Hi there! I’m Rachel!

Today was our first field trip for #ES291 and we went to the cute little town of Amenia. Here is a picture (which is sideways for some reason) of me with my beautiful snapdragons I bought at the farmers market! I also added a picture of some adorably tiny fruits and veggies, including melon cucumber hybrids. I can’t wait to see so much of the Hudson Valley this semester!

Hi! My name is Wyn Zenni and here is my awkward snap dragon selfie along with some pictures of local food! Featured are Cucamelons and Tomatillos–two foods I never knew existed before visiting Amenia, New York. I look forward to going to more unique, quirky places in the Hudson Valley and learning about them! #ES291 #HudsonValley

Hi!

My name is Sofia Rodas.

Today’s field trip to the small quaint town called Amenia was full of scenic views; the highlight was a super cute drive in theater. I can’t wait to see what is next in store on the #enst291 adventure.

We started off the trip going to Woodstock Farm Sanctuary. This organization had just recently changed its location to its current one near High Falls in Ulster County. It is a farm animal refuge, education center, and retreat. We did not have the opportunity to go on a formal tour, but they regularly offer tours in which they introduce visitors to their various resident animals and teach them about the problems with factory farming and animal agriculture. They promote vegetarian and vegan diets and are plugged into the world of animal rights activism. I would argue that they are part of an alternative ‘ethical’ economy that thrives in the Hudson Valley. The area has a long history of environmentalism and now has a lot of activity in organic, local farming etc. These alternatives are often viewed as a more ethical choice (though it’s not actually that simple) and tie into the socially conscious and earthy vibe that the area cultivates. There are also many left-leaning colleges located in the Hudson Valley (Vassar being one of them), which host a demographic of students that might be drawn to such things as an animal refuge that promotes veganism. While the animal rights movement is something I agree with in large part, it is still important to note how inaccessible it can be and how it can be composed of a predominantly white and economically privileged demographic. Most of the people I saw at the sanctuary fit into the demographic. The environmental movement of the Hudson Valley can also at some points be exclusive and cater primarily to this demographic as it plays off of traditionally middle class white American conceptions of reconnecting with nature and does not always center environmental and climate justice.

Woodstock farm sanctuary

The drive there was accentuated by fall foliage, near peak. The sanctuary capitalized on the natural beauty of the area by having a nature walk right next door. We went down and checked it out briefly. It was a very pretty trek through the woods right by the River.

Go to this website to find out more about the sanctuary.the http://woodstocksanctuary.org/

Entrance to nature walk

A large part of the Hudson Valley’s economy is also based on people’s desire to return to and reconnect with nature, so nature walks attract people like a magnet. In many ways people come to the Hudson Valley to combat alienation (from nature, from our cultural history, from our food and animals in the case of the sanctuary) and cultivate a sense of authenticity. After the sanctuary we went to a Artisan’s fair in High Falls which made this quest for authenticity abundantly clear.  It was a two day event for Columbus Day weekend. There was a folksy vibe around the whole thing, but at the same time a sense of cleanliness and hyper-modernism. There were rows of white tents with clean cut lines, sparkling Christmas lights (all the same uniform color) and ‘well-dressed’ urban looking people selling their products, for example rustic looking coffee tables with unfinished wood. The demographic was young and hip. People seemed to be coming from cities to the fair for the day or the weekend. There were abundant beanies and hipster beards. Though it is hard to tell for sure a person’s class status from just seeing them, everyone’s clothes looked to be ‘cool and laid back’ but still very expensive. The products being sold were also expensive.

The whole thing had a very West Village meets Williamsburg vibe. There were two men in particular whose aesthetic I noticed. I could only describe it as “neo-lumberjack”. One was wearing a bright buffalo plaid with a thick dark beard a beanie and boots. The other had Thor-style blonde hair (also with a beard to match) a Henley and suspenders. Both looked like they were dressed to emulate the look of people who work outdoors but I doubt they had any intention of actually doing so. Everything in this fair seemed like people were putting a lot of effort into looking like they didn’t put too much effort in. It also seemed that part of the appeal was the small town feeling of community. However, most of the people seemed to have come from outside of the area, which begs the questions was there really a sense of community there or was it contrived simply for appearances as a tourist attraction, and did the tourists realize this.

