This last weekend I took my first trip upstate New York to a quaint little town called Hudson. My dear friend Jackson flew in from San Francisco to visit his family and invited Gidget and I along for the trip. We met at Grand Central station to hop on board the Metro North. Gidget had to go in a carry on crate. She hated it, but she managed. We took a 90 minute train ride along the Hudson River and saw some of the most beautiful scenery. Jackson's brother, Henry, picked us up in Poughkeepsie, and then we drove about another 45 minutes to Hudson.
Jackson's dad is running for the mayor of Hudson, so we had a lot of social events to attend and met a lot of people in support of him. Saturday night we cruised downtown (all 8 blocks of it) in Mr. Haddad's old station wagon to an art show at Jackson's mother's gallery. There is a huge art community in Hudson and therefore brings an eclectic group of people to the little town. From there we went to a restaurant called Club Helsinki to see Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings perform. The show and the cocktails were amazing, the food...not so much. We danced and drank our little hearts out! From there we decided to continue cocktailing and campaign a little a couple of blocks down to a bar called The Red Dot. I drank way too many vodka sodas, standard, so decided it was time to call it a night. 
Sunday, I dragged Jackson shopping downtown with me and hit every vintage, antique and jewelry store we passed. I scored an amazing fur vest at Hudson Vintage for $75. A great find! We also confirmed Nick Hudson's votes at every stop. We ate a lot of food and I drank a lot of coffee. Earth Foods had amazing salads, Baba Louie's had great thin crust gourmet pizza, Swallow served local Stumptown coffee and Loaf had delicious fresh baked goods, La Perche was a quaint patisserie and boulangerie and then we made a final stop into Olde Hudson market to get salami, cheese and figs for appetizers that evening. Shopping and eating can be so exhausting, but I could definitely get used to the way of life in Hudson.
Gidget probably enjoyed herself more than anybody else. She ran through the fallen leaves and endlessly across the huge lawn. She had her own little bed in front of a fire place and curled up there a lot. There were also two birds in a cage in the entry hall that she just sat and stared at. She was so intrigued and wanted to play with them so bad. I feel so guilty now that we are back in the city!
I cannot get over the image of the town. It was as if we were in a scene out of a movie. Jackson’s parents renovated a church originally built in the early 1800's and turned it into their home. Words and pictures cannot begin to describe how beautiful it is. It is four stories and has artwork on every inch of the walls. There was so much history behind the architecture I couldn’t help but to think everything that had gone on there over the years; simply fascinating.
Monday came too soon, along with class, Ann Taylor and reality! I can’t wait to return to Hudson and live like royalty again…Gidget too!
P.S.-Jackson told me the gallery opening was cocktail attire...let's just say I looked like city girl meets country girl. Oh well, a day in the life of a City Vixen ;)
To view all of the photos,click on this link:
