Weekend Getaway: 10 Items for Packing Light

Day and Evening Wear with One Backpack

Did you ever leave on a Friday and travel by public transportation for a weekend exursion?   Catching your eye is a person in jeans and sneakers, holding their jacket over their arm, asking a stranger where a certain hotel is. Then, you notice the "a struggle-free free" exiting. 

Your stop comes up and you wrestle with your large Vera Bradley overnight duffle bag from the overhead compartment or possibly you went all out with a suitcase that hits you on your head as it comes down.

Well here's a way to leave the five pairs of pants, 3 dresses, half your make-up drawer and flatiron behind.

I have found, with a two to three night weekend getaway, anyone can survive with style.

A backpack of the right content is all you really need.

While this might be easier for the gents, this is tailored for the ladies in mind.

1. Hair accessories  (Hair dryers usually come with hotel room. Leave the curling and flatiron at home too. It's all about the bobby pins and hairbrush with some style gel or pomade.)
2. Shoes (Flip flops cover two areas. One: for hotel use instead of packing your bed slippers. Two: Summer! Three: One pair of seasonal dress shoes for evening wear.)
3. Pajama or nightgown
4. Make-up (Mascara, seasonal lip stick, blush, eye brow pencil - keep it simple)
5. One dress (Lycra, lyrca, lycra is a dream. You can roll it up, shove it in a make up bag and it doesn't wrinkle. I have black top and pant combo that is so comfortable you feel like you have your pj's on at dinner. The right accessories will accent everything.)
6. Accessories (Zip lock bag: with a daytime bracelet, necklace and earring. Another zip lock bag: with the same but more pazazz for night. I like clear plastic bags so I can see what and where everything is.)
7. One pair of dress pants (Nice jeans or khakis: remember hotels have irons)
8. Underwear (Always  "double the days" you are away. You will be exploring the town during the day then you come back to wash up for evening. Who hasn't run out of underwear? Everyone does.)
9. Bathing suit  (I don't care if it's the dead of winter. I was in Vermont in February and didn't realize the pool was inside and heated!)
10. Traveling kit (This is easily put together via the travel size section of any corner store. I am not really a fan of hotel soap, so I bring mini bottles of everything!)

Now you are probably wondering where the hiking shoes go. Well, you will be wearing them. If you plan to run, then by all means, where your sneakers. Wear your activity clothes traveling to your destination for comfort.  One shirt for traveling and the other nicer shirt can be worn over (to be worn later with the nice pants). The sweater, jacket and/or hat can be worn or carried with your very hands that are now bag and suit case free.

Don't forget a fabulous seasonal scarf that can be worn day or night.

I will be setting up links in my next article about "traveling fashion." This will give you great ideas for taking towel wet hair, adding some gel and twisting into an up-do with no fuss. Vacations are for relaxing not stressing over a hot iron trying to style your hair after a long day of sight seeing.

Remember: shoes are packed first from the bottom of backpack, then accessory bags (jeweley), then roll clothes atop then add travel kit.

I have used this method for years and I have found the less packing, the less stress.  

You actually pay more attention to your getaway then what you are wearing. 

Remember, most importantly you will be hands-free. 

This means more freedom to carry shopping bags filled with new stuff to wear home!

New York State Apples: From Tree to Hand

Apples Schmapples

This fall when fighting traffic to get out of the city for some serious apple picking, I hope you get a chance to visit Fishkill Farms, Mead Orchards or Montgomery Place Orchards.

Usually anywhere from 5 to 10 dollars for a sizeable bag will get you about 20 apples. Where people often fall short is the unfortunate picking of the tasteless apple.  Yes, they do exist.  Primarily used for cider’s and baked goods, there are a lot that stand on their own for a simple snack.

So it is important to know when picking through rows and rows of apple trees which variety you should concentrate on.

New York State has about 50 varieties amongst the hundreds that exist in our country today, believe it or not.

