I pick up Merle at our usual time – 9:00 to try to miss
morning traffic. “Jessica” (my GPS) puts
us onto the Van Wyck (traffic) to the Whitestone Bridge (traffic) onto the
Hutch to 684 to the Taconic. Most people
hate to drive the Taconic because it is so windy. (curvy, not breezy) I love the English
language. Why would you have to have two
words spelled the same but pronounced differently with a completely different
meaning?
Anyway – we arrive at Fiddlehead Farm at around 11:15 to meet Louie and Gemma, two little “puglets”, who introduce us to Mel. Mel and her husband have owned, or shall I say, created the farm over the last 15 years. Instead of lions and tigers and bears, they have alpacas and llamas and goats and sheep and ducks and chickens and roosters, oh my!!! The farm is really more of an eclectic tapestry. Like the rug that Mel created with fibers of alpaca, llama, and lamb. She is also cross breeding the llama and the alpacas. She sells fresh herbs and eggs to local markets. Mel, herself is a gem. One of those people with a beautiful spirit that just envelops you when she talks to you.
Anyway – we arrive at Fiddlehead Farm at around 11:15 to meet Louie and Gemma, two little “puglets”, who introduce us to Mel. Mel and her husband have owned, or shall I say, created the farm over the last 15 years. Instead of lions and tigers and bears, they have alpacas and llamas and goats and sheep and ducks and chickens and roosters, oh my!!! The farm is really more of an eclectic tapestry. Like the rug that Mel created with fibers of alpaca, llama, and lamb. She is also cross breeding the llama and the alpacas. She sells fresh herbs and eggs to local markets. Mel, herself is a gem. One of those people with a beautiful spirit that just envelops you when she talks to you.
I wish we could have spent more time, but we had to be on
our way to the Schultzville General Store and Cafe. Owned by brothers Kameron and Kyle, it is
a cute little country store and cafe.
Don't be fooled by the appearance.
The food that is served is exceptional.
The lunch menu includes specialty sandwiches, salads, and sides. I had the Avocado BLT with a side salad of Wheatberries with lime
dressing and also the cucumber-onion with rice wine vinegar dressing. Merle and I share a delicious avocado dip
with chips. They are going to be
renovating and upgrading the store and I didn't get to try any of the home made
bakery products, so I will have to stop back later in the summer to try a home
made sticky bun.
We head into Rhinebeck to check out the A.L. Stickle 5 &
10 store only to find out that there was a power outage in the area and the
store is closed. We head over to Oliver
Kita Chocolatier, but Oliver has just left, so we will have to come back
tomorrow.
It's almost 4:00 so we decide to go and check in at the Red
Hook Inn. Merle chose this B & B
because it has two rooms that are handicapped accessible. Merle is not in a wheelchair but needs to use
a walker or “Rollator” and can not negotiate stairs and bathtubs. (See her blog for details on the room.) Pat welcomes us and brings me up to my room
on the second floor. It is a large,
beautifully decorated room with its own bathroom. The Inn is in an 1841 Federal Colonial and is
exceptionally well kept and clean. We
spend a little time in the “parlor” and then head out to dinner.
There is a little “miscommunication” with the restaurant we
were originally supposed to go to, so we go to Fosters Coach House Tavern instead. It is a nicely decorated Pub so we decide to
order traditional Pub food and share. We
have the Teriyaki wings which were perfectly seasoned and very tasty. We share the Chopped salad with avocado,
cucumber, bell peppers, and Bleu cheese dressing. The main dish is the London broil with sides
of coleslaw, potato salad, and string beans.
The meat was cooked perfectly and very tender. Our server, Frank, is the most pleasant young
man. He was very helpful in giving us information
about the food and conveying special requests to the Chef.
None of the desserts really interest us so we ask Frank
about ice cream and he sends us back toward Red Hook to the Holy Cow. Merle has the soft “ice cream” and I have
a hot fudge Sundae with coffee ice cream.
