Fall Weekend in New England

 

I find myself way behind on blogging about summer in Philadelphia for America 250, where we were blessed by abundant free entertainment and great natural beauty.

Just having returned from a road trip to Austerlitz, New York, however, I thought I would first share photos of that trip.

Fall in the northeast brings the dramatic changing of the leaves.  The further north we drove, the more the leaves exploded with color, a preview of what will become more prominent in our home town of Ardmore over the coming weeks.

The highways were far from empty but also not jammed.  We set a comfortable pace, stopping for breakfast at McDonald's after an hour and a half.  Then we took a rest stop at the beginning of the Taconic State Parkway for Julie to take the wheel for 45 minutes before she resumed her navigator position at a gas stop for the final few miles.

We knew we would arrive before Amy, who was riding up with her wonderful friends Oliver, Rachel and their baby boy Kai.  

That gave us time to unload my recliner (recently replaced) with the help of their friend and roommate Topaz who was about to go to the gym.

Ready for a walk on this sunny but brisk autumn day, Julie and I walked down the path to their pond.

We still had enough time to drive to iconic Dan's Diner to split a double smash burger with fries.

Shortly after we returned, Amy and her friends arrived.  We spent some time visiting before the friends headed to their hotel.

Amy was working remotely, so she completed her projects while I did some research on shore excursions for a client, and Julie read.

Gina took the train to Hudson, where Lukas would also be arriving from his job in time for dinner.  It's an amazing technological age that we live in, where so many of us work remotely without missing a beat thanks to technology.

Downtown Hudson is the six block nucleus of a sprawling community.  It has a charming, artsy feel, having been recently gentrified.

After dropping Gina's luggage at the Howard Hotel, we walked down centrally-located Warren Street. 

We were pleasantly surprised to see Lukas's sister Rabea looking for a parking space as we walked toward the upscale wood-fired, "all natural" pizza restaurant where we would have dinner.  Rabea thought she might not make it there until after we finished dinner, but the timing turned out to be perfect.

At Baba Louie's, we asked for a table for six upon  arriving and were seated as soon as tables could be re-arranged.

It's good we did, because within five minutes, the whole place was packed and would-be diners were waiting for tables.

Two large pizzas, a family-sized Caesar Salad and a bowl of soup, plus wines or beer for everyone but Amy, sated our crew.  The specialty vegetarian pizza with figs and other non-traditional toppings, plus one pepperoni pizza, seemed to provide sufficient choice.

We finished all of the food, but walking back past the ice cream store that Amy said she's been hoping to try because of their vegan selections, everyone said they were too full to eat more, so I guess we had the perfect amount of dinner.

Rabea headed directly to her car, while the rest of us stopped in at Gina's hotel lobby for a few minutes.  There's a house guitar in the lobby, which I plucked a bit as we talked.  After a few minutes, most of us headed back to Austerlitz, where I played my guitar and sang songs for over an hour before we went to bed.

I recently subscribed to Ultimate Guitar, which on my iPad gives me access to chords and lyrics for thousands of songs.  I feel like a young boy with a new toy.

The next morning after I picked up Gina in Hudson, I was playing again.

About 11:45, Julie, Gina and I headed to Lukas's parents' house, where the "featured attraction," a baby shower, would be held.  A stop at Price Choppers for groceries ended up taking longer than we expected as we searched for specific brands of assorted snacks and drinks for the party in an unfamiliar store layout.

Upon arriving in New Lebanon, we were put to work washing dishes, chopping tomatoes, other vegetables and cheese for Caprese Salad and seven-layer dip.  Julie ironed a table cloth.

We were all happy to know how we could help out with the arrangements, which we had volunteered to do.

Most folks attending the shower have known Lukas since he was a little boy.  Amy has held mutual affection with these folks for a decade or so at this point.  They're nice folks.

The younger contingent was made up primarily of Lukas's childhood friends and their significant others, who also grew up in this rural community.  Fantasy games like Dungeons & Dragons and nature adventures are prominent for them.

One of Amy's roller derby friends, Olive, took the train up from NYC, staying in one of Amy's other guest bedrooms.

