As a NYC native, finding any reason to leave the city has transformed from being a leisure to-do list item into a serious hobby. I didn’t know that I would find a gem like Woodstock in my Google map search of places to go at least 100 mile away from Brooklyn. For anyone who has walked through Brooklyn recently, you know that it’s changing and it’s crowded. Thankfully, Woodstock gave me the grounded and earthy feeling that I need without compromising my personal space and mental health. On the way there, we stopped in Beacon, NY and got a tasty vegetarian breakfast from Kitchen & Coffee. I’m telling you now, the Tempeh Reuben is IT.
Reuben & Banana Toast
The Railway Tour & Phoenicia
Even though we ended up discovering a million and one things to do in Woodstock, we initially went for the Railway Explorers Tour. I saw it on Tik Tok and immediately knew that I had to try it. It’s a ride on a pedal powered tandem vehicle on a rail track along the Esopus Creek through the woods of the Catskills Mountains, and when am I ever going to get that kind of opportunity in the city?
The tour was located in Phoenicia, home to the Phoenicia Diner, home to the best pancakes that I’ve ever had. Candidly, I’ve been back 4 times in the last month just for these pancakes. We loved Woodstock so much that we visited for the first time in August and again now in September for Labor Day Weekend. Lately, I find myself just more in the mood for outdoorsy, peaceful vibes you know? Anyways, the pancakes. Fluffy, tasty, savory and sweet. Perfect. You know what else was perfect? The cottage that we stayed in. It was full of fresh air, beautiful furniture, and the modern farmhouse energy you wish that you could bring into your NYC apartment.
Our little cottage
Tinker Street
Both weekends that we traveled up here reset my mind so clearly. With little to no cellphone reception, locally grown foods and produce, and so many cute shops to explore, we had an honest good time. Surprisingly, we didn’t buy much and just window shopped and browsed. Yet, we were still so enamored by how many vintage and homemade pieces we found. They have a flea market on the weekends, and their main street, Tinker Street, is where we shopped, ate, and walked around.
There’s streams running along everywhere. Actually, most of the restaurants are by the stream, and made for such a relaxed and elevated dining experience. Shindig had the best burger I ate in all of Woodstock (shown on far right). Thankfully, we were able to balance eating anything and everything with some good physical activity too. We hiked Kaaterskill Falls and were mesmorized because, wow. That sight was breathtaking. The hike was pretty manageable for someone who is used to walking around the city. Just bring a good amount of water and maybe a snack for when you get to the falls.
There’s so much more that I wanted to do that we didn’t get to do, which is okay because you want to take your time here. I didn’t want to jam pack the itinerary because I wanted to enjoy the slow paced “in the moment” lifestyle here. There was live music a lot of places that we visited, and we made friends with lots of locals, so we can’t wait to go back. I included a quick things to do list below, and there’s so much that I haven’t yet explored like the Film Festival, Bear Theater, etc. Maybe I should just drive up again this weekend…
