Sunday, October 18, 2015

The Trouble with Rhinebeck

I got up early, made coffee, and repacked my purse.  Then I repacked it again.  I donned my "Rhinebeck sweater" and started the 2.5 hour drive to Rhinebeck- the event of the season for fiber artists- at least in this neck of the woods but I'd be so bold to say for the entire east coast and into Canada.  This was to be my first trip and I had butterflies in my stomach for days.

The drive itself was beautiful and uneventful, my excitement growing exponentially with every mile. I got there at 9, just as planned.  I couldn't find hours of operation, but the workshop schedule indicated that things should kick off at 9 am, so that's when I would be there.  I spoke with a kindly security guard who pointed out some closer parking, and met up with my friend Sarah marveling at how few cars were there so early.  It also seemed strange that there was a $12 ticket price quoted, but no one had asked for tickets or pointed us to where we should pay.  Maybe we were just here that early?  But we were patient, we were willing to wait because this was going to be great.  Our first Rhinebeck trip!

Then it hit us- it was Friday.  For those of you who don't get the rub, Rhinebeck is a two day event that starts on Saturday.  Nowhere on the fiber festival website did it explicitly say that workshops and livestock events would be happening Friday, but the main event wouldn't start till Saturday.  That information was only posted on the fairgrounds website which we clearly had not checked before we made our plans.  We had come on the wrong day.
Barbeque Duck Quesadilla, Thai-Spiced Crab Soup,
and Sour Cherry Manhattan

For those of you who know me, this is probably not a surprise.  I get so excited about things that I just don't pay attention to the fine print and I get carried away rather quickly. I'm actually one of the only people in the world who I think actually DO read all of the fine print before signing anything simply because I recognize this about myself, yet here I am- sitting with one of my best friends, getting curious looks from the vendors who were probably wondering who the heck we were and why we weren't working.  Sadly, Saturday and Sunday were not options for me, so there was nothing I could do.  I was going to miss it. 

Even if the air was out of our balloon, gosh darn, we were going to make a day of it.  Rhinebeck, as it turns out, is a very beautiful place with lots of touristy shopping and such.  We perused the shops and had a fantabulous lunch at Terrapin- a renovated church turned bistro.  Let me tell you, the meal was a treat in itself and the building was stunning.  If you have the opportunity, seriously give them a try.  The bread pudding is to die for!

So over lunch, we made a plan.  We looked up a few local yarn shops so at least we'd have something to go home with and thanks to the ladies at Faboulousyarn, we did not come home empty-handed!  I had meant to have pictures of the new additions to my stash ready for this post but the day just got away from me.  I promise I'll have them up soon! Despite things not going as planned, it really was a great day with a great friend in a place I'd never been before.  Not too shabby at all! 
I suppose I'll be reading about everyone else's adventures in the week to come, but I suppose I had one of my own mis-advenrture and someday I'm sure I'll be able to laugh at it a little more.  The blow is also softened a bit by the gorgeous scenery on the ride home.  For some reason, by GPS (which, mind you, is about 13 years old now) did not bring me back to the NY Thruway on the way home, but gave me the scenic route.  I found myself chasing a thunderstorm at sunset in the middle of one of the most glorious leaf-peeping seasons we've had in a long time.  It's hard to keep a sour disposition when your drive home looks like this! 


5 comments:

  1. Next year will be awesome!! And on the plus side it was the most gorgeous day and we still got yarn!! What's not to love :) Rhinebeck you will be ours.

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  2. Oh no! But if you're planning for *next* year now, that gives me time to plot and plan so I don't have to do a three hour ride, both ways, on the same day!

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