In the News
Five Fantasy Adventures
Ordinary vacations become memorable adventures at these locales.
Author: Elyse Dupre
Men’s Fitness
Shawangunk Ridge, New York
Just 90 minutes from New York City, The Gunks (as they are often called) are home to some of the best rock climbing in North America. The Sky Top, a prominent stone face with more than 300 different routes to the top, has cliffs up to 350 feet. Check out one or two of The Gunks' ice caves, where the deep rock fissures stay icy cool throughout the summer months.
MF Fantasy: Sleep in a castle. Yes, a castle Mohonk Mountain House is a 267-room Victorian resort that is centrally located to offer easy access to all the fun.
Bonus Tip: Ascend one of National Geographic's top-rated rock climbing cliffs, the 'Gunks, with HighXposure Adventures Inc. Whether you're a novice climber or you've already learned the ropes, HighXposure has a wide range of classes starting at $240 per person. Book your climbing excursion in the fall to witness the ravishing colors of the foliage from above. READ MORE.
Crickets, Bonfires And Dance Alfresco
Author: Claudia La Rocco
Published: July 15, 2010
The New York Times
Mount Tremper, N.Y.—THE photographer Mathew Pokoik swears he didn’t choose this charming Catskills town as the home for an interdisciplinary festival because of its almost total lack of cellphone reception.
“Although it also makes for a perfect residency experience,” he added in an e-mail message about the summer-long event he founded with the choreographer Aynsley Vandenbroucke, his wife.
Dance companies “tend to panic when they first get here, and then settle down to work without that distraction pretty quickly.”
What a luxury it is for artists and audiences to sink into a show knowing there won’t be a single electronic trill to break the spell. And how lovely to experience serious art while surrounded by nature. READ MORE.
Showcasing Ulster County
Author: Patricia Doxsey
Published: Monday, July 26, 2010
The Kingston Freeman
Kingston, N.Y. — Scenes from tourist attractions around the county play on a television that hangs above a counter in the Ulster County Department of Motor Vehicles.
Nearby stand racks filled with brochures from the plethora of historic sites, tourist attractions, and recreational facilities. A glass display case highlights local businesses and destinations on a rotating basis. And on nearly every weekday morning, a county Department of Tourism employee is on hand to help visitors find things to do and places to go throughout the county. READ MORE.
The easy life: Rosendale, a small Ulster County town, with quirky rep draws many NYC folks
Author: Karen Angel
Posted: Friday, June 25th 2010, 4:00 AM
New York Daily News
Once home to brothels and speakeasies, Main St. has changed since local factories supplied more than half the cement used in the United States. When singer Kelleigh McKenzie and her husband were considering a move from Stuyvesant Town to the Hudson Valley, they were concerned they might not feel at home. When they discovered Rosendale, that concern vanished.
“Rosendale draws a particular kind of transplant, someone who’s looking for a community of diverse and creative individuals who can really let their freak flag fly,” says McKenzie, 45.
From the “united republic of Rosendale” bumper stickers to the annual community Hula-Hoop jam and the weekly drum circles on Main St., the freak flags are flying — and increasingly, former New York City residents are tethered to them. READ MORE.
Williamsburg North: Finding Art in the Hudson Valley
The L Magazine
In a story as old as time, artists in search of light, space and affordability have been looking ever northward as traditional outer-borough NYC nabes get too pricey. And as we all know, where the artists go, so goes the art (and cafes, bars and good restaurants). Luckily for these artists, though, the Hudson Valley is already home to some fantastic art destinations, in some of the most beautiful countryside in the world. READ MORE.
MT. Tremper Arts Festival
Posted: July 19, 2010
The New Yorker
You may have seen him recently, or brushed past him: a large, naked man in the Marina Abramović retrospective at MOMA. Downtown dancegoers know Will Rawls as a standout presence, supple for his size, a bookish athlete with a wry outlook and an air of incredulousness. At the Catskills festival he performs his first evening-length solo, “Census,” in which he’ll give his interest in the rules of theatre what sounds like an anthropological twist.
