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Things to Do in Hudson: November 2017

his year it seems overdue, but now it is fall in the Hudson Valley. We’ve gone beyond decorating pumpkins to scare us towards pumpkins to eat. Many of us claim suddenly to like turkey, even while we are interested chiefly in the stuffing. The home improvement stores do a brisk business in giant paper lawn bags that some of us buy by the dozen so we can stuff leaves and then stand these tall bags by the curb, where they look like huddled soldiers waiting for evacuation. These days the nights are long and getting longer. We will get together with family—or lament that some family members aren’t with us.

November is high season for eating, staying warm, and going out to indoor events where it’s warm while we’re being entertained.

Click here for some ways to partake this month >

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Little Shops Just Outside of Hudson

Hudson has more than its share of unique specialty shops. But if you spend more than a weekend here, you’ll want to know there’s more shopping than what’s found on Warren Street. To be sure, Warren Street is where you’ll find the kind of shop you’d expect in only in a much bigger city. But there’s good shopping and eating just a few minutes from town.

Click here for some of the shops within a five-minute drive from Warren Street.

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Things to Do in Hudson: October 2017

With September having been balmy in Hudson—hot, sometimes—October promises crisp days, warm apple cider, a renewed familiarity with jackets and hats, and, of course, a riot of russet-hued leaves all come down to blanket the ground.

Galleries plan galas and shops sell spooky wares all month in anticipation of Halloween, when, it can be said, the descendants of fellow Hudson Valley character Ichabod Crane come out to be frightened by 21st Century descendants of headless horsemen.

We know that the local Hudson River school painters famously celebrated fall foliage in the Hudson Valley, and that tales of animated pumpkin-heads began here too. October brings out some of the most unique aspects of the region. Enjoy the richness of this classic season!

Click here to read more >

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Little Shops of Hudson

Every town in the Hudson Valley can boast a handful of interesting, even quaint shops for the visitor to enjoy. But Hudson is more than a little place with a few tchotchke shops. Hudson has been called “trendsetting” more than once—and a casual stroll down Warren Street proves why.

Click here for some of the most unique specialty shops in Hudson, NY. No doubt you’ll want to stop in and say hi (and buy!).

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Things to Do in Hudson: August 2017

August is a time of lazy river tubing, tall drinks in the shade, and as much heat-relief as you can engineer throughout the long, sunny, humid days. In years past—in decades past—August was the month when you began to think about making the most of the rest of the summer because by the time Labor Day made its way on to your calendar, temperatures would drop, and fall would begin to nip at your heels in the night.

In August, you can plan long weeks at the beach, or at the lake, or camping, or exploring the hazy hills of the valley. Keep you julep cups handy, or sit back in an outdoor lounge with a sweating glass of lemonade iced-tea, and listen to the chatter of the bugs that provide the audible background to your long, restless summer afternoon.

Click here for some ways to distract yourselves from the heat—with or without lemonade >

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The Rip Van Winkle Bridge—Hudson’s Connection to the West

The Hudson Valley is oriented generally on a north-south axis. Besides the river itself (one of the very few rivers in the world that run north-south), all the major roads in the region reach north from New York City directly south. The New York State Thruway, Routes 9 and 9W, The Taconic Parkway and several smaller roads all follow the course of the river. Amtrak runs north and south through Hudson. From Poughkeepsie the Metro North trains run south to Grand Central Station. Continue Reading >

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Things to Do in Hudson: July 2017

July is high season, and in summer Hudson provides a base for exploring the leafier precincts of Columbia County, the Catskills and beyond. Now is when you’ll think about brunch in town and spending the rest of your day on a mountain. Now is when you might even have your breakfast at home (if you are fortunate enough to live here!) and strike out for the trailhead. Or you may decide to come for a weekend of camping at any of the hundreds of sites between the Catskills and the Berkshires. Some have said the best hiking and camping is high up into the deeper hollows of the Catskills in Greene and Ulster counties—both of which are less than an hour from Hudson. Imagine spending the day in a virtual wilderness near Shokan or Big Indian—and then home for supper.

There are, of course, less bucolic pursuits in and around Hudson in July—click here for our selection >

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Hudson in the Movies

Hudson may lack a main-street movie theater, but it has certainly starred on more than one occasion upon the silver screen. And while it’s true that Time and Space Limited shows movies regularly out of a former warehouse on Columbia Street, and there’s a mainstream multiplex, Hudson Movieplex, up the road on Route 9 a couple of miles from town, most of the cinematic action in Hudson has taken place on or very near Warren Street.

Click here to read more >

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Things to Do in Hudson: June 2017

In June Hudson begins what for all the world seems to be a summer-long celebration. The sidewalks are busy, the restaurants are buzzing, and the shops are enjoying the beginning of high-season. There is little reason to wonder why. With a mile-long street of unique stores and restaurants plus a view of the Catskills, Hudson begins to enjoy its reputation as the “metropolis” of Columbia County.

While folks from town and its surrounding towns make their way down Warren Street, they mix with a healthy number of visitors from New York City and beyond. Hudson in the summer blends sophistication with country charm, but it’s those same attractions that make it a great place to live and work.

Click here for fun and interesting things to do in Hudson this month >

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The Norman Rockwell Museum

Norman Rockwell, decades after his last Saturday Evening Post cover, remains an iconic American artist.

At their best, his paintings are painstakingly humanistic, highly evocative and masterfully rendered. Many today find his works almost in the realm of kitsch–but too often the critics will forget that Rockwell painted for a commercial market. He was an illustrator–and a keen observer of the American scene of his day.

