Okay, I know this post is more applicable for New Yorkers, but if you’re visiting New York, it could apply to you too. This past week, with Friday off for the holiday, my husband Rich and I played hookey on Thursday and had ourselves a little pre-weekend escape that turned out to be so perfect. My hope is that you, too, can recreate this very easy (from the city), very affordable, and very fun two days and one night away, and that in reading it you discover a few new spots to explore. I hope, too that you are reminded, as I was, of how simple it is to get upstate, and how even just one night away can be a perfect reset!
We took our trip by car, which is essential for hitting all the spots, but if you did just want to focus on Hudson for a full two days, there is more than enough to do and you can easily take the Amtrak from Penn Station directly to the town in just two hours. For drivers though, it opens up more, so I’ll share a play by play of what we did. Our trip focused on eating and vintage shopping - two of my all time favorite things to do. I was so chuffed with the way the weekend played out, so I am very excited to share an itinerary for your inspiration/duplication here!
p.s. We have a two year old, so leaving during the weekday when we have on nanny is arguably easier. We were lucky to have her work her regular days and then stay overnight with our son on Thursday. It made it seamless! Also, we were originally supposed to go Friday morning through Saturday evening, but I characteristically booked the hotel incorrectly and then could not find anywhere to stay on Friday night, but below I’ll make my case for why I think a Thursday-Friday is even better than a Friday-Saturday anyways! Oh, and this post is long so you may have to open it outside your email to see it all.
So, here’s the itinerary:
Thursday
9am - Depart: Our nanny arrived and we headed out in the car with just a tote each - less than we’ve packed in a long time, especially with no baby gear necessary and the car seat taken out so we would have more room for anything we wanted to bring back!
10:30am - Downstate Newburgh: More than halfway into our trip we stopped in Newburgh, a cool river town on the west side of the Hudson, 1.5 hours from Brooklyn. We were going to check out this coffee shop/breakfast spot and it blew us away. The coffee program is amazing (try the espresso tonic) and the Mexican inspired food was worth driving way out of your way for, though luckily for us it wasn’t! The breakfast burrito with brisket and avocado was maybe the best I ever had and absolutely massive!
Noon - Antique Shopping in Newburgh: We went to two spots: Hudson Valley House Parts which is more of a salvage place to find old things like doors, knobs, and lighting, and Newburgh Vintage Emporium (they have two locations, the “Ware-House” and the main store in town. This is more of your typical vintage “mall” where different vendors have alcoves full of their curation. I like shopping this way because you can see a lot in one go and quickly assess if the shop’s vibe is yours, or if you can keep walking past.
3pm - The Antique Warehouse, Hudson: Leave Newburgh and drive another hour or so north to Hudson. This place is a huge warehouse on the edge of town full of vintage finds from a mix of sellers. It’s massive so you need a bit of energy to hit it (maybe drive past Supernatural Coffee + Bakery for a pick-me-up before you head in). It’s full to the brim of vintage finds at good prices and most are negotiable. I left with outdoor dining chairs, two very cool vintage pillows and a vintage t-shirt.
4pm - Check into Pocketbook Hudson and use the Bathhouse: One of the reasons we did this trip was that you can stay at this new Hudson hotel for just one night on the weekdays - most hotels in the area required 2-3 night bookings over the weekends. It’s also much more affordable on the weekdays (our mid-tier room was $250 for the night). What I like most about the hotel is that it’s walking distance to the main street, and has a bathhouse you can use as a guest without needing toybook a spa treatment. We were lucky that it started pouring right after we checked in so we put on the robes and spent the next hour or so relaxing in the hot tub, pool, cold plunge and steam. What I also loved about a Thursday night stay was that the boathouse was nearly empty and we didn’t need a booking, which meant we could go when worked into our day instead of planning around it. On the weekends you have to book and they said it gets quite busy.
6pm - Drinks at The Hereafter: This place is walking distance from the hotel and was such a great find. It’s a serious cocktail bar with a cool vibe and an impressive food menu that we sampled while doing our best to not over order and spoil our upcoming dinner reservation. I would love to go back and try more!
7:30 - Dinner at Casa Susana: It was funny that our two main meals of the day were Mexican, but with both being so outstanding, and differentiated enough it didn’t matter at all. This place is not to be missed! The scene is interesting - it’s located in a roadside motel in the town of Leeds, just a 15 min drive from Hudson. It’s won many awards for its focus on seasonal ingredients and the highest quality corn. Everything we had was amazing and the service was great. I liked the casual setting with more elevated food, and the drinks were amazing!