Artisan fair feat. vintage motorcycle and twinkly lights

Another shot of the artisan fair . Overheard: woman saying “In the Stone Age before Chanel” 😐

Whale weather vane, reminiscent of the days when the Hudson Valley port towns derived a lot of income from the whaling industry

Mysterious and ominous giant pink bunny

Cute vintage shop

old-timey americana

old-timey americana part 2 #authentic

Part of the attraction seemed to be the old school amaricana ex-industrial working class vibes of the area. There were the ruins of the Delaware and Hudson Canals. Part of the property was preserved as a national historic landmark and called the “five lock walk” (check it out here: http://www.canalmuseum.org/Five%20locks%20walk.html). The canal was operational from 1828-1898 and was used to ship coal from Pennsylvania mines to the Hudson River at Kingston, and then to New York from there. Local cement limestone and bluestone were quarried in order to make it and it’s construction created a lot of jobs which caused communities to pop up all around it. Nearby in Rosendale are the ruins of old cement kilns. In the 1800’s, natural cement limestone was discovered there. The Rosendale cement company produced cement for some of the country’s most iconic landmarks including the Brooklyn Bridge and the Statue of Liberty. Read more about it here: http://www.rosendalecement.net/.

Rugged back-to-nature aesthetic

Part of the five lock walk

Cement kiln ruins

Inside a cement kiln

The history of the area and nostalgia surrounding it is attractive especially to those seeking ‘authentic’ experiences. Also, for those attempting to combat their own alienation and return to nature there is a certain poetry to going to a place where the old infrastructure is literally decaying and returning to nature.

Finally, we went to the Wallkill Valley Rail Trail and the Rosendale trestle (bridge). The trail is 22 miles long between the towns of Wallkill and Kingston and is open to walkers, runners, bikers, cross-country skiers, and horse-back riders. The views from the bridge were magnificent and the path itself was bueatiful. There was an entrance to it right across from the Rosendale cement kilns. This trail was also an example of the value that the natural beauty of the Hudson Valley adds to the local economy.

The trestle

View from the trestle

WallKill Valley Rail Trail

Daniel Gutowski and house mates

For my independent trip, I visited Bull Hill, and Cold Spring, N.Y with all of my house-mates. Bull Hill is less than a mile from the more famous Breakneck Ridge. Unlike Breakneck which is a shorter, more intense scramble (it’s not named Breakneck for nothing), Bull Hill offers a steady, steep incline and a long, relaxing trip back down.

At the beginning of the trip, we saw a sign that advertised a GPS hiking app. While all four of us had cell phones at hand, we opted for the paper map, although we were impressed that such technology exists. The trail is fairly easy to follow, but don’t go without a map. Multiple trails intertwine, and getting back home isn’t as easy as getting up.

The first rest stop along the hike is an abandoned quarry. The backdrop of the quarry is a tall sheet of rock that remains what looks like an unfinished project. Down below, small trees grow among the grass, and when walking through, it feels like you are on a safari. The trail invites you into the grassy area. After spending some time checking it out, we were back on the trail which whips up and around the flatland. Next thing you know, you are on top of that sheet of rock looking down.

Bull Hill Abandoned Quarry

Stop number two. After the quarry, there is a lookout spot that offers a sweeping view of Cold Spring, West Point, and the Hudson River. For the less physically fit, this spot would be the perfect place to stop and turn around. The view was spectacular, and there were many other hikers taking pictures. After here, we didn’t see any people coming back down the mountain. Bull Hill is an intense incline not for the faint of heart, but once you get to the top it’s much easier to come down the other side. Instead of blowing out your knees by coming back on the steep side, the backside offers a long cool walk in the shade with fewer attractions but more tranquility.

Bull Hill Panorama View

Next stop: lookout number two. The mountain trail travels along the edge so at any point you can venture off to the precipice to see how high up you are. From time to time the trail flirts toward the cliff edge so even if you prefer sticking to the path, you can’t avoid coming up to the cliff and viewing the beautiful landscape. We went on a day that the sky was particularly clear so we were able to see the New York City skyline at this point. At nighttime, you can see the light pollution radiating from the City.

The way back down was a sweet reward for the strenuous hike up. The cool breeze wicked the sweat off of our backs, and the shade provided us with a nice peaceful sanctuary. While the return down was much longer, it took about the same time because we could zip right through the easy terrain. We passed by a hollow tree that my house-mate Andrew climbed up and into. Don’t do this at home. Hollow trees are known to have nasty things in them like beehives or worse, so proceed at your own risk.

