Weekend Getaway: Woodstock, NY
When you think Woodstock, you think of the 1969 music festival of Peace, Love and Music. Even if you weren’t around then, you still heard about three days of music that drew 400,000 people to hear from some of our greatest performers like Jimi Hendrix, Crosby Stills and Nash, Jefferson Airplane, The Who and Janis Joplin.
However, if you’re looking to get out of New York City for the weekend, you might consider going up to Woodstock, NY. It’s not the same place as it used to be in the 60’s although, remnants remain. When you enter the town, you may see “hippies” that stuck around 40+ years after the festival, even though the actual festival took place in Bethel, which is an hour and a half away.
The town of Woodstock is small but quaint. It has a bunch of boutique stores that offer jewelry, clothing, hats and more. In the summer months, there are jewelry and tie dyed vendors selling goods on the street. They also have ample restaurants for tourists and residents.
We stayed in Woodstock for three days, from Friday through Sunday. We drove up there on the NY State Thruway. Although it took several hours with traffic, once we were here, we felt as if we were on vacation.
We stayed at Kate’s Lazy Meadow right outside town, about 20 minutes or so by car. Kate’s is owned by Kate Pierson of the B52’s. We’ve been wanting to stay there for a while. Each room is decorated with a theme, some had butterflies, owls, etc. Our room was the Annie Oakley room. We had cowboy hats and cowboy boots throughout, along with pictures of Annie Oakley, including a poster from Andy Warhol. The room also had a kitchenette with a small refrigerator and table and chairs. It had a real 50’s style to everything!
My husband and I were there with my husband’s mother and sister, cousins, more cousins and his brother and sister-in-law. Everyone stayed there in their own little suite. The two bedroom suites were really nice. They had two separate bathrooms and a kitchen/living room.
I couldn’t help but hear the song, “Love Shack” the entire time I was there.
We all arrived around the same time on Friday evening. A few hours after unpacking and buying some groceries, we went to a place called, Peekamoose, located a few miles away from the hotel. We started the meal with octopus. I stayed away but the rest of the table found it delicious. (There’s just something about tentacles that just doesn’t sit well with me.) I ate a salad.
Most of the table ordered either local trout or tile fish. I ordered short ribs. (I know…I know… I have to be different!) The food was tasty and we all walked away full with no dessert.
When we went back to the hotel, we decided to play the B52’s album and just dance around one of the suites. It was a blast. It reminded me of High School or better yet, college days at the fraternity house.
For breakfast, we went to this quaint little bakery/restaurant called, The Pines. When we walked in, we smelled fresh baked goods. We also saw all the baked goods that the head baker, Craig Thompson, beautifully displayed. I had a sunny side egg with a biscuit.
It was seriously incredible!
The 10 of us went there and some of us had two eggs while others had asparagus biscuits. Although the coffee was particularly strong, everything else was great. I loved that the baker came out and showed us two pies that he was baking. I also loved that the owner walked around and talked with everyone in our group. It felt like we were family and yet we just met.
After breakfast, we walked around Woodstock. What a cute town filled with boutiques and restaurants. There was a live band playing in the pavilion and out by the parking lot, there were a bunch of jewelry and t-shirt vendors selling their goods. We spent about two hours there and then went back to the hotel to play more B52’s!
To end our trip, as we drove back to Long Island, and stopped off at Harriman’s for more shopping!
If you like to shop until you drop and enjoy a funky town and hotel, then I would recommend going to Kate’s Lazy Meadow and Woodstock. Just don’t forget to bring your tie-dyed t-shirt with you!
