Over the weekend, I nudged my family out the door to enjoy some fresh air (much needed) and to explore one of our state parks. I often lament that the good woods hikes are elsewhere, in other counties, other states. It's shameful how much I complain about this -- just ask my husband -- and I knew that I needed to get out and correct my sad impression of the places near where we live.
I should mention that we live near the Hudson River with local walks along its banks. I know, you're shaking your heads and wondering how I could possibly complain, and you're right -- we have walks that are high above in the mountains, that are as strenuous or easy as one can find. But I have since grown a bit tired of the same walks, and I also love walking in the woods. So on Saturday, we bundled ourselves up and headed off to one of our local state parks with a plan in mind. First, I knew that we needed burgers ... yes, burgers. Don't you need burgers before a long woods hike?
For years, there was a dilapidated gas station off a main road near our state park. An ingenious woman bought it and turned one portion of it into a general store and the other into a burger joint. Oh, but not just any old burger joint -- this place sells burgers made from a mixture of ground beef, short ribs, and brisket and this is their regular burger (top photo). I love trying new things so I ordered their special burger that day: two smashed short rib patties with cheese and their house barbeque sauce. Oh yeah! After, we popped into the general store for coffee, a treasure trove of pastries and prepared foods.
From there, our woods hike began -- 3.5 miles of bliss as far as I'm concerned -- and we all had a chance to catch up with each other and have uninterrupted time to talk. I'm looking forward to doing this again sometime soon.
Sigh. I love a good hike. Seems that my most blissful times are spent in the woods :-)
ReplyDeleteDon't know if it's useful for your location, but when we lived in St. Louis, and now that we're in Chicago, we use hike guidebooks from the "60 Hikes Within 60 Miles" series: http://www.trailresources.com/60hikesbooks.html
We have old favorites, but we really love to use the book to find new places to explore.
Too bad we don't live closer to one another as I'd love to do a hike with you! Thanks for the link -- I'll definitely take a look.
DeleteWouldn't that be fun? And then we could have some coffee and cake and knit afterward ;-)
DeleteWhat a beautiful area to take a hike. The thing I am looking forward to most after I have my knee surgery is being able to go for walks in the woods again. I have really missed it. :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful area to walk about in and a great day. Man, those burgers look good! I haven't had one for ages!
ReplyDeleteLooks like you had a really nice time, and those burgers sound delicious!
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful adventure! That sounds like an absolute perfect day! Thanks for sharing, you certainly made me want to take a little hike!
ReplyDeleteThose burgers sound to die for, I wish we had something like that around here! The weather has been so nice around here lately too, I kinda just want to spend a day outside!
ReplyDeleteBurgers and hiking! what a matched pair! I'm getting hungry just looking at your burger!
ReplyDeleteSuch a lovely walk! Yes, a burger and then a walk sound like the perfect combination.
ReplyDeleteWow, that sounds like an amazing burger!! Drools.
ReplyDeleteSo hard to take the time and appreciate where we live, isn't it.I live in the beautiful and lush Pacific Northwest, yet lament about how much fun it would be to live in Maine or Vermont or Connecticut. When our gloomy winter weather goes away I know my motivation to get outside more will return.
ReplyDelete*smiles*