Today you can drive from Hudson to the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts in less than an hour. There you will find yourself confronting dozens of deeply affecting, highly realistic paintings that depict an America that seems to have left us–or perhaps never was, at least not for most of us. Read Post >

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Just Outside Hudson

When visitors think of Hudson, they think of Warren Street with its mile of superior shops and restaurants. But for those thinking of making a home in or near Hudson, there are other considerations. It may surprise you to know that there are lots of amenities near Hudson that you would expect in any modern town—but no one says much about them. Click here to read more >

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Things To Do in Hudson: May 2017

In late April the leaves have burst upon us almost without warning. Here in the Hudson Valley, we get that one week where the trees seem to know frost is banished, and they begin to bud until suddenly wherever there was were gray and purple, there’s an intense shade of grasshopper green where new leaves greet the sunshine at last. And now we’ve got the outdoor season—a time when the Hudson Valley becomes again the great natural paradise that has long made it a primary attraction not far from the populous regions ranging along the Atlantic coast. Come and see what is springing up this year in the Month of May!

Click here for some of the great plans you can make in an around Hudson as spring warms up to summer >

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Hudson, NY: the Goldilocks Zone

Hudson’s Amtrak station is the third busiest in New York State, after Manhattan’s Penn Station and the station in Albany (Rensselaer). If this comes as a surprise, that may be because you haven’t spent much time considering how valuable is Hudson’s geographic location (The Falls is less than a 10 minutes drive from the Hudson Amtrak station).

There is a reason why Amtrak runs almost hourly from Hudson into New York City. That’s because Hudson lies along the main transit corridor between Albany and New York City (and in an earlier day, the main line to Chicago and beyond). Hudson appeals to many because it seems a unique, sophisticated little burg in its own tiny orbit, and there is much truth in that. Yet Hudson is in a well-trafficked corridor and is quite easy to reach from several different important locations. Many say Hudson is in a sort of geographical “Goldilocks” zone that, for a small, dynamic outpost of culture and sophistication, can spell an even greater future.

We know the story of Goldilocks: she ate the oatmeal that was not too hot, nor too cold, but that was “just right”. The location of Hudson is similar.

It’s two hours and ten minutes from midtown Manhattan by car or by train. You can take a comfortably equipped Amtrak train right to Front Street and walk to the center of town. You can drive the New York State Thruway to exit 21 and find yourself at Warren Street in about the same amount of time. If you are a fan of winding, leafy parkways, think of setting out for the Taconic—via the Henry Hudson Parkway and the Saw Mill. This route is relatively traffic-free on weekends and will satisfy the roadtripper in you without fail. Even if you’re in a minivan, the winding, no-stop parkway route will make you feel like a sportster as you discover vista upon vista on your way north to Hudson.

Hudson is also served by New York City buses at Kingston (half an hour from Hudson) and even Metro North in Poughkeepsie (about an hour south) if you want to get in and out of Grand Central Station (and spend about half the price of an Amtrak ride). Once upon a time there were regular “dayliner” boats that plied the waters between Manhattan and Albany and these elegant steamers would dock at Hudson, but no more. Some say there ought to be a bus directly to Hudson, and perhaps some bright entrepreneur will figure out a way to bring that service to life! Click here to read more >

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The Warehouse: Hudson’s Giant Antiques Market

There’s an enormous all-year antiques warehouse in Hudson adjacent to the Amtrak station and it’s a cinch the prices are better there than they are in Brooklyn.

Before we talk about how it is packed to the rafters with antiques and collectibles, let us talk about how big it really is. We could talk about square feet but we would rather talk about acres because that’s the enormity of it Rather than give you dry numbers, let us say you could get separated from your companions easily and not get found without a text or a call. Once upon a time it was a chair factory and in front of the space (calling it cavernous is to make it seem small and cramped—it is much more like a large indoor arena that seems to go on forever) there is one very large chair that remains as testament. The chair people left quite some time ago and then about three years ago the front of the old factory was opened up to sell antiques by The Warehouse.

Click here to read full post >

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Things To Do in Hudson: April 2017

After an almost balmy February and a late, shockingly hard snow in March, April may seem slow to get started. But sure as buds appear on trees, so are steps springing upon the sidewalks up and down Warren Street. Suddenly dining tables are out in the sun, a book vendor sets up near Mexican Radio, and a walk in the park sounds like a great plan for the afternoon. As bright, fresh green leaves begin to sprout on trees, you are drawn back again to the ancient woodlands where a hike brings vistas of tender shoots upon the hillside and all the world seems young again.

Here are some of the great plans you can make in an around Hudson as the weather warms up >

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Yoga and Wellness Centers in Hudson, NY

For all of us leaving another trademark Hudson Valley winter, the time is ripe for renewal and a revitalization of our spirit for the promises of spring. We look to wellness and meditation centers, and spas, to clear our minds and usher in relaxation with which to welcome this glorious season.

Click here for the best places to renew your body and spirit in the region >

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Where to Stay When You Visit Hudson

Hudson has been heralded as a vacation destination because of its fine dining, world-class shopping and high quality cultural events. But it also happens to be surrounded by miles of hiking trails, organic farms and stunning views of the Catskill Mountains and the Hudson Valley. It’s the ideal getaway for nearby New Yorkers seeking time away without giving up the level of sophistication they’re accustomed to. When choosing where to stay, the itinerant visitor seeking creature comforts and ease of access will be well pleased by bed and breakfasts near the train station, the seeker of chic will feel in the in crowd at one of Warren Street’s top flight new hotels, and the lover of nature will be able to bask in the warm glow of a summer sun on a wide veranda overlooking the lush valley at a country estate bed and breakfast.

Click here for our choices for places to stay when you visit to Hudson >