Friday
8am - Nature Walk in the Greenport Conservation Area: This was a beautiful nature preserve with many different trails along the edge of the Hudson River. I couldn’t believe how beautiful it was and starting the day here was just perfect!
9:30am - Breakfast at Mel The Baker: If you’re in Hudson, you can’t miss a stop here. This place used to be located in the Lower East Side of Manhattan and I loved it. I was so sad for them to leave. It’s one of the best bakeries of all time in both sweet and savory and breads. We sampled lots and brought home their dense rye bread that I love. The standouts were the savory scone and the most amazing cardamom bun.
10:30am - Check out of hotel and shop Warren Street: We headed back to the hotel and packed up. Rich stayed back to use the bathhouse again and I got a head start shopping. Warren Street, the main shopping street of Hudson, is a quick walk away and is fully open by 11am on Fridays. There are so many great places to shop here for clothes and home wear, but the ones I never miss are: Hudson Home, FINCH, Shaina Mote, B Sides Denim, Alfredo Paredes, and Clove and Creek.
1:30 - Lunch at Talbott & Arding: This is a local cheese and specialty food shop that I‘ve been coming to for years. They used to have a cute little store on the Main Street but now have a much larger location just two streets over. Everything they do is perfect. It was just the right spot for a simple lunch of sandwiches and some prepared food - we wanted to eat lighter to save room for an early dinner and welcomed some protein and greens after our bakery breakfast.
3pm - Shop Millerton: This town was new to me and was really worthwhile to visit! It’s about 40 minutes from Hudson and just 15 minutes from the dinner spot. I was surprised I had never head of the town based on how well established it seemed and how good the shopping was. Notable places to visit: Millerton Antique Center, Montage Antiques, Cottage + Camp, The Dutchess Trading Company, Westerlind, and Harney & Sons (this is the tea company’s flagship tea house!).
5pm - Dinner at Stissing House: I love an early evening reservation - you get the excitement of a whole night ahead and plenty of time to digest after. The atmosphere here at Stissing House is as special as the food itself. There is such attention to detail in the way things are presented and displayed, candlighting everywhere, and a sense of a place that feels relaxed and special at the same time. Everything we had was amazing, but I can’t stop thinking about the bread, butter, and local cheese. Clare de Boer is the chef behind the restaurant and I have been a fan of hers for years. We both went to the same Cooking School in Ireland (Ballymaloe), though not at the same time.
7:30pm - Head back to Brooklyn: On a summer night where the sun is not fully down ‘till 9, this drive was gorgeous. You spend the first half of it driving through farmlands and rolling hills just as the sun is setting. We were back home in Brooklyn by 9:15pm, and then had a full weekend still ahead of us! A pretty perfect trip if you ask me!
Five Fine Things From The Weekend
The hotel gives you a $25/night credit towards the mini bar (love that!) and so we dove in. I had not had this popcorn with nutritional yeast and sea salt before and it was incredible. I love the cheesy taste and the smaller kernels. Such a good snack.
I took this picture because I loved the color story with the hotel robe - ha! I saw a cute girl on the street in Hudson wearing one these and then happen to go into a store that was selling them. Sadly they did not have my size but then I saw I could order it on Amazon and in a navy which is a welcomed new color in my large hat collection! I love that it’s fuss free and packable and has a unique shape that makes it a bit more interesting.
So cute, right? The same store I mentioned above had this hand cream that I loved. The smell was subtle, the pump was a bit different and the box it came I was beautiful. This would make such a nice hostess gift for anyone you’re visiting this summer.
I brought mine with me on our trip and then used it two other times this weekend. It’s the perfect size to actually fit quite a bit and I much prefer a pouch to a clutch since you can string it on your wrist if you need. Sadly my green daisy pattern is sold out but the all black is available and I think the material makes this really versatile as a day or night piece and one you could just as easily use in summer or winter.
My bag hanging on the back door of the bathroom door. A clutch can’t do this! Ghia and Fever-Tree Light Tonic
Saturday after our trip my friend Charlotte Parker invited me for a rooftop party in celebration of Midsommar. She said this is her favorite way to drink Ghia (with the above tonic over ice), and despite the fact that I’ve been drinking it for years, I had never had it with tonic water before. The mini cans of the Fever-Tree are the perfect amount for one drink and the “light” version is less sweet, perfectly cutting the bitterness of the Ghia. This is now my official drink of summer!
Didn’t get any pictures of Charlotte’s beautiful rooftop or my drink, but here I am in the elevator on the way up, with my bag again!
Enjoy and talk soon (I have a few good posts in the works!)
xx, Madison
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