We both enjoy our choices. The
prices are about half of what you pay in the five boroughs. Back to the B & B for a good nights
sleep.
Thursday June 23
Of course, one of the best things about a B & B is the
home made breakfasts. Pat really knows
how to do a breakfast. There are a dozen
things to choose from. I have a nice
little dish of fresh fruit, the home made banana bread with fresh fruit compote
and bacon, egg and cheese on a bagel.
The eggs were plucked from the chicken house five minutes ago. Nothing tastes like fresh fresh eggs. I know there is a push in the City to be able
to keep chickens for eggs and I would support that. After breakfast Pat shows
me to the back yard where there is a nice hot tub, gardens, and the “chicken
house”. It's really more of an upscale
chicken condo. There are two more eggs
hatched and they are warm to the touch.
Can I have another egg sandwich?
Well, maybe not.
We say our goodbyes and head to Hudson Valley Pottery for our class. Judy shows us around and gets us settled for our projects. There are other women there today using the wheel and working on their own projects. Merle decides to do an Alpaca and I attempt to create a kayak. Judy helps us through the details and mine almost looks like a kayak! We won't be able to finish the piece and fire it today, so Judy will complete that for us and send us the finished piece.
We say our goodbyes and head to Hudson Valley Pottery for our class. Judy shows us around and gets us settled for our projects. There are other women there today using the wheel and working on their own projects. Merle decides to do an Alpaca and I attempt to create a kayak. Judy helps us through the details and mine almost looks like a kayak! We won't be able to finish the piece and fire it today, so Judy will complete that for us and send us the finished piece.
We head back to Oliver Kita Chocolatier for Merle to
talk with Oliver and make arrangements for him to be on her internet radio
show. While we are there, of course, we
have to sample of few of the individually created artisan chocolates. I can't talk right now, my mouth is full of
delicious chocolates. The chocolates are
all certified organic.
We head down to Mt. Kisco to check in at the Holiday
Inn. Merle was supposed to have a
handicapped accessible room but there was some miscommunication again. They are very accommodating and we check in
and relax for awhile before dinner.
Dinner is right at the hotel in “The Hub” We decide to check out the Buffalo Wings here
too and are not disappointed. I have the
Shrimp Taco appetizer for my main dish and it is more than enough to fill me
up.
We head out to Caramoor to see the Akropolis Reed Quintet in the Spanish Courtyard. It is a beautiful night and I really enjoy
the performance. During one piece, the
audience was asked to participate during various points in the piece. It was a lot of fun. Back to the Hotel
Friday June 24
Breakfast is at the Hotel and I have Mini Waffles with fresh
berries and whipped cream. Exceptionally
delicious.
We head over to Little Creek Alpaca Farm. This is a completely different operation than
Fiddlehead. This is a large working farm
where the alpacas can be bred. As a
matter of fact, we got to see a baby that was born in the morning. They are pretty big and can get a round
pretty well for just being born. Little
Creek also has a collective and collects fibers from other farms for sale.
Little Creek is not an open visiting farm.
We head back to Caramoor for a tour of the Rosen House and High Tea. The house has much art which although worth viewing does not really interest me.
We head back to Caramoor for a tour of the Rosen House and High Tea. The house has much art which although worth viewing does not really interest me.
We head down to Scarsdale for our next project at FunCraft
but “Jessica” (the GPS) is being
uncooperative and will not give us the address in Scarsdale but send us to
Yonkers. GPS. Can't live without them – Can't throw them
out the window. We finally get to
FunCraft at around 5:00 and Ashley, who has been asked to take over from her
mom does a fantastic job of getting our projects done. These are preformed plaster pieces that we
just have to paint and we will be able to take them home today. While Merle finishes her piece, Ashley shows
me around the rest of the studio and explains some of the party packages
available. There are private and semi
private rooms where the kids can do a
plastercraft, disco dance, play video games, eat, among other stuff.
Head back to Queens.
No comments:
Post a Comment