Sunday, October 20, 2013

Hometown Hoedown and Woodstock Wonderland


When I say that I was born in New York, most people assume that I mean New York City. It was close to the city, in a place called White Plains, but the state of New York is pretty big and encompasses all kinds of beautiful terrain. If you haven't been to New York State, I highly suggest that you make it a destination on your bucket list. We departed the Niagara Falls region and crossed the Rainbow Bridge back into the USA. 


Rochester, NY was our next destination. My sweet cousin is there and is expecting a wee one soon. She and her fiancĂ© took us to an amazing little cafe called the Owl House, where we had a scrumptious vegan dinner. We even tried kombucha beer. I had no idea that existed. It was very tasty! We gifted them an adorable tie dyed onesie for their little girl on the way. Part of our early-start hippie program. :) 

Creative construction barrier. 

We had decided against an itinerary for one day so that we could wander slowly south through New York toward my hometown of Honesdale, Pennsylvania. Something amazing happens when we plan less and open up to the possibilities of the universe. We headed to Ithaca, New York via the Finger Lakes wine route. Vineyards covered the rolling hills in all directions. It was a gray day with a fair bit of wind and misty showers on and off. A little too late we googled "organic winery" in the area and discovered that the first organic winery in North America, Four Chimneys, was an hour back in the wrong direction. Would have been neat to see!


What we did see was more breathtaking than any winery. We turned off the main road at a sign for a waterfall. We had just been at Niagara Falls, and couldn't imagine that some random waterfall in the middle of nowhere could even come close to the magnificence of that landmark. Well...it did. We first looked over the edge of a lookout point and saw this. 


We then found a trail at the base of the hill along the river's edge.  The fall colors were stunning as we made our way to the base of the 215' high Taughannock Falls.  What a find. 



On the way back,  I had just finished saying that I hadn't seen many snakes in the 9 years of living in Alberta. As we stepped off the trail to peek at some mini falls we noticed half a dozen snakes wrapped up in a vine-covered tree only a foot away. Very funny Mother Nature. 


We arrived in Ithaca late afternoon and as a result of googling "vegan restaurant" discovered that THE Moosewood restaurant was located here. I had seen countless Moosewood cookbooks in many kitchens over the last decade. After strolling downtown's eclectic shops, we had a yummy veggie dinner there and headed for Honesdale. 


We stayed with my dad for a few days and saw my sister and her man and my adorable nephew. We caught salamanders to add to his pet turtle aquarium and carved a jack o' lantern for Halloween. We also went to an outstanding performance of a country rock band called Sour Bridges, fronted by two brothers that I went to high school with a decade ago. It was a full house and we danced our pants off! Wooooooweeee!  What talent!


Saturday led us an hour from my hometown to Bethel, NY, home to the one and only 1969 Aquarian Exposition, aka Woodstock music festival. A museum and performing arts center was erected on the Yasgur Farm site in 2008 to preserve the memory of the culturally transformative event.


 In the first 10 minutes of the brilliantly designed self-guided tour, I found myself overwhelmed with emotion and my eyes welled up with tears. Woodstock took place during a time of great turmoil in America and the 1960's were bizarrely reflective of what is still occurring with our government and society today. 


We spent 2.5 hours wandering through the museum listening and laughing, watching film clips and marveling at the relics of  the landmark event.


 It was one of the most moving and memorable historical venues I have ever visited. I could write an entire blog about Woodstock but I think you should go have a look for yourself. Wow. 


On the way home from hippie ground zero, we passed a little store that caught our attention. It was well after business hours but the lights were all on, so we did a U-turn.  It was a tie dye shop that has been in my hometown for at least a decade. I had never stopped in before. We had a mind blowing conversation with this guy. 


 He's a master dyer and philosopher and we hardly got in a word! We did leave with several new articles of wearable art. Check out his Etsy shop www.etsy.com/auratiedye
We decided that was one of the most memorable days of this trip so far. 

Crazy orange mushrooms!

Today we sit on the shore of Lake Wallenpaupack writing and soaking up the fall colors and the sweet sunshine. 


Next stop is my mama's house in New York, on our way to the Big Apple. The US Government is back up and running. Whatever that means. 



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