Sag Harbor used to be the low-key outlier of Hamptons shopping. Or so I recall from the many thanksgivings past out here on the southeastern tip of Long Island.
Not anymore.
On the Saturday after turkey day, the shops on Sag Harbor’s small Main Street were packed with well heeled shoppers browsing in beautiful (and very expensive) home goods stores with suede furniture, exquisite ceramics, delicate linens, clever gizmos and knickknacks. Fun to browse. Not affordable to purchase.
Among the ones we liked: Modern General (where I did buy a $13 mug for my son that reads: Text your mother. This is the third store with that name I’ve been to this year. The first in Albuquerque; the second in Milwaukee.) the 1818 store (inside a lovely old home we are guessing was built circa 1818) and Comerford.
1818 shop
Gwyneth Paltrow’s “Goop” store is also somewhere near, but we didn’t chance upon it.
To my surprise we drove right into the ChautauquaInstitution, the famous educational/ cultural retreat in the western NY town of, yes, Chautauqua, on our drive back to Chicago from Ithaca. Years ago we got as far as the firmly shut outer gate, when passing through the area during in the peak 9-week summer season for tourists and visitors. Back then, we had to pay to get through the gate and enter the enclave, so we didn’t. From the confusing information on various Chautauqua websites (the town tourism website (https://www.tourchautauqua.com/trip-ideas/a-visit-to-the-chautauqua-institution was clearer than the institution’s website), a “Gate Pass/fee” ($30) is required to enter the grounds during the summer. Except Sundays when it’s free at least until 2 pm. In spring, fall and winter, all drive-in gates are open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, no passes/fees required
Still almost everything was shut down …or felt shut down …on the crisp Fall day when we dropped by for about an hour. The sign on the post office said “Closed until June 2023.” Apparently some events are offered beyond during the summer season, and some residents live there year-round.
It was fun to be able to drive through and gawk at the pretty gingerbready cottages and stately buildings that host lectures, concerts and dance performances. We also found a table in the almost deserted village green that worked well for a picnic. (And yes, sadly, this is the place where author Salman Rushdie was stabbed by a madman last summer.)
Not Chautauqua….this is Lake George (Adirondacks)
Over the Pennsylvania border in Ohio, we found cheaper gas, as promised: $3.49 at the Love’s station in Conneaut, Ohio vs $3.89 in Chautauqua and $3.79 in Erie. Love’s also has a dog park.
Apple fest 2022 filled the Ithaca Commons with strollers eating apple crisp, tasting various apple varieties with assistance from Cornell pomologists and browsing at craft booths. We learned that the snapdragon apples we discovered last year didn’t make it this year…bad weather conditions but I did buy a few Shizuka apples with a Mutsu- like taste. I also found Cornell orchards apples at the P&C Fresh near the ag school but it had nowhere near the selection of varieties that used to be sold at Cornell’s pomology department when I was a student (class of 81.) Greenstar Market downtown had Mutsus, but P & C did not.
We walked into a new place on the commons during apple fest called the Yellow Deli that was (somewhat oddly) offering free samples of their delicious fare (Rueben sandwiches, chili, cheesecake drinks. But I happened to hear a woman who walked past us say “too bad they are an anti-Semitic cult.” We googled and could not find anything about anti-semitism but plenty about the cult. Apparently there are yellow delis across the US and in foreign counties and they’ve been labeled a cult. Bit of a bummer but good to know.
At Cornell’s arboretum (formerly the plantations)Cascadilla Falls
Onto the next attraction, an exhibit of gorgeous quilts by local talents held at a local community college in nearby Cortland, Tompkins Cortland Community College, aka TC3.
I forgot to mention last night’s excitement.$2.98 a gallon gas in Homer NY. We thought our eyes were deceiving us. We haven’t seen prices like that in years. And in nearby Ithaca, the price is $3.69 to 3.79.
Finally made it to the Adirondacks! They have beckoned from the nearby Finger Lakes of Central NY but we could never detach from Ithaca long enough to visit. They started in earnest about 3 hours northeast of Ithaca, about 2 hours after Syracuse and I’m still trying to pinpoint what makes this region feel so different than the Finger lakes. More rugged, dense woods, dark wood and log cabins, sparkling lakes with the beach at road level. Ithaca is more bucolic farms and pastures high surrounded by wooded hills, above the deep narrow finger lakes, old gingerbread farm houses made of brick or stone, tidy farmsteads.