Andrew climbing into a tree

Andrew inside of a tree

Lastly the trail takes you to the Cornish estate ruins. These ruins are absolutely spectacular. You can climb up on to the tops of the rock walls, and the whole place seems like a set on American Ninja Warrior. We all tried our hand at amateur parkour, scaling the rock walls. The Cornish estate burned down in the 50s, and they are now a part of the trails. This point of the trail was by far the most congested. We went on a Saturday so many out-of-towners were here checking out the ruins. The remains of the house, garage, and stone pool make up the Cornish estate.

Cornish Ruins

Cornish ruins

On top of the Cornish Ruins

Lastly, we wrapped our day up with a stroll through downtown Cold Spring and a late lunch at Hudson Hill Café. Cold Spring is an awesome village. Much like Hudson, N.Y., Cold Spring has an incredible art and music scene, restaurants, design studios, bars, and antique shops. Main Street, where all the shops are located, starts at the Hudson River with a beautiful view of Storm King directly across. The train from New York stops right at the end of Main Street, which is perfect for city folk to hop off the train and stroll up and down the street. While the shops clearly cater to high end customers, Cold Spring seems not at all pretentious. People of all different colors and creeds are seen walking up and down the street which adds to the inclusive feel. One could easily window shop without spending a dime and have a great time.

Hudson Hill Café was the perfect cherry-on-top to our adventure. Hudson Hill has only been around since 2011, but they consistently fill up the whole restaurant. They refuse reservations, and only accept customers on a first-come first-serve basis. Whether you heard of Hudson Hill or not, you’re waiting in line just like everyone else. We had a wait time of an hour, but that allowed us to stroll around more before chowing down. Absence makes the heart grown fonder and waiting makes the appetite bigger! The restaurant décor is that of an old New England farmhouse: wooden floors, light pastel colors, and sunlight that radiates throughout the interior. On Hudson Hill’s Café’s webpage they profess that they feature “only the freshest ingredients from New York organic farms.” They don’t push the farm-to-table mantra really hard, but the food speaks for itself. I got a bratwurst with sauerkraut, perogies, and sauteed red cabbage. They say if a restaurant serves something simple and does it right that’s when you know it’s good. Let me tell you that the food served was not at all complex or wildly creative, but what they have they got right. Fresh ingredients and attention to detail are really all you ever need. I highly recommend going.

Cold Spring is an awesome town that I can’t recommend enough. The word quaint gets thrown around a lot especially with small towns that exist along the Hudson, but to me, nothing comes closer than Cold Spring in embodying that term. The old architecture, the beautiful view of the Hudson River, the music, the thrift shops, antique shops, design studios, restaurants, bars, and everything else just comes together so seamlessly, beckoning newcomers to venture in and try it all out. This Halloween, Cold Spring will be having their annual Halloween parade. Come with your best costume and expect to be showed up. Only the most creative and most daring will be in attendance for the parade. It’s something that you won’t want to miss.

Bull Hill (Trip down)

Rock Cairn

I was invited to go to Storm King Art Center by a good friend, and couldn’t pass up the chance to spend a day taking in the peak autumn leaves and architectural sculptures. The Storm King Art Center is located in New Windsor, NY, a few minutes south of Newburgh. Originally founded in 1960 as a museum devoted to Hudson River School art, Storm King hosts a plethora of primarily outdoor sculptures across 500 acres of land. From my visit, it seems the clientele range from beard-and-beanie college students to grandmothers wearing all black and artistic glasses, with some groups of young parents and school trips thrown in. The center offers bike rentals and a free tram that runs every half hour. Though the tram is meant to provide an option for those with limited mobility and children to see all of the grounds, it was also convenient for when lazy college students get tired and hungry and want a ride back to the parking lot.

Two Mark Di Suvero sculptures on the expansive grounds.

The grounds are planted with swaths of meticulously manicured grasses and flowers, separated by groves of sun-dipped trees. Gravel pathways wove through the landscape to the sculptures dotting the hillsides. The unevenness of the grounds makes it so you can only view a few sculptures at a time, so by turning a corner or reaching the crest of a hill reveals a completely foreign view. There are over 100 sculptures and installations spread throughout the grounds, but a few stuck out to me.

Lili and the Pink Ladies by Lynda Benglis.

