learning to escape

before moving to west africa, i had to read and learn a lot about culture shock.  i was told that it was common to hit a major slump about 3 months into your stay--a truth i experienced, as did every other missionary and peace corps volunteer i know.  jay and i aren't in west africa, but nyc is enough of a culture shock to merit that same reaction.  and 3 months into jay's stay (he moved here before me) everything started to suck.  everything was draining.  and about the time he pulls out of his slump, i'll likely fall into my own. 

so we hit the road.  we searched all over for b&b's outside the city, near train stations and hiking trails.  our options were limited since it's a holiday weekend, but we finally settle on Crabtree's Kittle House Inn in chappaqua, ny.  were we dorks hoping to see bill & hillary clinton, who live a few blocks away?  yes. yes we were.

the good thing about the inn is that it's less expensive that many places we looked at.  it's not a b&b, but does serve a lovely continental breakfast.  it's a 50-minute train ride from the city, and an $11 cab ride from the chappaqua station to the inn.  the bar and the restaurant provide lovely piano music on thursday and friday nights, serve up delicious meals and boast the most extensive wine list in the entire US.  indeed if you ask to see the "long list" of wines, you'll be handed a 3-inch binder of wines ranging from $28 to $25,000.  very impressive.

the down side to the inn is that it can be noisy--a lot of people like to throw parties there--weddings especially.  we were glad we left saturday before 2 weddings came in.  also, the rooms are very clean, but a little stark--not as cozy as the rest of the inn.  and while the remote location makes it a quiet escape during the day, it also makes it hard to do anything but sit around unless you have a car...

so we rented one :)

ahhh, to have a car!  i didn't realize how much i missed the radio!  the fast moving pavement beneath the wheels!  the bubble containing just me and jay!  you know i'm all about public transportation, but i really must admit that a car is a lovely luxury every once in a while.

armed with said car, we began our exploration.  first to wilkens fruit farm.  don't ever go there.  remember how fun it was to go apple picking with your school buddies on field trips?  turns out kids still take field trips to apple orchards--700 kids to be exact.  we took a cute picture and left.

next we went to FDR state park because i was itching to walk some trails and jay was eager to appease me.  while our trail walking wasn't as successful as we had hoped, we still got our fix of being outdoors, getting our feet muddy, catching some rays, and breathing in the fresh air, away from the sounds of construction, shouting and honking.  sweet.

on our way back to chappaqua, we noticed a sign for rye, ny, and made a quick detour.  jay had visited rye as a child and was excited to go back to the boardwalk.  i was excited to visit the birthplace of one of my best friends (jamie) as well as the church home of one of my favorite priest-geeks (father matthew moretz).  i think it's safe to say we'll go back to rye.

and that's our trip in a nutshell.  we learned that you don't have to go far to get out of the city.  we also learned that it costs about as much to go 50 miles as it does to fly to charlotte. hmmm....