Hamlets on the Hudson

Wikipedia states that Staatsburg (NY) is a hamlet, that this hamlet is located in the northwestern corner of the town of Hyde Park, that this hamlet is bordered by the Hudson River, and finally that this hamlet has a population of 377. Cap "H" Hamlet is of course history's most famous Dane, and Jake claims more than a splash of Danish blood, so why not spend a couple of nights celebrating his birthday in the surrounding precincts of this hamlet called Staatsburg? Oh -- there is a nice little golf course there also. And there is no place like the first tee on any golf course to once again think to oneself: To be or not to be, that is the question.

Executive edition:
Best food -- Apple Pie Bakery, Me-Oh-My Pie Shop, Santa Fe
Best golf -- Dinsmore Golf Course
Best walk -- Poets' Walk Park

Friday, April 26, 2013 -- One of the rare joys of Jersey is its proximity to the Hudson Valley. Jake and Stone left early and in a little over two hours from Jersey Turnpike's Exit 9 were sitting down to breakfast at the Bread Alone Cafe in Rhinebeck, NY. The ride up the Pike and the NY Thruway was easy enough, and the Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge afforded wonderful views of the Hudson River and the Catskill Mountains. At Bread Alone the breakfast was good but not inexpensive (two coffees were $5) and the scene very casual, mixed and local.

Dinsmore Starter Shack

A mere 10-minute ride south out of Rhinebeck on US Route 9 is Dinsmore Golf Course, an 18-hole layout that dates its original nine holes to 1893, which makes it the third oldest course in America. Jake had looked forward to playing Dinsmore ever since he and Stone accidentally discovered it on a winter's day trip to Dutchess County. The course didn't disappoint.

Dinsmore's Up and Down

Operated by New York State, Dinsmore is a real good deal. Jake, a proud senior, paid only $16 to walk the course. And Dinsmore provides a very good, rather testing walk, with a lot of up-and-down. The course itself is quite scenic, providing a user-friendly layout with no water hazards, reasonable  bunkers, and generally wide open holes. Still, the rolling topography of Dinsmore is more than occasionally challenging. Though the day proved to be warmer (low 70's!) than Jake's Danish blood would prefer, he still left the course most happy to have played it. Though it's likely to get busy and slow in the summer, Jake played it alone on this Spring day and finished in just over three hours.

Rocky Trail by the Hudson

Just south of Dinsmore is Margaret Lewis Norrie State Park, and it was here that Stone got in her nature walk while Jake played golf. One of the several trails in the park goes right along the Hudson. This trail was often rocky and hardly a leisurely walk, but Stone didn't mind, and was rewarded with wonderful river views. She also discovered some stone "ruins" and even more intriguingly, this monument to Lewis Gordon Norrie, who died in 1923 and whose mother was "The" Margaret Lewis Norrie. A little research uncovered a "Roaring '20s" tale worthy of Scott Fitzgerald:

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Of October 14, 1923:

What Happened in that Merry All Night Party Which Brought Almost Instant Death to Norrie, the Princeton Polo Star, and Nearly Killed Multi-Millionaire Ryan's Young Granddaughter

"It was three o'clock Sunday morning and two big automobiles with a merry party of well-known, rich and fashionable young people were flying along Main Street on the outskirts of Asbury Park, NJ. The curtains were drawn and merry peals of laughter bubbling out of the rushing cars. Smash! The second car had tried to pass the first car...." See here for the complete and sensational newspaper story.

One of the main attractions of this part of the Hudson Valley is the CIA -- no, not that CIA -- the Culinary Institute of America. Located in Hyde Park, this school's picturesque campus is home to several highly praised restaurants, all of which are a difficult reservation, except for the Apple Pie Bakery and Cafe, which is a wait-in-line place. Arriving around 2PM, Jake and Stone thought they might miss the lunch rush, but such is the reputation of this café that they still had to wait for about ten minutes. However, once seated and served (you place your order at the cashier, have a seat and then are served) Stone loved her soup and salad, and Jake praised his lunch choice as the perhaps the best grilled chicken sandwich ever. The atmosphere, the service, and the food all made for a truly memorable lunch. Not to be missed.

