I’ve been manic the past few weeks–with the new job and all–and I’ve been feeling very blue and in need of alone time. There’s a whole lot of improvement to be made in order for me to go back to feeling like myself again, and a trip to Saugerties, New York, which took two years in the making and finally planned two months ago, made me realize that maybe I don’t have to be always miserable.

The Saugerties Lighthouse is on the National Register of Historic Structures and one of the few lighthouses in the country that accepts guests overnight. I read about it a couple of years ago after visiting several lighthouses along the coast of Maine marked on a tourist map, but it was completely booked when I first called to inquire. An article entitled “Just Beneath the Surface” published earlier this year in The New York Times Magazine included a beautiful, almost poetic photograph of the lighthouse, and reminded me to call again. The only open night was a Thursday, so I booked it.

Fast-forward to a cold November evening and I found myself in a Zip Car driving in the rain past Beacon and Poughkeepsie to get to the lighthouse. It’s about 100 miles outside the city. In the town of Saugerties, you park your car just outside the U.S. Coast Guard Station. From there, a half-mile walk in the dark will take you to the beacon of light on Esopus Creek. (I did it, thanks to my extra bright iPhone light!) High tide was a couple of hours before my arrived, so the trail was still squishy and damp. In fact, the lighthouse keeper, Patrick, suggests check-in times to guests using a tide chart.

The trek was cold and serene, so as soon as Patrick let me in the lighthouse, I immediately felt warm and comfortable. He gave me a quick tour of the kitchen and the living room before I settled in the West bedroom. An extensive renovation was started in 1986, but its 19th-century feel is intact. Photographs of the lighthouse taken over the years decorate the walls. An old-school fireplace, music player, refrigerator, stove and radio only added to the lighthouse’s overall appeal. It was only 6:30pm, but it looked like it was past 10pm outside.

Dinner was at Miss Lucy’s Kitchen on Partition Street where duck spring rolls, cream of mushroom soup, pumpkin risotto and pork chops from Smoke House of the Catskills were shared. The staff was proud of its use of local ingredients and the food tasted like they were prepared with care. The simple pumpkin risotto was made with tender kale leaves and the pork chops with grilled zucchini. A wonderful dessert of pear and ginger crisp was topped with homemade vanilla bean ice cream.

Back in the lighthouse, a bottle of wine was enjoyed in front of the old-school fireplace. The phonograph was cranked up to play some music and the logs in the guest book was read. As I slept in the bedroom, the light above flickered, and I was reminded of how important lighthouses were back during the days of nautical travel. The Kingston-Rhinecliff bridge ahead shimmered in the dark. The next morning, after sharing Patrick’s breakfast of pancakes, eggs and sausages with another couple staying in the lighthouse, I climbed the tower to see the lantern. The sky was clear and the view was unobstructed–leaves were still the color of autumn. An extra room stores all the lighthouse’s artifacts and a 25-minute DVD taught me all I needed to know about its history. It’s admirable how people get together to save a building. I was humbled to stay for one night and wish to be back again.

A more recent Times article will not make it any easier to spend a night in the Saugerties Lighthouse. At the time of this writing, 2008 is almost booked. I reserved the only remaining Sunday night for April 2008 on the spot to guarantee a return trip. Patrick has started to accept 2009 reservations.

To wrap up the early weekend, a quick hike to Pecoy Notch was in order. There was light snow on my way up. The hike was so peaceful. I hopped on rocks and tree branches to avoid muds and puddles. Slates of rocks were stacked on top of one another to form “chairs” at the end of the trail. The view was still exhilarating from 2,900 feet even though most of the foliage was gone.

A necessary stop at the Smoke House of the Catskills was made to pick up some delicious salamis and sausages. I made a roast beef sandwich lunch using the spiky horseradish I picked up from the store. A taste of their head cheese only whet my appetite for more wine that night.

I’ve done a few of these convenient trips outside the city this year and I’m liking New York state even more after each journey.

Related post/s:
Saugerties, New York photos on Flickr
Spend a night in Saugerties Lighthouse
Maine lighthouses photos on Flickr
You, too, can love New York state

My greatest discovery the past couple of years is taking the Metro-North train to get out of the city from the 125th Street Harlem station. I’ve already picked cherries in Dutchess County this past summer and I just came back from a weekend hike in Beacon. During that hike, the leaves were already turning up in the mountains. I wanted to take my parents to see the same view, but on a much less grueling excursion.

