A slightly less silly way to get more exercise

[jennythereader]

I posted a slightly silly idea for getting more exercise the other day.

After going down to the Bronx Zoo with Tom & Kailey this Saturday I had better numbers to use, and figured out that it's probably not cost effective to go every week. Maybe once a month.

Instead, I'm going to try to explore closer interesting places each weekend. The problem with that plan is that I'm not sure what nearby towns are worth exploring. Note: By "explore," I mostly mean window shop. Yes, I like hiking in the woods, but since I'm using this as a way to trick myself into getting more exercise I need something that keeps my brain too busy to notice how tired my body is getting. Cities and towns do that for me in a way that nature doesn't.

I'm defining "nearby" as less than a two hour drive away. Anybody have any suggestions? They need to have a downtown with enough interesting shops in it that it will take me several hours to fully explore.

This is my list so far:

• Lake George, NY
• New Paltz, NY
• Chatham, NY
• Hudson, NY
• Red Hook, NY
• Rhinebeck, NY
• Bennington, VT
• Stockbridge, MA
• Pittsfield, MA
• Williamstown, MA
• Springfield, MA
• Northampton, MA
• Catskill, NY
• New York, NY
• Saratoga Springs, NY
• Ballston Spa, NY
• Woodstock, NY & Saugerties, NY - Woodstock takes me about 4 hours, Saugerties about 2, so I'm combining them into one day from now on.
• Shaftsbury, VT
• Cooperstown, NY
• Great Barrington, MA
• Cobleskill, NY
• Manchester, VT
• New York, NY

Comments

[cbpotts.livejournal.com]

Maybe a little far, but Lake Placid and Saranac Lake are both nice. I also really like Chatham NY but I haven't been there in 20 years and can not vouch for any current coolness or lack thereof - they used to have neat art shops and bookstores and crunchy granola type restaurants and a retro-ish movie theater.

[jennythe-reader.livejournal.com]

Chatham! That's a good idea. Lake Placid might work once in a while.

[cbpotts.livejournal.com]

And if you can make it to Round Top, NY (my hometown and REALLY off the beaten track) you can go to Hartmann's Austrian Pastryshop and Coffeehouse, which is something you really shouldn't miss in your life.

[jennythe-reader.livejournal.com]

That's achievably close...

[seawasp]

I'm assuming you've already walked around everything nearer? I mean, there are interesting walks to be had around Albany, Schenectady, and Troy. .:)

[jennythe-reader.livejournal.com]

I feel like Albany's only interesting window-shopping neighborhood is Lark street, which isn't big enough for a many hour expedition; and since I don't really know Schenectady or Troy very well I'm a little nervous about accidently wandering into a dangerous part of town.

If you can suggest specific neighborhoods for me to check out, I will.

[seawasp]

Hmm. That's an area where I'm privileged; I'm mostly unaware of "dangerous parts of town" -- either my gut says they're ALL dangerous because they're filled with, well, PEOPLE that I DON'T KNOW!!!, or it just ignores all of them so there's no notice of danger.

Troy's got a lot of places where the quality of the neighborhood changes quite sharply from street to street.

Downtown Troy near the Green Island Bridge and around that area has a bunch of shops of various types, if that's what you're looking for; during warmer weather there's also a large farmer's market on Saturdays. My kids would be more interested in nature-type things mostly, so we'd be looking for parks and so on (Saratoga and the geysers there are very popular).

[jennythe-reader.livejournal.com]

I am going to be trying to make it to the farmer's market more often this spring/summer, maybe I'll try exploring that area then. Thanks!

[nounsandverbs]

Pittsfield and Williamstown, Mass., are both in that range, right?

[jennythe-reader.livejournal.com]

Pittsfield is, although I'm not sure it's worth a visit. Williamstown might be, and I think Springfield is too. I'll have to check google maps.

[jennythe-reader.livejournal.com]

Never mind. Wikipedia makes Pittsfield sound more interesting than it looked when I drove through it.

[purpura.livejournal.com]

If you hit woodtock, NP or saugerties gimmie a call... tho maebbe not for a few months. I'm slooooOOOOoooow right now.

[jennythe-reader.livejournal.com]

But of course!

[sioneva.livejournal.com]

If Springfield is in driving distance, go an extra fifteen minutes to Northampton, MA. Beautiful little town with lots of shops that can definitely eat up several hours in shopping.

[sioneva.livejournal.com]

(And definitely take a scenic bypass through the Smith College campus, which is a botanical garden and just beautiful. If you're into gardening at all, the bulb show should be on soon, if it isn't up already, and is absolutely worth seeing).

[jennythe-reader.livejournal.com]

I'll add Northampton to the list.

[gwenlianna.livejournal.com]

Also, Northampton is, I believe, the home of Webs... which, since you like fibery stuffs even a little is probably worth a stop.

[stefka.livejournal.com]

As I understand it, never having been, Webs is a pilgrimage in its own right.

[jennythe-reader.livejournal.com]

I've been once, and yeah, if I'm in that area I'm under a moral obligation to stop.

[stefka.livejournal.com]

Glad to see Bennington on the list. And I know some good places (some may require cars to get there from other places), so ping me when you're coming!

[jennythe-reader.livejournal.com]

Of course!

Semi-off topic: Do you know anything about Maple Open House events in your area? Tom, Kailey, and I are thinking about checking that out.

[stefka.livejournal.com]

Maple Open House Weekend is March 24-25. You can get more details (and explicit directions) at www.vermontmaple.org/events.php; click the "open house weekend" link over on the left for specifics (you can break it down by county, for example), but there are also a lot of non-open-house-weekend maple events.

If you go, make sure you get at least one taste of syrup still warm from the boiler. :)

And there are definitely sugarhouses that are/should be open that are not listed as formally part of the tour.

[jennythe-reader.livejournal.com]

We're looking at that site, but I wondered if you had any specific events you'd recommend. A friend with first hand experience is always better than random online info. :)