Since we weren’t able to eat lunch or dinner at the Sharpe Hill Vineyard, we decided to head out towards the Harvest Restaurant in Pomfret, CT. Laura and I had eaten there before and found it very nice.
On our way to the restaurant, we passed a little sign that said something like “State Park Campgrounds.” My parents have a long history of camping, so they really wanted to pull in to see what was going on. I was driving down a kind of busy road, so when we saw the next sign that said, “Mashamoquet Brook State Park Entrance,” they were only too happy to pull in there. I am glad we did, because we discovered a neat new state park with an awesome trail system. There are rivers and lakes and trails all over the place. We have to add this park on our growing list of great Connecticut state parks to hike in.
This is a very exciting day for our family. Let me be the first person to broadcast this message worldwide – my nephew, Connor, won 3rd place in the Pinewood Derby. Isn’t that just cool?
You know, I used to be in the Cub Scouts too. I don’t think I can remember too much of it at this point in my life, but I do remember participating in the Pinewood Derby a few times. I can clearly recall not winning any races, but if there is any really exciting activity that Cub Scouts do, the derby is it. Well, besides camping up at Camp Siwanoy in Wingdale, NY. That camp closed, by the way. You can read about it here.
From what I can gather, the Pinewood Derby is all set up these days. They have computerized racing stats, electronic finish lines and all that sort of stuff. When I was racing in the Pinewood Derby, we had some old man yelling “Winner” at the prettiest car that went by. Not really, but you get the picture.
Has it really been that long? As I sit here, I keep trying to think of what my Pinewood Derby cars look like. I have no idea. The only thing I remember is that my father drilled a hole in the back of one of them, put some BBs in the hole and then stuck an ear plug in there to seal it up. The car may have been too heavy for the regulations, but that was the right idea.
If I had it to do all over again, I would have a serious car. I’m telling you, a serious car.
As I have mentioned before, Connecticut is the place to be if you like parks, hiking, mountain biking and recreation in general. We are learning that people around here take this stuff very seriously. When driving around, it’s hard not to see people jogging, riding bikes, playing golf…whatever.
Last week, we decided to drive down to East Haddam to visit Devil’s Hopyard State Park. I looked at this park’s trail map online and it looked good. The thing that really attracted me was the waterfall. As usual, I opened up Google Earth and checked it out from above. Well, all it looked like was woods. I don’t know, after seeing the satellite view, I didn’t think it looked all that great. We went anyway. I am usually wrong about these things.
I was really wrong about this one. I have been to many state parks in my life and I have to say this one was the best so far. The water does it for me. It’s a very low-key park. There are no highways around and it’s tucked back in the woods. The waterfall is great and the river adds a lot to the hike. This park is going to be on our list for a long time. They also offer camping, which is cool.
I took a bunch of pictures and will add captions where I think they would fit.
We parked on Helon Cone Rd., right off of Hopyard Rd. This was the enterance sign to Devil's Hopyard State Park.
On Memorial Day, we took a cruise out to Point Judith, RI (above). I took some photos of that, but wanted to post some pretty funny pictures here in this post really fast.
For some reason, these are funny. They are of the entrance of Fisherman’s Memorial State Park in Rhode Island. It’s out near Point Judith. The reason it’s funny is because we went camping here when we were kids. I remember something about that little house in the front. I can’t seem to remember what though. It was part of some joke or something. Something with my brother, Jeff. I know this means nothing to most of you, but perhaps my family can fill me in.
Here, take a look…
This place is really cool. I remember there was a little ranger’s office with a bunch of fish tanks. Also, right in the back of this campground/park, you can roll up your pants and go clamming. My friend Craig says that he goes clamming with a bottle of hot sauce. He just grabs a clam from the sand, opens it, sprinkles some hot sauce on it and sucks it down. Can you imagine being that clam just out for a tan one day? Holy cow.
There is a lot to do around this area and it’s a great place for a vacation. It’s very “beachy.”
I wanted to visit Saratoga Springs because a few years ago, we went to a concert at SPAC (Saratoga Performing Arts Center). After the concert, we decided to head downtown. At the time (in the dark) we just thought it was the cat’s meow. That brought us back for another look in the daylight.
We entered town from the South and stopped for lunch before we hit downtown. It was a little weird because we were on the outskirts. I wasn’t too impressed with what we saw. The daylight shed some light on a few things. After lunch, we headed downtown for a drive through. This was much better, with even a little cosmo feel. They do a great job at keeping the area up. There was quite a bit of traffic though, due to the tourists (like us).
