empire state (and post)
friday before labor day we hopped in our two-door honda and headed four hours up the hudson for a wedding and some wandering. with no concrete plans outside of festivities surrounding the wedding, we threw our tent in the back and figured we'd find something to make a great four-day mini break. we did. and came home with 600 pictures on our camera to prove it.
here's an attempt at giving a quick -and long overdue- report of the weekend.
the flower girl
when jaclyn and jonathan (jackie is chip's former work partner) asked eve to be their flower girl we were really excited. traditional walk-down-the-aisle weddings are so much fun and somewhat rare in our circles, so this was so great. but, we had some serious concerns- would eve actually do it without crying or scowling or collapsing in the middle of the aisle when someone looked at her the wrong way? the girl loves attention but strictly on her own terms. chip and i were unnecessarily stressed out before the wedding. we were hopeful that all the prep work we'd done would pay off. (i.e. discussing how fun it is going to be and answering her really random questions "so, there gonna be dragons too? oh, no dragons? ok." and helping her practice walking down the aisle [space between our carpet and couch] while tossing flower petals [puzzle pieces] and smiling at all the people around). it did. she was a champion when she was "getting married." no crying. no scowling at people looking at her, no collapsing. just delicate walking, a little smiling, and dropping of petals, one by one all the way down the aisle. cue huge relief and parental pride.
if you look closely, you can see eve's little leg and foot between the two bridesmaids she was walking with. and yes, that is what our area looked like by the end of the ceremony, anything to keep them entertained and quiet. we're really good picker-uppers.
the rest of the ceremony was beautiful too. and jackie, who i don't have a decent picture of (what was i thinking?), was even more gorgeous than usual.
the reception
easily in the top five of reception locations i've been to. softly rolling green lawns, distinguished trees, slow river, white planked and black shuttered beautiful historic home. . . the timing was perfect; close of day. long shadows, orange glowing light dancing on the water, making everyone look young and serene. and the celebration itself was so friendly and fun. toasts and toasts and more toasts, yummy food, yummier cupcakes. and a lot of the dancing by all- especially eve, who is apparently a hard core party girl when dresses and strong beats are involved. i loved every bit of it.
note to self: weddings are fancy. everyone will be wearing a lot of shimmery flowy fabric with bare skin. don't choose a cotton, patch-pocketed dress that is appropriate for, let's say, a librarian. you'll always have to be modest, for sure, but patch pockets? come on, katie.
saratoga springs racetrack
the glory of the weekend-long wedding celebration. woke up, had breakfast with everyone in the hotel then headed for more fun at the race track. collared shirts required for men, dresses not required but fun for women. no betting for us (although the ones with pink were getting eve's votes) but we had a great time eating and watching the races and the people who had put money down. and i loved seeing so many ladies all fancied up, big hat, heels, and all.
bolton's landing
after the track we said adios to the happy couple and started driving north. lake george was our target and we figured we'd find a motel or campground somewhere around there for the night. we settled on bolton's landing, located on the north end of lake george. a little more calm and charming than lake george proper. but if mini-golf is your thing and you like an assortment of your typical zany-themed courses to choose from, then that little town is your paradise.
we found a motel with a pool, a gorgeous view of the lake and a ridiculous nightly rate. but, it had one of the few "vacancy" signs up so we committed. about two minutes after doing so the neon "no" lit up. grocery store, local park, tv and fun in the room and our private porch.
hague, ny
11am rolled in and we rolled out. up route 9N. then west on route 8 a few hundred feet to the teeny tiny town of hague, ny. less than 10 buildings visible, all charming in their distinctly adirondack way. we caught breakfast at "the uptown." we caught it on its last open day of the year (summer only, i love it and want to have a place like that of my own someday) so the house was crowded. we were given the outside area which was perfect for our misbehaving girls. they could run and jump and watch the water in the brooke without disturbing anyone other than chip and i. (do you see that brooke? the water and rocks look just like a trout's skin). ruth still managed to break a glass, but she wouldn't be true to herself if that didn't happen at least once a month.
after our hearty and really good meals, we pet the pretty and eerily calm dog, wandered around the little town and its three shops, came close to buying the wolf rug just for the weirdness value of that in our brooklyn apartment, then headed over on rte 8.
