Up the Hudson

Last week we took a wee jaunt up the Hudson, first making a pit stop at the Dia:Beacon and then trudging through the snow to Poughkeepsie. The Dia was an incredible space, with the falling snow acting as a beautiful backdrop. I had encountered Richard Serra's monolithic labyrinths on a work trip to Palo Alto in California a couple of years ago. There, the huge structure was a vivid shade of red, warm, though imposing, basking in the Californian rays of Stanford University's Cantor Arts Center gardens. In the giant, aircraft hangar-like space of the Dia in the depths of winter, the same structures, felt cold, uninviting, and scary. Pretty crazy stuff.

Apologies for being so rude in advance but Poughkeepsie is the preverbial shit-hole. However, it is close to Hyde Park where the Vanderbilt Mansion, FDR's house and library, and the Culinary Institute of America all live. All very interesting and educational stuff. Did you know that FDR had polio and couldn't walk, as he contracted polio? All those pictures of him walking involve him dragging his legs as some poor sod took most of his body weight.

We then hot-footed it to The Mohonk Mountain House, a Victorian castle on a lake with 80 miles of hiking trails for two nights*. I have to admit, the Boy and I did very little. We ate at the breakfast buffet; sat in the bar; ate the three-course dinners; had treatments at the award-winning spa; sat in their solarium; and took a meditation class. The Boy went for a swim and to the gym. I had a nap and bobbed along with a float. Oh, we did snow shoe about 1.5 miles along the hiking trails. We'll do the other 78.5 miles next time.

* This was only justifiable because we counter-balanced it with two nights at the Holiday Inn Express. My frugal heart wouldn't allow it otherwise.