It may seem as though things quiet down around here in winter, making this an ideal time to get out and do the exploring you don’t get around to doing in gardening season. You could spend a lifetime exploring the winter sports options, true, but don’t stop there—not when there are so many cool possibilities all around us. Our local businesses are practiced and flexible and will prioritize your safety. Call ahead for any needed details and/or reservations. But do get out and about. It’ll recharge your batteries and stave off the dreaded February Funk, a Groundhog Day-related sensation in every sense of the phrase. Staying vital and active is a proven antidote, even if you’re not into winter sports—and doing something indoorsy and fun makes a relaxing change of pace if you do hit the slopes every week.
take a staycation
Living day-to-day here, it can be easy to forget the paradise that surrounds us, even when your commute resembles a series of postcards. After all, the mundanities of life still need to be juggled; it’s neither easy nor wise to get fully absorbed in the view while negotiating traffic lanes.
But that doesn’t mean you have to remain in that lane at all times! As locals, we’re never more than a few minutes’ drive from a nifty alternative. Our region is blessed with many decades of practice at welcoming visitors, which keeps the bar high as new and creative ideas arise.
Our innkeepers expertly create wonderful worlds-within-worlds designed to showcase the best of the Hudson Valley experience, whether you’re looking for majestic snow-swept vistas, blissful peace, or rock-n-roll nights within walking distance. Why not take a couple of days and let them pamper you?
As locals, we’re never more than a few minutes’ drive from the best of the Hudson Valley experience. Why not let our innkeepers pamper you?
The best immune booster may be that lovely feeling of being pampered to perfection whilst defeating cabin fever.
get a spa treatment
We’re blessed with excellent spas around here. Wellness, serenity, healing, and the beauty of the surroundings just seem to go together well. Many fine resorts offer spas that are open to day guests, where top-notch professionals will work their magic on you in beautiful surroundings.
Massages of many flavors, masques that will leave you feeling fresh as the breeze, luxe body wraps—whatever you need to feel rejuvenated, you’ll find it at Hudson Valley and Catskills spas.
Tailored and targeted aromatherapy? Flotation tank or sauna time? Sports massage? Vegan pedicure? Menus are long and packed with exotic treats, drawing on ancient wisdom and state-of-the-art science. Many offerings can be customized and combined in packages to leave you feeling brand new.
go antiquing
A good antique shop surprises and delights and reflects the particular fascinations of its curator, whether it’s a booth or a vast expanse. From kitchen tools to curiosities, from fabric arts to furniture, looking at antiques is a time machine, a unique and savory flavor of retail therapy that works whether you buy or browse.
Who proudly spread that intricate lace across a dresser top or stirred an evening fire with that poker? Whose hands tossed the salad that was served in that shimmering bowl? What kind of conversations were had around that oaken table? What occasion inspired someone to wear that sparkling pendant? The stuff of long-ago lives holds the patina of the human story with silent eloquence.
Antiquing is perfect for whiling away a chilly winter afternoon, and here in the Hudson Valley we have four centuries of dramatic history paired with generations of expertise, a recipe that makes for some of the finest antiquing to be had anywhere—especially since our antique dealers source from everywhere. So plan out a custom antique tour for yourselves and hit the road—there’s something gorgeous, useful, or crazy out there, and it’s calling your name.
pursue an art crawl
Love form and light and color and imagination? You’re just minutes from galleries, museums, and artists’ studios of all sorts. Wandering among their beauty can put sunshine in the grayest afternoon. There is a long list of reasons for the indisputable fact that art’s in the very air we breathe here. The Hudson River School of romantic landscape painting, after all, lit the spark of the world’s love affair with our scenery. Traditions like Woodstock’s Byrdcliffe and the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center at Vassar, both well over a century old, are vital community fixtures. Encyclopedic museums Dia: Beacon and the Dorsky Museum at SUNY New Paltz take a day to visit. But don’t overlook the smaller independent galleries, either: Whether your tastes are classical or abstract, photography or folk art, you’ll find gallery owners curating some of today’s finest creatives in all media.
imbibe at local breweries/distilleries/wineries /cideries
Journey to the place where your favorite beverages are born. Taste the freshest ideas in everything from ale to chardonnay, from craft cocktails to handcrafted shots. Our brewers, distillers, and winemakers welcome you into the lairs where they work their magic to experience adult beverages as an art in themselves. It’s here, after all, where the infant United States brewed some of its first intoxicatingly good beverages; grain and hops from the “Breadbasket of the Revolution” went into more than just bread, and the monks of the Brotherhood Winery began their fermenting a few years later. And it’s here where visionaries came together to create farm distillery legislation that made much of the current craft beverage revolution possible. So browse through the options—there are many—schedule a tour, follow up with some tasting time, and savor the history and good fellowship in every delicious drop.
go out and feast
Sit down to a delicious meal prepared by experts, whether you’re going for pub grub or haute cuisine.
There’s nothing more heartening and relaxing than sitting down to a delicious meal prepared by experts, whether you’re going for pub grub or haute cuisine. Around here we’re blessed with both ends of that spectrum and a glorious smorgasbord of cuisines
Our restaurateurs have long since made COVID-19 safety a priority: You’ll find spic-n-span surroundings and service. Precautions taken will no doubt be best practices for whatever situation we face in the moment; check an establishment’s website or give them a call to find out. Many have established tents and other clever work-arounds for cozy outdoor dining all year round.
Seasonal menus are big around here; in winter, that means hearty soups and stews and roasted root veggies, good healthy fare that satisfies on the tongue and in the tummy too. Those broth-based soups and squash medleys are superb immune boosters, too. The best immune booster may be that lovely feeling of being pampered to perfection whilst defeating cabin fever. You can host some friends for a meal, get caught up on life...and depart knowing someone else will do the dishes. Now that’s a winter win.