I thought the town was really nice, but not quite for us to spend any amount of time in. We started heading out and Laura suggested we visit Lake George, since we were almost there. I agreed.
We headed up to Lake George and thought it would be fun to re-visit a campground called, “Adirondack Camping Village.” This is a great looking campground with some nice, private camp sites. We stayed at this campground a few years back for a night. That is a story in itself that we have laughed about. Let’s just day, prepare before you camp.
Ok, we headed towards Lake George Village for some nice photos and ice cream.
Lake George is a pretty fun place. We didn’t spend all that much time there because we had a long ride home. I was actually getting a little sick of driving, but we did what we had to do.
Overall, it was a good day because it got some things out of my system, which needed to be done.
We went to the International Celtic Festival at Hunter Mountain yesterday. It was a good day and reminded my very much of the Oktoberfest at Hunter Mountain. They had kind of the same setup and the skyride was open, so we could ride up the mountain.
We took Rt.28 into the Catskill Park into Phoenicia. Then, we took Rt.214 to Rt.23a and made a left into Hunter.
It was pretty cool. We got to see the new building they made a few years ago. That’s where we paid our $12 admission fee (each) and the $8 skyride fee (each). Right after we got in, we grabbed two Guinness. That beer isn’t too fancy, since we drink it all the time, but it was the darkest one they had. Then, we (or I) ate my traditional funnel cake and Laura had her traditional Sauerkraut. The Sauerkraut was really good.
There was a long list of entertainment at the festival. Here it is –
- Black 47
- Eileen Ivers and Immigrant Soul
- Glengarry Bhoys
- Andy Cooney
- The Barley Boys
- Liz McNicholl
- Seamus Kennedy
- Schenectady Pipe Band
- Donny Golden Irish Dancers
- Broesler Irish Dancers
- Ceili Country
- Tim Quinn
- MC – Frankie Curran
After we ate, we went up the skyride. This is the real reason I went there. For the Oktoberfest, I went for the beer, for this one, I went for the skyride.
If you go to Hunter, you gotta go up the mountian. Believe it or not, the guys were still there carving the Rip Van Winkle thingy in the rock. I was wondering why it was taking so long, but I just learned on the web page that they only carve on festival days. This is so the public can see the progress. It’s pretty cool.
At the top of the mountain, Laura and I found the absolute best place to hang out and chill. There were a few benches in a partially shady section of grass. It was very relaxing…so relaxing that I spread myself out on the ground. Those pictures are a little weird, but I did take one of the grass while I was down there.
The weather was good yesterday. It was actually kind of chilly on the way down the mountain. The wind was going up the mountain, so it was a bit breezy, but that didn’t inhibit the view at all.
When we got to the bottom, we stood and watched the Irish pole toss, or whatever it was called. It is a good time to see people try to throw different sized wooden posts. Some make it, some don’t. After we watched for a while, we decided to leave.
On the way home, we always pass this little area near a lake. It is part of the Devil’s Tombstone Public Campground. If you decide to stop there to look at the lake, be careful. The guy is poking around to ticket whoever doesn’t pay. I almost got one, but I smiled my way out of it.
I am getting a little sick and tired of traveling through little towns that are desperate for income. You see the strangest people walking the sidewalks along with a whole row of stores on main street that are ready to close down. It’s almost like no one in the area has a good idea. Who the heck knows.
So, with that in mind, I have been on a little hunt. Where are Laura and I going to spend the next chunk of life? I think we have narrowed it down to either Woodstock, NY or Red Hook, NY. Both of those town are beautiful. We have been to Woodstock quite a bit lately and found it very relaxing. It is off the beaten path a bit though. I have been thinking of something a little closer to the middle…you know, near Massachusetts, Kingston and the Catskills. Two towns close to the middle are Red Hook and Rhinebeck, NY.
Here is what I like about these two towns –
1. Nice proximity to the Berkshires, Kingston, the Catskills and Albany
2. Close to the Hudson River
3.Close to Bard College
4. Nice history of both towns
5. Nice culture
6. Clean people
So, after thinking all these things, we decided to jump in the car yesterday to go for a ride. We drove up Rt.209 and crossed the Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge. Our first order of business was to visit this campground that my family camped at when we were kids. It is called Interlake RV Park. After traveling through the woods for a while and getting kind of lost, I asked for directions, twice. We passed the coolest place. It is called Omega Institute. Check it out. It was nice to see something buried way back in the woods that was thriving. The parking lot was full. We kept on driving and finally found the campground. I talked to the lady in the office and she let us look around. The reason I remember this campground is because when we went on a boat ride in their lake, a snake slithered out from under the seat. We had just gotten out of the boat, so we were lucky.
I have to say, this campground was thriving too. It was a pretty nice place, very well kept and clean. The only thing that bugged me is that the individual camp sites were kind of close together. Also, there seemed to be a lot of permanent RVs. Otherwise, it was nice.
After that, we headed down Rt.19 and some other roads into Rhinebeck. I visited Rhinebeck a while ago, but really didn’t get a good look at it. We came in from the West, so I got a better look at it this time. I had no idea how nice it really is. I didn’t get any really nice pictures, but I did get a few.
The picture above is the sign of the Beekman Arms Inn. This was a really nice place. Who knows…maybe one day we will stay there. Ok, put this town on the “move to” list.
We drove North on Rt.9G out of town towards Red Hook. We drove through Red Hook and found that very nice as well. That went on the “move to” list too. It is a small town and a little more quiet, so I like it. It is also closer to the bridge and Bard College. That is good. Since it is less crowded, I think there might be more potential for that town. I can mold it into what I want.
The last thing I wanted to see was Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson. I was telling Laura that I find it amazing that I have lived in this area for such a long time and have never seen this school. I have heard that it is nice and I wanted to see for myself. Soooo, yeah, Bard College is really nice. There were little tours going on for the new students. Either that or students looking at colleges. I guess this is the time of year they do this stuff. The people looked very nice, even a little hippy-ish. I like that too. We drove through campus to see the Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts. They have all sorts of shows there, which I will be bringing Laura to in a few months.
The end of the day was coming and we had some shopping to do on the other side of the river, so we headed out. During our drive back across the bridge, I handed the camera to Laura to see if she could get any good shots of the Catskill Mountians. That is a real perk…that view. Some of them were blurry because we were moving, but one came out the best. There was also the coolest little airport right off the highway on the Kingston side of the bridge. It’s called the Kingston-Ulster Airport and is for small aircraft.
We did our shopping and headed home to look on realtor.com. I will keep you informed. It may take a few years.
I took the day off yesterday to visit Cooperstown, NY with Laura. I woke up to discover that I really didn’t want to be in the car for all that long, so we decided to go up to the Catskill Mountains for a day trip.
We started out by driving up Rt.209 through Ellenville. Then, we made a left on to Rt.3 in Kerhonkson all the way up past the Ashokan Reservoir. I wanted to show Laura the New York State DEC on Rt.28a. We pulled into the park like thing next to the DEC and I grabbed a photo…
That was pretty cool. I think the hippies from Woodstock come down here with their kids to walk around.
Ok, we continued on our way. One of the main reasons for this trip was to go up to visit the fruit and veggie stand up on Rt.32. We go up there every year and stock up good. The eatin’ in nice after that…
Since it wasn’t really harvest season all that much, we just picked up corn, green beans, tomatoes (which are really good) and some other things. Oh, by the way, the fruit stand is called Story Farms Home Grown Produce. I am thinking they are located in Catskill, NY. If you make a left while heading up Rt.32, you can go up to Hunter Mountain.
Every time we drive around in this area, Laura always starts talking about her past with the Catskill Game Farm. She used to up there with her grandparents and pet the animals. Well, she wanted to show me what it was all about. She knew they already closed down, but still wanted me to see it.
It’s true…the Catskill Game Farm is closed down. It was quite depressing to look at the place. The parking lots were barren and not a soul was in sight, except for the girl who was tailgating me all the way up the road. At least Laura got to show me what the thing was about. It kind of reminded me of Binghamton’s Ross Park Zoo.
On the way back, we found a shortcut down Rt.33 into Woodstock. Of course we had to visit there. We are considering a move to that area in the future and are doing a little driving around to get used to it. It was pretty nice just hanging around.
Back in the day, I would’ve just driven through town and went home. These days, I am stopping and sitting around like a lazy fool. Laura was looking for a birthday present for her mother. It’s coming up fast. We even had lunch at Joshua’s Cafe in Woodstock. That was nice. We had a good vegetarian lunch.
Right after lunch, we walked up a few shops into Woodstock Wines and Liquors. I like to get crazy wine from that place. I think this time we got honey berry and rasberry wine. I don’t remember, but I know it was fruit wine. I got a blueberry wine from there last time I was visiting and it was really tasty.
The last part of our day was a bit of a mission. I wanted to cruise over to Phoenicia, NY. I am all about checking out campgrounds to possibly stay at in the future. The campground is called Phoenicia Black Bear Campground. Every time I passed by in the past, I always thought it was really cute. I just had to walk inside this time.
