For me, the 4th of July used to mean a BBQ followed by lighting up fireworks bought from some shady part of Chinatown, followed by a meat hangover the next day. Oh, how times have changed!
This year, we decided to have a low-key, upstate trip to Kingston, NY. Our main motive was to go to a “Twin-Peaksy” type place with plenty of nature, (hopefully) vegan yumminess and hiking. I was happily surprised by how much I enjoyed my trip!
For transportation from NYC, we had two options: Amtrak ($41 round trip economy) or Trailways Bus Line ($52.50). However, being that I booked on a Monday leaving on Saturday, there were no cheap Amtrak tickets left, so we went with the Trailways Bus option. BIG mistake.
First of all, I neglected my investigative consumer instinct on reading the yelp reviews for Trailways. If you click through, you can see all the jilted customers they’ve left in their trailway (sorry couldn’t help myself). I took a look at yelp during the long 40 minute wait on line at the Trailway Penn Station gate, which BY THE WAY I ran through the station to “catch” since I thought we would miss the bus. Should’ve taken my sweet time to enjoy a vegan Auntie Anne’s pretzel instead 😒
In order to really enjoy our getaway, renting a car was essential. Since the stupid Trailways bus made us miss our Enterprise appointment (they close doors at 1:00 PM up there, nice, huh?), I quickly used the wonder of the internet to find a rental car business that would be open by the time we arrived on Trailways time. Ron at Sensible Car Rental, thanks for saving our behinds!
Also, we were super lucky that Uber just started operating the same week of our trip, or else it would’ve been a 40 min trek to the rental car joint.
We stayed at a cozy Airbnb that had a horse stable right next to it and the sounds of the forest waking us up each morning. As much as I love nature, I didn’t enjoy being woken up by chickadees mating. SHUT UP YA BIG FAT FEATHERED BLOBS! #newyorker
A few highlights from our trip, below:
– Our Airbnb –
Hello Primo! We were lucky to have the company of two (quiet!) horses right next to our airbnb.Juan relaxing in our cottage-like hermit pad 😴
– Tiny House Festival –
Having fun on the mini-swing in the tiny house festival, don’t I look like a giant?!Inside a tiny house. Doesn’t look so tiny, does it?Enjoying a spiral tater stick!Welcome to my tiny humble abode!
– Minnewaska State Park –
Happy hiking trails!We made it to the bridge (though it was about 20% into our 4+ hour adventure haha)!The water was apparently brown because of the high iron content, not because of too much soy sauce.Classic Juan pose.Time to take a dip from the dusty road.Jumped right in! The water was a nice cool temperature, but the stones lining the lake were not the most comfortable to walk on.During our impromptu shoot, a cute ducky joined me!Quack quack click clickBye ducky!…or not? Hello again!She wasn’t ready for her close up, but now she is!So while we were preparing to head back, I saw the sign for the path to “Rainbow Falls,” which I was very curious to see. Little did we know if would take us another FORTY minutes to get there, steep cliffs, questionable footholds and all. It was worth it!Celebration superhero fist pump!
– New Paltz –
First stop in New Paltz: Lagusta’s Luscious adorably amazing all-vegan chocolate shop!So many ways to get diabetes, how to choose the right way?I ended up getting $69 worth of delishus choklit. NumnumnumAround the corner, I espied the one and only Lagusta taking a meal break on the bench outside her co-owned cafe, Commissary! She was super sweet and was happy to take a photo with her number one fan 😎A quick peek inside Commissary! Separate review coming soon ;)Inside Hokkaido restaurant, tasty vegan-friendly Japanese food with a confusing entrance (we circled around the block twice before we found it #dummies).Veggie kitsune soba!Delicious veggie sushi~Their tempura was perfectly crispy and didn’t have that much batter. In all, our total bill was less than $30, which would NEVER happen in a NYC sushi place!
– Kingston –
Inside: Outdated An Antique Cafe, which can be described as three parts hipster, slow service yet friendly and two parts incredibly delicious and worth it.I had a grilled cashew cheese sandwich with homemade cheese. Hit the spot!Afterwards, we had a donut at Kingston Candy Shop. Luckily, July 4th fell on a Tuesday (vegan donut day!).The donut had cute little glitter sparkles on it. KCS also had lots of board games (and a piano mat!) outside for customers to enjoy.Until next time, Twin Peaks!
