Anniversary Trip | Upstate New York

This year for our two year anniversary we decided to plan an adventure far, far away. The only traveling we have done together since our honeymoon has been to visit family, and the occasional Apache Relay show that I will tag along to. We found a cabin, The William Brown Cabin in Hankins, NY that had our name all over it. Brett had been following the William Brown Project blog for years, where he saw the owner/photographer/traveller Matthew Hrenak's cabin featured. We were really drawn to the aesthetics and the surroundings of this little cabin. It's on 130 acres with trails, fishing and swimming ponds and is approximately 2.5 hours from New York City with lots of little towns to explore in between. We packed up the Subaru, dropped off the dogs, and headed North. We spent the night in PA and finished the drive the next day. Although it was a long drive, we always have great conversations on long road trips. With the aid of the "ungame," we talked the whole drive, asking questions and dreaming together. This cabin is out in the countryside, with long gravel roads leading us to our destination. We pulled up and were warmly greeted by the owner and his daughter, who showed us around and told us to make ourselves at home. And that, we did.

Anniversary trip to Upstate NY
Anniversary trip to Upstate NY

The cabin was completed with an outdoor shower, indoor Japanese style soaking tub, a grill, outdoor fireplace and fresh local coffee and milk for peaceful mornings. The weather was in the mid 60's, it was perfect.

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UpstateNYTrip_02

Brett and I are used to having fruit and veggie smoothies every morning that we make at home, so we brought along our personal sized blender and our own produce. Our first morning there Brett headed down to the fishing pond while I did some yoga on the front porch of the cabin until I heard from across the field, "I got a catch! Come see!"

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UpstateNYTrip_03

We explored downtown Hankins and Narrowsburg that afternoon, where we had lunch at The Heron. I had a delicious Chicken and Brie sandwich with grilled apples, garlic mayo on toasted ciabatta with a salad. We explored several fun antique shops where Brett found an old Woodstock book and $3 sunglasses, and I found a couple small china plates, one of TN and one of chickens, that are now hanging in our living room.

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UpstateNYTrip_04

For dinner on our last night at the cabin we headed out to Henning's Local in Eldred, NY. It was a good drive, but worth it. We walked through the cozy low-lit restaurant to sit on the deck where we overlooked a meadow with a pond,  little red bridge and deer passing through. I had the mocha seared trout, orange glazed organic summer beets with potato. The weather was cool and crisp, and on the ride home we discussed the origin of bluegrass.

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UpstateNYTrip_05_1

After a couple relaxing days at the cabin, we headed to the second half of our trip to Phoenicia, NY in the Catskill Mountains. On the way, we stopped in several different towns where we stopped at a farm store, book store, cafes, antique shops, etc. We stayed at the Graham & Co. where we dropped off our things and headed out for a hike. The trail we chose was extremely rocky, with an intense incline. We finally made it to the top, with a beautiful view of the Catskill Mountains.

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UpstateNYTrip_06
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UpstateNYTrip_07

The next day we headed out to explore Woodstock, NY and really loved that little town. We went to this awesome spot for lunch, and each found a book at a neat bookshop in the heart of Woodstock. Brett also found a vintage pillow case (the fabric featured in the book shot) that is now in his music room. On our last night of the trip, we went to a special Italian restaurant Mercato in Redhook, NY that I had read about in an Anthology magazine, " Mercato quickly took root as the town's go-to restaurant for classic Italian cooking with local ingredients and an ever-changing, seasonal menu." We finished the meal with a shared latte and tiramisu and called it a night. What a wonderful trip it was.

Every now and then it's nice to get away for an adventure, for a "mountain top" experience. Trips teach you how to slow down, enjoy and savor experiences. I think the most important part is being able to apply that savoring to every day life. Adventures are great, but let's be honest, the normal, mundane life is the larger portion of my life. I don't want to live life thinking "163 days until my vacation" where I am just trying to get through the days. I want to savor the everyday routine of life, and find simple ways to make normal life an adventure, too.