Ahh, summer in the city. A time when one's thoughts turn
to...ESCAPE! But if you think hitting the road means
sitting in the backseat of a cab, it's high time you traded
NYC's serried streets for some wide-open asphalt.
Head out for a weekend (or, in some cases, a long
weekend), and you can find loads of summertime fun
within a few hours of your stoop. Basing our adventures
along three thoroughfares (Interstates 87, 80 and 95),
TONY takes off for a weekend of wine tasting in the
sun-drenched Hudson Valley, a paddle along the lakes
of Adirondack Park, and six other spots that will appeal
to the biker, golfer, gambler or layabout in you. Happy
trails.
If you have time to visit only one of the spots on this
list, go to Rivendell Winery, in New Paltz. Owner Bob
Ransom and his partner, Susan Wine (no joke), also
run the Vintage New York wine shop in SohoÜone place
in the city where you can buy a bottle of wine on Sunday (because
it's operated by a vineyard). At his winery and the store, he stocks
other Hudson Valley vintages, plus many from the Finger Lakes and
Long Island. There's no stuffy attitude at all at Rivendell, where
the fridge is stocked with local cheeses for picnics on the grounds.
Ransom didn't even turn up his nose when Ria said she liked one
wine's "hint of baby aspirin."
