Weekend in Woodstock

I have been dying to get out of town for weeks.  Maybe even months.  Somewhere quiet and pretty, where I could just be by myself and hear myself think.  I feel like I've been neglecting myself lately and putting my job first.  Yes, job is important, but life is more important still.  So I took the bull by the horns and bought myself a weekend in Woodstock.  I did a little internet research and found a B&B near the Trailways bus stop, sent them an e-mail asking if there was any availability in October and last weekend popped up.  Sold!  Brief back story:  I worked summer stock at a theater in Woodstock in the early 90s.  It was a magical summer (it's where I met Spalding Gray - maybe I need to do a Spalding blog post someday), but I haven't been back since.

 

Of course, being me, I only took a half day off from work for my vacation.  Someday, I need to figure out that vacation means TAKING TIME OFF FROM WORK.  But I digress.  I was surprised to see so many people standing in line at Port Authority for the 11:45am bus to Woodstock!  Thankfully, not everyone in line was actually going to Woodstock, there were quite a few stops on the route.  I wish I had eavesdropped a little better and found out where the European tourist, wearing all white linen and carrying twelve shopping bags, was going.  And how he even got all those shopping bags off the bus...

 

After a (relatively) quiet bus ride, I arrived in Woodstock in the late afternoon.  I got off the bus and took a deep breath, enjoying the crisp air and gorgeous sky of the Village Green.  I could see my B&B just across the square and made my way over there.  My key was taped onto the door, so I let myself in, found my room (there are only two rooms in the place), dropped off my stuff and set out to explore.

I just did a little wandering around and discovered I was hungry.  I stopped at Oriole 9, which is a really cute place near my B&B.  I got there about 30 minutes before closing time, but they were fine with my sitting and taking my time.  I got their special mimosa, which had apple cider, ginger and proseco in it.  It was delicious!  I felt vaguely wicked, ordering a cocktail with lunch, but hey, that's what vacations are about!  I also ordered the grilled chicken sandwich (sorry, vegetarian police, I was naughty all weekend) that had avocado and a garlic cream spread.  Yum yummy.  There was also a harissa sauce on the plate, but it was a tad spicy for me.  I dipped sparingly.

After lunch, I did more wandering, making mental notes about places I wanted to visit the next day.  I browsed in an adorable tea shop and bought myself a tin of tea; I also noticed that there would be a flea market the next day.  Woo hoo!  I do love a flea market.  I went looking for the grocery store I used to shop at when I lived in Woodstock, but then realized that was over 20 years ago.  I'm pretty sure there's a CVS in that location now.  I almost went searching for the house I dreamed of buying way back then, but I didn't.  I instead went walking up towards the mountains, mainly to get some pictures of the foliage.  I think I got some really pretty shots.  I'll put a lot of them at the bottom.  When I passed the very lovely cemetery, I passed a gent with forearm crutches, wandering through the cemetery.  I found him very poignant and an excellent reminder to keep self-pity at bay.   

 

After strolling for awhile, I went back to the B&B for a little liedown before dinner.  Village Green B&B is very nice, with a lot of Victorian touches, yet a flavor of Woodstock about it, too.  Buddha and Ganesh are everywhere, alongside angels and overstuffed furniture.  I liked the room quite a lot.  There's also a nice common room, with a dining room table and a stocked refrigerator.  We were welcome to have anything we liked, which was very convenient.  There were also several newspapers, a library with lots of interesting books and a tv.  I mainly stayed in my room, though, and enjoyed the tv in there.  A little Golden Girls with a liedown is always a wonderful thing.

I was feeling a little peckish before bed, though, so I went to Yum Yum Noodle Bar, which is just across the green.  It was packed, but I did find a seat at the bar in front.  I ordered the udon noodles in chicken broth with chicken.  Yes, lots of chicken was consumed.  Wow, that noodle bowl was amazing!  Salty deliciousness!  But not too salty, just right.  Umami at its finest.  I would've stayed longer, and perhaps tried one of their special apple cider sake drinks, but ugh, the gals sitting next to me were so unpleasant.  I think they were on a first day, trying to cram in every detail and trying to convince the other how hard their life was.  I don't doubt their lives were hard, but the one-upping each other wasn't very fun to listen to.  So I skedaddled, went back to my room and listened to some classical music on my iPhone before bed.  A very pleasant day indeed.

