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Weekend Getaway Guide: The Hudson Valley
Slide Nr 1As hipsters, artists and artisans migrate from Manhattan and Brooklyn to Upstate New York, the lively cultural scene in the Hudson Valley has come into sharp focus. Beacon is the ideal base for a trip around the area’s highlights. [Photo: Jordan Confino Elevatedphotopro.com/Flickr]
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Weekend Getaway Guide: The Hudson Valley.
Slide Nr 2The Attitude – Depending on who you ask, Beacon is the place where honest, salt-of-the-earth, working class folk mingle effortlessly with city transplants seeking a more laid-back way of life. Or maybe it’s a perfectly good town ruined by city slickers importing the very things they themselves were fleeing from. Either way, a certain culture clash generally known as “gentrification” is in evidence throughout the town. Luckily, it’s the type that simply serves to make a place more interesting, at least from a visitor’s point of view. [Photo: E. Mendoza]
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Weekend Getaway Guide: The Hudson Valley.
Slide Nr 3The Look – It will come as a surprise to absolutely no one that Beacon’s main street is lined with more than its fair share of stylish fashion boutiques, ranging from vintage to designer – but none nails Hudson Valley style like effortlessly cool Reservoir. The designer and stylist behind the store moved here from – no prizes for guessing – New York City, and the sustainable, American-made men’s, women’s and children’s wear for sale perfectly encapsulates that shift. Think pared-down New York chic without any unnecessary fuss or frills.
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Weekend Getaway Guide: The Hudson Valley.
Slide Nr 4The People – Folk singer Pete Seeger and his filmmaker wife Toshi, both residents of Beacon until their deaths, are arguably the two people who played the most significant part in the town’s resurgence; they were certainly the most visible and prominent citizens to contribute to Beacon’s image as a liveable, artsy Upstate escape. The couple’s activism was mainly focused on cleaning up the river in the then-industrial region. In the 1960s, they were instrumental in campaigning against pollution and founding organisations like Clearwater, the associated music festival, a river pool and the annual river swim. [Photo: Clearwater Festival, courtesy Econosmith]
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Weekend Getaway Guide: The Hudson Valley.
Slide Nr 5The Journey – It’s no wonder Beacon is popular as a commuter town – getting there from Manhattan is cheap, simple and fast. The Metro-North Railroad runs hourly from Grand Central Terminal almost round the clock. The journey takes less than 90 minutes – and gets you in the mood for a weekend escape, as the cityscape of Harlem and the Bronx slowly gives way to scenic vistas of the Hudson. Overseas visitors will be interested in its proximity to Stewart International Airport, which has recently started offering budget flights to several European destinations. [Photo: David Brooks/Flickr]
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Weekend Getaway Guide: The Hudson Valley.
Slide Nr 6The Moment – For the longest time, Manhattan was synonymous with New York for a majority of visitors. Only in the past decade have the other boroughs come into focus, followed by parts of Upstate New York even more recently. Those who have never been are in for eye-opening discoveries. Among the historically and culturally significant sites are several dozen grand estates. Of those open to the public, the Rockefeller Estate known as Kykuit is probably the most impressive. Located in Sleepy Hollow (yes, THAT Sleepy Hollow), it’s an easy stop on the way to or from NYC to Beacon. A tour of the imposing mansion built by the legendary John D. Rockefeller offers a glimpse of American Royalty lifestyle, but also insights into national and state history, the philanthropic efforts of the family and their world-class art collection. [Photo © Jaime Martorano]
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Weekend Getaway Guide: The Hudson Valley.
Slide Nr 7The Place – Many a narrative presents the arrival of the Dia:Beacon museum as the seismic event that took the town from post-industrial fright to art aficionado’s delight. In reality, Beacon already had a number of artists and galleries before the influential Dia Foundation set up shop in a former biscuit box printing factory. Even if the sprawling museum didn’t single-handedly will the Beacon arts scene into existence, today it is certainly its primary attraction, drawing visitors from the city and far beyond. [Photo: Dia:Beacon, Riggio Galleries. Beacon, New York. © Dia Art Foundation, New York. Photo: Bill Jacobson Studio, New York. Courtesy Dia Art Foundation, New York ]
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Weekend Getaway Guide: The Hudson Valley.
Slide Nr 8The Party – It’s hard to categorise Quinn’s. It looks like an old-school diner, but the menu reveals an extensive selection of authentic Japanese dishes. It acts like a dive bar, but a fancy selection of sake, canned craft beers and delicious cocktails elevates it beyond a mere watering hole. It may seem like your lucky night when a local band or DJ starts playing while you enjoy a tasty bowl of ramen, but Quinn’s is actually the place to be several nights a week, with a strong focus on great music.
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Weekend Getaway Guide: The Hudson Valley.
