’ve encountered since their last swing through town. New businesses are always opening and the end of summer 2015 was an especially active time for the little city’s business district, with establishments of all kinds opening their doors. But it’s not just quantity. The quality of Hudson’s new businesses continue to elevate the Hudson experience for both residents and visitors alike. Here are five new hotspots to check out next time you’re there.
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City Guide: A Weekend in Upstate New York
Earlier this month I traveled upstate to celebrate one of my friend’s (and one of our very own interviewees) Alisa Richter’s wedding in Hudson, New York. Having lived in the big apple for more than half my life I was hit with a realization that until this year, I had actually never been beyond the confines of the city – my first taste of life upstate was visiting Dia:Beacon this summer. Since, I’ve been itching to experience the beauty the rest of the state has to offer. With an opportunity to celebrate one of life’s most cherished events and the chance to explore more about local life in towns including Hudson, Phoenicia and Germantown I was able to truly discover some amazing destinations that are well worth checking out for a weekend getaway no matter the occasion.
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Basilica Soundscape’s Mad, Siren Squall
The upstate New York festival continues to provide a haven for the sound-obsessed.
Whenever someone tells you something is revelatory, take a teaspoon of salt. Basilica Soundscape has been wreathed in clover and sheathed with hosannas since debuting four years ago, most reports citing the beautiful setting and pedigree of its curation, focused on music and peppered with the visual and written arts. The event is named conjointly, for the fest’s dark brick home—a beautifully converted pencil shaving distillery and maple leaf sorting facility that now looks like a place Matthew Barney wouldn’t mind visiting (he did, actually, and has collaborated with fest curator Brandon Stosuy)—and, presumably, for the martian contours of its sonic output. Its list of performers have almost nothing in common sonically, but all live on the outskirts of town.
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‘River Crossings,’ a Contemporary Art Exhibition at 2 Historic Sites of the Hudson River School
WHEN warm weather arrives, artists by the hundreds, including me, venture outside with paint boxes and portable easels. This passion for plein air painting is a phenomenon of recent years that has come to include competitions, workshops and shows in towns, villages and scenic spots like the Eastern Shore of Maryland, which hosts more than 200 artists each July at Plein Air Easton. I now have seven paint boxes and folding easels, ranging from watercolor sets the size of a cigarette pack to a full-scale French easel made just the way it was for the Impressionists.
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New York Does it Right with Haunted History Trail
While popular haunted places in the Midwest struggle to gain recognition and help from local governments and mainstream business/tourism organizations, one state is getting it right. When I began researching legends in Upstate New York, I came across this website, and I was surprised to discover that the website was the result of cooperation across more than a dozen local tourism bureaus. Whenever the subject of haunted places or tours is discussed with community leaders in my home state of Illinois, it is usually in hushed tones, as if they are speaking of porno theaters or international crime rings. Despite the benefits of paranormal tourism, for example, a number of years ago local church leaders in my hometown petitioned the public library board to shut down a friend’s ghost tour, which she had ran successfully in cooperation with the library for years, because it was allegedly “occult” related.
Read article here.
Why New York Is Celebrating a Vegetable This Weekend (Ramp Festival)
Take a trip to New York’s Hudson Valley to taste one of the season’s most elusive flavors.
Now that the seemingly endless winter is truly over, there are harbingers of spring everywhere: cherry trees blooming, arms and toes exposed. For foodies, the change in seasons is exciting for another reason: For a very brief moment, farmers’ markets will be overrun with ramps, a spring vegetable that’s also known as a wild leek. Its flavor is pungent, sort of like a cross between a spring onion and garlic, and its presentation varied: pickled, grilled, used in pesto, as a pizza topping…the list goes on. Because of their scarcity—ramps show up early in the season in the northeast, mid-Atlantic, and Midwest, then hit their peak for just a few weeks—they’re enormously popular among the food obsessed; in the past week alone, Eater.com, Bon Appetit,and Serious Eats have all published articles extolling the elusive allium’s virtues.
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