Beautiful Rhinebeck on the Hudson River

My husband and I drove upstate last weekend with two dear friends to enjoy the autumn foliage. New York State has a spectacular autumn color just as New England, and I believe the leaf color was at its peak.

The scenery along our drive on the Taconic State Parkway was magnificent!

I have to admit my camera was able to catch some good photos, even though I was sitting in the back seat of our friend's car.

We had no set agenda for the day, other than to enjoy the beautiful weather and scenery, and we decided to stop at the historic town of Rhinebeck for lunch.  There we saw the beautiful Beekman Arms Inn that dates back to colonial times, and is the oldest inn still in continuous use in the United States!

The original part of the inn was built in 1766 by Arent Traphagan.  He was the son of William Traphagen who founded the town of Rhinebeck in 1688.  The inn was originally known as Bogardus Tavern during the last third of the 18th century and helped host the military leaders of the American Revolution. George Washington, Philip Schuyler, Benedict Arnold and Alexander Hamilton all slept here!  In 1775 the 4th Regiment of the Continental Army drilled on its front lawn before the war. During the Revolution, Rhinebeck, a part of the “Breadbasket of Dutchess County,” provided badly needed flour and grain to the American troops who were stationed in the Highlands to the south. In all, Dutchess County provided about one-third of all the grain consumed by the Americans.  More about the fascinating history of this inn can be read on this link.

We also visited the A.L. Stickle Variety Store, which was established in 1946 as an original 5 and 10 cents store. Walking along the aisles of the store was a trip down memory lane as they had for sale many old-time notions, gadgets, thingamajigs, and doodads that are hard to find any longer. It was so much fun to see things I remembered from my childhood. Check out their website to see a few of the products they offer by mail order.

Driving out of the town of Rhinebeck we caught glimpses of the Hudson River rimmed with autumnal colors.

This view of the river took my breath away!

We pulled into Staatsburgh, a New York State Historic Site located within the boundaries of Mills-Norrie State Park. There we saw the Morgan Lewis mansion that was built in 1832 during the "gilded age."

More information from the mansion's website:

"It provides an example of the great estates built by America's financial and industrial leaders during the Gilded Age. A 25-room Greek Revival structure was built on the site in 1832 by Morgan Lewis and his wife, Gertrude Livingston, replacing an earlier house that had burned down. This second house was inherited by Ruth Livingston Mills, wife of noted financier and philanthropist Ogden Mills. In 1895, Mr. and Mrs. Mills commissioned the prestigious New York City architectural firm of McKim, Mead, and White to remodel and enlarge their Staatsburg home. After completion in 1896, the house was transformed into a Beaux-Arts mansion of 65 rooms and 14 bathrooms. Its exterior was embellished with balustrades, pilasters, floral swags, and a massive portico. The rooms were furnished with elaborately carved and gilded furniture; fine oriental rugs; silk fabrics; and a collection of art objects from Europe, ancient Greece, and the Far East."

Some interesting informational placards on the site.  (All photos in this post will enlarge if clicked on once, and then again when they open on a new page. To return to this post use your browser's back arrow)

This elegant mansion, restored to its turn-of-the-century appearance, is open for tours and the house and grounds offer special events throughout the year.

We did not go on the house tour but enjoyed strolling around the beautiful grounds.

Can you see the leaves falling from this tree? It was so peaceful to take a few minutes to enjoy this sight!

Upstate New York is full of pastoral scenes such as these...

...it definitely is a wonderful place to take a drive

We drove down to Poughkeepsie, NY to take the walkway over the Hudson River--a spectacular view you won't want to miss that I'll show on my next blog post--I hope you will come back to join me again then!