The tastiest I have come across for pulling right off the tree and hiding from the rest of the tourists, hunkered down under a tree like a thief in the night, are as follows:

• ·      Braeburn
• ·      Camero
• ·      Cortlandt
• ·      Empire
• ·      Fuji
• ·      Gala
• ·      Golden Delicious
• ·      Granny Smith

These are just a few of what you can find upstate. Eating out of hand or paired with some cheese, you maybe bold to set up a picnic in the middle of the orchard, be my guest and please send photos.

Note: In fact, all the apples listed above were engineered over the past hundred years by farmer’s.

For example, on February 12^th 2016 Cosmic Crisp entered the apple family. Farmer’s have recently been partnering with universities to get these new varieties.

So when enjoying that apple pie this Fourth of July, remember the apple picking season is just a few months away.

Bannerman Castle, Beacon, New York

A Place of Lore in the Hudson

Somewhere north of the city, about an hour away, lies the ruins of the Bannerman legacy on the island of Pollepel. Known as Bannerman Island, there stands a castle-like structure leaning over the river's edge.  Covered by vines and other beautiful flora, this island across from Beacon, New York, is a great hiking spot for newcomers to the area.

Take note: You can get a glimpse of this wondrous sight if you are traveling by train between Cold Springs and Beacon.

The island itself has inspired literature, films and television backdrops of the location.

I was curious to see what Wikipedia had to say about this historical landmark.  Here's what I found:

Pollepel Island is a murder scene in Linda Fairstein's murder mystery ''Killer Heat''Fairstein, Linda. ''Killer Heat''. Doubleday, 2008 and the site of a series of abductions in Kirsten Miller's book ''Kiki Strike: Inside the Shadow City''.  

In Philip Kerr's ''The Day of the Djinn Warriors'' (2004), Bannerman's Island appears in the itinerary of the Djinn Twins. The castle is visited and described in depth in William Least Heat-Moon's travel log titled ''River Horse: A Voyage Across America''.  

Bannerman's Castle (called the Hammer Armory here) was the site of clandestine human experimentation by the villainous Talia al Ghul and Dr. Creighton Kendall in issues #145 (published August 2008) and #146 (September 2008) of the (defunct) ''Nightwing'' ongoing series from DC Comics (in a story arc titled "Freefall," written by Peter J. Tomasi.   

I was surprised there was no mention of Eleanor Seeland of local Bannerman Castle fame who spent the first 12 years of her life on the island.  Her manuscripts and journals have influence local authors such as Wesley and Barbara Gottlock who have spent the better part of their retirement as school teachers writing about local early American history.

I always make it my business to visit the island on the Hudson because of its beauty and charm.  For myself it seemed important enough to mention the Gottluck's in one of their many contributions to the isle of Pollepel's history.

Here's what I added:

Wesley Gottlock and Barbara H. Gottlock authored a children's book called, "My Name is Eleanor." It is based on photographs, interviews and journals of Eleanor Seeland. Seeland, an Ulster County resident, lived with her family who were residents of Pollepel Island in the early part of 20th century. Seeland's father was contracted by the Bannerman's for about 12 years. 

The fictionalized version of Seeland's life chronicles an encounter with children from modern day taking a class trip to the island. The children's book itself is a variation of fantasy and true personal stories of Seeland, which vary from taking a row boat each morning to the river’s edge to attend school to spending winter's on an isle in the middle of the Hudson River.Gottlock, Barbara H., and Wesley Gottlock. My Name is Eleanor, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2016.
(Wikipedia-Pollepel lsland)

I hope it is still on the Wikipedia in a few month's as it is relevant to Bannerman Castle in general.  When I recently made a trip to the island and was able to purchase the children's book by Wesley and Barbara H. Gottlock.  I was surprised not to see their names listed in Wikipedia so I made it my business to make the edition.  The couple have written numerous books, which such themes as the history of the Bannerman's the relationship of the island between Newburgh (home of Washington's headquarters) and the American Revolution.

The Gottlock's are volunteers on the island and member's of the association Bannerman Island Trust. The trust preserves the island for guests and future cultural events by conducting walking tours and concerts. The island has been under state protection since it was presented for preservation in the 1960s.