July 23 – August 15
MT. TREMPER ARTS
647 South Plank Rd., Mt. Tremper, N.Y.
845-688-9893
mounttremperarts.org
Dive Into the Past
Author: Elaine Glusac
Posted: July 4, 2010
The New York Times
Light a torch
From the 1830s through the 1960s, the Hudson was a major thoroughfare for steamboats, sloops and barges shuttling goods and millions of people to various points between New York and Albany. Showing the way at night were 14 lighthouses. Eight remain today (hudsonlights.com), and seven permit visitors, allowing for a trip up (or down) the Hudson that recalls a time when freight and ferry schedules were a way of life.
Start with the 360-degree view from the Statue of Liberty(yes, it briefly served as a lighthouse), and head north to its more modest neighbor, the 40-foot-tall Little Red Lighthouse (212-304-2365), snug under the George Washington Bridge. From there you can duck into the 1883 Lighthouse (914-366-5109) in Sleepy Hollow and follow it up with the Stony Point Lighthouse (845-786-2521), the oldest on the river.
Farther upstream, a docent-guided boat (800-843-7472) makes for a romantic trip to the Rondout Lighthouse in Kingston. The next stop requires foresight -- at least a year of it -- as the two-bedroom Saugerties Lighthouse, which serves as a B&B books quickly. It's open year round and is a cozy time capsule (845-247-0656; saugertieslighthouse.com). Even if a sleepover isn't in the offing, tours of the building run on Sunday afternoons in the summer, and you can swim from the deck any time you want.
The most northern light is the stately brick and granite Hudson-Athens, with boat-to-lighthouse tours (518-828-5294; hudsonathenslighthouse.org) available from both towns on various days from May to October.
Colony of the Arts
Author: Marti Attoun
Posted: July 8, 2010
American Profile
In neighboring studios, Katherine Burger, 58, cuts fabric into a bear shape for a collage while Erin O’Brien, 38, paints colorful geometric designs on a canvas with acrylics at Byrdcliffe Art Colony in Woodstock, N.Y. (pop. 6,241).
“Coming here is a gift,” says O’Brien, of Brooklyn, N.Y., about the isolated art colony in the Catskill Mountains. “There’s no stress. I read and walk and watch a wild turkey go by. I marvel at the raspberry bushes.”
Since 1903, when Ralph Whitehead founded Byrdcliffe, Woodstock has been a haven for artists and musicians, who stay for a few weeks or a lifetime. But since 1969, Woodstock has been more closely identified with peace and love, and the famous music festival that shares its spirit and name, though the three-day rock concert took place on a dairy farm 60 miles away in Bethel, N.Y. (pop. 4,362).
“We’re branded by the festival, but remain a community of arts,” says Joyce Beymer, president of the Woodstock Chamber of Commerce and Arts, a title that underscores the town’s history and identity.
Nearly 500 artists belong to the Woodstock Artists Association and Museum, founded in 1920, and 20 other galleries showcase the work of local artists and sculptors. The town’s creative rhythms flow at drumming circles each Sunday on the village green and during poetry readings each month at Town Hall. America’s oldest continuous chamber music concert series began in 1916 in a barn-like concert hall built at Maverick, an art colony founded in Woodstock by Hervey White.
“Hervey was the first hippie,” says Weston Blelock, 60, vice president of the Woodstock Historical Society. “He owned a farm and would put artists up in cottages on his property for $5 a season. Artists who were struggling and starving could set up shop and conduct their business.”
Both White and Whitehead, Byrdcliffe’s founder, feared that the Industrial Revolution was killing the creative spirit.
“Whitehead’s mission was to get the artist back to nature so he could create these beautiful works of art,” says Carla Smith, executive director of the Woodstock Byrdcliffe Guild.
In the early 1900s, Byrdcliffe craftsmen produced furniture and pottery. Today, about 40 artists-in-residence work in the original cottages and studios, creating everything from abstract paintings to photography, and writing novels, screenplays and musical compositions, which are performed at local venues.
In the 1960s, Pansy Coleman, a longtime supporter of the arts in Woodstock, held musical gatherings called Sound-Outs and helped spark organizer Michael Lang’s idea for the Woodstock Music and Art Fair: An Aquarian Exposition.