natural bridges
all the way over on 8 (spectacular drive past beautiful lakes) and up on 9 for a bit and we made it to "natural bridges". i don't really know what to say about this place. it was crowded, there were some enormous geodes on display (which you an always count on me being impressed by) a lovely stream, a treasure-hunt-ish walk through big rock formations, the largest marble cave opening in all of north america, a gift shop full of rock themed crap and several caveman statues. i loved it. eve seemed most impressed by "that man with the really big panties" but neither she nor ruth were fans on the dark cave with the loud underground river.
schroon lake
"the adirondack's best kept secret" according to a friendly lifeguard we met on the beach. i'm always up for a "best kept secret." (i used to live in brooklyn's best kept secret- just ask the old people in my neighborhood who wear sweatshirts with the saying "windsor terrace; brooklyn's best kept secret" on them.) i don't know how secret this place is, but it is really really pretty. we found a campground with an opening, set up the tent and went to the little nearby town for pizza. eve practiced stacking the salt and pepper shakers. we ate our mediocre pizza then found a drive-in movie theatre 30 minutes south and watched the bourne supremacy. the girls slept while chip and i sat in the crowded lot with a speaker hanging in our window enjoying the show. perfect movie to see in theatre . . . or in-car. then it was
back to the campsite where we all stayed fully clothed, laid down on one wool blanket and covered all of us with the other. it was a cold night, the ground was hard and we were on an incline. if the girls weren't such angels, it could have been a really terrible night.
the long road home
we like to meander while driving and the girls are really great travellers, so we took about eight hours getting home (it took 4.5 to get up there). down route 9. we stopped for pony rides for the girls (i don't recommend this place. eve got a better ride last year on eastern parkway during the west indies day parade. isn;t there a rule somewhere that says people guiding kids on pony rides and taking money from eager parents have to smile at least once?). but the horse's name was "magic" which eve was pretty impressed by. later along rte 9 we stopped again for some hot dogs, ice cream and a view of the trickle that is the northen fork of the hudson river. napped near the rocky scanandaga river and made our way out of the adirondacks, through the catskills and the hudson river valley. drove around the grounds of the grounds of the vanderbilt mansion, stopped at a 50s-ish diner, checked out local roads, homes and views of the river in rhinecliff, then over the taconic parkway and back into the city that is our home.
a good labor day weekend.
this is my take-home from the trip:
empire state, i owe you an apology. i've always compared you to my beautiful california and breathtakingly rugged oregon without ever giving you a chance to show me your beauties. and i'm sorry. because now, after living in your boundaries for more than six years, i'm truly blown away by how gorgeous you are. the lush, undulating, lake-sprinkled landscape of the adirondacks. the miles and miles and miles of pristine countryside. the green, lush landscape that leads my thoughts to quiet and peace and tenderness and images of a contented farmer. the beautiful, low mountains and gorgeous homes of the catskill mountains. the incredible vistas over the hudson river, with all its charming history. oh new york. i love you. you're not my first love or my true love, but i love you. . .you and fun weddings where my girl in the cutest flower girl in the universe.
wow. if you made it through that, you deserve a prize. maybe a geode of your very own. but if your eyes turned glassy when you saw all these words and you just looked at the pictures, i'm still impressed that you've scrolled down to read the last line.
Monday, September 10, 2007 at 10:47PM
Reader Comments (5)
"man with the really big panties" hehehehe. Your girls are so entertaining.
Eve made a gorgeous flower girl. And you, even dressed in a cotton dress with patch pockets, were gorgeous also. I like your braided hair at the race track.
So not only did I read the entire 'empire post', I am also the first to post a comment... When do I get my geode?!
What an awesome weekend! I would have loved to see Eve walking down the asile sprinkling petals...
It is amazing what sites and treasures you can find if you look. Like I just discovered that at apple hill in early summer you can go pick blueberries at a bunch of the farms up here! After the frustration with it in Oregon, who needs Oregon!, it's in my backyard!
(ok I really do need oregon...,just not for blueberry picking)
Eve is like the quintessential flower girl. She is absolutely gorgeous and adorable.
Looks like you guys had such a fun weekend! Reading this post makes me wish I had 2 kids and a 4-day weekend to go exploring. It all looks like so much fun!
how did you know my eyes went glassy and i looked at the pics then scrolled to the bottom!!!??? now i feel guilty. love you!
kaite, i made it to the end, words and all (geod, please!) and i think that i now love new york! you write beautifully! and your girls are gorgeous! more pics of you and chip please! xo!