Flea Market Hunt and Small Town Stroll.
My best friend called me Friday Night. Want to go to a #FleaMarket Upstate? Sure, I am not shopping but it will be nice to get away for the day. Yes, that is considered a New Yorker's Road Trip, an hour away from the city. As we drove up to Stormville, NY we joked about it; "Woo, we sure are going far." "Oh look Angelica, trees, nature", as we drove up by the Hudson River. We all started laughing in the car. As we kept driving up and joked about it, we also enjoyed it very much. It was such a great change of pace from our city and apartment life since some of us are still in quarantine. We were getting close to the flea market but there was a moment in the car where we drove passed a farm and we all screamed at the same time "FARM!" We could not stop laughing. Wow, we really have been stuck in our apartments too long. I also want to add that we are carribean, it's not like we never seen a farm. But it was a magical moment.
“ We were getting close to the flea market but there was a moment in the car where we drove passed a farm and we all screamed at the same time, FARM!”
We arrived at the flea market but before we went on a hunt, my best friend opened the back of his car and laid out a picnic blanket. We grabbed the Prosecco and the delicious Moussaka he made to fuel up. The field was mostly empty, we enjoy the crisp weather and beautiful terrain as we ate. It felt so peaceful and perfect, New Yorker's enjoying fresh air. We toasted my friend who had a birthday a few days earlier and we went on the hunt.
Flea Market Hunt
We started walking the flea market and at first it reminded me of the NYC Street Fairs. Most of these vendors were selling random products that were new. My friend and I look at each other but we kept strolling, it was a huge field let's give it a chance. We noticed the other side of the field was filled with furniture, there it is, the flea part. We headed that direction and there she was, a vintage croc purse. She was so beautiful! But I didn't come here to shop. I took a picture and walked away. Then there was vendor, Nemeth Orchard, selling baked goods. We started to walk away but turned back. They had pies, muffins, apples. We grabbed some muffins to snack on later. As we continued we found old records, music magazines from the 1930's, The Beatles old home movie, Playboy Magazines. It was an array of things. My friend purchased a few Music Magazines from the 30's. Next stop, all the vendors with beautiful furniture, lighting, and knickknacks. I looked on the other side and there was a vendor with random things. She was already packing to go, I looked down and there it was, a vintage leather luggage cosmetics case. I've been looking for a leather hat box for years and this is pretty close. As I bent down to grab it I was also shouting at my friend, "Look! Oh MY GOD!" You really can't take me anywhere. The vendor began to laugh then asked me how much she had priced it? I looked at the tag and said $15. She said, "I will give to you for $10". SOLD!! I didn't even think about it. I told my friend no more shopping. We kept walking, more beautiful furniture. We were offered $50 for a set of modern vintage end tables that were nearly perfect. I looked at my best friend and told him that he needs to get them. He didn't since he is currently repurposing a dresser and doesn't have space. I looked at my best friend and said, I need to go back to the table with the croc bag to just look at it one more time. He laughed. I walked all the way back of the field. I picked her up and opened the bag again. Looking at the perfect leather interior. The straps and the brass were a little worn but otherwise she was in mint condition. I looked at the tag $20. Fine, I'll take it. She is mine now. I ran back towards my friends and they started to laugh. "Shut up, I had to give her a good home." We were reaching the end of the market when my best friend headed to the last vendor selling cheese and cured meats, I went over to the Carribean Rum Cake table that we saw when we first got there. I know them from the NYC Street Fairs. They were packing up but still had some samples. The vendor said he also had Malibu rum flavor. He gave us a sample. My friend and I both looked at each other, that one! But we didn't want to buy a whole cake since we both didn't want to eat the entire thing by ourselves. We negotiated with each other and bought one then split it the middle.
Well we were done. We walked to the car and my best friend suggested we have the cheese he bought and some wine before we head out to eat dinner. We popped the trunk open again and he cut the truffle cheese and spicy cheese, opened a bottle of wine and sipped. We just stood there chatting about how abosultely perfect the day was and how I was not here to shop but somehow managed to buy leather bags. My bestie looked at me, okay you are in charge of finding a spot for dinner. I searched but nothing caught my attention. Then we decided to go to Beacon, NY. One of my favorite towns, also where you can find Dia:Beacon. I picked The Vault as our spot then we drove out there.
My friends needed coffee for a quick pick me up since the red wine chilled them out. We found a cute coffee spot and sat outside. As they drank their coffee I stared at the cute town and buildings. It was so perfect. Right beside us was a train track, when they were done we decided to walk along it. I never walked this side of town. We discovered a beautiful waterfall. As we got closer, I realized there was an outdoor restaurant in front of the waterfall. The restaurant was part of the hotel that was in front. We kept walking towards the waterfall and it was perfection. Though the town was quiet, it was lively. There were a lot of young people dining and walking around. We headed back the other way and we started to go to the antique stores and vintage clothing shops. Oooing and aaahing along the way. I was tempted many times but I had to walk away. Though there was a beautiful #Pucci top I still can't stop thinking about. It didn't fit me which makes me more sad. We strolled along then the hunger pangs kicked it. It was dinner time. We went to The Vault and it was a tapas style menu. We ordered half the menu and the food came out quickly, we all looked at each other but dug in. It was absolutely delicious. We finished our dinner and looked at each other, What a perfect day!
As we started to head back to the city we began to exclaim "FARM" as a joke even though it was pitch dark. But then the best thing happened, it was a Full Moon and Mars was perfectly aligned. We looked up and said "STARS!" As New Yorkers you can't quite see the stars and this was the perfect ending to our Day Trip. We drove back into the city as the Moon lit up the sky above us and Mars was shining a bright red. It was extraordinary. It really was the perfect New Yorker's road trip.