Up-state

So, last week we went on our annual adventure up-state. It was so nice getting out of the city and enjoying nature and all that. We deviated from our usual plans this year. In the past we've gone to the same orchard but they raised their prices this year so Ted found a couple other options to try. We also wanted to get up into the Catskills. We started out by going to this town close to the Catskills called New Paltz. It was settles by some French Huguenots and there is now a historic Huguenot Street. It isn't very long and we were there early in the day so we didn't go inside any of the buildings. It was a very quaint little street and at one end there was a house for sale. We took one of the papers about it and Mark spent the better part of this past week looking up houses in New Paltz (he has since moved on to Hawaii).

After Huguenot Street we drove through some really beautiful hills on our way to a new apple picking destination. When we finally got to the new place we were underwhelmed. We were also hungry. We ditched the apple orchard with the thought that we would come across a better one somewhere along the way. Our plan was to drive up into the Catskills to a ski lodge at the base of a mountain and go to an Oktoberfest.  As soon as we started heading up into the Catskills it started to rain. It was a really nice drive up though and we were quite hungry when we got there. I must say that none of us really knew what to expect at this Oktoberfest. As I said before it was in a ski lodge and a nice man in lederhosen showed us the way in. That should have been our first indication that things were going to get weird. After we paid to get in we immediately jumped in line to get some food. Bratwurst and German potato salad. So good. They had all these long tables set up and a place for dancing as there was a band playing. The place was packed and a bunch of people we dressed in lederhosen and people were walking around with giant steins of beer. It seemed like they had all been there since the place opened and they were all going to stay until the end of the day. We ate, looked around at the vendors and then took off.

After Oktoberfest things kinda fell apart in terms of our plans. We wanted to go a a couple little hikes but the weather was not cooperating. We drove all over the Catskills though. We still had the problem of where to go for apples. We started heading in the direct of dinner and figures we would be able to find someplace. I looked up a few on the phone and even called one place. The lady the answered told me the were all done with apples and they didn't even have any already picked ones to buy. As we crossed Rip Van Winkle bridge we saw a sign for an apple orchard just a few miles away. It was 5pm on the dot as we drove in and the sign said they closed at 5. We decided to chance it and the nice lady gave us a bag and said as long as we were quick we could pick some. We were quick. In a little less than 20 mins we picked 28 pounds of apples. We got a great variety and unlike in the past at the other orchard there were still plenty on the trees to pick.  It was perfect!

We ended the day at the Eveready Diner in Hyde Park. This diner is a must on our trips up-state. It was featured on Feed Network's Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. It is a great diner with really amazing food.

All in all is was a really great day, super long and we were all exhausted when we got back to the city. Now to make some tasty apple treats.