Woodstock, NY and The Catskill Mountains: A Tour

Where were you when the famed Woodstock concert took place in 1969? 

I'm guessing that a lot of you weren't even born yet. 

I was, and we'll just leave it at that.  

The concert ran from August 15-19, so I thought this would be an appropriate time to post some pictures of our vacation in the Woodstock area this past July. You may recall that we rented an amazing house with its own waterfall, in Palenville, NY, about 20 minutes outside of Woodstock.

The Waterfall House

If you're of a certain age, or you're just Woodstock-savvy, you know that the actual concert was not held in Woodstock. It was held on a farm about 68 miles away in Bethel, NY.  

So why does Woodstock get all the credit? 

Many of the organizers had homes in Woodstock.  The town of Woodstock wouldn't allow the concert to be held there, which is why the venue ended up so far away.

The little village of Woodstock is still a great place to get your inner hippie on.

You can almost get a sense of what it was like back in the 60's.

It's tempting to buy lots of tye-dyed t-shirts and souvenirs with peace signs, which seems kind of groovy in while you're in Woodstock, but when you wear them back home, you might look like you're in a time warp. Who cares? We bought them anyway.  

We also bought authentic Woodstock chimes, for the backyard. They make the most beautiful sound. Ours is called "Chimes of Mozart".  You can listen to the different Woodstock chimes here. 

The town is quite small. It took us less then two hours to poke our heads into most of the shops.

Hey, remember these guys? They hang out out this shop all the time.

 
As a tribute to Woodstock's musical heritage, there are guitar sculptures all over Tinker Street, the main drag. 

Just off the main street, is Woodstock Waterfall Park. It was a nice surprise when we happened upon it right in the middle of town.

 
Every Wednesday afternoon, there is a Farmer's Market in town, with fresh produce and even some flea market finds. If we were heading home the next day, we would have loaded up on the awesome fruits and veggies.

 
Most people who come to the Catskill Mountains take advantage of all the outdoorsy activities. One thing that you have to understand about Mr. Goo Shoes and me, is that we are not the adventurous types.  As Mr. Goo Shoes says, there are people who like to go hiking, kayaking, mountain climbing, etc, and then there are people like us:

That's nice, we've seen enough…let's go eat. 

Lucky for us, the Woodstock area is a weekend destination to many New Yorkers (for those who aren't into the Hamptons scene), so we had our choice of many sophisticated restaurants.

Our favorite was Cucina.  Fantasic setting in a barn with excellent food and service.

The Bear Cafe is touted as the very best in the area. It's is definitely worthy of that claim. We were lucky to have a table next to the stream when we went. 

New World Home Cooking was also outstanding. I had a cold melon soup that I am still dreaming about. 

The Red Onion is another popular place. We weren't as impressed as others seem to be. 

Only a few miles from Woodstock is Saugerties, which had an antique car show while we were there. Mr. Goo Shoes was in his glory checking out all of the old cars. 

The best coffee west of Europe can be found in Saugerties at Love Bites, a teeny place with just a few tables. The carrot bread french toast was A-mazing!

We had breakfast a few times at the Circle W in Palenville. It's a little general store that serves breakfast and lunch. We felt like we were in Mayberry, just waiting for Aunt Bea to come out of the kitchen. I loved the feel of this place, and the baked goods were delish. 

Tannersville was a cute little village that we rode through on the way to Hunter Mountain.

 
It was all decked out for July 4th celebrations. 

 

Hunter Mountain is a popular ski resort in winter.  

 
In summer, the big draw is the Skyrider. 

 
Riding the Skyrider 3200 feet to the summit of Hunter Mountain was the extent of our physical activity. Our white knuckles got a workout. Somehow, it seems a lot steeper without the snow.

The payoff was the incredible view. 

 
Everyone told us we had to drive to Sweet Sue's in Phoenecia, well-known in the Catskills for the best pancakes this side of the Hudson River.  Did either Mr. Goo Shoes or I order pancakes? 

Uh, no.  We both had the french toast. 

 
It was good, but we were crabby, because we waited a LONG time for a table and our food, and we were literally afraid we were going to miss the boat...

...the boat that was taking us for a cruise down the Hudson River. We made it just in time.

We saw some nice estates, like the Vanderbilt Mansion, from the the river...and some cute lighthouses. 

 
It was a nice day for a boat ride, but after one hour, I was ready to jump in the river and swim back.

Spending a week in the Woodstock area of the Catskill Mountains was like stepping back in time. It was very different from our vacation in Montauk, but it was fun to experience something other than a beach vacation. We had a great time, and will probably do it again.

 
This was definitely a summer for road trips. We just came back from another one (man, I love not working!) We went to two places we've never been before, and I'll tell you about that in a few weeks from now. 

Here's are some hints… 

A body of water connects both places. 

One is south of the border; one is north of the border.

Any guesses?

Linking with:

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Till next time........

Ms. Toody