Trainspotting, Hudson Style

I just booked my train ticket for the weekend, which reminded me that I need to share a bit of my husband's trainspotting tendencies... I mean brilliance, when it comes to taking the train from the Hudson Valley.

Most of the time when I take the train it's from NYC to the big HV. There are two options: MetroNorth, which will get me to Wassiac for about 13 bucks (and cost John about 1 1/4 hours in round-trip drive time...blah), or Amtrak, which will get me to Hudson (and cost John 30 minutes in total drive time, AND get us closer to the Red Dot) for $39 and change. Of course, that's if I go at a slightly "off peak" hour and use my AAA discount (booking three days in advance). Peak hours can be upwards of $60.

But despite the cost (which is exorbitant), it's the return trip from Upstate to NYC that seems to get the weekenders' panties all tied up in a knot.

And not even in terms of $$, but in train delays.

Besides "overhearing" tales of train delay horror by long time weekenders who have grown bored of the spectacular river views from the train car and prefer to bitch and moan about their last train slog back to The City, I've seen ranting status updates on Facebook of friends "stuck" waiting for a train (that was supposed to, eventually, get them to a plane). In the end, with hours of delay, they were just plain out of luck....vacation and other travel plans completely ruined.

I've only taken the train from North to South once, but John has the INSIDE SKINNY on how to avoid extensive delays with the infamously tardy track record of our national rail line, and here it is:

As one might imagine, trains which originate in Albany have a lot less train line to screw up on than say, the trains that originate in Montreal (Adirondack), Toronto (Maple Leaf) or even Rutland, Vt. (Ethan Allen "Express").

With a little more digging, John came up with this gem: Trains with a 200 sequence starting with 23-, 24-, 25- or 26- (i.e. 234, 242, etc.) originate in Albany. Therefore, if you take one of these trains, you're less likely to get the ol' Bronx salute in terms of travel delays courtesy of Amtrak.

In doing a quick check on the Amtrak website, these seem to be the trains that are listed as Empire Service. But beware, as some of those trains originate in Niagara Falls...

All aboard, Anorak!

ISO: A New "Local"

With the closing of the Moosehead Tavern (aka Fatso's) late last year, John and I have been on the lookout for a new local watering hole. A place that may or may not serve food, but which serves up beer and atmosphere the likes of which are not readily available to your average "Citiot."

Over Thanksgiving we stopped by the Iron Horse Bar in Hudson (with all of our weekend guests, safety in numbers and all that). Since then we've been back once, last weekend, when we had the opportunity to visit with a friend who grew up in Hudson and who now lives in NYC-environs.

The Iron Horse is a quintessential old-man's bar, with knotty pine wood paneling decorated with old saws and other farm remnants, framed and yellowed autographed photos of big-haired wonders like Melanie Griffith (a la Working Girl) and a smallish bar area. In the back is a pool table and juke box which they'll plug it in for you, along with the disco lights, if you ask. The Iron Horse's signature item, however, are the "pony" beers they sell (smaller sized bud and corona bottles) for just a buck a pop.

Once the initial stares of not being a local wore off, we had a great experience, with friendly staff and conversation that extended down the bar and back up on the topics of Hudson's history of whaling, cement plants, detention centers and the recent fame of local Kirsten Gillibrand, most of whom thought she would do a good job as a NYS Senator, but didn't like her buckling on the whole firearms issue (a good article which matched the thoughts of the patrons at the Iron Horse can be seen here.)

Other topics covered were what it means to be 'Upstate.' If you live in NYC, for instance, Hudson is 'Upstate.' But for people in Hudson, 'Upstate' is north of Albany - perhaps from Troy on up. Poughkeepsie, it turns out, is "Downstate," at least according to the majority of folks hoisting a few at the bar. Being out-numbered, I wasn't about to argue.

What attracted us to the Iron Horse Bar in the first place was the great neon sign that hangs outside. It gleams a rosy red color in the night that is just so....inviting. That's got a story, too. Apparently the bar's name is actually the State Grill, but at some point, Paul Newman pulled into town to film "Nobody's Fool," and several key bar scenes (including the bar's pool table) were included. The film crew brought the sign for the movie and the locals liked it so much they never bothered to take it down.

Well done, Iron Horse. See you soon.

Cats in the Hood: Tiger

Okay, I know, we're cat fanatics. But here's a photo of Tiger, a barn cat that lives down the road a bit and who we had the pleasure and honor of feeding while her normal feeder-person couldn't get to her because of the blocked roads after the ice storm.

Tiger is a mouser, and extremely affectionate. She's very independent and has six toes on each paw - "pawesome!"

We love seeing Tiger around the neighborhood and her humans, whom she chose about 2-1/2 years ago, enjoy spending time with her as well. When they get together, they stroll down the lane with Tiger walking in stride with them, more like a corgie than a cat...and without a leash!

Here's to Tiger, she's true blue...

P.S. If you're interested in your own cat, or have a feral cat that has adopted you, Animal Kind in Hudson, NY is a great resource. Not only are the (non-feral) kittens on the ground floor adorable (and adoptable!), but the upstairs Cat Lounge is cool...and trippy. Don't miss it!

They are also very active in helping the feral cat community with information about how to build a shelter for a feral cat and much more about the feral cat culture.
http://www.all-creatures.org/ak/feral.html