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Good weekend...
Aug. 13th, 2006 09:39 pmManaged to not spend the weekend working, (which I feel only a little guilty about...) and spent most of it bouncing around the area sightseeing with ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
ginkgo. Yesterday we went hiking at Rockefeller State Park, which used to be the 'back yard' to their estate at Kykuit. Beautiful walk around the lake (lilies, turtles, ducks, and a bazillion *HUGE* dragonflies of at least seven major species types I saw), then down through some grassland full of grasshoppers and butterflies, then out into an old railroad bed that went down into these wonderful fern gullies full of moss and fungus. The day was about 78 or so, and nicely *NOT* humid, with gorgeous crystal clear blue skies. Perfect. Then, a trip to Trader Joe's (I am so Trader Joe's bitch), and back home for the evening.
Today we headed up to Croton Dam - the second largest hewn stone structure in the world - only the Great Pyramid is larger (although they claim this, I'm skeptical in that I want to know how they define 'hewn stone' to arrive at this, and how they measure 'larger' - I kinda think the Great Wall of China might win on sheer volume, y'know?), but still... daaaaaaayum. My kind of stonework. The pictures don't do it justice - that gorgeous stepping cliff there is *just the spillway*... and is about 1/6 the total width. The rest is a massive stone wall that looks like something out of Jackson's LOTR.
After that we bounded up north through Westchester County into Putnam County to see if we could find more affordable homes - well... we sort of did. In that, we found homes a lot cheaper than in Westchester, but still far outside our price range. (Lake Mahopac though? Yeah, I could deal with that. A nice huge home with a boathouse on an island in a lake. Hmm, gee, darn.) Worked our way over to Fishkill, and down Rte 9, which I've been down a few dozen times already. Decided to see what the Cold Spring train station was like, since it seemed to be out in the middle of nowhere, and ran across... well... rather the town I expected more of the area to be like.
Cold Spring is a walking town on a steep hill overlooking the Hudson, and across the river from massive stone cliffs. There is a public pier/concert area, a large antique/deli/pub area of Main St, a few hundred freakin' adorable Victorian homes, bustling farmer's market, walking distance to the train to NYC, and generally happy shiny people everywhere. It was picturebook perfect. And, as you might expect, way out of our price range again. :\ Still, I find it amazing that in the six months or so here so far, *no one* has mentioned this town to me, that I recall. I have not seen it on a map, nor heard mention of it in any way shape or form, and it was just... perfect. Ah well.
Home again, home again, jiggity jog, for dinner.
ginkgo. Yesterday we went hiking at Rockefeller State Park, which used to be the 'back yard' to their estate at Kykuit. Beautiful walk around the lake (lilies, turtles, ducks, and a bazillion *HUGE* dragonflies of at least seven major species types I saw), then down through some grassland full of grasshoppers and butterflies, then out into an old railroad bed that went down into these wonderful fern gullies full of moss and fungus. The day was about 78 or so, and nicely *NOT* humid, with gorgeous crystal clear blue skies. Perfect. Then, a trip to Trader Joe's (I am so Trader Joe's bitch), and back home for the evening.Today we headed up to Croton Dam - the second largest hewn stone structure in the world - only the Great Pyramid is larger (although they claim this, I'm skeptical in that I want to know how they define 'hewn stone' to arrive at this, and how they measure 'larger' - I kinda think the Great Wall of China might win on sheer volume, y'know?), but still... daaaaaaayum. My kind of stonework. The pictures don't do it justice - that gorgeous stepping cliff there is *just the spillway*... and is about 1/6 the total width. The rest is a massive stone wall that looks like something out of Jackson's LOTR.
After that we bounded up north through Westchester County into Putnam County to see if we could find more affordable homes - well... we sort of did. In that, we found homes a lot cheaper than in Westchester, but still far outside our price range. (Lake Mahopac though? Yeah, I could deal with that. A nice huge home with a boathouse on an island in a lake. Hmm, gee, darn.) Worked our way over to Fishkill, and down Rte 9, which I've been down a few dozen times already. Decided to see what the Cold Spring train station was like, since it seemed to be out in the middle of nowhere, and ran across... well... rather the town I expected more of the area to be like.
Cold Spring is a walking town on a steep hill overlooking the Hudson, and across the river from massive stone cliffs. There is a public pier/concert area, a large antique/deli/pub area of Main St, a few hundred freakin' adorable Victorian homes, bustling farmer's market, walking distance to the train to NYC, and generally happy shiny people everywhere. It was picturebook perfect. And, as you might expect, way out of our price range again. :\ Still, I find it amazing that in the six months or so here so far, *no one* has mentioned this town to me, that I recall. I have not seen it on a map, nor heard mention of it in any way shape or form, and it was just... perfect. Ah well.
Home again, home again, jiggity jog, for dinner.