If you’ve never heard the theme song to Green Acres, then you probably won’t get the title of this blog. City slickers setting their sites to more rural and rustic vibes isn’t a new concept. Much like the 1965 TV show, there’s a “special” demographic of New Englanders who “vacation” and spend “time away” in upstate New York, affectionally known as The Hudson Valley. I won’t give you a full historic rundown of the area because I simply don’t know it but I do know this is where the chic come to play.
We stayed at the Rivertown Lodge Hotel
Kerry and I have visited many times before but we’ve never spent an extended amount of time there like this most recent trip. We usually spend an afternoon walking around as a pit stop on our way back to the city from visiting her friends. Certain New Yorkers have a second place in the Hudson Valley. It’s quiet, spacious, you can reconnect with nature but most importantly, you can go shopping at the many antique and design centric shops that you can only find there. Looking for a 70’s style armchair for your West Village apartment, The Hudson Valley has it. Looking for a mid century modern armoire for your bedroom, The Hudson Valley has it. Looking for antique lamps for your home office, you guessed it, The Hudson Valley has it.
All the shopping there can make you very hungry. Hudson is full of intimate, cozy restaurants, coffee shops and hotels where you can rest after a long day of window dreaming about how you wish you had twenty more square feet of space in your NYC apartment so you can purchase the $1200 ottoman you saw in one of the shops.
I’ll spare you the romanticization of the Hudson Valley and just walk you through our trip. The first day, we drove over to Hunters Inn in the Catskills for lunch where there were amazing views of the ski slopes. The only thing I know about skiing is what 80’s movies taught me.
Views from Hunters Inn
Just to rewind a little, the first stop of the trip was derailed by the closure of the dinner we were going to. Of all the days it could be closed, it was closed the Wednesday we tried to go. This will be our excuse to return.
The drive up was pretty scenic and gorgeous. We stumbled upon a kaleidoscope museum that housed the biggest kaleidoscope in the world. We also stumbled across an artist name Steve Heller who builds very spaced out and retro-futurist furniture. I’m a fan of Steve. He was an eccentric, creative guy.
I have a deep need to fit in when I travel. Under no other circumstances would I ever wear flannel but for this trip I went for it.
My flannel shirt.
One of the days, I didn’t take any pictures but we went to a very well known bakery after most of the baked goods were gone. We did however have a great lunch there. The town of Hudson is very charming and cozy. This time of year, there was lots of fog and mist in the air so we spent a lot of time indoors next to fireplaces and strong drinks.
The grand destination of the trip was to Inness Golf resort. A secluded modern, relaxing country retreat. I’ve never seen anything like this in real life. I’ve only seen places like this inside DWELL magazine. This is where modern meets the rustic. Inness is a minimalist dream. It’s part hotel, golf course, restaurant and overall relaxing getaway. We spent the afternoon there eating snacks from the retail store that was housed in a greenhouse. It was the most stylish retail experience ever. This was a fantastic way to end 2021 and ring in 2022.
Kerry ferociously planned this trip on the train back from CT after Christmas. Her taste in accommodations and design will always be the north star for all things travel.