Weekend Day Trip to Rhinebeck, New York

One fine Saturday in July, Mazuba and I prepare to head on a day trip to Rhinebeck for the Hudson Valley Balloon Festival. We both receive New York By Rail newsletters on where to explore in New York State and Rhinebeck catches our attention because of the Hudson Valley Balloon Fair and the opportunity to have tethered balloon rides for $20!

This is a STEAL compared to the $250 pre-paid fee that actual balloon rides are going for so we jump at it of course. Click To Tweet

Rhinebeck is a tiny village in the Northern Hudson Valley Region, Dutchess County, and it is surrounded by the Catskill Mountains and rolling green.

It is your typical picturesque countryside and is slowly gaining reputation for food, art & culture. Alas, we are not here for that.

Living in New York City, I rarely get the chance to explore the state as Amtrak tickets can cost your first-born but last year, I spend a night in the beautiful town of Hudson, so I am excited for this New York day trip to Rhinebeck with Maz.

I am a planner; think research, itineraries and the like, so I do the Googles to book a cab from Rhinecliff Amtrak Station to the Dutchess County Fairgrounds, a 7 minute drive. Alas, no cab wants to come from Kingston or Hudson – 40 mins away – to Rhinecliff for a $9 ride.

Amtrak assures me the availability of Uber from the station so being the city girl that I am, I am comforted by this. The naivete!

Alright then, off to Penn Station to catch the 11.27 am train. We have Super Saver Amtrak tickets of $27 each way – a STEAL!! – as Amtrak is running a sale to see New York and save 15% on tickets. The journey takes about 90mins and we pull into Rhinecliff station.

Think of your quintessential small town station and this is it. We walk outside hoping to find a cab stand – yeah, right – the cabs present were pre-booked by passengers, so what to do?? We are two of four passengers waiting for a cab and the others are a couple.

Uber? Hmmn…it takes a while for the platform to locate drivers and it keeps saying “drivers not available”. After 20mins of trying, Maz lucks out and matches with Jose who is 40 mins away but is our only option, so we accept him and explore the rustic and empty station house.

There are only two platforms to the station and a tiny balcony overlooking the Hudson where we happen to take fire sunset pics later in the day. It is a boiling day in the high 90s, and the sun’s rays spill from the window slats onto the bare, concrete holding space passengers go through when arriving and departing.

The whole area is quiet and my imaginative mind runs amok with all the horror flicks I’ve watched over the years. Serves me right.

After a painful 40mins, Jose arrives and we happily clamber into the cool SUV. I ask immediately if he can return to ferry us back to the station but he is from Poughkeepsie and cannot return. Sheesh!

This Rhinebeck transport situation is brutal and we can already see that public transport is not the best form to reach this part of the Hudson Valley. Nevertheless, we pass by sweeping green landscape dotted with handsome homes every couple of metres.

As a born and raised Millennial city lass, I balk at moving to the countryside but I sure wouldn’t mind a weekend away in these surroundings as I’m also a closet introvert. Just stock the house with food and unlimited WiFi and I’m good to go.

Rhinebeck Village is along this route and we almost miss seeing it – thanks, Google, for the alert – because it is literally a village; you drive through and don’t even realize it. I want to return to Rhinebeck Village some other time to explore a real small town but not today.

We fret about our return to Rhinecliff station to catch the 8pm to Penn Station, seeing as cabs are a problem here. Luckily, I call a cab to see if I get a response. Yes! I book one from the Dutchess County Fairgrounds to the station for 7.15 pm. Phew!

Just to be certain, we go to the Info booth at the Fairground and inquire about cabs. The ladies are shocked at the question because everyone drives and has no need for cabs. The Village doesn’t even have a cab stand! At this point, we pray that the cab turns up and proceed to enjoy the fair.

 

Day Trip to Rhinebeck from New York City: Snacks, Ice cream, Toy Train & Village Museums

This is my first time to a small town fair and it is exactly what I watch on TV. It is humongous with food trucks, stands, games, stalls and so much more. We head to the food trucks and I’m surprised to see that a fair number of them are from NYC. Interesting.

I have quesadillas, Maz has a burrito and we proceed to the shade to eat and gist. It is just a chill vibe and looks to be the only major family event in the Hudson Valley on that day.

Again, this is a tiny blink-and-you’ll-miss-it village so this is understandable.

After food comes the obligatory ice cream because it is about 100F at this point. There is no shade apart from the eating areas but one cannot embark on this New York day trip and stay in the shade all day so off we go to explore.

We follow music to the other side of the grounds and see more activities: cornhole games, home goods stalls, toy balloons - it is a balloon festival after all - bouncy castles and more. Click To Tweet

We walk further and it is huge! It has been open for the past 160 years and hosts many of the areas food and craft events like the Wine and Food Festival coming up in September. It is teeming with humanity and with zero shade trees, everyone is heating up.

We walk past the tent with an M.C. simultaneously jamming pop songs and stopping at intervals to call out plate numbers of cars blocking emergency exits.

We suddenly stumble upon a trackless toy train idling away and squeal in delight! It costs $5 per person; we gladly pay and wait for the ride. We ride for 15 minutes and it is a respite from the blazing sun, I tell ya!

Everyone disembarks and goes into a shack touted as a museum and it is so tiny that you enter on the left, look round and exit on the right. It was an old schoolhouse, now a museum, as there were modern school project pictures.

 

Up and Away…Or Not??

There are more historic structures and what was once the remnants of the Pleasant Valley train station. We return to shade and await the balloon set up at 5.30.

The time comes and we walk to the grounds to pay our $20. Alas, pilots delay set up for another hour because of wind.

It is blazing hot and we feel no breeze but apparently, it is different as any small wind can cause the balloon to tip over.

Rides are also dependent on each pilot’s comfort with wind but so far, we see all balloons flat on the ground with no clue on start time.

It is 6.45pm, our cab is due in 30 mins, and it is now or never for our ride! Balloons are still down and pilots have no set time to begin.

At 7pm, we sadly leave the balloon area to catch our cab because if we miss it, no guarantee of a ride. We’re so bummed and I cannot imagine the folks who pre-paid $250 for an actual ride. If I were them, I’d stay till I get my money’s worth, by fire by force!

We grab some crepes and walk out of the fairgrounds in time to meet our idling cab and as we leave, what do we see?

Balloons being inflated and lines starting for tethered rides. Ugh! Ah well, we cannot miss this train… or so we think. The train from Albany to NYC is delayed for 15 minutes and we might have made a ride if we’d known before! Aargh!!

On Amtrak, I discover the breaking news of the NYC blackout essentially shutting power to Manhattan and transit in and out of the city. Maz alights at Yonkers to Uber to Scarsdale and we crawl into Penn Station where we meet darkness everywhere.

Last Word

New York, New York!

I am glad that we venture on this day trip to Rhinebeck from New York City as a change of scene.

In my humble opinion, Amtrak needs to provide shuttles to and from stations for day trippers coming up from New York City.

We definitely have a couple more New York day trips with Amtrak coming up and we will wisely choose accessible towns to enjoy the beauty and history of New York State.

Thank you for reading and let me know if you’ve ever been on a balloon ride. I guess I gotta do Albuquerque and Cappadocia for that now.

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