Apple pie

Joe Brown, who has been a mentor for Amy for years, also came to the party.  He relocated to the countryside from New York City a few years ago, but like so many others still keeps a busy schedule working remotely.  It was great putting a face to the name I've heard so often in Amy's work stories.  He's a nice guy, too.

Joe arrived at the shower just before a toast by Silke, Lukas's mother, and a few speeches and poems by the group.  It's not the type of social gathering to which Julie and I are accustomed to attending.

I suppose if I'd known what was happening, I would have brought my guitar to the porch to be ready to sing Danny's Song, but I had left it in the car.  It always needs to be tuned after being transported, which would have made the merge less than seamless.  Plus, I still feel to some extent like a fish out of water up there.

It's a unique place with its own rhythm, where everyone else seems to be enveloped into the community, much like Stars Hollow in The Gilmore Girls.

Next on the unwritten agenda, Amy and Lukas took seats in the yard to receive good wishes from guests, who arrived on their own or in pairs.

Many brought items once prized by their now grown children, including a freshly renovated book shelf.

Others, including us, purchased items from the gift register.  Some made or purchased special gifts on their own accord.

All of the gifts and best wishes were warmly received.

It almost felt like the Magi delivering frankincense and myrrh to the baby Jesus,  although in this case the baby is still inside Amy for a few more weeks.

Most of the "Magi" shared some advice on what to expect when raising a child.

Joe walked over and took seats along with Stu, who I thought must be another friend from the magazine world.  Actually, Stu is a neighbor of Silke and Winfried.  Joe and Stu both have 7-year-old daughters and so thought it appropriate that they both speak.  They had sometimes contradictory words of wisdom, but it all sounded right in its own light.

After the party, I dropped Gina off at her hotel and drove back in the dark.  Fortunately I did not encounter any deer running across the road in front of me.

Back at the house, I played guitar again.  I have a bit of obsession with my new toy.

The next morning, Julie, Amy and I drove Amy's friend Olive to the train station in Hudson to catch an early morning train.  A lovely rainbow arched across the sky, though Julie's iPhone seems to have "corrected" the color out of it.  We always say rainbows represent my mom smiling on an event.

We picked up Gina at the Howard Hotel and drove to Plaza Diner for breakfast.  I had southern fried steak and eggs over easy, which potatoes and rye toast.  Gina went with French Toast and Bacon.  Julie had an eggs and sausage sandwich.  Amy had eggs over hard with rye toast and potatoes.

It was a very good meal in a place that felt like a step back in time to a simpler age.  Plaza Diner was a lot like places my childhood family would have stopped on cross-country road trips.

We went to Gina's hotel for coffee and conversation in her hotel lobby before dropping her off at the train station for her trip home.

A leisurely day awaited the rest of us once we returned to beautiful Austerlitz.

Julie and I went for a walk around the tree-lined streets to take in the fall colors, but mostly we just relaxed around the house.

For dinner, Amy made a delicious dish of cabbage in spicey peanut sauce.  That was my favorite food of the whole weekend in New England.

Lukas's mother came over with a zucchini as big as my arm, which she split in half and filled with vegetables, ground meat and cheese.

Also, there were sauteed mushrooms and a tossed salad, plus some wine from Lisboa (Lisbon).

It was a delicious farewell feast.

Rabea had built a fire in the hearth early and kept it stoked all evening.  Once again I brought out my guitar.  Topaz also played his guitar, too.  He and I had little cross-over material, but the whole group was happy to sing along with songs they knew.

The next morning, Amy and Lukas rode back to Jersey City via Manhattan with Julie and me.  Both of them were working remotely as we drove, stopping once for phone meetings at a little rest stop along the highway.

As Julie and I drove home, we found the Frank Sinatra Sirius station, where I hoped against all odds to find his rendition of Let's Get Away from It All.  Instead, we were treated to cuts from a new album recorded during Sinatra's era at the Sands in Las Vegas, with commentary by hotel magnate Steve Wynn.

That specific song wasn't among the cuts we heard, but he started with "Come Fly Away," which has a similar sentiment.

We loved our weekend in New England.