New York State

A healthy new year

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Rensselaer Lake

Often when one thinks of new year’s resolutions, a common resolution that comes to mind is to exercise more, get fit, or lose weight. In the spirit of starting as you mean to go on- why not get outdoors on New Year’s Day?

Most states offer First Day Hikes in state parks- the perfect way to get out for a stroll and enjoy your local park. A number of them include seasonal refreshments (hot cocoa, warm apple cider or snacks). If you’re in Massachusetts, the flyer from the Department of Conservation and Recreation is here; New Yorkers, check out the info on the New York State Parks website here.

And if you’re in the Boston area and prefer to add time on the water to your hike this year, the Friends of the Boston Harbor Islands are having their annual Seafarers’ Cruise on Sunday – this year the trip is going to Thompson Island (don’t worry, the boat is heated).

One for the fiber enthusiasts – Perfect Blend yarn shop, Saugerties NY

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perfect-blend

If you’re going to the New York State Sheep and Wool Festival in Rhinebeck this year (more commonly known simply as “Rhinebeck”), a quick detour to the Perfect Blend Yarn and Tea Shop in Saugerties NY is well worth the trip. It’s a lovely little shop, with tea samples and all manner of delightful yarn (including the much-loved Madeline Tosh). The staff are friendly, and there’s even a table and chairs to sit and rest a while (and maybe cast on a new project while you’re at it).

 

It also happens to be down the road from the gorgeous Saugerties Lighthouse, which is a worthwhile trip in and of itself, and benefits from easy walking to cafes and independent bookstores nearby- click here for more information about Saugerties to help plan your visit.

Architectural trivia: Albany, NY – Fort Frederick Apartments

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fort-frederick-apts-behind-office-building

Behind a (probably half-empty, I’m guessing) office building on Swan Street in downtown Albany NY is the apartment building that is the subject of one of my favorite “wait, what?” stories in the area. The Fort Frederick apartments were completed in 1917 at the corner of Swan Street and Washington Avenue. In the mid-1920s, when it was determined that a building needed to be built to house New York state government offices that were scattered around the city, the powers that be decided that location conveniently across from the Capitol building would be ideal for a brand-new skyscraper, now known as the Alfred E. Smith building (on the National Register of Historic Places, that building is an interesting Art Deco structure itself). So they did what any reasonable person might immediately think to do: they moved it a block away. According to Albany Architecture: A Guide to the City (ed. Diana S. White, pub. 1993, Mount Ida Press),  “J.W. and J.P. Eichleay of Pittsburgh jacked the eight-story structure up two feet and placed it on several hundred steel rollers laid on railroad tracks. It was then gently propelled 350 feet south by two teams of horses and two winches at a rate of seventy feet a day.”. And they didn’t even break a single pane of glass.

 

Amazing.

Hudson Valley postcard: the Hudson-Athens lighthouse, Athens NY

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Typically the first place I expect to see lighthouses is by the ocean. So when I heard people talking about lighthouses in landlocked upstate New York, I was initially a bit surprised- but naturally, there are lighthouses on the Hudson (as on any navigable river and even some large lakes, like the Great Lakes). For anyone interested in lighthouses on the Hudson, Kevin Woyce’s book “Hudson River Lighthouses and History” is an excellent source for histories of the lighthouses along the Hudson from New York Harbor to Coxsackie. Continue reading →