The two special exhibitions, both running until November, were two of my favorite works. Lynda Benglis: Water Sources featured several fascinating fountains, made of oozy, gloppy metal and polyurethane that looked like mud creatures either huddled to gossip or poised to devour each other. My favorite was the shockingly colored Pink Ladies, inspired by the color of a kite that Benglis saw during a kite-flying festival in India. The columns of translucent pink gurgle water from tiny openings into a circular pool.

Part of Luke Stettner’s a,b,moon,d.

Outlooks: Luke Stettner had an intriguing outdoor piece, called a,b,moon,d. Inspired by codes, language, and the confusion of a small child between the letter “C” and a crescent moon, Stettner created the site-specific work with biochar-filled trenches. The result is an over 80-foot expanse of land that looks like crop circles burned into the meadow.

Another favorite from the permanent exhibition was Andy Goldsworthy’s Five Men, Seventeen Days, Fifteen Boulders, One Wall. The curving stone wall’s story is its title—Goldsworthy and four other stoneworkers constructed the work on Storm King’s fiftieth anniversary in 2010 with stones found on the property. The wall weaves around the boulders almost as fluidly as the nearby creek, with crimson vines creeping across the stone.

Virginia creeper creeping across Andy Goldsworthy’s Five Men, Seventeen Days, Fifteen Boulders, One Wall.

Spending the day there united my love of art with my love of nature. Part museum, part breathtaking landscape, part alien village, Storm King is a truly unique experience, especially with the amazing fall foliage. The scale of the works is something you don’t see at every museum, and it was great to expose myself to new styles of art. I especially appreciate the close connection between nature and art at Storm King because they complement each other so well both aesthetically and because they calm me psychologically. Though it is a bit far off from any real town center, that is part of the magic of the space. I couldn’t think of a more perfect way to spend a warm autumn day than amongst trees, hills, stones, and metal creatures.

Visit Storm King Art Center’s website to learn more about visiting hours, directions, and current exhibitions.

The Walkway Over the Hudson is both an enjoyable trip and a paradigm of the culture and amenity economy of the Hudson Valley.

I biked to the walkway with my friend, Lydia, after a long morning of classes. It was a sunny day, and there was a pre-fall feeling in the air. The walkway is connected to the tree-lined bike path, The Hudson Valley Rail Trail. It is easily accessible by bike from Vassar.

The tree-lined path stops where the walkway begins. A food truck awaits potential customers at the entrance. As Lydia and I bike onward, the mass of pedestrians thickened. There were various dog walkers, bikers, runners, and tourists (as evidenced by cameras and accents). A quick look to the left and we saw the train station a quick walk away.

It takes about five minutes of biking to get to the center of the massive walkway. In front of us were rolling hills of trees, towering above the wide river. There is little development other than the train tracks along side the river and scattered houses here and there. There is more development looking in the direction we came from, but the majority of the landscape remains green space.

With a quick look around and it’s easy to tell the economic importance of the walkway over the Hudson. Firstly: the tourists. I counted three groups of people with European accents who were carrying cameras and were clearly not from the Hudson Valley. This was within a ten-minute period, and there could have been more than I noticed. The accents, interestingly, sounded eastern European. The tourism industry and/or local governments in Dutchess County clearly understand the importance of attracting tourists, given the bathrooms (at least on one end), informational signs along the rails, benches, and beverages provided via vending machine. Additionally, it is strategically placed right next to the train station, making it the full package: exciting, convenient, and accessible.

Food truck.

The Walkway Over the Hudson is nostalgic, creating an experience of connectedness with the valley’s history and with nature. It reminds me of other trips we’ve been on, like Hudson and Fishkill Farms. The foundation for this aesthetic obviously lies in the vast natural landscape. The river and undeveloped land is breathtaking. The informational signs on the railings give both historical context and information about the science of the river and bridge construction. The train running along the side of the river, the old town of Poughkeepsie nestled in trees off in the distance, and the leaves starting to turn before fall all add to this aesthetic.

An informational sign along the railing.

Nostalgia, a desire to return to the past, is one of the driving forces of the Hudson Valley amenity economy. In our highly industrialized and hyper-stimulated society, people are getting more eager to escape to nature, and return to a simpler way of living. The Hudson Valley, with its old buildings and natural landscapes, draws on this desire. The Walkway Over the Hudson provides a nice balance between excitement, simply from its sheer gargantuan size and the vastness of the natural landscape it exhibits, while still connecting with a key sense of nostalgic that is characteristic of the Hudson Valley.

See more info here: https://walkway.org/