“Pansy had a farm and deli, and her place was the hub for young musicians,” says Julia Blelock, 56, Woodstock resident and co-author of Roots of the 1969 Woodstock Festival: The Backstory to Woodstock. “She was kind of like a den mother to musicians.”
Town officials nixed Lang’s plans to hold a music festival in Woodstock for fear of being overrun by crowds. Lang, however, retained the town’s name and leased a field on Max Yasgur’s farm in Bethel for the August concert, which drew an estimated 450,000 people.
Since the 1970s, Lang has allowed the town of Woodstock to borrow the iconic logo used to promote the concert. “It’s our symbol for everything,” says Beymer about the logo—a white bird perched on a blue guitar.
Woodstock shops abound with posters of famous musicians and former residents, such as Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix, peace-symbol decals, tie-dyed T-shirts and other hippie-era mementos.
But the concert’s spirit of love and brotherhood continues to define the town. “Everyone pools their talents and resources,” Beymer says. “We had a walkway that was unsafe and for five Saturdays in a row, people brought equipment and laid a football-field’s length of stone. We hold benefits at the drop of a hat.”
Actor Dean Schambach, 77, is one artist who received an outpouring of community support and $9,000 at a benefit concert last summer to help pay his hospital bills after a car accident. “I was numbed by the love,” Schambach says. “It’ll take me forever to thank everyone.”
Picturesque Picnic Spots In Ulster County
Author: Traci L. Suppa
Posted: Thursday, June 17, 2010
Hudson Valley Parent
FORSYTH NATURE CENTER
Lucas Avenue, Kingston, NY
845 331-1682
Ulster County, N.Y.—This interpretive nature center located in Kingston is open year round, with 15 animal exhibits, five gardens and a calendar full of nature based programs for children and adults. Picnic tables are available under an attractive gazebo, allowing you to bring lunch and extend your visit.
A looping path leads you on an exploration of the animal pens containing a menagerie of peacocks, chickens, goats, turtles, ducks, rabbits, and turtle. More wildlife can be observed from the boardwalk circling the pond.
During the summer, the center is open 7am–7pm, Monday–Friday; and 9am–5pm, Saturday, Sunday and holidays.
PARK PERK: Educational programs, like “Buzz on Bees” and “Turtle Talk” are offered regularly to introduce kids to different species.
THE SOJOURNER TRUTH/ULSTER LANDING COUNTY PARK
916 Ulster Landing Road, Saugerties, NY
845 336-8484
Ulster County, NY—This seasonal park was recently re-named in honor of Sojourner Truth, the African-American abolitionist and women’s rights activist who was born in Ulser County. It’s located directly on the Hudson River, with a beach and broad views of the Kingston–Rhinecliff Bridge from the observation deck.
The amenities include playgrounds, hiking trails, basketball and volleyball courts, horseshoe pits, and a boat launch area. A covered pavilion with picnic tables is located within view of the river. Barbecue grills are available at the pavilion for your use. The park is open from 10am–8pm. Swimming permitted through Labor Day.
PARK PERK: The small sandy beach is one of the few, and most scenic, places to swim on the west banks of the Hudson River.
90 Miles Upstate, a Brooklyn Feel
By Sari Botton
Published: May 24, 2010
New York Times
ROSENDALE, N.Y. — Until about a year ago, Fredrick Arnold was living the life of a Williamsburg hipster. An aspiring filmmaker with mutton-chop sideburns, he spent his working hours waiting tables at Dumont Burger, and his off hours on projects like an animated music video for one of his favorite bands, Casper & the Cookies.Ulster County aims to draw visitors from NYC area.
But after being laid off — “Suddenly I wasn’t just competing with other people in their 20s, but with out-of-work stock brokers, people with Ph.D.’s, and even experienced chefs for a shrinking number of waiting jobs,” he said — Mr. Arnold, 25, moved about 90 miles north to this Hudson Valley town. He found a one-bedroom apartment just off Main Street for $700 a month (he previously paid $650 for a tiny room in a three-bedroom) and a job at Market Market, a cafe and nightclub on the edge of town with an eclectic menu and a distinctly Brooklyn feel. READ MORE.