 

The weather was amazing on Saturday.  First, I went to a place called Bread Alone for a breakfast sandwich.  It's a very nice place, busy but not hectic, lots of light, and the coffee was delicious.  I was nervous when the server brought me my sandwich, because it looked like it was on 7-grain bread (I'm allergic to oats).  She actually went to call the bakery to make sure there were no oats (there weren't)!  I'd say that goes above and beyond the call of duty!  Another plus about Bread Alone is that it was right by the flea market!  The area was small and the wares weren't amazing, but I had a good time wandering around and picking up a few holiday gifts!  The vendors were all pleasant and chatty and there weren't a lot of customers that early in the morning.  A very wonderful start to the day.

 

After the flea market, I just set out on Tinker Street to look in every store and every gallery.  Plus, I wanted to get some pictures of the lovely scenery and just relax and enjoy myself.  Which indeed I did.  I had a lovely conversation in the stained glass shop with the designer/owner, the gal in the coffee shop selling pumpkin pie lattes was very nice, the dog in the holiday store was adorable, and the gent who was so grateful that I stopped in his photography gallery was charming.  I found a waterfall and a Food Network-endorsed cupcake shop.  The cupcake shop is now endorsed by me, as well.  Pumpkin cupcake with cinnamon frosting - OH YEAH.

I found another craft fair, so I wandered through there for a bit, then one of the vendors started saying it was raining in Kingston, so they were going to close up since clearly the rain was imminent.  I thought, oooo, I'd better get out of the rain, so I went back to my room for another liedown (I HAD been out all day, so a rest was a good idea anyway).  Since I was afraid it was going to rain, I got some takeout from Yum Yum Noodle Bar.  I was going to try the pumpkin and pork dumplings, but they were out.  So I got some vegetable dumplings and miso soup and took it back to my room.  I did a little reading, a little music listening, and then watched Wait Until Dark before heading to bed.  Note to self:  don't watch Wait Until Dark before going to bed.  Too scary.  All of the noises of the B&B kept me awake much of the night.  I hate that.

 

I got up early Sunday, to make sure I had enough time for a last wander around town before catching the 11:45am bus to NY.  The weather was again glorious and I was really sad to be leaving.  I walked around town one more time, taking more pictures of flowers, shops and the waterfall.  I reveled in the blue sky and the church bells.  Regretfully, I wandered back up to my room and packed up to leave.  Good thing I packed an extra tote bag in which to carry all the holiday gifts I purchased!  As I was leaving, I finally ran into the owner of the B&B, who offered to let me stay longer.  I was tempted, but no.  I had to get back home.  I turned in my key, went to Bread Alone for one last iced coffee for the road and waited for the bus to NY.  Again, I was surprised at the line to catch the bus.  The bus was actually packed, so, unfortunately, I had to sit with someone.  First, it was a guy who clearly had an onion sandwich before getting on the bus.  Yuck.  Finally, since he was invading my personal space and continually texting (that tap tap tap can drive you crazy), I switched seats with his friend and sat with an older lady.  After my first cough, she dove into her bag for a face mask.  Sigh.  Whatever.  The wi-fi wasn't working, which was unfortunate, so I just listened to classical music the whole way back.  It was, thankfully, a crowded but uneventful trip back.  I was going to take a nap once I made it back to my apartment, but, hello, Wuthering Heights was on.  There can be no napping during a Bronte sister movie...

 

I had an amazingly great time in Woodstock and I think I may need to make it a yearly tradition.  And maybe even take a day off work to extend the great time even longer.  I've been enjoying looking at my pictures since I got back - I hope you enjoy looking at them, too!