Slide Nr 10The Event – Halloween is a season unto itself in the Hudson Valley, extending across the entire month of October. Several towns host events that attract visitors from all over the state, such as the Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze at Van Cortlandt Manor in Croton-on-Hudson or Horseman’s Hollow at Philipsburg Manor in Sleepy Hollow. In Beacon, most spooky events are family-friendly, like the Pumpkin Festival, Dark Parade, Children’s Parade and the Farmer’s Market Pumpkin Smash. [ Photo © Jennifer Mitchell]
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Weekend Getaway Guide: The Hudson Valley.
Slide Nr 11The Lunch – Beacon has already reached that point of gentrification where even the recent city émigrés are lamenting the closure of their favourite restaurants that are feeling the rent increases. Of course, those are the very restaurants that, not so long ago, were regarded by long-standing residents as the first wave of gentrification, so this must be the second one. The best opportunity to get a taste of the many great dining establishments, new and old, in Beacon and beyond, is during Hudson Valley Restaurant Week.
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Weekend Getaway Guide: The Hudson Valley.
Slide Nr 12The Dinner – Most of Beacon’s many great restaurants are dotted along Main Street, so you’ll get a good overview of what’s on offer simply by sauntering from one end to the other. Kitchen Sink in particular is famed and locally beloved for its inventive twists on popular comfort food staples. The food delivers what the rustic industrial interiors and understated name promise: fuss-free, farm-fresh flavours that taste deceptively like home cooking.
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Weekend Getaway Guide: The Hudson Valley.
Slide Nr 13The Shop – As the name would indicate, reMADE is the place to go for all things handmade, repurposed or upcycled. Everything is (re)made by artists and makers from the region, with the selection including furniture, clothes, jewellery and accessories, as well as cosmetics and gift items. There’s an expansion in the works, so if anything, there will soon be even more cool, individual souvenirs from the Hudson Valley for sale. [Photo: John Menard/Flickr]
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Weekend Getaway Guide: The Hudson Valley.
Slide Nr 14The Market – Every Sunday, you’ll find locals, visitors and day trippers at the farmer’s market. The colourful assortment of vendors features the usual fruit, veg, baked goods and sustainably farmed dairy. However, there’s also locally roasted, solar-powered coffee, a stall selling homemade syrups and mixers, and a rotation of local breweries, wineries and even distilleries.
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Weekend Getaway Guide: The Hudson Valley.
Slide Nr 15The Walk – Storm King Art Center is technically a cultural attraction, but the sculpture park is so huge, art appreciation is only one of many reasons to visit. The others are as follows: Its picturesque location, in a valley between two mountains – one of which it takes its name from. Its carefully landscaped hills, meadows, ponds and trees, mimicking the natural scenery – actually engineered to best display a collection of over 100 sculptures. Plus the fact that even attempting to see all the sculptures strewn across its 500 acres means getting a solid workout, either on foot or by bike (available for rent).
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Weekend Getaway Guide: The Hudson Valley.
Slide Nr 16The Drive – Getting to Storm King involves crossing the Hudson, which is a scenic journey, no matter how you approach it. On foot or by bike, you can take your pick between crossing the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge or taking the ferry; by car you could do a round trip, returning via the Bear Mountain Bridge to the South. The view of Beacon from both the bridge and ferry will enhance your understanding of the town’s layout between the river and the mountain.
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Weekend Getaway Guide: The Hudson Valley.
Slide Nr 17The Hangout – Delicious treat or healthy snack? Coffee or booze? At Ella’s Bellas, you don’t have to decide. Fab coffee, delicious wines, gluten-free baking and vegetarian meals… this spacious yet cosy café on Main Street has it all, plus friendly service, special events and a strong tie to the local community.A second location opened in the Catskills last August. [Photo: Mathew Ambrosini]
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Weekend Getaway Guide: The Hudson Valley.
Slide Nr 18The Flavour – There’s no shortage of craft breweries all over the Hudson Valley, but arguably one of the best, and without a doubt one of the most adventurous, just happens to be right here in Beacon. After operating out of the back room of a brewpub for several years, Hudson Valley Brewery opened in a spacious former factory earlier this year. There, you can sample the farmhouse sour and blended beers in a minimalist tasting room.
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Weekend Getaway Guide: The Hudson Valley.
Slide Nr 19The Sound – The Towne Crier is the obvious place to head if you want to hear live music, for several reasons. The venue has live entertainment almost every night, ranging from internationally known acts and cover bands to local heroes and open mic nights. Dogwood, located off the main drag, is a little harder to find and more of a neighbourhood local that has live music every once in a while.
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Weekend Getaway Guide: The Hudson Valley.
Slide Nr 20The Digs – One of the latest additions to the burgeoning Hudson Valley boutique hotel scene, the Beacon Hotel is a very contemporary reincarnation of a guest house dating back to 1877. The building most recently housed apartments, before being brought back to life by a team consisting of, appropriately enough, a team of developers, restaurateurs and designers, all based between Beacon and NYC.
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