Back to Dutchess County

For the last five or six years, Mom and I have been going to the Vermont Hand Crafters' Association Show in Burlington, Vermont. Last year, we ended up skipping it due to the fact that I had a three week old Felix in tow. This year, we decided to check out a new venue.

Having thoroughly enjoyed our genealogical research trip to greater Poughkeepsie in August, Felix, Mom and I decided to return to Dutchess County and go to Crafts at Rhinebeck last month. Once again, we packed up the stroller, backpack, portacrib, and enough luggage to sink a ship and headed out!

Having scouted out the area just a few weeks ago, we were well prepared for our trip, and arrived at the Fairgrounds in time to have a tailgate picnic before heading in. This fair is a family oriented one, and so there were animals to pet and observe, hayrides, and lots of kids. Felix was super well behaved, and loved the hayride, even if he did sit on the floor of the wagon and watch the ground pass by below him.

He also enjoyed watching the kangaroo at the animal exhibit. Not only did she have a joey in her packet, which several people actually saw, but she, like Felix, is afficianado of bouncing!

After the fair, we drove north along the Hudson, to a tiny village called Tivoli. We had a yummy dinner at Santa Fe before heading out for our hotel in Kingston, maps.google directions in hand. More than an hour later, we arrived at our destination. It should have taken us 15 minutes, but Google was very wrong. Luckily, we called the hotel and the night clerk knew the area well enough to get us back on track.

We had a solid night's sleep, a good breakfast, a swim in the hotel's pool, and were back on the road. Our big stop for the day was Old Chatham Shepherding Company. We saw four day old lambs, bought some cheese and had a picnic. Then, home again, home again.

All told, it was fun, but Vermont has a better craft fair. We'll probably go back to Vermont next year, and maybe leave Felix home with Dada....