Right, end of NY trip. All the shit I didn’t get to before. Certain parties had disappointedly wondered, “Where’re the gun pics?” Here – ’tis alllll here; the short spaghetti ends not interwoven into the story already.
Unfortunately, this is all in random order because WordPress altered their image upload interface –which is actually what derailed posting this 3rd installment oh so many months ago– as I haven’t yet figured out how to use it to impose chronological order.
with stepdad’s awesome AR-15. lovely weapon. big boom, no kick, sweet post-shot powder perfume.
Houses in Claverack – some seriously ye olde houses here. like, dating from the whole Dutch Nieuw Amsterdam thing.
Right. Let’s move on from the pastoral images and Catskills views to the main little local town, Hudson. I’m going to let Wikipedia take over here, because it summarizes the high points of local history quite nicely – ‘hos, antiques, large population of weekending Manhattanite Jewish folks and gays.
“The land was purchased from native Mahicans by Dutch settlers in 1662 and was originally part of Town of Claverack. Settled by New England whalers and merchants… The city grew rapidly and by 1790 was the 24th largest city in the United States. In the late 19th and first half of the 20th century, Hudson became notorious as a center of vice, especially gambling and prostitution….
After a steep decline in the ’60s and ’70s, the city has undergone a significant revival. A group of antiques dealers opened shops on the city’s main thoroughfare, Warren Street… In the last few years, perhaps encouraged by the number of gay business owners among the original antiques dealers, Hudson has become a destination for gay people who have opened new businesses, moved here from larger urban areas, and who have been in the forefront of the restoration of many of the city’s historic houses.”
So, basically it was kind of crummy when I was growing up, and now it’s much fancier, but normal people who live in the area can’t really afford the cool offerings, like the farm-to-table restaurants and eclectic designer boutiques. But coming back from Florida as I am – land of bland newish buildings (aside from a few small and lovely older areas) I was mesmerized and slightly drooly at all the architectural details casually salted everywhere.
lower Warren Street. there’s a pretty clear demarcation point where it goes from antique shops and high end restos into the area where the projects are and folks are hanging out on townhouse stoops.
a little food truck congregational spot – very cute and a great idea.
seriously, LOOK at these places. yowza.
Olana. I always come here when I come back to town. I love this place. The view are amazing (even if I now worry about damned deer ticks the entire time I’m up in the bluffs). Freddy Church was a man who knew how to hook up a pimp pad.
ohhh – dat view.
so pretty. wait, is that a tick??
tastytreks.com 
Yeah, you got that stuff, but ORLANDO has umm, I don’t know, GATORLAND! And a restaurant called Boston Lobster Feast! So…have fun with your 18th century architecture…you probably got ghosts.
and ticks