Weekend In New England---Final Day

Our last day in Albany was scheduled to be Monday, but as we sat at Starbucks enjoying our last few minutes before heading to the airport, I got a phone call from Delta telling me that our flight had some changes.  Upon further investigation, I learned that the changes affected our connections in Atlanta and therefore we would not be able to leave until the next day.  We were pretty bummed out at first, but decided that if we were to be stuck an extra day, then we should make the most of it.  David suggested we borrow his car and drive up to john Boyd Thacher State Park, a short distance away.  We were so glad we did!  It ended up being my very favorite part of the trip.



It was cold at the top of the Helderburg Encarpment, so we shivered through our picnic lunch before beginning the hike on the Indian Ladder Trail.  To say it was beautiful is such an understatement.  It was fun and pretty and very romantic as we hiked the trail, stopping to take photos and enjoy the stunning fall colors surrounding us.  The trail takes you under 2 waterfalls.  We hiked to one end, climbed the ladder to the top, and after resting for a while, decided to hike it back again to our vehicle.



We took our time driving back, exploring the back roads heading back to Albany.  It was the perfect ending to a great trip!

Weekend In New England - part 2

It's been a couple of weeks since I posted, but life has been busy!   I'm going to skip over much of the weekend events and just post pictures of the highlights.

We started each morning by walking to Starbuck's for Coffee, hot chocolate and pastries(good things there isn't one within walking distance of my house!)  On Saturday, we went to Vermont, stopping at one of the prettiest produce stands I've ever seen



and walking around Williamstown, the home of Williams College.  Coincidentally, we learned that the colors of Williams are also purple and gold, and even had  one car roll down their windows and yell "Go Tigers" to us along the street.





From there, we headed to Bennington, VT where we ate lunch at a brewery/grill and walked around town a bit.  One of the most interesting shops there was a gallery in an old bank.  The inside of the vault was painted in chalkboard paint, so we added our own graffiti to the wall.  From there, we headed to Bennington Pottery where they produce their distinctive dinnerware and accessories.  Ron and I bought some really pretty mugs there and I enjoyed watching the potters prepare the molds and paint the products.  Since LSU was playing by then, Ron and Don dept up with the score via also  their phones.



We drove out to one of the covered bridges (fortunately David talked Sally and I into driving--we thought it would be a nice little walk.  Apparently the map we'd been looking at was NOT to scale at all!)



We ended the day by visiting the Old First Church Cemetery, the graveyard where Robert Frost was buried.  It was beautiful with its picket fence and fall leaves.



Just as we arrived there, a man jumped out of his truck and flagged down Ron, asking if he could take his picture with the other people in the truck.  A little startled, Ron wasn't too sure until they piled out of the truck.  Definitely an SEC photo!



On Sunday, we drove down to Cooperstown, a beautiful town on Lake Otsego that is also the home of the Baseball Hall of Fame.  Of course, that was a highlight for the guys!  We had lunch at Otesaga Resort, then walked around outside and took photos before heading back to Albany in time for Don & Sally to catch their flight home.






And here are a couple of my favorite photos from Sunday afternoon:

Weekend In New England - part 1

I don't know what happened to the original version of this post, but it first appeared with no pictures at all and then just disappeared completely, so here it goes again.   While our official "fall break" comes this weekend, I took my own a few weeks ago by checking off another item from my bucket list---see the fall foliage in New England.   I began thinking about it back in the spring, then when I began making the actual arrangements, was excited that Don & Sally and Ron wanted to join me as I visited David in Albany and toured the area.  Ron and I drove down to Alexandria to catch our flight--it's such a nice airport and SOO much cheaper than flying out of Shreveport (which is just crazy in my opinion--but then, who asked?)


We were joined by Don & Sally on the second leg of the flight, arriving just in time for a great meal at the "Ginger Man" in Albany.   Friday morning, we awoke to a gentle rainfall and walked down the block to get coffee and hot chocolate at Starbuck's---the first of what became our morning routine.



Soon afterwards, Don and Sally came to the house and we loaded into David's car with rain gear in hand.   Good thing because it rained ALL.  DAY.  LONG!!   We headed towards the Hudson Valley area and ended up in Woodstock, NY, which was  NOT the site of the music festival because of the town's objections to all the wildness.  Woodstock was quaint and pretty and we enjoyed a meal at Joshua's, where I had the most wonderful whole wheat berry pancakes!!  We also walked around a little bit, stopping in a couple of shops along the way.



After that, we headed to Olana, the Persian style home of Hudson Valley artist Frederic Church.  It rained really hard there so the only photos I have are from my phone.

   



From there, we visited Cedar Grove, the home and studio of another Hudson Valley artist, Thomas Cole. You can learn more about Thomas Cole here.


In the evening, we celebrated Kathryn's birthday along with David's girls, Leslie and Laura, at Blue Spice.  Ron and I had never been to a Thai restaurant before, so I was a little concerned about sitting on the floor at the low tables, but I shouldn't have worried.  After taking off our shoes as instructed, we discovered a recessed area under the tables for our legs to dangle, so it was quite comfortable.  And the food was wonderful!  I enjoyed Pineapple Chicken Fried Rice, while Ron had a Shrimp Salad.