![\"Woodstock](\"http:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/hvamenityeconomy\/files\/2015\/10\/photo-1-3.jpg\")
<\/a>Woodstock farm sanctuary<\/p><\/div>\n
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.<\/p>\n Go to this website to find out more about the sanctuary.the\u00a0http:\/\/woodstocksanctuary.org\/<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Entrance to nature walk<\/em><\/p>\n A large part of the Hudson Valley\u2019s economy is also based on people\u2019s 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\u2019s fair in High Falls which made this quest for authenticity abundantly clear. \u00a0It 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 \u2018well-dressed\u2019 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\u2019s class status from just seeing them, everyone\u2019s clothes looked to be ‘cool and laid back’ but still very expensive. The products being sold were also expensive.<\/p>\n 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 \u201cneo-lumberjack\u201d. 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\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n Artisan fair feat. vintage motorcycle and twinkly lights<\/p><\/div>\n Another shot of the artisan fair . Overheard: woman saying “In the Stone Age before Chanel” \ud83d\ude10<\/p><\/div>\n Whale weather vane, reminiscent of the days when the Hudson Valley port towns derived a lot of income from the whaling industry<\/p><\/div>\n Mysterious and ominous giant pink bunny<\/p><\/div>\n Cute vintage shop<\/p>\n old-timey americana<\/p><\/div>\n old-timey americana part 2 #authentic<\/p><\/div>\n 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 \u201cfive lock walk\u201d (check it out here: http:\/\/www.canalmuseum.org\/Five%20locks%20walk.html<\/a>). 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\u2019s 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\u2019s, natural cement limestone was discovered there. The Rosendale cement company produced cement for some of the country\u2019s most iconic landmarks including the Brooklyn Bridge and the Statue of Liberty. Read more about it here: http:\/\/www.rosendalecement.net\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n Rugged back-to-nature aesthetic<\/p><\/div>\n Part of the five lock walk<\/p><\/div>\n Cement kiln ruins<\/p><\/div>\n Inside a cement kiln<\/p><\/div>\n The history of the area and nostalgia surrounding it is attractive especially to those seeking \u2018authentic\u2019 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>