Wildlife, design, food & drink, travel, real estate, country characters, adventures, waterfalls.
Mansion and Reed, tucked below a beautiful guest house in a quiet Hudson Valley town, looks like a general store you'd find in a picture book.
The stick insect, also known as a walking stick or Phasmatodea, is the most bizarre creature we've ever seen up close. Tottering on thin, stem-like legs, its movements seemed mechanical, more like a robotic stick than a real animal.
This big, green butterfly-like insect is actually a luna moth. Its pale green, almost-iridescent wings shimmered in the sun on the screen of our kitchen window all day long while it rested. The 4-inch-wide nocturnal creature didn't take flight until sunset.
Brooklyn's 61 Local opened a second location, Windham Local, near Windham Ski Mountain in the Catskills.
WARNING: The Coxsackie Farmers Market will ruin you for city greenmarkets forever.
CATSKILLS BARGAIN ALERT: Pick the freshest flowers on a the most beautiful farm and take home a gorgeous bouquet for only $8!
Like a scene from a picture book, the potluck dinner was drenched in golden light, filtered through the windows and doorways of an old red barn. On the edges of the soft green lawn, orange tiger lilies and yellow cosmos were nodding in the breeze, and the heavens above were a perfect Crayola Sky Blue.
The Yellow Deli in Oak Hill is the most unique cafe in the Catskills. The giant, dimly-lit, wood-paneled space, complete with an enormous avian mural and tinkling new age music, feels like a secret tree-house.
At 2 Twisted Ladies in Greenville, an overabundance of ice cream flavors and an avalanche of toppings bring the magic to their giant and joyful sundaes.
Need a natural remedy for a poison ivy rash that actually works? Or maybe you just need a thoughtful hostess gift for a friend's country house? Check out Auntie Ivy's Poison Ivy Soap, made by hand at Honey Hollow Farm Stay in Earton, NY.
It's easy to fall in love with The DeWitt Oak Hill, a warm and welcoming inn on the Catskill Creek that serves gourmet breakfasts and is filled with antique treasures to take home.
With a giant teepee for kids to play in, live music, picnic tables, a fire pit, a volleyball court, a giant sand box, and family-friendly food the Chicken Run is hosting the best backyard party in town.
Part plant nursery, part antique shop, part handmade home goods supplier, Hort & Pott's highly curated barn feels a bit like stepping into Ernest Hemingway's Key West yard sale.
You want to experience the fun parts of farm life (Adirondack chairs around a campfire), not the gross parts (shoveling livestock poo). You want to leave NYC after lunch and be stepping into a leafy wilderness before dinner. Time to book at room at Honey Hollow Farm Stay.
On second Sundays this summer from noon to 2pm at Heather Ridge Farm, you'll find a circle of musicians playing gentle, lilting Irish reels between the lavender picnic tables -- and you may spot Chef Rob Handel popping out the kitchen window to join in with his tin flute.
At Hop Barn Brewing, Tom Vance is likely to strike up a conversation as you sip a beer in his tiny taproom, built off the side of his home. His daughter may pour your pint, you get introduced to his neighbor's cow, and there's a slim chance you could end up booking an aromatherapy massage with his wife, Irene, before the night is through.
Nachos, enchiladas, and some Guinness for dessert: We try the Mexican specialties served at this unassuming roadside diner in the heart of East Durham, the Emerald Isle of the Catskills.
Today we're remembering the soldiers who sacrificed their lives for our country, and hoping that our current leaders will do everything in their power to keep our soldiers safe from future harm. This statue is a copy of a giant bronze policeman statue that resided at the Police Camp near Saugerties, where my grandfather would take my grandmother, my mom, and my 3 aunts in the summers before I was born, before he bought the land that we have now.
East Durham Farms is one of the main reasons I started writing about the Catskills. Whether you're a local or a weekender, it's totally worth seeking out this little farm stand at 175 Brown Road in East Durham. In the past year, I've written about their glorious sun-sweetened peas, their kid-friendly farm animals, their impossibly delicious tomatoes, and their pumpkins and Thanksgiving turkeys. I love this place.