We stopped briefly in the rugged resort Adirondacks town in Speculator (gotta love that name) where we found a gorgeous little public park beside a small lake, dotted with yes, heavy wood log Adirondacks chairs and benches. (The real deal, not plastic knockoffs.) the park was named after the boxer Gene Tunney who had a trading camp in town.
Lake George
We found a rustic mini mart with a long line for the one bathroom. I asked the bored looking clerk if there was another option and voila, we were at public bathrooms (line-free) a half block away. The leaves were far more colorful, with splashes of red and orange and purple. The roads we drive on to get to vermont were so backwoods that I checked my google maps to make sure it wasn’t set on “no highways.” There simply weren’t any or many.
Adirondacks beach (speculator, NY)Bolton Landing, Lake George Gene Tunney Park, Speculator, NY
On the way back to Ithaca, we drove backroads along the western shore of Lake George which was lovely and rustic…until we got to the resort town of Lake George, which was over touristed. Then we drove diagonally south east, stopping briefly in the pretty college town of Cazenovia. We met Myra and Mike at Salt Point Brewery which was having an October fest celebration, with outdoor dining, a band, beer, pizza, brats and an amazing sunset.
Rain prompted us to visit the Ithaca Commons where we discovered that Sew Green, which sells gently used Eileen Fisher clothing, has moved about a block east into a smaller space on Greene Street. There is a smaller but still good selection. We had a little snack nearby of savory hand-baked pies at Mama Said, then onto Taughannock Falls state park where there was no problem taking Millie, our dog, on a hike along the north and south rim trails.
Small savory piesMillie at Taughannock
Tonight we had a dinner of sandwiches and beer flights at AuroraBrewing Company, sitting outside on a chilly grey early evening so Millie could join us. We had a fabulous view looking across a green pasture and vineyards at Cayuga Lake in the distance and the hills rising up beyond.
This is our sweet pup Millie’s first trip to Ithaca and we assumed it was a dog friendly place. Generally it has been…with some surprises. No dogs allowed inside The Ithaca Farmers Market’s open air pavilion, although that didn’t deter the occasional Ithaca iconoclast. I get that it can get too crowded. And dogs can hang out outside the pavilion, for what that’s worth. Still, really?
Millie NOT on the gorge trail at Watkins Glen
At our favorite gorge-ous park, Treman, no problem bringing a dog although it can get a little tricky navigating the steps and narrow stone ledges overlooking the deep gorge and waterfalls with a four-legged friend (on a leash, of course.) We did our usual trick and parked one car at lower Treman and drove up to upper Treman and parked the second car, then hiked one way, the easy way, down from upper to lower.
Millie at “upper Treman”
The very popular Watkins Glen Park was packed with visitors (far more than our little secret, Treman) and we learned from the ranger at the entrance booth that dogs can’t go on the gorge trail…only the rimtrail high above the gorge in the woods, which was disappointing but actually wise since the gorge trail is so narrow and busy. Even on a Tuesday midday in late September, there were many visitors including many foreign tourists. A nice Israeli family from Tel Aviv lavished Millie with petting.
Millie at “lower Treman.”Millie at the Cider House.
On to Finger Lakes Cider House, near Trumansburg, with its spectacular on-high views of Cayuga Lake. No dogs allowed inside the rustic-chic bar-restaurant-shop or on the deck but no problem having dogs in the huge open air tent full of picnic tables (perfect during a rain storm, we discovered) next to a huge field of u pick’em dahlias and zinnias. We duly enjoyed our flights of cider, grilled cheese, homemade tomato soup, garlic cumin black beans and crunchy cornbread.
Back to my happy place, upstate NY! Specifically the area around Ithaca. We managed to drive here in one day, albeit long day, from Chicago. About 11.5 hours with a few stops primarily for Millie the dog. The scenery was blah through Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania until a few seconds after we crossed into western NY on Interstate 86. Like clockwork came the wooded hills, the emerald green fields dotted with red barns and white farmhouses, the shimmering lakes and rivers. And the sky! A drama show with dark clouds or fluffy white clouds in the distance, moving across a blue sky, sun blaring through.
In Corning, we stopped for a quick dinner at Nichols BBQ for an excellent Brisket sandwich and an excellent pulled pork sandwich which we ate at an outside table so Millie could join us. People were so sweet to Millie including a nice guy who asked if he could take a photo of Millie as his “dog of the day.” Turns out he and another guy with him were on a 47-day bike ride across the US from Portland to Portland, run by Trek, the bike maker.
