Perfect Pairings

Now on the other side of the river in Dutchess County, Poughkeepsie is another upstate town worth doing a day trip out to. The Walkway Over the Hudson is one of those destinations you see listed in an I heart NY listicle and you think to yourself, "What's so special about a bridge?" And there's nothing inherently special about it, but it's something that once you get there, your pace quickens as the expanse of the bridge, the river, and its history overtakes you. Renovations to the park makes the experience spick and span with big, clean bathrooms on both sides, history and fact panels along the bridge railings to educate and entertain as you make your way across, and plenty of sitting areas and picnic tables for when you need that break after going 1.5 miles one way and preparing to go back. Parking is free in the lower lot, but there are also closer, more accessible parking spaces that cost $5 for 4 hours (unless you have the aforementioned Empire Pass). The walkway is also a part of the Hudson Valley Rail Trail and Empire State Trail for intrepid bikers. 

My personal suggestion? Park on the Poughkeepsie side, pack yourself a snack and plenty of water, go across the walkway, pass the vendors on the Highland Side, keep walking up past the Haviland West trail parking and up the road to reward yourself with an Italian ice from Frozen Caboose Ice Cream. You may be tempted to get an ice cream, but trust me that is way too heavy to have to lug in your tum back across the bridge and chances are if you go when it's hot, you will need the refreshing freezy goodness of the ices rather than the cream. Then, once you're back on the Poughkeepsie side, go post yourself up on a bar stool because you've earned it!

As evidence of a thriving downtown, Poughkeepsie has three local breweries a stones throw from the Walkway park: Zeus, Mill House, and King's Court. Zeus is large and lavish, Mill House is cozily decorated with plenty of seating, but it's King's Court's neighborhood hangout scene that has my recommendation. A couple patio sets posted up in the back, groovy paint jobs you can pose your beer in front of for an Instagram post, stickers on the wall behind the bar, games stacked by the leather couches, and plants hanging in the window welcome you in and the fruit forward flavors amongst their solid standard brews convinces you to stay awhile. I always admire a brewery that takes chances with off the wall flavors like their Strawberry Milkshake IPA or Tangerine Sour even if I am not always the biggest fan of the flavors themselves. It signals a willingness to take risks on bold flavors and one out of your flight is bound to strike your fancy. The advantage of a smaller place is that they do the most to keep you there, letting you bring your own snacks, getting food trucks to pull up, and local bands booked to play out back. I feel like a regular even when I'm just passing through.

The Dutchess Wine Trail includes three wineries within a 15 minute drive of Innisfree Garden: Clinton Vineyards, Milea Estate Vineyard, and Millbrook Vineyards and Winery. I had gotten a personal  recommendation for Clinton Vineyards from the owner of our hometown favorite, Hudson-Chatam Vineyards. He insisted we try Clinton's Kir Royale Sparkling wine rather than buying one his estate wines and while we sipped the bubbly wine flavored with a kiss of sweet kassis, he told us he went down and met the owner, the grand matron, Phyllis Feder, who still kept the place going and how he was regaled with tales of frantically gluing labels on bottles the night before a reception for Bill Clinton in NYC and sending a bottle of Jubilee Champenoise to Queen Elizabeth. At the time we went you had to book weekend tasting reservations and call for availability on Fridays. I called on a Wednesday or Thursday and still got a Friday afternoon booking, perfectly timed for going after the two hour tour at Innisfree. Now, there's an up-charged option to book a tasting with Phyllis herself. But, if you're very lucky like we were, showing up on a Friday afternoon to an empty parking lot, she'll show up anyway. We had ordered a charcuterie add-on and she brought it  to us on a kitchen plate with a paper napkin draped on top, like your grandmother or auntie would. When she set it in front of us and pulled off the napkin with little fanfare, it was to reveal a spread of roughly sliced local cheese and exotic sausage pieces alongside tomatoes and fresh basil, blossoms and all, that she'd picked from the garden herself. I felt like my French grandmother had made me a special snack after coming home from school. She poured us each a welcome glass of Seyval blanc, inquired after our wine preferences and matched each of us to an appropriate tasting. She also graciously split our pours so we could sample both tastings. It was here I was actually introduced to Whitecliff's Vineyards from her Hudson Valley reds tasting. The room we did the tasting in was decorated in a scrapbook of photos and newspaper clippings featuring the vineyard and yes, tucked in one corner, a thank you note penned by the Queen's Lady-in-Waiting for the Jubilee wine. She did tell us many a tale of wine making and trips abroad, but with only us there she also inquired into our lives, asking about my time spent in China or my partner's favorite bread making technique. She puts in mind the classic hostess one would have found amongst NYC or DC socialites from a past decade. She's more than willing to laugh at your jokes or make a witty observation to elevate your dull factoid. She asked tactfully naughty questions about how we met and how we stay together (she was oblivious to what Tinder was but laughed when I said I lucked out on snatching a double bread machine). She can talk about politics passionately without the conversation getting heated. I admired her deftness and our gratitude for the time well taken care of was hopefully shown in our purchasing several bottles to take home, including a Jubilee to pop for some get together or celebration and a bottle of kassis for the occasional boozy dessert. "

Stay awhile," she invited, "Walk the grounds, sit on the bench by the pond." And that's exactly what we did while we waited for our wine buzz to wind down. Her wines invoke the taste of parties in a post-pandemic time and it was delightful to dream and forget everything else for a time.