The holiday season has arrived and it's time for giving, joy and festivities! There are tons of festivals and celebrations taking place just outside NYC this season. Spend a little extra quality time with your loved ones this year sipping cider and spirits, participating in icy competitions, shopping for local gifts, and more! Check out some of the featured events coming up in December and have yourself a merry little weekend getaway. Taste fresh Wassail and learn how to create this festive holiday beverage that warms your home and soul at Fly Creek Cider Mill & Orchard's Wassailing Weekends. The Central New York celebrations will take place from 10am - 4pm most weekends in December (Dec. 2-3, 9-10, 16-17, & 23) leading up to Christmas! More on lodging here. No car? Grab an Amtrak up to Schenectady, NY and rent a car for a gorgeous 1.5 hour drive to the Mill. Or, book a ReachNOW and enjoy a road trip with family and friends! Ithaca Ice Festival returns to the Ithaca Commons, December 7-9, 2017! Ice Fest is an annual tradition in Downtown Ithaca! What holiday season would be complete without a celebration of cold weather and cold weather sports...like ice carving. Witness the nation’s finest ice carvers as they compete during a breathtaking competition in Downtown Ithaca. The festival features impressive display sculptures, fire demonstrations, and the ever-popular Ice Bar: an outdoor bar made entirely of ice, serving beer, wine, and hot cocoa, and a tasty Chowder Cook-off. Road trip upstate via ReachNOW or book a seat on Amtrak to Syracuse, rent a car and meander around the gorgeous Finger Lakes! Spend the weekend exploring the chilly and festive outdoors in Ithaca, lodging info here. Spend a festive holiday weekend in Dutchess County in the Hudson Valley, just a couple hours outside NYC.
The holiday season has arrived and it’s time for giving, joy and festivities! There are tons of festivals and celebrations taking place just outside NYC this season. Spend a little extra quality time with your loved ones this year sipping cider and spirits, participating in icy competitions, shopping for local gifts, and more! Check out some of the featured events coming up in December and have yourself a merry little weekend getaway. Taste fresh Wassail
There's no better time than summer to get out there and plan an outdoor adventure! Did you know that exciting treasure hunts await just outside your door? One amazing way to get out there and explore your surrounding areas -- the Hudson Valley, Catskill Mountains, Finger Lakes and more -- is geocaching. Haven't tried geocaching before? Geocaching.com, guide to all things geocache, defines the game as a "real-world, outdoor treasure hunting game using GPS-enabled devices. Participants navigate to a specific set of GPS coordinates and then attempt to find the geocache (container) hidden at that location." It's simple! Sign up at Geocaching.com -- even simpler, download the Geocaching App -- and you can follow virtual treasure maps wherever you are to uncover clues and items planted in plain sight all around you. You can even make a day trip or weekend getaway out of it! Need inspiration? We've got you covered... Take Metro-North Railroad up to Westchester County and explore the number of hidden geocaches in the area. Maybe even leave your own! Rent a car near the Croton Harmon train station and explore the area, which is rich with agriculture, sweeping landscapes and farms to visit. While enjoying your treasure hunt, stop by and visit Hilltop Hanover Farm & Environmental Center -- bucolic, 187-acre farm with pastures, crop gardens, historic buildings and forests dating to the 1600s. Pick vegetables, have a picnic, and hike the woodland trails! After that, head a couple miles down the road to out Meadows Farm and load up on sweet corn, fresh vegetables and herbs at their farm stand to take home with you. Finish up your adventure at Faraway Farm Alpacas -- located on a beautiful hilltop farm. You can schedule a visit to meet the alpacas and friendly Icelandic horses. Learn about
There’s no better time than summer to get out there and plan an outdoor adventure! Did you know that exciting treasure hunts await just outside your door? One amazing way to get out there and explore your surrounding areas — the Hudson Valley, Catskill Mountains, Finger Lakes and more — is geocaching. Haven’t tried geocaching before? Geocaching.com, guide to all things geocache, defines the game as a “real-world, outdoor treasure hunting game using GPS-enabled devices.