We took Rt.212 and then Rt.40 into Phoenicia and took a look around. This campground is situated really nicely right on the shore of the Esopus River and is across the street from Town Tinker Tube Rental. People like to float down the Esopus.
Well, I took a little stroll inside the campground and thought it was really cute. One thing I did notice was the smell of septic. I also noticed a few kind of “permanent campers” scattered around. I saw the flex pipe coming out of the sides of the campers. This is for the septic, I think. That kind of turned me off. They did have really nice tent sites right on the side of the river though.
I walked back to the car, where Laura was and decided to drive through, just to see how big it was. We got in and made a quick left and then another quick left and realized that we were on the way out. Ok, not that big. Laura also noticed the septic smell and we crossed that campground off our list.
Overall, we had a really good day driving through the Catskills.
If you have ever asked yourself that question, just click this link to learn more about Bug Zappers.
I purchased a new bug zapper from Wal-Mart last Spring. Just to let you know, these things aren’t that easy to find. For some reason, Home Depot and Lowes don’t sell them. Whatever. The reason that I bought one is because the gnats out where I live are terrible.
Laura and I went for a walk two nights ago and were followed the entire way by them. I have made it my goal to reduce their population.
When I hung the bug zapper last year (and even this year), I did so about 8 feet from the ground. I thought this was a good place. When I turned it on, I didn’t hear much zapping. You know the sound…ZZZAAAAPPPPPP!!! I guess I just figured it worked a different way than all of the other ones I have seen.
Well, last night, I screwed a hanger to the side of our porch floor joist. The bug zapper now hangs about 2 feet off the ground. I turned it on and within 2 minutes, ZAP ZAP ZAP…about 3 per second. I was amazed.
So, the moral of the story; Hang your bug zapper closer to the ground, no matter what anyone tells you.
It was about time I saw my family again. My sister, Laurie, planned a camping trip for all of us. My family was to meet at the Staunton Verona KOA Campground in Virginia.
Since I was coming from New York and I really hate driving across the George Washington Bridge (I have had enough of that), I decided to take Interstate 84 west to Rt. 81 south all the way to Virginia. 81 is a much more scenic route and I enjoy the openness of it more.
I was cruising, just minding my own business…and right when I crossed the Mason-Dixon Line, I happened to look to my left. Wham. What in the world was that?
Don’t ya love people? I am not sure what I was more curious about…the trike looking thing or the trailer. Thinking back, I am really glad I got this picture. I knew it would have a good use someday.
I arrived at the campground in my 89 Honda Accord just in time. It was about to blow up. That car had a strange problem with idling at around 3,000RPM when the engine got hot. I remember I was going out on the town once in Atlanta, GA when I got stuck in traffic. The engine started running hot so I decided to slow it down by putting on the AC. What in the world was I thinking? AC just makes the engine hotter. I had to pull over on the side of the highway and roll down the ramp with the car off, just to get some air running through the radiator.
Ok, back to business. I arrived at the campground to find a delightful setup. You really never know what you are going to get at a campground if you haven’t been there before. You can ask the people at the desk over the phone, but they will just tell you what you want to hear. “Does it have a lot of trees?” “Oh sure, we have tons of them! (10 miles away) This one was good.
They offered lots of little cabins for those who are scared to sleep in the woods (my parents) and tent sites for the brave ones (me). The cabins were probably better because you could lock your stuff up and go have fun for the day. I slept in the tent and seem to remember a nice tilt to the ground. I kept rolling to one side all night. Overall, I had a good night’s sleep.
It was great to see the kids again…Connor, Courtney and Jeffrey. Little people with a lot of energy and a lot of running around. Can you see them in this photo? Hint: look behind the trees.
One thing about this campground is very unique. Rabbits. Rabbits everywhere. Hundreds of them. I guess they keep having babies. What they say is true…I suppose.
If you are going to own a campground, you need something to pull people in. Something like a lake, a river, being close to town or…a WATERFALL!!!
There was a really cool river and a waterfall. Here is what you do: Hike upstream about a mile. Then, throw your tube in the river, jump and land in it. Get everyone else to do the same thing at about the same time. Have some fun floating down the river nice and slow to end up at the waterfall. You have to be sure to pull yourself under the water so you get freaked out a little bit by the weight of the water. This is critical. Finally, you get someone to throw you a rope and pull you back to shore. That part is optional. You can probably stand up and walk back, but my father likes to use rope. After you are good and tired from doing that a few times, go back and cook up some veggie burgers on a nice campfire.
All in all, this was a great campground and I would go back. It’s very close, if not in the Shenandoah Valley, which is beautiful unto itself.