On Sunday, we went on our always fun obligatory trip to the IthacaFarmers Market where I had excellent Cambodian food and bought Ithaca gear for the grandkids. With the weather improving, we decided to walk around Cascadilla falls in one of my favorite neighborhoods, Fall creek, we spotted a band playing on a porch, with a small crowd. Interesting.
Then another band on a porch and then another. Turns out it was Porchfest 2022, an annual event where local musicians of all kinds play on porch’s throughout the neighborhood … jug and banjos, electric guitars, a soul singer with a sound machine, a family with little kids. Too much fun! One volunteer told me Ithaca’s was the first Porchfest. And it went on hiatus during the height of the pandemic.
Apparently other cities have them too, including Des Moines. The sun came out after a thunderstorm and lit the neighborhood. Then a half hour later, as we were listening to a crazy band, with kids dancing frenetically, the sky got dark and it poured again. No one cared.
On day two of wandering in NYC, my favorite city activity, I set out for Fotografiska, the New York City outpost of the famous avant-garde photography museum I loved in Stockholm but the weather was walkable, despite a little wet snow, so I opted to neighborhood wander, this time through Gramercy Park, which I haven’t been to in years. Lovely old townhouses surrounding an elegant gated park. Reminded me of London. I ended up in the East Village where I found more empty storefronts than I’d seen in other neighborhoods, perhaps not surprising. But several little independent shops, including one full shop full of lovely Japanese paper products, have survived Covid, so far. Good to see. I had the six-piece sampler (seared) at Dumpling Man, a hole-in-the-wall spot on St. Mark’s Place, perhaps in the same spot where my London friend Anne had a gift shop, The House of Uncommons (geddit?) in the mid-1980s. (Francine, are you still reading?) My favorites were the shrimp (with corn) and the pork. The spinach-green veggie dumpling with a vague green tea flavor won the “most different” prize.
Do you know Dumpling Man?
In addition to dumplings, another perhaps more unlikely trend appears to be something familiar to Iowans or any visitor to the Iowa State Fair…
Monday was Myra Day, one of my favorite days in NYC (or anywhere else). We met at Grand Central, which looked a bit diminished without its annual holiday market and the Scandinavian food court, both presumably casualties of Covid, but the rest of the city was hopping with holiday cheer. We wandered through Soho and NoLita (north of Little Italy, east of Sogo, primo streets:Mott, Elizabeth), both pleasant backgrounds for our annual epic get-together. I returned to Dominique Ansel Bakery, this time for a light lunch (chicken salad with pistachios on a delicious croissant) and these crazy “milk shots,” little chocolate-lined “shot glasses” made of pastry dough, filled with milk. They got a bit soggy but were a delicious take on milk and cookies.
Masked at Grand Central
The holiday market was ON at Union Square, and full of good gift options, from Scandinavia hand towels to Turkish pottery to Ecuadorian scarves. Dinner was at the very chic Sona, a very different Indian restaurant on 23rd street, with different takes on traditional dishes (and much higher prices.) The butter chicken looked the most familiar and was delicious. The chicken korma was unrecognizable – three conical shaped fried dumplings in a shallow pool of creamy green -colored sauce, served with a cheese-filled naan reminiscent of a quesadilla. The best innovation was the saag paneer made with Swiss chard rather than the usual spinach. All served by attentive staff in stylish surrounds with tables that quickly filled with chic New Yorkers who apparently thought nothing of dropping considerable cash on fancy Indian food on a Monday night. I ❤️ NYC.
P.S.across the street from Sona: a popular new Italian restaurant called Rezdora.
I’m on the Metro North Hudson Line train heading back to NYC after a quick but lovely and overdue visit with my old friends Merida and Chip. I’ve been visiting their charming 1840s farm house on a hill overlooking a rolling wooded valley for almost 40 years, lucky us.
The train trip is about 2 hours hugging the Hudson which looked stunning yesterday in the fall sunshine. I got off at the end of the line in Poughkeepsie and Merida picked me up and whisked me off to the country where we took long walks through the woods and pastures, past ponds and streams, tromping in the muddy grass in borrowed Wellies with two sweet white dogs who reminded me of my lab Millie. Chip took me over to visit the rescue horses at 13 Hands equine rescue center he volunteers at on a spectacular hillside overlooking a wooded valley with a sweet white farmhouse.
TakeBetsywithyou 