Now that I have mere weeks left in New York, I am discovering all the gems (of course)! This most recent gem was so sparkly that it inspired me to shake the blog awake from its deep sleep.

Erik and I took a day trip to Cold Spring, NY during Memorial Day weekend. We chose Cold Spring because Erik has recently developed a fascination with all things river-valley-related (Cold Spring is right on the Hudson River), and the NY Times called it “magical, yet practical” since no car is necessary. What could be more perfect?

Our first order of business (following a chat with the helpful gentleman at the information booth and a stop into Drug World for emergency sunblock) was to hunt down the Farm Market for some lunch.

While Erik was busy communing with the donkeys in the petting zoo, I followed my nose to the jackpot: Block Factory Tamales.

Fresh tamales are one of my top 5 favorite foods (I’m 98% sure of this, though I don’t have an actual list), and tamales that feature local, organic farm-sourced ingredients are QUITE rare, unless you are in, say, rural Mexico. With this in mind, lunch was an obvious no-brainer. Block Factory only had one type of tamale left by the time we arrived. Lucky me, it was sweet potato! What a GENIUS creation.

We ordered two sweet potato tamales and a Buffalo chicken sandwich. OMG.

We ate lunch on a cement stoop with an unobstructed view of the petting zoo:

After lunch #1 at the market, we strolled back toward downtown (or should I say “downvillage”?), admiring the scenery and architecture along the way:

We were sweaty, full, and over-heated and decided it was time to cool down with an easy hike along the Hudson River Greenway Water Trail:

I was very pleased that Erik decided to use my sweatshirt as a sweat rag. Ummmmmmmmm …

I love anything waterfront, and Cold Spring delivered!

Erik explored abandoned caves.

Nature:

Excited by nature:

I took a nap on the sand by the river because sleeping next to water is right up at the top of my list with eating farm-fresh tamales. When I woke up, I was soooooo thirsty, and we had of course embarked on our hike without water. Back to town it was!

We made the very wise decision to stop in at Go-Go Pops:

I had noticed the Go-Go Pops stand at the Farm Market, but it was sold out by the time we got there. I was thrilled to see that the store in the village was well-stocked.

Pretty incredible menu, no?

In addition to a mammoth cup of ice water, I ordered a Green Faerie Go-Go Pop and Strawberry Rooibos Bubble Tea:

(The Hudson Valley Poached Pear was Erik’s choice and, wowwwwww, it was amazing.)

I loved my creamy avocado pop and was pleasantly surprised by the real strawberries blended into my rooibos bubble tea!

After the pops, we stopped for lunch #2 (or was it dinner #1?) at the Foundry Cafe. We shared a perfectly crispy quesadilla and yummy herby lentil-wild rice cakes:

Bellies full yet again, we went out in search of this:

(Proud conservationist/farmer-to-be)

We spent a few hours strolling around this former industrial mecca that is now a wildlife and nature preserve.

Cute boy with binoculars:

I ♥ ruins.

Forest coated with cottonwood droppings (not snow!):

Our final meal of the day took place at Le Bouchon, an obviously charming French restaurant:

We had fun with the decor:

All I wanted was some sort of salad with feta, so the watermelon-arugula-feta salad listed on the specials board pulled me in! This was the most perfect, refreshing, jaw-achingly delicious salad I could have imagined.

We decided to go specials crazy and ordered the chilled gazpacho soup of the day:

And the soft-shell crab special entree of the day.

So much perfect food at one sitting should be illegal … but I am glad it’s not.

For dessert, we ordered crème brûlée …

… which we enjoyed while observing a drunken arrest take place at the police station across the street.

After dinner, we had time for a relaxing sunset stroll before hopping on the 9pm train back to NYC.

Perfect day!