Hyde Park's most famous resident was of course FDR, and his home is right up the street (Rt. 9 again) from the CIA. But Jake and Stone opted instead to visit the Vanderbilt Mansion which is right up the street from FDR. The Vanderbilt clan built over 40 mansions during their time of opulence, and this 54 room number was the smallest of them all. Jake and Stone strolled the grounds and admired the Hudson River views until the time arrived for their 4 PM tour. The 40-50 minute tour itself was better than most of these types of tours, in that the group was allowed for a while to explore on their own each of the three visited floors before the National Park Service guide gave some historical background and answered questions. Like Maymont in Richmond, this 54 room "cottage" was not an overwhelming space, seemed "liveable," and was interesting to see.

A short drive away, Jake and Stone checked in at their B&B back in Rhinebeck to refresh before dinner. This B&B was in a nice enough private house in a pleasant setting, but it was not so wonderful that they could recommend it.

Dinner was back in Hyde Park at the Hyde Park Brewing Company. Being Friday night, the place was jumping and our couple had to wait for a table. Luckily, they found space at the large, noisy  and busy bar, had two good and cheap ($8/each) martinis which they finished just as a table opened up. Jake's fish and chips had better chips than fish, and Stone's steak dish was good enough, but the hit of the evening were the PEI mussels (appetizer), which were perfect. The service, at the bar and at the restaurant, was a pleasure.

The Par-5 #13 at Red Hook

Saturday, April 27, 2013 -- Red Hook Golf Course was on the schedule for Jake on this Saturday. Red Hook is a semi-private club, so Jake had to wait till public tee times opened up after 10 am. The course starts out rather plainly, and Jake can be forgiven for thinking Red Hook just another real-estate-driven layout. However, after hole #4 the condos faded away, and the front nine turned out to be pleasant enough. The back nine holes were quite a bit better, with #13 and #14 providing plenty of challenge, while also providing a feeling of being out in the country. In Jake's view, the course suffered from too many doglegs, and though there is some elevation change, Red Hook lacked the drama of Dinsmore. Still Jake thought he got his $35 dollars worth of Saturday golf.

Hudson & Catskill View From Poets Walk

While Jake had his ups and downs on the course, Stone had nothing but "ups" at Poets' Walk Park, a beautiful little park that borders the Hudson. FDR's Delano family roots actually go back to the Pilgrims of the 1620's, and it was the Delano family who cooperated with the Astor family in the mid-19th century to create Poets' Walk as a series of  "outdoor rooms." Today the park offers tranquility, about 2 miles of walk paths, river views, small wooden pavilions, a footbridge or two, and benches from which to admire it all. Legend has it that poets (from Washington Irving and William Cullen Bryant to that poet of prose, Jack Kerouac) walked these sylvan lanes, so feel free to do as Stone did, and bring along some Irving (or even Keouac) to read. Quite (and quietly) wonderful.

Lunch on this lovely Saturday afternoon was at the Me-Oh-My Pie Shop in Red Hook. Of course, pies and pastries are the main thing here, but Jake and Stone's al fesco lunch was so good they remember the details: New England Clam Chowder; a salad of greens, apples, celery, pecans and Romano cheese; a "little bite" of beef with caramelized onion and horseradish sauce on a piece of bread; and another "little bite" of zucchini and goat cheese. Under $22. Excellent.

The day's physical activities ended with a tramp through the woods of Tivoli Bays Wildlife Management Area in Tivoli, NY. Finding the desired trailhead off Route 9G was not easy, as for some reason it was unmarked, but once found the trail was clear enough. The trail itself was often rocky and no easy stroll, but it did provide a nice bit of serendipity in that our duo stumbled onto the rear of Bard College's Performing Arts Center, where the nearby ample grasslands allowed students to do the apparently still-in-vogue collegiate pastimes of Frisbee-throwing and guitar-playing/singing. Had the weather not been so splendid, surely these young academics would have otherwise been working hard at the books inside their dorm rooms!

The day ended with yet another wonderful meal, this time at the Santa Fe restaurant in the small town of Tivoli, NY. Indeed, this capacious and convivial place is so popular that on that Saturday night it seemed the town's population would instantly double if one counted this restaurant's patrons. The food can be properly described as Mexican Haute cuisine: the guacamole, Calamari with some sort of Mexican sauce, shrimp salad, and pork tacos were all fresh, delicious, and memorable. And the ice cream (local, from Jane's of Kingston) was real good, deadly real good. The Santa Fe is highly recommended.

Another reason to love the (lower) Hudson Valley and the little hamlets of Staatsburg, Red Hook and Rhinebeck? The drive home Sunday morning (albeit with an early ETD of 6:15AM) was a snap.

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