The Metro-North’s 4th annual fall foliage trip was touted on subway billboards. I bought tickets for the three of us just in time for the season’s peak. Unfortunately, it rained the entire day, although a lot of people still showed up from three stops: Grand Central, 125th Street and Tarrytown. We all boarded a special train with a tour guide telling us about the towns and sights we were passing by. It was wet and gray outside, but the orange and red leaves were still showing through the haze.

Despite carrying our umbrellas to protect us from the rain, my parents were still good sports. We spent a few hours in the town of Cold Spring going in and out of antique stores and buying produce from the farmers’ market, with only a break to eat pizza for lunch on Chestnut Street. We took photos in the river front’s gazebo, at the park and on the church grounds. My mom was tickled by the 10-cent trolley ride up Main Street.

The rain let up an hour before we had to meet at the train station for our ride back to the city, but we were able to stop by the pumpkin carving event set up by Scenic Hudson, an environmental group focused on the Hudson River Valley. We didn’t carve any of the pumpkins, but it didn’t stop the organizers from giving my dad the discarded seeds and our own giant pumpkin to take home.

Related post/s:
Rainy Fall Foliage trip to Cold Spring photos on Flickr
Next stop up: Beacon
Further north is Dutchess County

The three of us met inside the Metro North train after a last-minute plan to get out of the city to welcome the first weekend that felt like autumn had finally arrived. We were in Beacon, New York after a 90-minute ride. A short cab ride brought us to Bob’s convenience store where Tracy picked up our overnight bags. From there, we started the climb up the wooden stairs and then the next four hours to Malouf’s Mountain Sunset Camp.

Malouf’s Mountain Sunset Camp is a hike-in/hike-out campground perfect for city dwellers who long to get out of the concrete jungle and hike the northwestern slopes of the Fishkill Ridge without worrying about the drive, the luggage, and the camp itself. For $70, we reserved what they call a platform site, a tarped balcony-like space sans the walls nestled within the trees. A picnic table with chairs, a tabletop stove and a tent were included. Our mini-kitchen came with pots and pans and a few plates–enough to cook pasta and ramen for dinner and corned beef for breakfast the next day. We had a fire pit we used to serve me my first smores. There is a common building suited with dryers, a few bathroom stalls and hot showers. There are also vending machines for Twix emergencies.

The hike itself was only difficult because we were unfit. It took about four and a half hours to follow the well-marked trails and find our way back when we lost our sense of direction a few times. (We are city people, after all.) The day remained cloudy and somewhat humid, but it was cool enough up in the mountains. At each stop we made, we were rewarded with the view of the Hudson River and the autumnal colors of the east coast.

Related post/s:
Malouf’s Mountain is open from April to October
Hiking in Beacon, New York photos on Flickr
Or do an urban hike and don’t leave the city at all

It took a lot to convince the Dr. to take the tram to Roosevelt Island with me–like a homemade lunch and dinner kind of a promise–but he finally relented one hazy Saturday. From 59th Street and Second Avenue, we boarded the tram using our Unlimited Metrocards. The tram runs on a much slower schedule on weekends, but the ride took less than fifteen minutes.

We stopped by the visitors’ center to pick up a map to help us canvas the surroundings. From there, we walked south through the park and stopped in front of the Renwick Ruins, also known as the smallpox hospital constructed in 1856 when the epidemic was responsible for a lot of deaths in New York City. (James Renwick was its architect, the same architect responsible for St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan.) Because of the highly contagious nature of the disease, the island setting was considered ideal. It was turned into a nursing school residence when they transferred the patients of the hospital to another location. Today it is the city’s only landmarked ruin, covered in ivy, gated to keep trespassers off and lit at night.

We passed the Strecker Lab next to the ruins. It served as the pathology building for the hospital. We continued our walk to the southern tip of the island where there was, surprisingly, a bed of daisies. The Manhattan skyline was hazy from there, so we turned back and walked towards the north where the view of Long Island City in Queens was more pleasant.

A working hospital now stands behind the Roosevelt Island park where we saw a lot of patients on wheelchairs enjoying the view of the Manhattan skyline. The scene was a little eerie to me because, even though they have a nice view of the city, I felt that they were still isolated from the rest of the Big Apple. Residents who are more mobile live in some of the newly-built condos on the island. If not the tram, they take the F subway to get to Manhattan.

An interesting tidbit: Roosevelt Island appears in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby as Blackwells Island when Nick and Jay drive into Manhattan via the Queensboro Bridge.